Estimated reading time: 10 minutes
I have to start this off with a huge disclaimer: I am not a certified VA benefits expert or representative and the advice I will offer you is based almost exclusively on my own experiences. Certain tidbits I learned from friends who were getting out and going through the process at the same time as I, but this is almost entirely based on my own personal experience. Under no circumstances can I guarantee you will have the same results. Each veteran has a unique set of circumstances that cannot be accounted for, except by certified professionals. This is just meant to be a primer to educate you on some of the processes in applying for benefits from the VA.
Oh boy. The VA. It’s likely not possible to just simply say those two letters near a veteran and not trigger some type of response. We all hear horror stories and bad press and can’t help but feel something.
In the VERY few experiences (only 3–5 total) I have had thus far with the VA, I left feeling overall pretty satisfied. I definitely encountered a few people who were just punching the clock and weren’t much help, but then I encountered a few rockstars at the VA that totally made up for the lack of help I got from the others.
The VA is a massive organization, and like any organization (especially one in the federal government) you are like to have a handful of people achieving most of the results.
One thing definitely does seem to be sure: the VA realized their lack of effectiveness and efforts are being made to slowly right the ship. The VA has a goal in 2020 of offering private care to veterans who have to wait 14 days or more for an appointment, down from 30 a few years ago. This means that if you can’t get into the VA for an appointment within 14 days, they will cover the costs of going to a private facility. While the VA Accountability Act of 2018 had some mixed effects, it is at least an indicator that the federal government recognizes that the department could be far more effective.
This is all just to say that the system is trying to get better, but there is still a ways to go.
Entering into the VA Benefits ecosystem
Transitioning from navigating the DoD system to the VA system is likely one of the biggest sources of stress for any service member set to leave the military.
How do I apply for disability? What about my GI Bill? Can I get healthcare?
The good news is that there is a Congressional mandate that before you leave the military, you have to receive a briefing about your VA benefits. This briefing will likely be a multi-hour slideshow that will not answer every one of your questions, but it is a good place to start.
I left my briefing actually amazed at how extensive your benefits can be. For example, if you have a service-connected skin condition that requires a topical ointment, and that ointment ruins fabric, you could be eligible for a clothing allowance from the VA. That’s how specific some of the benefits are.
Here’s the rub with the VA: you have to be your own #1 advocate.
In the military, it was all prescribed to you. You were told when your appointments were and you everything was more or less laid out for you. Not so with the VA. But the difference is that the VA is there to serve you as a veteran. They WORK FOR YOU. Crazy, I know. So if you need something or need to see someone, you need to speak up. No longer do you need to worry about pissing off the chain of command. You are now the commander of your own VA enterprise.
Key VA benefits for transition
During the transition from the military, most veterans are concerned with three main benefits: the GI Bill, healthcare, and applying for disability.
These are the three that garner the most attention for those still in the transition process. The good news is that the process does not have to be as difficult as you think.
GI Bill
The majority of people reading this are probably planning to use or are eligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Some of you out there may still be on the Montgomery GI Bill.
So how do you use it?
The very first thing you need to do if you are planning to use your GI Bill is to apply. The VA provides four options to help with this process:
- Apply online.
- Visit your nearest VA regional office to apply in person.
- Consult with the VA Certifying Official — who is usually in the Registrar’s or Financial Aid office — at the school of your choice. This official has application forms and can help you apply.
- Call 1-888-GI BILL-1 (888-442-4551) to have the application mailed to you.
Ultimately you are seeking to get your Certificate of Eligibility, or COE. This is simply a document from the VA certifying the amount of coverage for which you are eligible. The first thing that your educational program is like to ask for if you plan to use your GI Bill benefits is your COE. Once the program’s certifying official* has this, they will likely have their own internal system at that program to process your benefits.
Using your GI bill can seem like a big mystery to a lot of veterans, but it’s fairly straightforward. It took me about 10 minutes to apply online and then a week or two later I received my COE in the mail from the VA. In talking with veterans already at school and using their GI Bill, it’s typically an easy process of sharing the COE with your program and doing whatever paperwork they need to make it happen.
As a note, if you have a service-connected disability, you are eligible** for Chapter 31 benefits, commonly known as Vocational Rehab. I will save details on that for another post.
*Educational programs who are eligible for GI Bill benefits likely have a certifying official. This is a person who has conducted training through the VA to become knowledgeable on how to work with veterans using their GI bill. They are mostly there to make sure the school gets paid. If you have particular questions about your benefits, they will most likely refer you to the VA.
