By: One World Publishing
When millions of veterans volunteered to serve their country, they were promised compensation for the disabilities they incurred in service. Many of them, though, are receiving only a portion of what they were promised.
According to VA Claims Academy, under-rating by the VA is a pattern the company sees regularly among the veterans who come to it for help, and it costs those veterans compensation month after month. Jordan Anderson, a U.S. Air Force veteran, built VA Claims Academy in 2022 after experiencing that gap firsthand and spending years learning how to close it.
The Academy is an online educational platform that teaches veterans how to navigate the VA claims system, build claims that hold up under review, and pursue the ratings their disabilities merit.
Anderson’s $15,000 Turning Point
Anderson’s experience with the VA was not what it should have been. After leaving the Air Force, he tried to secure the disability rating he had earned and hit a wall. He paid $15,000 to a VA claims assistance service that delivered nothing. His VA rating was wrong, but it hadn’t moved.
Rather than accept the outcome, Anderson treated it like a mission. He spent months studying the VA’s rating criteria, interviewing veterans who had successfully navigated the process, and working out what a well-built claim actually looked like. He eventually earned his own 100% Permanent and Total (P&T) disability rating.
“I was deeply troubled by a system that made it so difficult for veterans to get the benefits they earned,” Anderson said. “I learned to ‘speak VA’ so that I could not be ignored or denied.”
He built the Academy to share his hard-earned knowledge with other veterans.
Building a Claim That Holds Up Under Review
VA reviewers assess claims against specific criteria. They respond to specific documentation, specific medical language, and specific types of lay evidence. Claims built around those standards give a reviewer what they need to evaluate them accurately. Most veterans file without that knowledge, and the gap between what they submit and what a reviewer needs to see is often where a rating falls short.
Veterans who come to the Academy for VA disability claim assistance work through a structured “Learn, Build, Approve” program. It’s not guesswork. It’s a carefully curated strategy supported by personalized coaching, plug-and-play nexus letters, personal statement templates, and compensation and pension (C&P) exam preparation. The idea is to make a claim very hard to deny by giving the VA reviewer everything they need for approval.
The Academy partners with physicians who write nexus letters addressing the connection between a veteran’s disability and their military service. The VA needs to see that connection before it can approve a claim. Too many veterans struggle to establish it because their disability didn’t show up until after they left the military. Think of a veteran who jumped out of countless planes, only to discover a decade later that his back was in poor shape. Or a veteran who worked day in and day out on the flight line and began losing her hearing in midlife. VA Claims Academy connects members with physicians who can review their history and provide a medical opinion, which matters most when that connection isn’t documented in their military records.
The VA Claims Academy model is done with you, not for you. That way, veterans are in the driver’s seat. They learn the system as they go, which means their knowledge carries forward to every claim they file down the road.
Fresh Strategies for Commonly Underrated Claims
Tinnitus and sleep apnea are among the most common service-connected conditions veterans carry home from their service, but common doesn’t necessarily translate into proper compensation. In fact, it’s typical for veterans to have a hard time getting an appropriate rating for these conditions.
Tinnitus, the persistent ringing or buzzing in the ears that follows so many veterans home from service, carries a flat 10% rating under current VA criteria. But many veterans have a hard time getting a tinnitus VA disability rating because it wasn’t a problem while they were in the service. As a result, they lack in-service documentation to prove it.
Also, tinnitus can’t be measured by a test, so doctors depend on the veteran to make their case. If a veteran doesn’t know how to articulate the toll their tinnitus takes, either through a personal statement or at their C&P exam, that veteran could end up without appropriate compensation.
VA Claims Academy helps veterans assemble the evidence for their service-connected tinnitus, and it also helps them document secondary conditions caused by that tinnitus. These may include sleep disorders, migraines, and depression.
“So many of these veterans develop health problems due to their service, and then it becomes a chain reaction,” said Anderson. “One problem leads to another, and yet, they’re not being compensated for any of them, even though their conditions were caused by their military service.”
Sleep apnea is similarly overlooked. Veterans who require a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine may qualify for a 50% rating, but a significant number sit at 0% because their claim wasn’t structured to show the connection between their military service and their sleep apnea.
In many cases, a veteran’s sleep apnea has been caused by another service-connected condition, like PTSD or a traumatic brain injury. Anderson helps veterans document those connections when they pursue a sleep apnea VA rating, either as a primary service-connected condition or as one caused by another military-related health issue.
A Flat Fee, Full Backpay
Different entities offer help for veterans seeking VA compensation, but that help can come with a catch. Attorneys promise to help veterans file appeals, but the formal appeals process can take months or years. Meanwhile, the attorneys garnish a percentage of the veteran’s backpay.
Veterans Service Organizations offer free help, but it’s often so generic that it doesn’t move the needle. Veterans end up submitting claims without the strong evidence needed for approval.
VA Claims Academy takes a different approach. They charge a flat fee, rather than touching a veteran’s back pay. They also provide a highly customized strategy with education and resources to craft a VA claim that’s very difficult to deny.
For veterans pursuing a disability rating increase, the Academy’s role is to lay out the documentation the VA looks for and help them put it together. More than 4,400 veterans have come through the program, and those who have completed it rate it highly.
Veterans ready to get started can call (210) 201-3299 or visit www.VAClaims-Academy.com.
Disclaimer: This article is for general informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute legal, medical, or financial advice. VA disability eligibility, ratings, compensation, and claim outcomes depend on each veteran’s individual circumstances and applicable Department of Veterans Affairs requirements. Veterans should consult an accredited veterans’ representative, qualified attorney, licensed healthcare professional, or the VA regarding their specific situation. No particular rating, approval, compensation amount, or claim outcome is guaranteed.
