What If I Am Unable To Work Due To My Ptsd But Do Not Meet The Criteria For A 100 Percent Schedular Disability Rating
If the VA has granted you a 70 percent schedular disability rating for PTSD, and you do not meet the criteria for a 100 percent schedular disability rating under the above General Rating Formula For Mental Disorders but are still unable to work, you may be eligible for a TDIU rating, which results in 100 percent compensation on permanent and total basis. A veteran is entitled to a TDIU rating when he or she is unable to work due to the effects of his or her service-connected impairments on his or her occupational functioning. If you are unable to work due to your service-connected PTSD symptoms, you are eligible to receive a TDIU rating, which will pay you 100 percent compensation even though you do not meet the criteria for a 100 percent schedular disability rating, i.e., you are unable to work due to your PTSD but do not have persistent delusions or auditory or visual hallucinations, etc.
How Much Disability Compensation Will I Receive For Anxiety
The amount you receive in monthly VA disability for anxiety disorders depends on the disability rating.
Those that receive a lower rating may or may not receive monthly disability compensation.
However, even those with a 0% rating for anxiety and depression still qualify for free VA health care which can assist with medical bills and treatment.
In general, those at a VA disability rating of 30% can expect around $430 per month while a 50% rating pays out much higher at $880 per month.
The highest levels of impairment offer substantial monthly compensation.
Veterans with a 70% VA rating for mental health receive $1,400 per month while the 100% rating provides over $3,000 per month in disability.
These rates are subject to change yet were accurate as of 2019.
Va Does Not Add Ratings They Combine Them
The secret to understanding combined ratings is this: VA does not add each of a veterans ratings together, it combines them to determine what percentage of the veteran is disabled, and what percentage is not disabled.
For example, a veteran who is service connected for post-traumatic stress disorder at 30% would be considered 30% disabled by VA, and 70% not disabled, or whole. If the veteran is later service connected for other conditions, the disability percentages would be taken from the remaining whole. Each additional rating will reduce the percentage that the veteran is whole, and increase the percentage that the veteran is disabled.
To use a quick example, if a veteran is rated at 50% for an anxiety disorder, VA will consider that veteran 50% disabled, and 50% not disabled. If the veteran is then service connected for tinnitus at 10%, VA will take that 10% from the percentage of the veteran that is not disabled. So, 10% of 50% is 5%. VA will then add the 5% to the 50% of the veteran that is disabled, coming out to 55%.
If the veteran is later service connected for another condition at 10% in addition to the 50% for anxiety and 10% for tinnitus, VA will take that other 10% out of the 45% that the veteran is not disabled. So, 10% of 45% is 4.5%, and then the 4.5% will be added to the 55% that the veteran is disabled. The 4.5% and the 55% will then come out to 59.5% and rounded to the nearest increment of 10 for a combined rating of 60%.
Read Also: Piriformis Syndrome Va Rating
What Is The Va Percentage For Anxiety
The department currently has 6 different VA ratings for mental health conditions.
Anxiety disorders are categorized along with the same rating system as other types of mental illness like depression and PTSD.
The VA rates anxiety disorders based on severity and level of impairment.
The 6 different percentage ratings in terms of severity :
- 0%
The percentage rating of your condition affects the amount of monthly disability compensation.
The higher the rating, the more youll receive in monthly disability.
Canada: The Debilitating And Disabling Effects Of Post
For many people, seeing is believing. But ifyoure looking at a person who has an invisible disability,what youre seeing can often be deceiving. And, when a personwith an invisible or hidden disability attempts to access long-termdisability benefits from insurers, seeing can becomedisbelieving.
In this blog post, I define invisible disabilities, explore oneof these disabilities in moredetail, and explain why and how persons with these disabilities canbe doubly disadvantaged when dealing with insurance companies.
You May Like: How To Apply For Disability Washington State
How Much Va Disability Compensation Can I Receive For Ptsd
The amount you receive in monthly benefits depends on the disability rating assigned for your PTSD. Each disability rating percentage increment on VAs rating schedule corresponds to a different monthly benefit amount. The higher the disability rating, the more a veteran receives in monthly compensation.
As of December 1st, 2020 the VA disability rate benefit amounts are as follows:
- 0 percent disability rating: $0.00 per month
- 10 percent disability rating: $144.14 per month
- 30 percent disability rating: $441.35 per month
- 50 percent disability rating: $905.04 per month
- 70 percent disability rating: $1,444.71 per month
- 100 percent disability rating: $3,146.42 per month
Va Presumptive Conditions Decisions
The VA has created a list of medical conditions it presumes are related to certain types of military service. For example, if you served in Vietnam and develop symptoms associated with Agent Orange exposure, the VA presumes the condition to be connected with Agent Orange.
