Va C And P Exam For Ptsd

Compensation And Pension Examination Overview

A C& P examination is a very important and nearly universal step1 in the process of obtaining disability benefits from VA. Initial examination requests are typically initiated by VA after a veteran files an application2 with the Veterans Benefits Administration and all pertinent evidence has been obtained. The application, at minimum, requires a veteran to submit evidence of a disability or disabilities and to indicate how it or they may be connected to the veterans military service. There are several ways

Suggested Citation:PTSD Compensation and Military Service

to established service-connectedness, the most common being to prove one of the following:

• the injury or disease resulting in disability was incurred coincident with service in the Armed Forces

• a preexisting injury or disease was aggravated by active service

• a presumptive service connection was established by law or VA policy or

• the condition occurred as a result of an injury or disease that was incurred during the time of service .

Suggested Citation:

Five Reasons It Is A Challenge To Get The Right Va Ptsd Rating

1) Veterans facing the limitations of PTSD condition are already at their mental limits, meaning it is next to impossible to keep track of the VA red-tape and evidence needed to establish the right VA PTSD rating.

2) PTSD is a latent condition meaning it doesnt always arise on the battlefield. My own grandfather didnt experience this condition it was known as shellshock until years after he fought at the Battle of the Bulge. Because it often arrives later in life after service, it can be hard to convince the VA to service connect PTSD, no less give you the correct VA PTSD rating.

3) The VA regulations governing VA PTSD ratings and PTSD claims are rewritten frequently.

Many of these rewrites are pitched as being Vet Friendly or liberalizing rules to make the process easier. When they are put into practice, it turns out that new VA PTSD rating or service connection rules or regulations make the claims harder and are anti-veteran.

4) The VA has created a bottleneck in VA PTSD claims, by finding PTSD cannot be service-connected until a doctor whose bread is buttered by the VA concludes that there is the requisite nexus.This can dramatically delay the amount of time it takes you to get the appropriate VA PTSD rating.

Diagnosing Ptsd During A C& p Exam

VA uses criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition to evaluate whether there is a valid diagnosis of PTSD. This diagnostic criteria section of the DBQ is broken down into six categories . The subsequent section lists additional symptoms related to PTSD. Assuming a veteran meets all of the criteria from the DSM-V necessary for a PTSD diagnosis, the symptoms section of the DBQ will then help determine an appropriate disability evaluation.

Another important section of the DBQ addresses the veterans level of occupational and social impairment. Here, the level of impairment due to PTSD ranges from no diagnosis to total occupational and social impairment, with various levels in between. Veterans should be honest and forthcoming about how their PTSD affects their everyday life. Doing so will further help the examiner see the full extent of the condition.

The Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 may also be administered during the C& P exam. It is usually provided in a structured 30-minute interview during which the examiner asks questions that are intended to gauge what the veterans PTSD symptoms are, the duration and onset of those symptoms, how they affect the veteran in terms of occupational and social impairment .

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Prepare For The C& p Exam

The C& P Exam,short for Compensation and Pension, is an exam performed by a Civilian or VA physician to document the current severity of a condition that is being considered for VA Disability. Knowing how they rate you for any condition is extremely important. Here is how they rate you for PTSD caused by MST. You must believe in yourself. You must know the definition, signs, symptoms, cause, the effect of MST and PTSD. You must know how to apply that to your life. It all must be truthful and you must be living it. Take a loved one with you during the exam. What you forget they will remember. Tell them to speak up. Thoroughly discuss your plan. It is for moral support and comfort. Talk do not just sit there and answer questions. Tell them the age-old who what why where when and how your life was altered during the events that took place up to when you were raped to every day until you walked into that office. Here is what a VA Rater has to say about what you should do to win your claim.

Do not think you proved anything until you see it on paper. I was amazed when I was turned down and had to file again with the VSO. I was scheduled for a hearing for 6 months until they approved the disability. Some of them are televised a few are in front of a board. The VSO will be with you.

Copying and pasting text by everyone else is not helpful to you. It some cases it is illegal.

Just like me, you can do a Google Search for how to prepare for a c& p exam

Who Administers C& p Exams

In most cases, the VA provides psychologists, psychiatrists, and other mental health professionals to administer the exam. The administrator has access to the veterans medical records, recorded statements, treatment notes, and any other information relevant to the veterans disability claim. A failure to thoroughly review a veterans claims file could warrant challenging the results of the C& P exam, if necessary.

