What Is 60 Percent Va Disability

Is It Possible To Increase Your Va Disability Rating For Knee Pain

If you have received your disability rating and believe it should be higher, VA allows you to submit an appeal to earn higher VA compensation for knee pain. Within one year of the VA decision, you must file a Notice of Disagreement , supplemental claim, or take the higher review lane. Each of these are viable options under the AMA legislation.

You can file for an increase if your condition worsens and you are not yet receiving maximum compensation. You can submit a new claim for a secondary condition that will result in a new VA rating. You can increase your VA rating for knee pain by combining multiple disabilities. You can also increase your VA disability knee pain rating by filing it as bilateral if it is affecting both sides of the body. It may be beneficial to hire a legal representative who understands what your condition will qualify for.

Gastritis And Va Disability Benefits

What Is Gastritis?

Gastritis is a general term for a group of conditions that cause inflammation of the lining of the stomach. It may occur suddenly or develop slowly over time . In some cases, gastritis can lead to an increased risk of stomach cancer. However, for some people gastritis may not be serious and may be manageable with treatment. Some of the most common symptoms of gastritis are:

• Gnawing or burning ache or pain in the upper abdomen
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Feeling fullness in the upper abdomen after eating

While most of these symptoms also coincide with general symptoms of indigestion, if someone experiences any of these symptoms for a week or longer, he or she should visit their doctor to determine the cause.

Several of the main causes of chronic gastritis are over-use of alcohol, stress, and regular use of certain pain relievers. Due to the common occurrence of these conditions among veterans, particularly those who suffer from PTSD, chronic gastritis is increasingly more common among those who seek disability benefits from the VA. As a result, the VA has created a schedular disability rating code for chronic gastritis, and veterans with this condition are eligible to receive VA disability benefits.

Getting Service Connected For Gastritis

How The VA Rates Gastritis

Diagnostic Code 7307: Gastritis, hypertrophic

Gastritis, atrophic.

• A complication of a number of diseases, including pernicious anemia. Rate the underlying condition.

Help With Your Gastritis Claim

Special Monthly Compensation Rates For Veterans Without Children

Effective December 1, 2020

Levels L through O cover specific disabilities and situations. Learn how we assign SMC levels L through O

Level R may apply if you need daily help from another person for basic needs .

Level S may apply if you cant leave the house because of your service-connected disabilities.

Start with the Basic SMC rates table. Find the dependent status in the left column that best describes you. Then look for your SMC letter designation in the top row. Your monthly basic rate is where your dependent status and SMC letter meet.

If you have more than one child or your spouse receives Aid and Attendance benefits, be sure to also look at the Added amounts table, and add these to your amount from the Basic SMC rates table.

Start with the Basic SMC rates table. Find the dependent status in the left column that best describes you. Then look for your SMC letter designation in the top row. Your monthly basic rate is where your dependent status and SMC letter meet.

If you have more than one child or your spouse receives Aid and Attendance benefits, be sure to also look at the Added amounts table, and add these to your amount from the Basic SMC rates table.

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Making The Case For A Rating Increase

There may come a point after youve received VA benefits for a period of time that your disability begins to worsen. You may experience greater pain, suffer broader or more challenging symptoms, or find that your day-to-day functioning has decreased. You may even find that its getting harder to work and sustain gainful employment. If this happens, you may feel that the percentage rating you were assigned when your claim was first approved is no longer high enough to represent the deterioration and regression in your health due to your disability. Ultimately, you may want to ask the VA for a rating increase.

The process for making this request isnt difficult. However, the outcome of this request may not be exactly what you expect or intend. Its possible that making a request for this change can actually lower your disability rating. Thus, its helpful to hire a lawyer who can explain why a request for an increase can mean a higher rating without an increase in financial compensation and why it can ultimately decrease your percentage rating.

What Happens After Va Grants Service Connection For Ptsd

Once a veteran establishes service connection for their PTSD claim, thebattle isnt over. The veteran must do what he can to make sure the VA gives him the correct compensation.

Compensation is based on the rating VA assigns a veteran . This rating is based on how severe the veterans PTSD symptoms are.

Because the ratings are based on the veterans symptoms, its important to have medical records. These records should detail the symptoms the veteran suffers, and how they affect the veterans life.

Again, this is another area where having medical opinions is crucial to building a strong case. The max rating is 100%, but this is hard to get. A lot of veterans end up with a 70% rating and unemployability because they cannot work.

