Endometriosis can severely impair a veteran’s life, making it hard for them to work and travel since they are often accompanied by severe pain. Whether endometriosis occurs by itself or is caused by another medical problem, the VA can provide disability benefits.
The VA rating for endometriosis can be combined with other related conditions resulting in a substantial overall disability rating. If you are a veteran and are suffering from endometriosis or other female reproductive conditions, we can help guide you to get the benefits you deserve. Get your free legal consultation today.
In this article about VA benefits for endometriosis:
- What Is VA Disability Compensation?
- What Is Endometriosis?
- Are You Eligible for Endometriosis VA Disability?
- What Evidence Can I Submit To Receive Endometriosis VA Disability?
- What Is the VA Disability Rating for Endometriosis?
- How Can Endometriosis Be Service Connected?
- Secondary Service-Connected Endometriosis
- VA Rating Calculator
- How to Apply For Endometriosis VA Disability
- How to Appeal a Denied VA Disability Claim
- Get Your Free Legal Consultation Today
What Is VA Disability Compensation?
VA, or Veterans Administration, disability compensation offers a monthly tax-free payment to American veterans who have gotten sick or injured while serving in the military. Veterans who have a pre-existing condition that has gotten worse due to military service are also eligible.
Conditions that are eligible include injuries and physical illnesses like endometriosis that are chronic as well as mental health conditions like PTSD. We can help you find out if you’re eligible to receive the disability benefits you have earned. If you have already applied for VA disability and your claim has been denied, we can help you reapply.
What Is Endometriosis?
It is a disorder in which tissue, like the kind that normally forms the inside lining of your uterus known as the endometrium, begins to grow outside of your uterus. Endometrial tissue grows on your ovaries, fallopian tubes, bowel, and the tissue lining your pelvis. This is often quite painful.
The tissue grows, thickens, and breaks down which causes the area to become inflamed. This broken tissue gets stuck in your pelvis and causes further issues including scars, fertility problems, irritation, severe menstrual pain, uncontrolled bleeding, and more.
It is a common gynecological issue and affects up to 10% of women. There is no known cause to this disorder however if your disorder occurs or worsens due to military service, you may be eligible for endometriosis VA disability.
Are You Eligible for Endometriosis VA Disability?
When you apply for VA benefits, you have to prove that your endometriosis is related to your time in the service. You should have evidence that backs up your condition and links it to your time in the military. You must also have a disability rating for your condition which will determine how much you will be compensated monthly.
To be eligible, you must prove that you either got endometriosis while serving, had your disorder worsen due to service, or had it develop a year after your service ended. Veterans are eligible to claim disability and so are qualified dependents. This includes surviving spouses and children.
What Evidence Can I Submit To Receive Endometriosis VA Disability?
Medical Records
We recommend submitting any and all relevant medical evidence you have available to you. Reach out to all your doctors to request your records. If you have additional medical records for conditions other than endometritis, submit corresponding medical records for those as well to get a higher disability rating.
Claims File (C-File)
A C-File includes all medical records from your time in service. These are usually not in the best of shape and can be hard to decipher. We recommend going through your C-File as best as you can to find evidence related to your endometriosis and its related conditions. Only submit the relevant information when applying for VA benefits.
Doctor Reports
Meet with a doctor to explain your condition and they can write an expert report about why your condition is service-connected. This can be especially helpful for conditions that occur as a result of an injury you experienced while in service. A doctor can help link things together. VA disability lawyers use professional doctor reports in most of their cases.
Lay Statements
These are statements that come from family, friends, or coworkers that convey how military service caused you to develop or further instigate a disability that affects your daily life. They can speak to instances they have seen firsthand.
Buddy Statements
Buddy statements come from people who served with you in the military. They help provide more context to certain events or situations that occurred that are related to your disorder. It is a powerful tool for veterans to find events missing from their service records to prove their condition is service-connected.
What Is the VA Disability Rating for Endometriosis?
In order to get a disability rating, first, a laparoscopy test must be performed that results in a confirmed official diagnosis of endometriosis. Once the disorder is confirmed, there are different degrees of endometriosis intensity that must be taken into account.
10% Rating
If the endometriosis pain or bleeding is easily controlled by medication or some sort of continuous treatment, it is classified as manageable since it doesn’t disrupt daily life as drastically. This results in a 10% VA disability rating.
30% Rating
Sometimes the endometriosis pain and bleeding cannot be controlled as easily with medication or treatment. It can be more irregular requiring different treatments or medication every time which adds a layer of complexity to the disorder. This results in a 30% VA disability rating.
50% Rating
If it is a more serious case, endometriosis can cause problems with going to the bathroom as well as cause severe and uncontrollable pain or bleeding in the pelvic region. This is usually when the condition affects the bowel or the bladder which refers to the loss of use of a creative organ. This results in a 50% VA disability rating.
How Can Endometriosis Be Service Connected?
Endometriosis can have many causes. They can also occur as a result of other injuries or illnesses. As a result, they could provide a pathway for establishing a service connection to your case of endometriosis. We can work with you to help prove that your condition is service-connected.
Endometriosis Occurring During Service
Individuals in military service are usually young so their menstrual patterns are noted in their service medical records. Sometimes what may seem like minor irregularities turn out to be major issues like cancer. This is why service members are likely to undergo further testing to identify causes for symptoms that come with endometriosis.
As a result, service members who experience endometriosis during their service will likely have medical records proving their condition. These records would be sufficient evidence to establish a service connection to receive a VA disability rating for endometriosis.
