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3. STICK TO THE TOPIC Many times, veterans go into an exam and tell stories of their service, Sampson says. Keep in mind that the examiner may never have served in the military, may be
unfamiliar with wartime experience and may not know military terminology or jargon. Keep the focus on the medical facts and the service-related disability. 4. COMMUNICATE OPENLY “As
vets, we are very prideful group. We signed up to serve our country. We love serving our country,” Sampson says. “When you add the nature of us being proud service members and the essence of
this being a very tedious process with a lot of paperwork, sometimes things are forgotten.” Think of the exam as the one chance to prove and explain to the VA what you have been
experiencing. Winning an appeal after a C&P exam can be even more difficult because the exam has already utilized taxpayer dollars, Sampson says. A delay in receiving benefits is only to
your detriment. On the day of your exam, relax and make sure you have memorized exactly what you plan to convey at your appointment. 5. CONSIDER USING A C&P COACH From his 10
years of experience as a C&P advocate, Sampson says veterans who are coached and educated on their disabilities through a firm like Seven Principles, which charges a fee for its
services, find that their disabilities rating increases, on average, by 30 points. A higher rating results in higher benefits. The VA does not charge a fee to file or appeal a claim. 6.
BE PATIENT FOR A DECISION The VA’s response time to a claim varies by case. When someone makes a good case on their own or has utilized a veterans advocacy group, it usually takes 60 to
90 days after the exam, Sampson says. Weaker cases take six months to a year. In one instance, Sampson encountered a claim that took two and a half years because the case wasn’t well
supported. 7. BE PREPARED FOR FUTURE EXAMS If you’re submitting 10 claims, you may have 10 individual C&P exams. Some claims require a “routine future examination,” and those could
come once a year over 10 years, or every other year over 25 years, Sampson says. _Aaron Kassraie writes about issues important to military veterans and their families for AARP. He also
serves as a general assignment reporter. Kassraie previously covered U.S. foreign policy as a correspondent for the Kuwait News Agency’s Washington bureau and worked in news gathering for
_USA Today_ and Al Jazeera English._