Wounded Warrior Project Offers Tips to Build Compensation and Pension (CP) Claims

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Oct. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Applying for disability compensation benefits with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is not the easiest task to manage. It can often be very confusing for warriors who might not understand the laws and regulations that impact the VA's final decision on a claim, leaving injured veterans frustrated as to why their claims are being denied.

Before starting the benefit claims process, it's important to understand the basic principles of what constitutes a "service connection." For most service-connected claims, there must be documented medical evidence of the claimed condition during military service. Next, the condition must be proven to be chronic – essentially, there should be a paper trail of continued treatment for the claimed condition event after being discharged from service.

For example, if a warrior sprains his or her ankle and the condition is healed with no residual issues, this would normally not be considered service-connected – in turn, the claim would be denied. However, if after the condition healed and the ankle joint became frozen – unable to move – due to the sprain, and continued treatment after service was needed, sought, and documented, the claim is more likely to be considered service-connected.

In the absence of the above criteria, it would be helpful to the success of the claim for the warrior to obtain a medical opinion from a treating physician that directly links the claimed condition to the individual's military service.

While it is part of VA's responsibilities to assist in helping obtain these records, veterans can help speed up the process and influence the decision by providing these documents from the start. For three important tips to help build your claim, visit http://bit.ly/2i958EA.

To learn and see more about how WWP's programs and services connect, serve, and empower wounded warriors, visit http://newsroom.woundedwarriorproject.org, and click on multimedia.

About Wounded Warrior Project 
Wounded Warrior Project^® (WWP) connects, serves, and empowers wounded warriors. Read more at http://newsroom.woundedwarriorproject.org/about-us.

SOURCE Wounded Warrior Project