Qualifying for Service-Connected and Non-service-Connected Veteran Benefits
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by: albert.tobega
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For those that serve their country, the Department of Veteran Affairs provides a wide range of disability benefits. But each veteran receives different types of benefits-- and not all of these benefits are equally valuable. The VA uses eight "priority groups" to determine which benefits you will receive, with "1" being the highest priority and "8" the lowest (as of 2003, no new veterans are enrolled into group 8). Your priority group depends entirely on your disability and how it first occurred (service-connected or non-service-connected), your financial situation, and your current level of disability.
Since whether or not a disability is service-connected or non-service-connected can have a great effect on the benefits you will receive, its important to have a good understanding of the specific requirements for each of these two types of benefits.
The Requirements for Non-service-Connected Benefits
Veterans who suffer from complete and permanent disability are eligible for non-service-connected benefits. Qualifiying for non-service-connected benefits can also be dependant on a few other issues:
• Income- Being eligible for non-service-connected benefits is based on the recipient having limited earnings and a net worth too low to provide the veteran with adequate maintenance. To get more information on income eligibility requirements, please see 38 U.S.C.S. §§1521-22.
• Service - To be eligible for non-service-connected pensions, you must have 90 days of active duty and at least one day in a "period of war." However, for a veteran who entered military service after 1980, the service requirement is simply to have completed a full period of active duty. Specifically, a veteran who was enrolled for the fist time after (or on) Sept. 8, 1980 will need to have completed a minimum service period, which should amount to either twenty-four continuous months of active duty or the entire period that individual was called for to active duty. Additionally, the veteran must have active service that includes a total of ninety days during one or more periods of war; ninety or more consecutive days, one day of which is during a period of war; or at least one day of wartime service that results in a discharge for service-connected disability.
• Discharge- To be eligible for benefits from the Department of Veteran Affairs, your discharge from the military needs to have been under non-dishonorable circumstances.
Service-Connected Benefits Requirements
Eligibility for service-connected benefits, differently from non-service-connected benefits, is not dependant on a veteran having done wartime service or meeting a net worth or income level. Rather, you will be required to prove the source and current condition of your disability using:
• Proof of your current disability- Because benefits for a service-connected disability are awarded only to those with a current disability, an applicant for these benefits must provide recent medical records diagnosing the current state of their disability.
• Substantiation of the disability or injurys occurrance The next thing applicants for service-connected benefits must provide is proof that the disability occurred during or was aggravated by military service. Veterans should keep in mind, though, that the VA uses the term "in-service" broadly, also including injuries that occurred during leave.
• Evidence of connection between past injury and current disability- This requires that applicants give evidence of a connection between the injury incurred in service and the current disability.
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