Why Was My VA Claim Denied in 2025?
The Answer: Billion Dollar Middlemen Contractors

2025 Numbers Straight from VAs own reports

• Total VA budget: $368 billion
• Disability compensation paid out: $196 billion to 6.9 million veterans
• Money allocated to validate new claims: $4.15 billion
• Of that $4.15 billion, 93 % ($3.534 billion) goes to five prime contractors
• Those five primes keep 70-80 % of the money for administration (mostly scheduling)
• The actual medical exam is only 20-30 % of the total cost
• These same primes donate millions to the politicians that provide VA oversite.

Federal law is on your side

If your condition is at least as likely as not (a true 50/50 chance or better) caused or aggravated by service, and if the evidence is dead-even 50/50, the law (38 CFR 3.102) says the claim must be granted in your favor.

So why are 1.1 million veterans still denied every year?

Because the system runs on two things:

1. Contractor profit-driven churn more denials = more refiles = more exams = more revenue
2. VA rater quotas measured on speed and volume, not accuracy or fairness

The VA reports record processing speed in 2025 (over 2.5 million claims), but the denial rate is still 38 % and trending higher. Faster denials are not a win for veterans.

VAs own audits:

• 20-45 % of contractor exams are flat-out wrong
• 15-40 % are completely unnecessary
• Zero clawbacks ever

The proof your denial was probably unfair

Higher-Level Reviews and Supplemental Claims overturn approximately 50 % of initial denials. The Board of Veterans Appeals grants 60-75 % of appeals that reach them because the initial rater and contractor got it wrong (VA Board Annual Report FY2025 & Monday Morning Workload Reports).

That means the statistical probability is 50-75 % that your denial was in error or not justified.

What you can do right now

1. Dont give up the data says youre probably right.
2. File a Higher-Level Review (HLR) if the VA simply ignored your existing evidence about 50 % success, 45 months average.
3. File a Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence (private DBQ, buddy statements, MOS tables) also about 50 % success, 48 months average.
4. Share this article the more veterans know the system is built for churn, the louder we get.

The fix for the entire system requires zero new taxes just redirect the $3.8 billion middleman money straight to veterans, SCHEDULE THEIR OWN EXAMS.

Saving Veterans One Claim at a Time Through Advocacy, Education, and Exposing Fraud, Waste, and Abuse.

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