Articles
The method, one step at a time.
For a disability claim
The VA Disability Hack in Nine Steps
The whole method for a VA disability claim, from gathering records to reading Board decisions, on one page.
Gather Your Documents and Get a Nexus Opinion
The three sets of records to pull, the nexus letter to ask your doctor for, and what the VA has to go and get for you.
Be Your Own Advocate at the Doctor
Tell your doctor every symptom, keep a diary, get your records and ask to fix errors, and never ask a doctor to write what they don't believe.
How the VA Does the Math on Your Combined Rating
Why 50 and 30 is 70 and not 80, how the bilateral factor works for both arms or both legs, and when a new rating leaves the number where it was.
How VA Backpay Works
The month your award takes effect is not a paid month, and the VA pays each month after it has ended. That is why a grant in September can leave your deposit unchanged until November.
Can the VA Take Away Your Rating?
A reduction starts with a letter, not a smaller payment. Two deadlines run from the date on it, and the shorter one is the one people miss.
Sleep Apnea Claimed as Secondary to PTSD
What 38 CFR 3.310 asks for when sleep apnea is claimed as secondary to PTSD, how diagnostic code 6847 is rated, and what our Board counts show.
Nerve Damage in the Legs and Feet Claimed as Secondary to Diabetes
What 38 CFR 3.310 asks for when nerve damage in the legs and feet is claimed as secondary to diabetes, where the ladder stops for numbness, and why each leg is rated on its own.
A Lower Back Condition Claimed as Secondary to Your Knee
What a back claim built on a service-connected knee has to show, how the back rating ladder works, and what the Board granted and denied.
Conditions Claimed as Secondary to a Lower Back Condition
The conditions the Board has seen claimed with a bad back, why nerve pain gets its own rating, and why joint claims are granted far less often.
Conditions Claimed as Secondary to Tinnitus
Tinnitus stops at 10, so what else can be claimed with it. The four pairings the Board sees, what each needs, and how each is rated.
What Sleep Apnea Gets Claimed Secondary To
The conditions the Board has seen sleep apnea claimed as secondary to, the grant rate for each, why the direction of the pairing changes the numbers, and what a nexus letter has to say.
Conditions Claimed as Secondary to PTSD
The ten conditions the Board has seen claimed as secondary to PTSD, what each claim has to show, and what the schedule asks for the biggest four.
Mental Health Caused by Your Service-Connected Conditions
How depression or anxiety caused by long-term pain can be rated on its own, with real cases that won and lost.
How the VA Rates Depression and Anxiety
The one formula behind depression and anxiety ratings, what its words mean, and what to do if you cannot work.
Presumptive Conditions, Where You Don't Prove the Link
The routes where you do not have to prove the link, the three chronic disease windows, and the places and dates VA goes by for herbicides and burn pits.
Gulf War Illness and Burn Pits, the Newer Presumptions
Part two of presumptive conditions: the Gulf War rule and its deadline, and the burn pit rules.
How to Read a Board of Veterans' Appeals Decision
Where VA Board decisions live and how to read one in ten minutes, using a real back case.
Is AI Deciding Your VA Claim?
A person still signs your decision. But software reads your file first, and what it reads for changes what good evidence looks like.
Submit With Evidence, Not Just a Form
The three things a rater needs in the file, what an intent to file does for your effective date, and why the whole claim goes in at once.
Lay Evidence and Buddy Statements That Hold Up at the Board
Who can write a statement for you, what they can say, and how the VA weighs it, with prompts for knee, back, sleep apnea, and PTSD.
Four Board Decisions on Lay and Buddy Statements
Four real Board decisions on lay statements: what got a claim reopened, what lost, and what made an exam inadequate.
Be Honest, Because Credibility Carries Across the File
Why one finding about whether you are believed can carry across every claim in your file, and how to describe a bad day and a good day at an exam.
For veteran business owners
VetCert: How to Get Your Business Certified as VOSB or SDVOSB
Who qualifies, why status comes from the VA, and where to find free help.
VetCert Documents: What to Gather and How to Apply
SBA's document list, the steps in MySBA Certifications, and what slows a review.
VetCert Control Rules: What Your Operating Agreement Must Show
Who controls, the votes a minority owner may keep, and the ties that rule a business out.
VetCert Renewal: How to Recertify Your SDVOSB or VOSB Before It Expires
When VetCert renewal opens, where it happens now, what happens in the 30 days after your end date, and what to report between renewals.
VetCert Denied: How to Appeal to OHA, or Fix It and Apply Again
What a VetCert denial letter must say, the 45 business day appeal deadline, what OHA looks at, and how reapplying after 90 days works.
VetCert Appeals: Seven Real Decisions on SBA Denials
Seven real decisions on VetCert denial appeals from 2025 and 2026, what each business argued, and what the judge decided.