More than gratitude, let’s keep our promise to disabled veterans – INDY Week

More than gratitude, let’s keep our promise to disabled veterans  INDY Week

“Thank you for your service” is easy to say. But ensuring disabled veterans receive the financial benefits they’ve earned is harder—and more important. Every Veterans Day, as Americans commemorate military service, millions of veterans and their families face uncertainty about benefits that can be a monetary lifeline. The reasons are complicated. For starters, the Department […] “Thank you for your service” is easy to say. But ensuring disabled veterans receive the financial benefits they’ve earned is harder—and more important. Every Veterans Day, as Americans commemorate military service, millions of veterans and their families face uncertainty about benefits that can be a monetary lifeline. For starters, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) handles an enormous workload, including new claims and cases contested for years.

In fiscal 2026, the VA processed a record 3.11 million disability compensation claims. Complex cases can still leave veterans waiting months or longer for resolution. Mistakes happen, too. Incomplete applications, missing medical evidence and errors in VA decisions can lead to denials or disability ratings that don’t fully address a veteran’s condition. Some veterans manage the process alone, unaware that accredited veterans service organizations offer free assistance. VA-accredited attorneys can also help. Most VA-accredited attorneys work on a contingency fee basis, i.e., they only get paid if they successfully increase the veteran’s benefits. Then there’s the changing