Can I pay for the medical nexus opinion after I win benefits?

This common question speaks to the idea of a contingency fee – meaning charges apply only if the veteran wins benefits. This is a common fee structure for lawyers and law firms, but we believe it is unethical for doctors to use this approach because these types of fee arrangements typically charge a percentage of the veteran’s recovery.

For example, if you won $50,000 in VA benefits, the service would take around 20-30% of that ($10,000-$15,000). Since the doctor is only performing one small service in the overall VA claim preparation, a contingency fee would be an excessive charge.

While we believe it is medically unethical to excessively charge for medical services, we are aware that some medical consulting firms set up these types of fee structures. We also understand that the high amount charged is a compensation for their willingness to undertake the risk of collecting nothing at all; however, we still believe this type of fee structure is appropriate only for law firms and not for medical consulting firms or agencies. If you are going to pay a contingency fee, it should be to a law firm who will represent you throughout the case and who will pay the up-front cost of the expert nexus letter for you, and only get paid for legal services and reimbursement at the end if you win.

Instead, we charge flat, fixed fees for different specialties – regardless of the case size. Our fee structure is listed below. If your disability requires a medical specialty not listed on our fee chart, we can refer you to an outside resource.