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Who Conducts C& p Exams For Ptsd

Generally speaking, VA-approved psychologists, psychiatrists, or other mental health professionals are going to conduct the C& P exam for PTSD. The examiner could be employed by VA directly or as an independent contracter. Regardless, the examiner is supposed to have access to and review the veterans full claims file prior to the examination. They have access to any medical records, lay statements, and treatment notes that may be relevant to the veterans claim. If you attend a C& P exam for PTSD and the examiner does not check off that they have reviewed your entire claims file, you could later use that piece of information to challenge the results of the exam .

Focal Point #: Proving The Ptsd Stressor Event

After knowing HOW to build the 4 Pillars in a PTSD claim, the second most important Focal Point is knowing how much you have to prove to establish and corroborate the stressor event.

If I had a nickel for every-time a Veteran didnt know which TYPE of stressor event he/she was claiming, I could probably buy myself a seat in Congress. Seriously, not knowing what TYPE of stressor you are proving up is one of the biggest reasons for wrongful VA denials of PTSD, and one of the biggest causes of delay in a military PTSD claim.

If your stressor occurred during combat, do you know what evidence you need to prove that the stressor occurred?

What if the stressor occurred in a combat zone, but not during actual combat?

If your stressor event occurred during a friendly fire casualty situation, will the VA consider this combat?

How much 5-star evidence do you need for a non-combat stressor?

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Other Websites With Great Advice

* Ask questions on Veterans Benefits Network Forums in the PTSD Specific Discussions section. The veterans on that site provide sound advice, and are a great source of support. It’s a forum for veterans, run by veterans.

Also ask questions on the HadIt.com Veterans Compensation & Pension Exams community forum. The HadIt.com community forums are also run by veterans, for veterans. You will receive both moral support and smart practical advice from your fellow vets.

* Read veterans law attorney Chris Attig’s 10 Tips to Help You Keep the C& P Exam in Perspective. He offers great advice from a legal perspective, which is entirely consistent with the suggestions I provide from a psychological perspective.

Communicate The Severity Of Your Ailments

When explaining your illness, make sure to connect how it is a result of your military service. If your condition waxes and wanes, and you arent feeling much pain on your examination day, articulate how you feel on the worst day to provide a true depiction of your disability.

Any new non-VA medical records that you may have before your appointment need to be submitted online through an accredited representative or mailed to a VA regional office. The C& P exam provider cant submit these documents for you.

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Pressure To Conduct Skimpy Exams

Political, institutional, and economic forces exert pressure on examiners to conduct inadequateeven unethicalC& P exams for PTSD.1

If you are a relatively new VA-employed examiner, or if you conduct PTSD exams for a Medical Disability Examination company such as QTC, LHI, or Veterans Evaluation Services , you might not believe such pressure exists.

But if you are willing to suspend judgement and consider the possibility that this might be true, I suspect you will be glad that you kept reading, because I will demonstrate how your current C& P exams are probably inadequate and maybe even unethical.

I encourage you to remain aware of our tendency to resolve cognitive dissonance by rejecting or explaining away contrary beliefs.2

The Ptsd Compensation And Pension Examination

This chapter provides an overview of the Veterans Administration posttraumatic stress disorder compensation process and the conducting of PTSD compensation and pension examinations. These examinations generate the information used by raters to evaluate compensation claims and, where appropriate, to determine the level of disabilitya process that is described in Chapter 5. The chapter also offers the committees response to several elements of the charge that related to these evaluations.

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How To Deal With A Negative Exam

So how much weight does a C& P exam have?

A lot.

A negative outcome doesnt mean that your claim is completely lost but at the same time, it might negatively affect your chance of winning government support. Thats because a document that states that your disability isnt as severe or is unrelated to your time in service will be given a lot of weight by the VA adjudicators.

The good news is that its possible to refute the examiners findings if youve got a genuine disability and can prove it.

Quick tip: Request a copy of the report right away by sending a request letter to your Regional Office. There is a chance the report doesnt properly represent the details of your ailment that you described to the examiner.

Here are the actions we recommend you take:

Who Conducts The C& p Exam For Mental Disorders

The VA assigns a mental health specialist to perform the exam. These could be:

• A board-certified psychiatrist
• A licensed doctorate-level psychologist
• Another mental health specialist who is under the supervision of a psychiatrist or a psychologist, such as a doctorate-level mental health provider, licensed clinical social worker, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant.

These examiners will evaluate your mental health issues using the VAs worksheet and other assessment standards.

