Before any mission, you checked your gear, confirmed your orders, and made sure the people beside you knew the plan. Winning a VA appeal takes the same kind of preparation. It all starts with finding out exactly why the VA denied your claim or rated your condition lower than what you live with.
The care you already receive can become part of that preparation. VA Central Iowa, the health system behind the Des Moines VA Medical Center, calls its mental health program a regional center of excellence for veteran-focused care, with residential treatment for PTSD and substance use. If you’re being treated for PTSD, depression, or another service-connected condition, our VA-accredited lawyers can turn those treatment records into evidence for your appeal.
Hill & Ponton’s attorneys have stood beside veterans and their families since 1986, and the firm is entirely dedicated to disability law. We win 96% of the cases we take, and you owe us nothing until your appeal succeeds.
Our Legal Services for Des Moines Veterans
- Disability Compensation: We review how the VA rated each of your service-connected conditions, push for the percentage your records support, and make sure your retroactive pay covers every month you were owed.
- VA Disability Appeals: If the VA turned down your claim or rated it too low, we take over the appeal and see it through every stage, up to a hearing before a Veterans Law Judge if you need one.
- Rating Increases: When a condition gets worse, your rating should keep up. We document how your symptoms have changed and ask the VA for the increase you now qualify for.
- Special Monthly Compensation: The most serious disabilities, including blindness, loss of use of a limb, or a need for daily help from another person, can make you eligible for Special Monthly Compensation, and we make sure it isn’t overlooked.
- Individual Unemployability: When service-connected conditions end your ability to work, Individual Unemployability can pay you at the 100% rate without a 100% combined rating, and we gather the work and medical records to prove it.
- DIC and Survivor Benefits: Your family may be owed Dependency and Indemnity Compensation and other survivor benefits after a veteran’s service-connected death, and we help you pursue them.
What Compensation and Benefits Are Available to You?
The VA rates each service-connected condition from 0% to 100%, and that rating determines your monthly payment.
When you have several conditions, the VA combines their ratings with its own formula. A 40% rating and a 30% rating, for example, combine to 58%, which rounds up to 60%. Our VA disability calculator can estimate your combined rating.
Current monthly payments for an unmarried veteran with no dependents:
- 10%: $180.42
- 20%: $356.66
- 30%: $552.47
- 40%: $795.84
- 50%: $1,132.90
- 60%: $1,435.02
- 70%: $1,808.45
- 80%: $2,102.15
- 90%: $2,362.30
- 100%: $3,938.58
A spouse, children, or parents who depend on you can add to your monthly check. Beyond federal pay, Des Moines veterans may also be eligible for Iowa’s state benefits for disabled veterans, which include property tax relief, homeownership help, the Injured Veterans Grant, and more.
Work with us to get your benefits
Toxic Exposure Claims
Several Iowa military bases have documented contamination with PFAS. The PACT Act broadened VA benefits for toxic exposure and toxins you encountered during training or active-duty service can qualify you as well.
- Des Moines Air National Guard Base (Des Moines): The base is undergoing a full remedial investigation, which DoD orders once PFAS results pass EPA screening levels. Heavy exposure to PFOA and PFOS has been tied to kidney and testicular cancer risk, according to ATSDR.
- Camp Dodge (Johnston): PFAS testing at the Johnston Training Site is complete, and DoD has a remedial investigation planned.
- Iowa Army Ammunition Plant (Middletown): EPA’s cleanup profile puts RDX, depleted uranium, metals, and volatile organic compounds at the top of the plant’s contaminant list, and groundwater near its old firefighting training areas has tested positive for PFAS. RDX in large amounts can bring on seizures.
If the VA turned down your exposure claim before, records that place you at one of these installations can give an appeal the footing it needs.
What Evidence Can Win a VA Disability Claim?
Every claim the VA grants rests on the same foundation. You need a current diagnosis from a medical provider, proof that something happened while you served, such as an injury, illness, or exposure, and a medical opinion showing your condition is at least as likely as not linked to it.
A denial usually traces back to a weak spot in one of those three elements. Your service records might never mention the event, your treatment notes might stop for years, or the opinion in your file might skip the reasoning the VA looks for.
We identify which element is missing and rebuild it, whether that means gathering statements from people you served with, tracking down records from the Des Moines VA Medical Center, or arranging an independent medical opinion.
Tell us about your case
When Should You Hire a VA Disability Lawyer?
The moment a decision goes against you is the right time to call. Your review options come with deadlines, and choosing the wrong one can limit what evidence the VA considers.
Everything starts with the decision letter. It explains why the VA ruled against you, and that reason tells you what the appeal has to answer. A lawyer compares the VA’s reasoning with your claims file to find the flaw in it, whether that’s an overlooked record, a rating criterion applied incorrectly, or an exam that ignored symptoms you reported. The kind of error determines which review option gives you the best chance of fixing it.
Your VA Appeal Options
- Supplemental Claim: Submit new and relevant evidence, such as updated records or a medical opinion, that answers the reason the VA gave for denying you.
- Higher-Level Review: Ask a senior VA reviewer to look at the same file again for a mistake. You can’t add evidence on this route.
- Board of Veterans’ Appeals: Take your case to a Veterans Law Judge through direct review, a new-evidence docket, or a hearing. Our appeals timeline walks through how long each path tends to take.
Timing is strict. A Higher-Level Review or a Board appeal has to be requested within one year of the date on your decision letter, so bringing in a lawyer early keeps every option available to you.
VA Facilities and Veterans Services in the Des Moines Area
- Polk County Veterans Affairs: Free, local help from Polk County’s veterans service officers with VA claims and benefit applications. 2309 Euclid Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50310. Phone: 515-286-3670.
- Des Moines VA Medical Center: 3600 30th Street, Des Moines, IA 50310. Phone: 515-699-5999.
- Des Moines VA Clinic (Community Resource and Referral Center): 1223 Center Street, Suite 17, Des Moines, IA 50309. Phone: 515-699-5637.
- South Des Moines VA Clinic: 1211 East Army Post Road, Des Moines, IA 50315. Phone: 515-256-9540.
- Des Moines Vet Center: 1821 22nd Street, Suite 115, West Des Moines, IA 50266. Phone: 515-284-4929.
- IDVA Iowa Veterans Benefits Office: The state benefits office that supports county service officers. Camp Dodge, Building 3465, 7105 NW 70th Avenue, Johnston, IA 50131. Phone: 515-252-4698.
- Des Moines VA Regional Benefit Office: 210 Walnut Street, Des Moines, IA 50309. VA benefits hotline: 800-827-1000.
Housing Support for Homeless and At-Risk Veterans in Des Moines
VA Central Iowa’s homeless program can help you find transitional or permanent housing, get financial help to avoid losing your home, enroll in job training, and access treatment for addiction or depression, along with health and dental care. Its homeless services offices sit just north of downtown near 12th and Center Streets. In December 2024, VA Central Iowa began stationing its mobile clinic on Fridays at that downtown facility for veterans experiencing homelessness, bringing health care straight to the veterans who need it.
The 2025 Point-in-Time count for the Des Moines/Polk County area identified 40 homeless veterans, and many more could be struggling to pay rent. When the VA denies or underrates your claim, the compensation you’re missing can make the difference in keeping your home. Hill & Ponton prioritizes appeals from veterans facing homelessness, and you pay nothing unless we win.
Meet Our Expert Legal Team
VA disability attorneys and case professionals fighting for veterans in Des Moines and nationwide.
Let Us Fight For Your Benefits
Need help appealing a VA decision? Contact our Des Moines disability lawyers for a free evaluation of your claim.