**A quick note: for all VA benefits, you have to apply. Meaning that nothing is guaranteed. Everything is based on the availability of resources and demand. This is all just to make sure that the veterans who need the most care get taken care of first. Anecdotally, meaning not a 100% fact, I don’t know of anyone who has been denied for this reason.
Healthcare
There are a gazillion “what-ifs” for healthcare. This is where it really depends on your unique situation. The first place I would recommend you visit is the VA Eligibility page.
The best news I discovered during my transition is that I was eligible for five years of free VA healthcare because I had deployed to a combat zone. Many of you likely fall into that same situation.
That was huge for me. A few notes, however, before you get too excited. This does not include vision or dental (although you may be eligible if you have a service-connected disability related to dental or vision). Additionally, only the service member will be eligible, not dependents.
Before anyone asks the question, “Well, I only deployed to xyz country, is that a combat zone?” I would tell you to go to the site and apply anyway before you rule yourself out. Again, you are the master of your VA destiny and I am not an expert.
In my own experience, I did have some frustrations in applying for healthcare. Twice I applied online, but never received any word from the VA that they were processing my claim. And when I went online to check the status, there was never any update acknowledging that I applied. I then decided to go to a VA hospital and apply in person. Again, they were not aware that I had applied twice already. Then two days later I received a phone call from my clinic, asking when I would like my first appointment, meaning that I had received the healthcare for which I applied. Bad news here was that the system to track your application does not seem to function well, but the good news is that the eligibility came through.
This is where being your own #1 advocate becomes imperative. If you don’t hear anything, follow-up. Call. Go in person if you can. But make the effort.
As a last note, if you receive a service-connected disability, you will likely be eligible for care connected to that disability.
I have no idea what your unique situation is. Whatever it is, I encourage you to apply for benefits.
VA Benefits: Disability Rating
This may be the one people are most unsure about. The process seems shrouded in mystery and involves some witchcraft to crank out your disability rating.
First, whatever you do, just apply. Don’t exclude yourself out of some sense of honor. Read this short post about why applying does not make you weak.
A friend of mine who served in the 75th Ranger Regiment recently told me that not applying for a disability rating is one of his greatest regrets from his transition. He held the attitude, like I did at first and many other veterans do, that applying for disability was just a way to scam the system. Now starting to suffer from lower back pain, he regrets not having gone through the process.
We all want to think we are invincible and that pain and aches we have from the military were just part of the job. And we all look at people who we presume are just cheating the system and don’t want to be associated with that group.
The whole disability system has an unjustified negative stigma about it. As vets, we take pride in pushing through the pain. We will say “Whatever, I’ll drink water and take some ibuprofen and I’ll be fine.” Military service can be hard on your mind and body. If you are having issues; whether physical, mental, or emotional; feel comfortable reporting them and let the system work. In the long run, that’s what will be best for you.
I personally found the whole process to be fairly easy. Again, just my experience. I first went to the Veterans of Foreign War office at Fort Bragg to file my claim. The VFW is a chartered Veteran Service Organization, meaning they have an official designation from the VA and can file claims on the behalf of service members. It was great—they literally did all the paperwork for me. I simply scheduled an appointment with a representative and he did a head-to-toe questioning of my mental and physical state. I answered everything honestly and to the best of my ability.
The VFW filed my claim with the VA and then I waited to hear from the VA. What happens next is that the VA works through a third-party contractor to evaluate your claims. This is good news for you because it provides a more objective opinion on your conditions.
The contractor scheduled appointments for me at private practices near my base. At each appointment, the reviewer had specific guidelines from the VA on what to measure. They are there to capture the objective data about your conditions and then submit to the review board. That data then gets evaluated by a VA review board who decides what your disability rating will be.
After the data was collected, my packet was submitted to the review board and my piece in the puzzle was done. Overall, fairly simple (for me).
You can start this process up to 180 days before your ETS/EAS date. Note, however, that you will not receive your eligibility notice until two weeks after your ETS/EAS date. If you do not agree with your rating, you can appeal it. I’ll admit, this is far beyond my expertise. To start, visit the VA’s page on filing an appeal.
What is good to know about working the VA during your transition is that everything is built on processes. For most things, you can fill out a form to determine your eligibility for VA benefits. And if you have a question, you can call to find out more.
Other aspects of your transition, like thinking about where to live, what career to pursue, or deciding on a degree, will require a lot more deliberate thinking on your part. Think about this going into your transition and spend more time thinking about those decisions.
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