What is VetScore?
As we set the course for our company, VetScore, we wanted to establish the foundational principle of what we aspire to achieve. Principally, we seek to modernize when and how service members interact with their medical records so they receive the correct VA disability rating compensation the first time they file a claim, saving thousands of dollars in attorney fees and more importantly, significantly reducing the time it takes to receive the correct VA disability rating compensation from years to days.
Honestly, every service member we know has experienced some problem navigating the VA disability ecosystem. In addition to hearing the endless real-world stories about the many issues navigating the VA claim systems, we have experienced these perplexing processes ourselves as combat veterans. This is precisely what led us to form a team to undertake this challenge on behalf of all service members and veterans once and for all.
No one doubts that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) offers many benefits, from healthcare to education to disability compensation. However, understanding and navigating the eligibility requirements and processes for each can be daunting, demoralizing, and defeating.
Through the VetScore team's personal experiences and commitment, we recognize the specific problems in the current system as well as the existing options. In addition to the VA claims process being expensive, lengthy, complicated, and convoluted, many veterans also face long wait times to get benefits, waiting months or even years for their claims to be processed. As a result, too many service members and veterans get lost in the bureaucratic maze. To make the problem worse, there is no shortage of organizations, companies, lawyers, and even accredited agents trying to disentangle these problems using the same stale concepts and the same outdated software they have been using over the last several decades.
The Problem
On the one side, you have Veterans Service Organizations that offer to guide service members through the process at no charge. These organizations are regularly short-staffed and experience extremely high employee turnover. When service members and veterans utilize these well-meaning organizations, they are often sent directly to voicemail or left reading an archaic automated email response directing them to educate themselves and fill out form after form on their own before they can be helped.
On the other side, you have companies, often led by attorneys or accredited agents, that offer to guide service members through the process for a high fee, most often in the range of 20%-30% of the veteran's earned compensation. In light of the reality that these companies are for-profit, they are often well-resourced and well-positioned to offer more hands-on assistance during the process, forcing service members and veterans to be faced with a cruel choice. Do they risk using a free and well-intentioned Veterans Service Organization that needs more resources to expedite the process, or do they select a private company that will demand nearly thirty percent of their earned compensation, literally costing Veterans thousands of dollars.
Another option is that indviduals will attempt to self-educate through Reddit, Facebook, and other social media sites. While cost effective, this option is vunerable to missing or under-rated health issues.
Two other long-standing problems with the VA claims ecosystem are unaddressed by both Veterans Service Organizations and private organizations. These unaccounted-for problems orbit around timing and education. We believe our novel approach to answering these issues will change the way millions of service members interact with the VA disability ecosystem.
The central problem is that service members start the VA disability claims too late in their career and this mistake triggers four cascading complications.
· The service members' medical records are not up to date and do not contain the keywords or phrases that translate into the VA disability ecosystem, resulting in:
· The service members’ initial application for VA benefits and rating compensation is denied or if approved, many of the health issues are rated too low, resulting in:
· Service members receiving thousands of dollars less than what they are entitled to, resulting in:
· Service members turning to understaffed and under-resourced Veterans Service Organization or paying thousands of dollars to a private firm to help them file an appeal, resulting in:
· Service members waiting years to complete the appeals process
The VetScore Solution
VetScore reimagines when service members begin thinking and caring about their health, wellness, and medical records starting on day one of military service. To achieve this, we focus on three Big Plays: The Product (VetScore), Community, and Content. Our Big Plays are designed to advance our foundational principle of modernizing when and how service members interact with their medical records so they receive the correct VA disability rating compensation the first time.
Product
First, our software, VetScore, allows currently serving military members to manage, monitor continuously, and, most importantly, correct their military medical records from the start of their military service at a fraction of the cost for a lawyer or accredited agent. VetScore enables currently serving military members to create a custom VA Disability Portfolio, similar to a person’s financial portfolio, that can be managed throughout a career, whether it is a four-year enlistment, a military academy five and dive, or a 20-year military career.
Community
Second, we are creating a first-of-its-kind virtual community for currently serving military members and veterans to learn and interact on a wide range of military veterans' health, policy, and advocacy issues from the moment they start military service. To do this, we are creating a space where honesty, respect, and accurate knowledge-sharing are front and center. It's essential to improve outreach and education for currently serving members and veterans so that they know what benefits they are entitled to and how to apply for them. Unfortunately, many service members and veterans don't even know what benefits are available to them, and providing them with the information they need could go a long way toward helping them get the support they need and have earned.
Content
Finally, to keep up with the constantly changing requirements, documentation, and actions, our modern content ensures everyone has access to the most up-to-date information available in a new and different way. Our artificial intelligence-based software ensures accurate information and error-free answers to the most challenging questions and concerns.