Desperate times call for desperate measures. With the backlog still looming near eight hundred thousand claims, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently announced a cash incentive program offered to veterans who submit “easier” claims.
Under this incentive program, veterans who file an original Fully Developed Claim (FDC) for service-connected disability compensation may be entitled to receive up to one year of retroactive disability benefits. However, in the news release posted by the VA, it is unclear when these benefits start.
As most veterans in the disability claims process know, the effective date of a claim is generally the first of the month after the month in which a claim is filed. Accordingly, if a veteran submits a claim through the FDC Program, is the effective date one year prior to the filing of the claim? Or is it one year prior to when the claim is granted? Veterans want to know the answer!
At any rate, veterans are well-served by filing their claims through the FDC Program. Doing so generally results in receiving a rating decision in approximately half the amount of time, as FDC Program claims are afforded priority.
Veterans are cautioned, however, to make sure they submit all evidence they want the VA to consider. One of the only benefits of the crippled-turtle-slow standards claim process is that during a pending claim, a veteran may end up submitting a piece of evidence that positively impacts the claim. A fast track process provides a smaller window of opportunity for this to happen.
For veterans who are interested in submitting an initial claim through the FDC Program, the VA’s FDC Program webpage may be accessed here. As a note, claims must meet all criteria of the FDC program, which requires veterans to provide all supporting documentation in their possession when submitting their claim. This includes any records from private medical providers, as well as contact information of any federal facilities that have provided treatment. If a claim does not meet the criteria of the FDC Program, it will be kicked back to the standard claims line…and therefore subject to a much longer wait time and ineligible for the one-year retroactive benefit. (Read my blog on the subject here).
For years, the VA has been blasted for its long delays and horrendous backlog. This is an answer. It may not be an answer for those veterans waiting on appeals, but at least this is something.
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