Benefits at Delivery Discharge Benefits
The Benefits at Delivery Discharge (also known as BDD) program is a VA program which allows active duty service members to get a head start on filing for their VA disability benefits before separation. The program allows active duty military to file their claim on a disability, or multiple disabilities, up to 180 days ahead of their separation. The goal of the program is to expedite the VA benefits process; specifically, to obtain VA disability payments within 90 days after discharge.
According to VA.gov, to be eligible for BDD, service members must:
Know their separation date;
File their claim between 90 and 180 days prior to separation;
Provide a copy of their service treatment records (STRs) for the current period of service;
Provide a completed Separation Health Assessment - Part A Self-Assessment; and
Be available 45 days from the date the claim is submitted to attend Compensation & Pension (C&P) examinations.
In addition to service members who do not meet the requirements above, the following issues and conditions are excluded from BDD claims. Service members who are:
Seriously ill or injured;
Lost a body part;
Are terminally ill;
Claims requiring a C&P exam in a foreign country, except those that can be processed through Landstuhl, Germany or Camp Humphreys, Korea;
Claims for service members awaiting discharge while hospitalized in a VA or military treatment facility; or
Claims that require a character of discharge determination.
During the process, VA will gather evidence to substantiate the claim. This could entail gathering or requesting any medical records, service personnel records, or statements VA will need to determine entitlement to benefits. VA will also use this time to schedule mandatory C&P examinations to evaluate each of the disabilities that are claimed.
Importantly, active duty service members can start the BBD program, and development can proceed for the claims, concurrent to those last 180 days of active duty without any interruption in regular wages for service. By the point it is time for separation, most of the development for a BDD claim is already completed. While discharge paperwork (such as the VA Form DD-214) can take some time to come in, once it does, it is often the last element VA needs to complete the claim development and issue a decision.
The program was first rolled out by VA in Fiscal Year (FY) 2018. At that time, more than 36,000 service members submitted claims through BDD and about 53% of completed claims received a decision on their claim within 30 days. In the first month of FY 2019, about 3,437 claims were completed with 57.7% completed within 30 days.
There is a marked difference in the timeframe it takes for VA to process a BDD claim in comparison to a traditional VA disability benefits claim. While the goal in the BDD program is to establish monthly disability payments within 90 days after discharge, traditional VA disability claims can take many more months or even years to meet a satisfactory resolution.
Just like a traditional VA rating decision, if a veteran disagrees with any part of VA’s decision on their BDD claims, they have due process appeal rights just as with any other type of VA disability claim. Within one (1) year of the rating decision issued, they may appeal by filing either a VA Form 20-0995 (Supplemental Claim appeal), a VA Form 20-0996 (Request for Higher-Level Review), or a VA Form 10182 (Notice of Disagreement: Board Appeal).