If you are a disabled veteran who received a denial after applying for veterans disability, you have the option to appeal that decision. However, the appeals process is difficult and can seem impossible to navigate without intimate knowledge of the process. A veterans disability lawyer serving North Carolina at Chisholm Chisholm & Kilpatrick LTD can help.
For a free consultation, give us a call today: 800-544-9144.
North Carolina VA Benefit Resources
North Carolina has one regional benefit office for the state; there are four medical centers located across the state.
North Carolina VA Regional Benefit Office
Winston-Salem: Winston-Salem Regional Benefit Office
North Carolina VA Medical Centers
Asheville Asheville VA Medical Center
Durham Durham VA Medical Center
Fayetteville Fayetteville VA Medical Center
Salisbury Salisbury – W.G. (Bill) Hefner Medical Center
North Carolina VA Statistics
As of 2016, North Carolina has:
- Over 730,000 residents who are military veterans (more than nine percent of the state’s adult population)
- Over 180,000 residents receiving VA disability benefits
- Over 330,000 veterans enrolled in the VA health care system (and 230,000 who have sought treatment at a VA medical center)
Almost 60 percent of North Carolina’s veterans are under 65. Nearly 13 percent of NC veterans are military retirees (meaning they completed enough military service to reach full retirement).
Denied Disability Benefits? Learn How to Build a Compelling Appeal
Denials are common in veterans disability claims. Many times, the denial results from insufficient evidence of service connection.
Three potential ways to establish service connection include:
- Presumed service connection: In some cases, the Department of Veterans Affairs will assume your condition is connected to your service. Examples of this include type 2 diabetes and exposure to Agent Orange or psychosis after being held as a prisoner of war. If the VA assumes service connection, you do not need to prove a nexus linking your service to your currently diagnosed condition.
- Direct service connection: Direct service connection means you are able to prove a direct nexus, or link, between your service and your current condition. For example, if you suffer from hearing loss, the appropriate medical professional may opine that the condition you experience now is directly due to the munitions training you completed while in the service.
- Secondary service connection: In some cases, there is not a direct link. For example, your service-connected diabetes mellitus type 2 has caused you to develop hypertension.
The evidence we can cite to draw this connection might include your military records, your medical diagnoses and lab reports, interviews with people you served with, expert medical opinions, etc.
VA Disability Compensation Levels
As your VA disability attorneys, part of our job is to establish not only that you have a qualifying, service-connected disability but also to ensure that you receive the highest disability rating for which you qualify.
To determine the amount of your monthly compensation, the VA uses all of your individual disability ratings to calculate your combined disability rating. Ranging from 0 to 100 percent, the rating indicates the severity of your disability. A 0 percent rating signifies minimal disability and qualifies you only for ancillary benefits such as health care, but no monthly compensation. A 100 percent rating indicates that you are fully disabled and thus makes you eligible to receive the highest monthly compensation.
The following table details each combined disability rating and its accompanying monthly compensation amount as of December 31, 2017:
| Combined Disability Rating | Monthly Compensation |
| 10 percent | $136.24 |
| 20 percent | $269.30 |
| 30 percent | $417.15 |
| 40 percent | $600.90 |
| 50 percent | $855.41 |
| 60 percent | $1,083.52 |
| 70 percent | $1,365.48 |
| 80 percent | $1,587.25 |
| 90 percent | $1,783.68 |
| 100 percent | $2,973.86 |
With a combined 30 percent rating or higher, you also qualify to receive additional monthly compensation for dependents, such as your spouse, children, or dependent parents.
For example:
- Veteran with combined 90 percent rating and spouse: $1,932.68
- Veteran with combined 90 percent rating, spouse, and one child: $2,041.68
- Veteran with combined 90 percent rating, spouse, one child, and two dependent parents: $2,279.68
For a Free Consultation, Call 800-544-9144 Today.
At Chisholm Chisholm & Kilpatrick LTD, our attorneys want to help you get the benefits you deserve. If you served your country and became disabled in the process, let us work for you. For a free consultation, call 800-544-9144 today.
