Q: Why do you require 20% of the letter fee before the letter is completed?
A: We charge the $100 for the records review, once your records are reviewed and the provider agrees they can write a positive letter we charge 20% of the letter cost ($120) because we have had several clients recently who either take months to pay or say they changed their mind after the letter was completed and no longer want the letter. This isn’t fair to our providers as they’ve put the work in to write the letter and this is our attempt to deter such behavior in the future.
Q: What is your success rate?
A: 87% (based on previous clients that have responded to our inquiry as of 12/16/22)
Q: Does your psychiatrist write for TBI claims?
A: No, as she is not comfortable writing for TBI claims we do not offer letters dealing with such at this time.
Q: Are your letters written on a doctor’s letterhead?
A: Our letters are written on our company letterhead.
Q: Do your letters contain the phrasing “at least as likely as not” or “more likely than not”?
A: Yes.
Q: Does a Doctor sign my letter?
A: Who signs your letter depends on who writes the letter. Our general medicine letters are written by one of our PA’s, our audiology letters are written by our audiologist, our podiatry letters are written by our podiatrist, and our psychiatric letters are written by our psychiatrist.
Q: Do you offer refunds for negative findings or not being able to write a positive letter?
A: We do not offer refunds if your medical record does not represent what we were told before starting your records review. It is your responsibility to be honest with us that your record contains the events and diagnoses that we are led to believe before starting your review. IF we find that your record does not allow us to write a positive Nexus Letter for your condition(s) then we will not write a letter and you will only be charged for the record review.
We also offer NO guarantee that the VA will find in your favor.
Q: What if you find you can’t write my letter?
A: You will be contacted with our findings and we will request from you what we would need to see to proceed with a letter. We will not take part in argument or discussion of why you do not think we need said evidence/documentation.
Q: How long will it take to receive my letter?
A: We will make evert effort to try to produce your letter in a timely fashion, but there are many factors that will decide how long your letter will take.
Factors that can affect the amount of time it takes to receive your letter: the number of conditions you’re claiming, the complexity of your conditions, the size of your medical records, how well you have organized your records before sending the records for review, and the number of people ahead of you.
Record review and letters are first come first serve, but we will try to accommodate reasonable requests for your letter to be expedited. (This may result in a fee.)
Q: Who can write a veteran’s nexus letter?
A: I think VA Claims Insider said it best… “A VA Nexus Letter is an evidence-based document prepared by a qualified medical professional, such as a PA-C or an MD, that helps to establish a connection between the claimed in-service disease or injury and the veteran’s current disability…Even though veterans can technically use a Nurse Practitioner (NP) to do a VA Nexus letter, you need to be thinking about which qualified medical professional will give you the most weight before the C&P examiner and the VA Rater, keeping in-mind the importance of competency and credibility of the evidence-based written medical documentation.
For example, a NP attends nursing school while a PA attends medical school or other center of medicine.
Thus, a PA will generally have more education and training, in which they focus on the biologic and pathologic components of health, and practice assessment, diagnosis, and treatment.
Of course, a veteran may also choose to hire a Medical Doctor (MD) or other specialty physician, although this usually comes at a premium price.
In our experience working over 5,000 VA disability claims to date, we have yet to see a single instance where an MD’s nexus letter trumped a PA’s nexus letter.
Why?
Because the best VA Nexus Letters are LESS about the doctor’s credentials, and MORE about the quality of the content, mainly, the records reviewed, medical research studies cited, case law precedent examples, and the nexus statement for service connection.”
Q: Do you accept records via email?
A: Yes, we are able to accept emailed records! Our HIPAA compliant email (password required) is Records@JGardnerAndAssociates.com. If you would like to learn more about our email’s HIPAA compliance CLICK HERE.
Q: Do you write letters for tinnitus or other hearing conditions?
A: YES! We are so excited to to have Dr. Christine Erickson PhD on our team. Her expertise and and background allow us to write nexus letters for hearing claims.
Q: Do you write letters for PTSD or other psych conditions?
A: YES! We are so excited to have Dr. Amy Connell MD on our team. Her expertise and and background allow us to write nexus letters for psychiatric claims.
Q: Do you perform C&P exams or complete DBQs?
A: No. We do not provide these services at this time.
Have more questions? Please email us: Info@JGardnerAndAssociates.com
Veteran Benefits ClaimVeteran VA Nexus Letter