Combat veterans in Indiana and across the nation often suffer lifelong effects of military service. When those lifelong effects reduce a veteran’s ability to earn a living, veterans’ benefits are supposed to provide the support needed to continue living a relatively healthy and happy life. Sadly, that often does not happen, sometimes due to Veterans Administration disability ratings that determine and often limit the extent of financial benefits provided.

When veterans’ benefits get reduced incorrectly, the financial impacts can have even more devastating effects. VA disability ratings are particularly impactful on benefits amounts and can mean the difference between a happy and sustainable life versus one spent chasing after bills and trying to make ends meet while dealing with the ongoing effects of prior military service.

Homelessness and suicide rates are exceptionally high among veterans when compared to the general population. That makes it critically important to ensure that disabled veterans receive their just financial support. Many veterans suffer more than one disability and need to receive full compensation for each. The VA combines disability ratings to achieve an overall score from which benefits are determined, but that score is not always accurate.

The VA does have mechanisms in place that enable veterans to challenge and correct their respective disability ratings. Qualified medical assessments by medical doctors and legal representation can help to ensure receipt of full veterans’ benefits and even recoup benefits that should have been paid in the recent past. When veterans receive full compensation for disabilities obtained during military service, they stand a much better chance of not adding to the homelessness and suicide rates afflicting military veterans in Indiana and other communities. Effective legal representation may help to make that happen.