If you are a vet with a disability or you believe that you acquired a disability from the Iraq or Afghanistan wars, you probably know about the backlog within the VA in receiving your disability benefits in a timely manner. Back in April of this year, the VA acknowledged that many veterans with disabilities from these conflicts were waiting more than one year to receive benefits to which they are entitled.
In fact, in late June of this year in its own press release, the VA announced that “more than 65,000 claims – or 97 percent of all claims over two years old in the inventory – have been eliminated from the backlog.” To this writer, this statement is really a sad commentary. It seems like the VA was ill-prepared for the high percentage of vets coming home from the Middle East with disabling conditions.
Now there is a fairly new process that the VA is encouraging today’s disabled veterans to use in order to begin receiving their benefits sooner rather than later. “Fully developed claims” (FDCs) are those that are submitted by vets with all available supporting evidence of the disabling condition(s). Such evidence should include any private treatment records for a disability that was incurred while on active duty status. By submitting all of the evidence up front, VA can decide this type of claim without waiting for additional records or scheduling compensation medical exams.
In addition to priority processing, filing an FDC may also make a veteran eligible for up to one year of retroactive benefits. In 2012, Congress passed a law that allows veterans to receive up to one year of retroactive benefits for original claims filed under the FDC process between August 6, 2013, and August 5, 2015. An original claim means that the veteran has not previously filed a claim for disability compensation. Not all claims will be eligible for a full year of retroactive benefits. It will depend on the evidence in the file.
An FDC may be filed either through VA’s eBenefits system or by using a VA Form 21-526EZ. To explain the eBenefits filing process, VA has developed some helpful materials, including a step by step guide.
If you would like to know more in general about veterans benefits, check out our online Veterans Guide to VA Benefits. If you don’t find the answers that you are looking for, submit a question to “Ask VetsFirst.” We feel confident that either way we will help you answer your questions about the benefits you and your family members have earned through your service.
Terry Moakley
Chair of the VetsFirst Committee