Air Force Veteran Benefits
Serving in the U.S. Air Force means that you are lawfully entitled to an array of veteran disability benefits. Among the benefits available to Texas veterans, you can rightfully receive benefits for compensation and pensions, readjustment, medical and construction programs, insurance and indemnities, and many others.
However, perhaps one of the more important and widely received benefits is for health care. Unfortunately, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has received significant criticism for its untimely handling of benefits.
To receive benefits, vets must undertake eight distinct steps to get their claims approved, and in a majority of cases, this means waiting for a year or longer. This is often time that vets don’t have and shouldn’t have to wait. When receiving your Air Force benefits, it is highly encouraged to have a prominent Texas veteran benefits lawyer on your side and representing your case to the Houston Regional Office of the VA.
Summary of Veteran’s Benefits and What You Need to Know
From pay to the GI Bill, from VA home loans to health care, your service in the U.S. Air Force, the Air Force Reserve, or the Air National Guard means that you are eligible for valuable military benefits. Specifically in Texas, you can, therefore, receive benefits for Property Tax Exemptions, State Retirement Benefits, Veterans Home Improvement Loan Programs, Texas National Guard Tuition Scholarship Programs, Veterans Employment Preference, Vehicle License Plates, and Hunting and Fishing License privileges.
Keep in mind that this is just a short list, and does not include federal VA benefits. Below you can find comprehensive descriptions of some of Texas’s most attractive and useful benefits for Air Force Veterans:
- Education Benefits — The Texas Hazelwood Act ensures up to 150 hours of tuition for qualified veterans, their spouses, and dependent children.
- Employment Benefits — The Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment program offers free educational and vocational counseling to service members, veterans, and certain dependents.
- Housing Benefits — Several Texas laws provide partial exemptions for any property owned by disabled veterans as well as surviving spouses and children of deceased veterans. The Texas Veterans Land Board offers Veterans Housing Assistance Program for financing toward a home for qualified veterans.
- Burial Benefits — The VA offers several burial benefits to veterans, including a government headstone or marker for the unmarked grave, a U.S. flag to drape the casket or accompany the urn of a deceased veteran, and burial in a national cemetery.
- Other Perks — Texas also offers a myriad of other benefits from various departments. For instance, the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles has many military and veteran specialty license plates, the Texas Parks & Wildlife provides a State Parklands Passport, and so forth.
The Claims Process for VA Benefits
It is important to note that acquiring most VA benefits require a complex application process. According to the VA, disability compensation or claims for benefits must go through eight distinct steps. The length of time each step requires depends on the complexity of the claim, the amount of evidence that needs to be gathered to support a claim, and the type of evidence available. These steps often include:
- Claims Received.
- Claims Under Review
- Gathering of Evidence
- Review of Evidence
- Preparation for the Decision.
- Pending Decision Approval
- Preparation for Notification
- Completion
The VA knows that if you’re better informed, you are better prepared to meet the requirements of your case. This is especially true when it comes to health care cases. As such, using an attorney early in your case can ultimately better your chances to present a well-developed claim-file in support of your claims.
Fortunately, in accordance with Public Law 109-461, The Veterans Benefits and Health Care and Information Technology Act of 2006, you can have an attorney when presenting a claim to the VA. Keep in mind, however, that to have a lawyer representing your case, you must first send in a Notice of Disagreement with the VA.
Contact Herren Law For Houston’s Leading VA Benefits Attorney
At Herren Law, we invite any U.S. Air Force veteran to contact us when in need of legal representation for your VA claim. No matter if you were disabled or you need to pursue the benefits entitled to you for education, housing, and more. With the aid of the leading Houston attorneys at Herren Law, we will devote extensive attention to your case and utilize the full potential of third-party medical professionals and others to ensure that every claim meets the standard of proof required by the Board of Veterans Appeals and the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.
In addition to presenting a strong and thorough case, we aim to prove the validity of the claim as soon as possible so that you can receive your benefits in due time. For a free consultation with the attorneys at Herren Law, call us today at (800) 529-7707.
For your benefit, we have also listed the Houston Regional VA Office below:
Houston Regional Benefit Office
6900 Almeda Road
Houston, TX 77030
Phone: 800-827-1000
Other important resources include:
Houston West Vet Center
701 N. Post Oak Road Suite 102
Houston, TX 77024
Phone: 713-682-2288
Houston Vet Center
3000 Richmond Avenue, Suite 355
Houston, TX 77098
Phone: 713-523-0884
Harris County Vet Center
14300 Cornerstone Village Dr., Suite 110
Houston, TX 77014
Phone: 281-537-7812
Houston Domiciliary Care for Homeless Veterans
7329 Fannin Street
Houston, TX 77030
Phone: 713-794-7922
Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center
2002 Holcombe Blvd
Houston, TX 77030
713-791-1414