The VA will use a C& P exam to help them determine what the appropriate rating is. A veteran should review the PTSD rating criteria that VA uses. The veteran should discuss with family and friends how they see PTSD affecting the veteran. This will give the veteran evidence he needs to assure the C& P examiner as a full picture of his problems.

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Who Assigns Va Disability Ratings

Typically, VA disability ratings are assigned by Rating Officers, such as Decision Review or Higher-Level Review Officers, at the Regional Office level, or by Board Members at the Board of Veterans Appeals. The type of rating official issuing a disability evaluation depends on the level at which your case resides . To rate each service-connected condition, adjudicators use the VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities . Under that schedule, each disability is assigned to a specific diagnostic code and rated in increments of 10 percent.

Calculating Multiple Va Disability Ratings

Multiple disability ratings are a little tricky to calculate and are beyond the scope of this article. But well give a brief overview. In short, the VA uses a special method for calculating multiple disabilities.

Here is a simplified example:

Example: If you have a 30% disability rating, the VA would multiply that against 100%, which is assumed to be good health. This gives you 30%. Subtract that from 100% which leaves you with 70% . Then subtract 70% from 100% and you are left with 30%. If that is your only disability, then your final VA Service-Connected Disability Rating is 30%.

If you have multiple ratings, you continue with the process, using your final number each time as your starting point. Continuing with our example, if your next rating is 10%, you would multiply 10% against 70%, which is 7%. You subtract that from 70%, which leaves you with 63%. Subtract 63% from 100% and you get 37%. Your disability rating is 37%, which rounds up to 40%.

It can get complicated quickly, so I have an in-depth article and podcast that explain how the VA calculates combined disability ratings. I highly recommend reading and/or listening to get a good idea of how the process works!

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About 2022 Va Disability Compensation Rates

Your 2022 VA disability compensation is a monthly tax-free payment from the Department of Veterans Affairs paid to former military service members who sustained an illness or injury during their time in service. Veterans with preexisting conditions exacerbated by their time in service, or who develop service-connected disabilities following their time in service, may also apply for benefits. Veterans may also receive additional benefit due to extenuating circumstances, including their number of dependents, loss of limb or other severe injury, or by having a disabled spouse.

It is important to note that this benefit is not permanent, and it may be subject to review. On a wider scale, the VA may change its rating schedule at any time, but it may also reexamine your individual claim to judge whether your disability has improved or worsened, thus affecting your benefit amount. In case of the latter, you would want to initiate the review yourself to ensure they receive a higher benefit for a worse disability.

Disability Ratings Are Awarded On A Case By Case Basis

The VA rates each disability claim on a case by case basis. The VA first determines whether or not the illness or injury was sustained while the servicemember was in the military, then they assign a rating for each illness or injury. If the VA determines the injury or illness isnt related to your military service or didnt happen while you were in the military, they will deny your claim. If the VA approves your claim, they will assign it a rating between 0% 100%.

A 0% rating shows there is an illness or injury that is connected to your military service, but it doesnt warrant compensation at this time. It is still good to get a 0% rating compared to no service-connected link because if the condition worsens at a later date, you can apply to have your disability rating upgraded.

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Va Disability Pay Rates

60 VA Disability Pay

In 2020, a 60 percent VA disability rating is worth a minimum of $1,131.68 per month and is tax free at both the state and federal levels.

Many veterans with an 60% VA rating are looking for ways toincrease their VA rating because of the additional benefits available at the100% VA rating.

According to VBA data reported to congress, 8.9% of disabledveterans or 421,137 out of 4,743,108 currently have a 60 percent VA disabilityrating.

A 2020 60 VA disability pay chart is shown here for quickreference:

Combined Rating System For Veterans With Multiple Disabilities

Veterans with multiple disabilities use the combined rating system.

To use the combined rating system, arrange the disabilities in order by severity and locate the intersect of the two numbers on the table below.

The VA rounds the final figure to the nearest to 10 percent.

If the Veteran has more than two disabilities, find the combined value for the first two, without rounding, and repeat with the third disability. Once you have a final number, round to the nearest 10%.

For example, if disability 1’s rating is 40% and disability 2’s is 20%, the combined rating is 52%. That figure gets rounded to the nearest 10%, making the disability rating 50%.

For a three-disability example, if disability 1’s rating is 60%, disability 2’s rating is 30%, and disability 3’s rating is 20%, we first find the rating of 1 and 2. The rating of 1 and 2 comes out to be 72. We then take the first combined rating and find the intersect with disability 3. The final number comes out at an even 80% rating.