Moreover, the type of medical professional assigned to perform your C& P exam will likely depend on your location and the availability of mental health examiners when you schedule your appointment.

In this video, one of our VA disability lawyers talks about the VA Rating Formula for Mental Disorders and Disabilities like PTSD.

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If Your C& p Exam Is On A Bad Date

* If you received a letter giving you an exam date, and that date presents problems for you, e.g., it’s hard for you to get off work or to find childcare, call the facility that scheduled the appointment to request a different exam date.

> I use the word ‘facility’ because the entity scheduling your C& P exam might be a C& P Clinic at a VA medical center, or it might be a third-party contractor such as LHI, VES, or QTC that has arranged for an exam with a psychologist or psychiatrist in private practice.

> If you call promptly, most facilities will find a C& P exam date that works for you. If not, keep detailed notes of your conversation and do your best to attend. Or contact your Veterans Service Officer to see if he or she can help.

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Consider Using A C& p Coach

From his 10 years of experience as a C& P advocate, Sampson says veterans who are coached and educated on their disabilities through a firm like Seven Principles, which charges a fee for its services, find that their disabilities rating increases, on average, by 30 points. A higher rating results in higher benefits.

The VA does not charge a fee to file or appeal a claim.

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Tips For Attending C& p Exams For Ptsd

First and foremost, veterans must attend the C& P exam for PTSD. Failure to do so without providing good cause can result in VA denying your claim without looking into further evidence. However, once you are at the C& P exam, there are several steps you can take to ensure VA is addressing your concerns fairly and appropriately. First, you should always be as honest as possible. Do not under- or over-report your symptomology. Instead, make sure to carefully explain to VA what you are experiencing on a daily basis and how it affects your functioning. Second, be aware that you can bring somebody with you to the exam if you feel as though they can offer additional information, or if you do not feel comfortable attending alone. Finally, remember that VA examiners are likely to observe you from the very beginning. This means that from the moment you walk into the waiting room, examiners may observe your interactions with other patients and the staff.

What Do I Do At A Va Compensation And Pension Exam For Ptsd

It is always a good idea for the veteran to take a witness to the examination. This person can be a spouse, adult child, family member, or close friend. A witness is important for a couple of reasons. First, it is easy for a veteran to not fully understand how PTSD affects him.

The witness will be able to discuss how the veteran interacts with others, which is a crucial part of PTSD. Second, veterans tend to forget important details about the exam. Third, this person can help the veteran deal with the stress veterans experience during VAs C& P exams.

If possible, the veteran should take the witness into the examination room with them. Unfortunately, the examiner frequently denies this request. Even if the witness cannot go with the veteran, it is important the veteran proceed with the exam. Failure to cooperate with a C& P examination can result in denial of the claim.

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The Big Question: How Important Is The C& p Exam For The Ruling

Now that youre familiar with what this entire process is, lets see just how much weight does a C& P exam have.

The answer isnt as straightforward as you might think. First, the examiner doesnt issue the decision they simply offer their expertise on the evidence you provided. Their report is simply taken into account when ruling on if your disability occurred as a result of service.

This means that you should be honest and detailed about your condition and symptoms in the exam instead of trying to persuade them.

In their report, the examiner can corroborate the description of your condition. Alternatively, they can also disagree with the evidence you presented.

Nonetheless, they are merely stating their professional opinion, and theyll express it with statements such as:

1. At least likely as not: means that there is a high probability that your disability is caused by your service.2. Less likely than not: means that there is a high probability theres no connection between your service and your current disability.

How Va Assigns Disability Ratings Following C& p Exams For Ptsd

After the C& P exam is complete, VA adjudicators will review it along with all of the other evidence in the veterans claims file. Specifically, VA rates PTSD under 38 CFR § 4.130, Diagnostic Code 9411, and assigns a disability rating ranging from 0 to 100 percent. The rating assigned is based on the level of social and occupational impairment, and the frequency, duration, and severity of symptoms. However, there are many times in which veterans believe their PTSD warrants a higher disability rating than the one assigned by VA. In this case, veterans have the right to appeal for a higher rating. When a veteran files for an increased rating for their PTSD, VA will likely send them to another C& P exam that will focus mainly on the severity of the condition.

It is important to note that the symptoms listed in the PTSD rating criteria are not an exhaustive list. This means that veterans are not required to have every single symptom listed to meet the criteria for that rating percentage. VA should assign the higher disability rating even if only some of the criteria are met.

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