Endometriosis Occurring After Discharge
Veterans can also establish a service connection between endometriosis and military service if the condition occurred after discharge but was caused by the veteran’s service. For example, if you had some sort of injury that damaged your uterus during your service and a few months after you get discharged, you develop endometriosis then you can connect the two. You will be able to receive a VA disability rating for endometriosis diagnosed after service.
Endometriosis Worsened By Service
If you experienced mild endometriosis before you joined the service, but it was worsened by your time in the military, you might be able to establish a service connection. In this situation, the VA might counter you to say it is just a natural progression of your condition. They will likely blame your age and other factors for your endometriosis.
If that’s the case, you will have to provide evidence showing a particular event that occurred during your service that caused your endometriosis to worsen. We can work with you to show the VA that your condition was caused by something that happened to you while you were enlisted.
Here is a video explaining how the VA combined ratings table works from one of our Veterans Disability Lawyers.
Secondary Service-Connected Endometriosis
If you have a primary service-connected disability, you can establish a connection from it to your endometriosis for a secondary service-connected disability. This will allow you to claim VA disability benefits for any condition that results from your primary service-connected disability.
If your endometriosis is extreme, doctors may even recommend endometrial ablation. This is a procedure that curbs or stops bleeding forever or for a few years. If you got an endometrial ablation done before your service and by the end of your service, your endometriosis returns then you may be able to get a VA disability rating for ablation as well. This is why in some cases an existing history of endometriosis is a disqualifying issue for induction in the military. In certain other situations, endometriosis may even result in military discharge.
Typically veterans who apply for VA disability will not apply for benefits with just endometriosis being their disability since it is so common and not usually life-threatening which means your compensation rate will be lower. Each additional service-connected disability can be added to the VA disability rating for endometriosis. The result could be an overall disability rating that vastly increases your VA disability benefits.
VA Rating Calculator
We provide a free VA benefits rating calculator to help you compute your VA disability rating. In VA math 80% disability plus another 20% disability doesn’t add up to a 100% disability rating. We use all of the current 2020 ratings and update the calculator regularly.
The higher your disability rating, the higher your monthly compensation. If your spouse receives benefits as well or if you have more than one child, you may qualify for additional monthly payments. These rates change annually and can be hard to figure out since they depend on multiple factors. Our disability calculator will give you a rough idea of what to expect before you apply.
We will try to get you what you deserve, but this is only an estimate at this stage of your application. Get in touch with us for a more accurate calculation.
Use our VA disability calculator to estimate your
combined VA rating and monthly payment
How to Apply For Endometriosis VA Disability
Applying for VA disability can be complex as there are multiple critical steps you must take to get approval. If you work with us, we can ensure you take all the right steps during the application process. Please note, it takes an approximately of 92 days to apply. See below for what to expect.
Step 1: Contact Us
Woods & Woods has qualified VA claim agents and attorneys who are familiar with VA disability law pertaining to endometriosis and other female reproductive disorders. We can help you file your claim.
Step 2: Create an eBenefits Account Online
We suggest filing for your VA benefits online. The online portal allows you to track the status of your claim at any point in the process. They do allow you to mail in paper applications but they do take longer to process. Skip this step if you opt for a paper application.
Step 3: Fill Out Your Application
We can help you fill out your application and double-check it before you send it in to make sure it’s fully completed. At this point, you will also need to include all relevant evidence regarding your endometriosis.
Step 4: Get a VA Disability Claim Receipt
Once your application has been filed, you will receive a confirmation in your email shortly. If you filed a paper application, you will receive confirmation in the mail in a few weeks. Please keep this receipt safe as it may come in handy if there are any complications.
Step 5: Evidence Review
As you wait for a decision regarding your VA benefits, you may be contacted by a Veterans Service Representative (VSR) asking for more evidence regarding your endometriosis. We can help you put this together if the need arises.
Step 6: VSR Makes Decision
Once your VSR has received the appropriate evidence, they will make a decision on your claim. They will write a letter and send it to the VA. In rare cases, the VA may decide they either need more evidence or they do not agree with the VSR’s decision.
Step 7: Decision Letter
Ultimately, the VA makes the final call on your VA disability. Once they have made a decision, they will mail you a letter. If your claim is declined, you can file an appeal. We can also help you do that.
Here one of our VA disability lawyers goes over the questions Woods and Woods are often asked about veterans disability claims and appeals.
How to Appeal a Denied VA Disability Claim
Getting a VA disability claim denied is a lot more common than you would think. If you’re in this situation, you’ve come to the right place. We can help you claim the benefits you deserve.
We recommend you hire a lawyer for your appeal because the entire appeal process is lengthy and difficult. 40% of all appeals are approved when using a lawyer. Too many veterans lose their own cases because they make a small mistake and have to restart their application.
The Veterans Administration has lots of deadlines, paperwork, and case law that you may not know about. They are notorious for their long wait times and backlog which often discourages some veterans from ever trying to get the benefits they need and rightfully deserve.
Work with us to make sure you get everything right done on time.
Get Your Free Legal Consultation Today
Let our VA disability benefits attorneys help you and your family get what you deserve. The hardest part is often establishing a service connection however a VA benefits lawyer is familiar with the evidence and can improve your chances greatly.
We fight for disabled veterans nationwide and we thank them for their service. Fill out a contact form or call us at (866) 232-5777 to get a free consultation.