H&P Blog
Video Blog – Appeals Council and Federal Court
Natalia Jofre: Hello and welcome to Hill & Ponton Social Security Disability Blog, I’m Natalia Jofre. I’m the director for our Social Security section. Shelly Mark: And I am Shelly Mark, I am the senior Social Security attorney. Natalia Jofre: So in our last blog we talked about when you get an unfavorable decision, what […]
RAMP: Supplemental Claim Lane; New and Relevant Evidence
In the summer of 2017, President Trump signed into law the Appeals Modernization Act establishing a new process for the VA in the way they handle benefit processing. The Act is designed to improve timeliness, provide more transparency, and be fairer in an effort to improve benefits for veterans. The Act is expected to go […]
Servicewomen Long-Term Mental Health
As of September 2017, there were approximately 19 million women veterans in the United States, Puerto Rico, and foreign U.S territories. Is the women’s long-term mental health impact of service the same as their male counterparts? Overwhelming studies have shown that it is not and despite the research VA mental health care providers are lagging […]
How Does VA Determine A Psychiatric Disability Rating?
For all service-connected disabilities, the VA references its own rating schedule, and the criteria listed therein, in determining the appropriate rating. Most common disabilities are listed on the rating schedule, and for those that are not listed, the VA assigns an analogous rating by choosing a similar disability on the rating schedule which has the […]
Fire Fighting Foam…Deadly in the End
Perfluorooctane sulfonate or perfluorooctanoic acid, also known as PFOS and PFOA, are man-made chemicals used to make items heat or water resistant and found in a range of everyday items such as take-out food wrappers, no-stick cookware, and clothing. The military also uses the chemicals in highly concentrated foam to put out petroleum-based fires. In […]
PTSD: Basic Criteria
Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a recognized psychiatric disorder that a person may develop after exposure to a traumatic event. For many years, PTSD went widely undiagnosed or was not recognized as the serious condition it is. Thanks to advancements in research and the breakdown of social stigmas, we have more information about the […]
