WASHINGTON —
The Department of Veterans Affairs last year proposed changes to regulations to
eliminate informal claims that were not filed electronically. In addition, VA
proposed requiring the use of a specific standardized form when veterans apply
for VA benefits. The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States and other
major service organizations fought against the proposals, saying that the
elimination of informal claims was draconian and did not keep with VA’s mandate
to be “veteran friendly.”
Despite
such protests, VA recently finalized its regulations, meaning that effective
today, VA will eliminate “informal claims” and substitute its newly-established
“Intent to File a Claim” form to act as a date-of-claim place holder. VA
also mandates the use of certain other standardized forms for benefits, such as
for compensation, pension and appeals. These new forms can be downloaded at: http://www.va.gov/vaforms/.
As
this change goes into effect, here are some things veterans and their
representatives will need to know:
- These
changes are a standardization of the forms and applications that claimants
and their representatives are required to use. Effective March 24, service
officers must use the forms mandated by this change. These forms include:
—Disability
compensation: eBenefits or paper Form 21-526EZ, Application for
Disability Compensation and Related Compensation Benefits
—Needs-Based
Pension: paper Form 21-527EZ, Application for Pension
—Survivors:
paper Form 21-534EZ, Application for DIC, Death Pension, and/or Accrued
Benefits
- Intent
to file a claim: While VA has standardized its forms and applications,
veterans and their representatives must know that the following are the
only three ways a claim may be informally initiated, thus protecting the
effective date of an award upon adjudication:
—Filing paper Form 21-0966, “Intent to File a Claim” form;
—Calling
the VA National Call Center, 1-800-827-1000, and requesting that a
Call Center agent complete an “Intent to File a Claim” form for
the veteran over the phone; or
—Initiating,
and then saving, an un-submitted claim either using eBenefits (for
veterans) or the Stakeholder Enterprise Portal (SEP), for veterans service
officers.
- Upon
receipt of an “intent to file a claim,” the veteran has one year to gather
evidence to support a claim and to file a claim for benefits on a standard
claim form.
- Under
the new VA regulations, 38 CFR 3.157 is rescinded and records and
transcripts from state, county, municipal, recognized private or
government hospitals or institutions, including uniformed services
facilities, will no longer be accepted as informal claims in certain
circumstances — rather the veteran has up to one year (from the
date of medical records establishing an increase in disability) to file
the “Intent to File a Claim” form.
- Appeal
of a VA decision: The change also mandates the use of the standardized
notice of disagreement form, VA Form 21-0958, when an individual wishes to
initiate an appeal of a VA decision. Before March 24, this was only an
optional form.
- Veterans
who notify VA of their intent to file a claim without using the new “Intent
to File a Claim” form will not be able to preserve their effective
date, and may further delay the adjudication of their benefit claim. VA
still has an obligation to furnish the requisite paperwork to veterans who
are seeking to claim their benefits, but VA warns that the requisite
paperwork will likely take months to arrive, meaning veterans will lose
out on benefits.
Read
more here.
-vfw-
ABOUT
THE VFW:
The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. is a nonprofit veterans service
organization comprised of eligible veterans and military service members from
the active, Guard and Reserve forces. Founded in 1899 and chartered by Congress
in 1936, the VFW is the nation's largest organization of war veterans and its
oldest major veterans organization. With nearly 1.9 million VFW and Auxiliary
members located in more than 6,800 Posts worldwide, “NO ONE DOES MORE FOR
VETERANS.” The VFW and its Auxiliaries are dedicated to veterans’ service,
legislative advocacy, and military and community service programs. For more
information or to join, visit our website at www.vfw.org.
Contact: Joe Davis,
Director of Public Affairs, VFW Washington Office, jdavis@vfw.org.