Disabled veterans face many challenges in life due to their disabilities.
In some cases, their service-connected disability can even bring about additional quality-of-life problems.
When covered service-connected disabilities result in secondary mental health problems, some veterans may also be eligible to file VA lifestyle impact claims and gain additional benefits.
Lifestyle Impact Claims With The VA
What is a VA lifestyle impact claim?
It is a claim made for a mental health condition that arises secondary to a service-connected disability.
In many cases, this arises as depression, anxiety, and other mental health problems that develop over time due to disability-caused changes in the veteran’s life.
Whether due to the inability to mobilize freely, being unable to care for oneself, suffering from PTSD, or even experiencing chronic pain, if these service-connected conditions are found to cause mental health symptoms, those secondary symptoms can be addressed in a VA lifestyle impact claim.
What Are the Qualifications?
How does one qualify for a VA lifestyle impact claim?
Eligible veterans must have a primary service-connected, rated disability that is causing mental health symptoms due to the inability to live a normal life.
The primary disability might be the cause of these symptoms or be making existing mental health conditions worse.
In either case, mental health problems that are determined to be connected to quality-of-life issues related to primary disabilities are usually covered under these claims.
How to File These Claims
How are VA lifestyle impact claims filed?
It is critical that VA lifestyle impact claims be filed as a secondary claim to an existing disability claim.
A mental health diagnosis attributing the condition to the primary disability must be made.
The claim must include a nexus letter connecting the mental health condition to the primary disability.
Once the veterans VA lifestyle impact claim is submitted, veterans should then expect to be called for a C&P exam, as these are almost always required.
Will Benefits Increase?
Can filing for VA lifestyle claims help increase benefits?
Yes, it can.
If a mental health condition is attributed to a primary service-connected condition and found to further reduce a veteran’s quality of life, their disability rating could be raised, increasing their benefit pay or providing other benefits.
Seek Help Filing A VA Lifestyle Impact Claim
Veterans dealing with quality-of-life mental health issues secondary to their main service-connected disability can file a VA lifestyle impact claim; however, it is essential that these claims be filed the right way.
To improve the chance of approval, veterans can seek VA lifestyle impact claims help from an experienced VA claim specialist to discuss their situation.