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A Change In Your Family Status Can Change Your Va Disability Payment

Remember to contact the VA whenever you have a change in family status as your rates may change as well. If you have a 30% disability rating or higher and you are also supporting qualified dependents such as a spouse, child, or parent, you may be eligible to receive a higher VA disability payment. If your disability rating is 20% or lower, changes in your family status should not affect your VA disability payment rates.

The VA will not know when there is a change in your family status, so you will need to inform them immediately when something changes such as a birth, wedding, a parent moving in with you, divorce, a child coming of age, or the death of a qualified dependent.

It is always best to inform the VA of a change as soon as possible. However, in some cases, you wont be able to do so until you have more information .

Keep in mind that the VA will sometimes backdate payments to make up for any shortfalls, or in the case of the loss of an eligible dependent, your payment may decrease. On the flip side, the VA can come after overpayments if you failed to notify the VA of a change in family status in a timely manner.

Be sure to contact the VA disability center for more information.

Why Is A 60% Disability Rating Important

A 60% rating is important for TDIU benefits because it is the minimum rating that you must receive before you can qualify for these benefits.

As discussed above, if you have one service-connected disability rated at 60%, then you may be eligible for these benefits. However, a 60% rating is also important if you have multiple service-connected disabilities that meet the below conditions. If you meet these conditions, your multiple disabilities can be combined and considered as one disability that would need to meet a 60% rating as opposed to a 70% rating for TDIU qualification.

These conditions are:

• Upper or Lower Extremity Disability: One or both of your arms or one or both of your legs are disabled.
• Single Accident Disabilities: You were in an accident during military service, and you have multiple disabilities that resulted from this single accident.
• Disabilities Affecting One Body System: One of your internal body systems is impacted by several service-connected disabilities.
• Combat-Related Injuries: You suffered multiple injuries during a combat-related action.
• Disabilities Sustained as a Prisoner of War: You were a prisoner of war and you have multiple disabilities that have resulted from the time you were held captive.

If you need help determining whether your combined disabilities fall within one of the above categories, our expert team of TDIU lawyers can walk you through this process.

Talk to Us About Your Claim:

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Basic Eligibility For Va Benefits

There is a threshold level of eligibility that must be met for a veteran to be considered for any VA benefit. To be eligible for VA benefits, a person must have:

• been on active service, and
• received a discharge under conditions other than dishonorable.

After meeting these basic requirements, specific benefits programs will have additional eligibility requirements that must be met.

Service Connection By Aggravation

Individuals who were diagnosed with knee pain before their time in service are also eligible for VA compensation if their condition is worsened by their time in the military. To prove service connection by aggravation, you must present evidence that proves your disability worsened. For disabilities that naturally worsen, such as arthritis getting more severe over time, you must prove that the deterioration was accelerated beyond a natural level as a result of military service.

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Percent Disability Pay Rates

As of December 1, 2020, the minimum monthly payment a single veteran with no dependents and an 80 percent disability rating will receive is $1,679.35. The monthly VA disability compensation increases with each additional child or other qualifying legal dependents. The rates listed below will remain in effect until November 30, 2021, and are eligible for a cost-of-living increase at that time.

• Unmarried with one dependent parent but no dependent children: $1,791.35 per month
• Unmarried with two dependent parents but no dependent children: $1,903.35 per month
• With one dependent child but no spouse or dependent parents: $1,772.35 per month
• Unmarried with one dependent child and one dependent parent: $1,884.35 per month
• Unmarried with one dependent child and two dependent parents: $1,996.35 per month

Veterans with an 80 percent disability rating receive $69.00 per month for each additional child under the age of 18. They are also eligible for a monthly payment of $225 for each additional child over the age of 18 enrolled in an accredited post-secondary education program whom they financially support.

How Has The Veterans Disability Benefit Program Changed In Recent Years

• Changes in federal policies
• Sustained warfare overseas
• Veterans of the recent wars with disabilities have an average of 6.3 medical conditions each, much higher than past wars.
• The expanded eligibility for conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder and other common afflictions
• The federal government has increased its incentives and campaigns to encourage veterans to apply for VA benefits.

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How To Get 100 Percent Disability From Va

• You must be a Veteran.
• You must have at least one service-connected disability rated at 60% or higher OR
• Two or more service-connected disabilities with at least one rated at 40% or more with a combined rating of 70% or more.
• You must be unable to maintain substantially gainful employment as a result of your service-connected disabilities .