Texas Veterans Commission (TVC) Senior Claims Benefits Advisor (CBA) Kathleen Pino serves as the primary liaison for transitioning service members seeking to complete Benefits Delivery at Discharge (BDD) claims for several military bases, as well as VBA claims support and referral for area veterans and their families. An Air Force veteran herself, she actively engages the active duty and veteran community by representing the TVC at pre-retirement briefs and ensuring continuing benefits awareness from active duty service to civilian life.
Based at the TVC Good Samaritan Veterans Outreach & Transition Center in San Antonio, Pino’s assistance in successfully filing claims results in a positive economic impact for veterans which in turn positively impacts their communities. Of those who get Pino’s help, 93% of her pre-discharge claims for retirees have returned with a rating of 100% service-connected for the veteran. This equates on average to benefits of $36,000 per service member/veteran annually [not including Special Monthly Compensation (SMC) or dependents]. Considering the average age of retirees is between 40-45 years old, this equates to over $1,000,000 in tax-free benefits over lifetime expectancy.
In addition to assisting retiring military, Pino works to help all veterans who come to her for Claims assistance. Her work recently resulted in a veteran receiving a one-time retro-award payment of $70,000.
Further, she works to keep her team well versed in Claims processes. Pino has been the primary driver of BDD processing training for her district (TVC’s Southwest District). She outlined and recorded submission protocol in the form of easy access documents in both physical and virtual form. This aided a multi-office effort to assist transitioning service member disability claims.
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Pictured is Senior Claims Benefits Advisor Kathleen Pino.