In the same way, the Department of Veterans Affairs has a set of medical issues it presumes will be permanent. Those who are awarded VA claims of 100% for PTSD may find the VA has rated them as 100% permanent and total disabled
Read Also: Is Fibromyalgia A Long Term Disability
Don’t Miss: Calculate Army Reserve Retirement Pay
The Va Rates All Service
The Department of Veterans’ Affairs rates all service-connected disabilities, including mental disabilities, according to the VA’s Schedule of Rating Disabilities.
Once the VA has determined that your mental health condition is related to your military service, it will rate your condition based on how severe it is. The VA will look to your medical records to determine how severe your clinical symptoms are.
Compensation And Pension Exams For Ptsd
The above background is important because the veteran will be asked to attend a C& P evaluation to decide whether you have a valid diagnosis of PTSD.
VA requires that your PTSD diagnosis is made by a health professional who is specifically qualified to diagnose PTSD in a veterans case. These examiners will be board-certified or board-eligible psychiatrists or licensed doctorate-level psychologists, or other credentialed or qualified mental health professionals acting under the close supervision of a board-certified or board-eligible psychiatrist or licensed doctorate-level psychologist.
The long and short of it is, if you file a PTSD claim for disabilityeven if you already have an outside doctors diagnosis of PTSDthe VA will likely require you undergo the C& P exam for PTSD. The examiner will be trained and proficient in the DSM-5 diagnostic requirements and evaluation methods for PTSD.
Lets look at the DSM-5 guidelines for PTSD.
Recommended Reading: Is Fibromyalgia A Long Term Disability
Identifying The Relevant Studies
A search of the literature was conducted using five electronic database sources: PsychINFO, CINAHL, MEDLINE, SCOPUS and Web of Science. Search terms used a combination of subject headings and keywords relating to intellectual disability and trauma: AND . The search was limited to English-language peer-reviewed journal articles due to the time and costs of having articles translated to English. The review was also limited to articles from January 2000 and September 2020, chosen as the past 20 years has seen the growth of research in the area for adverse life events, trauma and intellectual disability.
Gaf Scores No Longer Used
Before August 2014, the VA used the Global Assessment of Functioning Score to rate PTSD and other veterans mental health disabilities. As of August 2014, VA adopted the DSM-5 which does not use GAF scores.
So, PTSD disability claims received by VA or that were pending VA review on or after August 4, 2014, will be evaluated under DSM-5 diagnostic criteria and rated according to CFR 38 § 4.130.
You May Like: How To Calculate Disability Retirement Pay
Why You Need An Attorney
When dealing with the VA, its important that you have someone on your side who understands veterans law. If your PTSD rating has been reduced, a PTSD attorney can help you appeal the reduction in an effort to get your rating back. In addition, the VA often fails to follow their own regulations when doing a rating reduction, and a PTSD attorney can help identify any VA errors that could result in a reversal of the reduction. So dont wait when calling After Service, LLC.
Contact An Attorney About Your Ptsd Claim
If you or a loved one have been denied service connection for PTSD, the VA has assigned you a PTSD rating that you think is too low, or you are interested in filing a new claim for PTSD, please do not hesitate to contact our office via phone or submitting a contact form through this website. The Veterans Law Office is a nationside veterans disability law firm. Our attorneys will provide you with a free evaluation of your claim for veterans disability benefits.
Recommended Reading: Va Claim Generalized Anxiety Disorder
How Disability Ratings Are Calculated
Under schedular criteria, the VA determines what percentage of a veterans body is impaired by their service-connected disability. Ratings are awarded from 0% to 100% in 10% increments. A 0% rating means that a veterans condition is service-connected but causes no measurable impairment, while a 100% rating means the condition causes severe impairment leading to an inability to work or live independently.
When a veteran has multiple disabilities, the ratings for each individual impairment arent simply added together. Since a veteran cant be more than 100% disabled, the VA subtracts the secondary condition from the disability causing the most impairment. This VA math makes it hard to receive a 100% rating despite experiencing serious difficulty performing everyday activities.
How Va Disability Ratings Work
Once the VA approves your disability compensation application, they will assign you a disability rating. This rating is expressed as a percentage, and it represents the amount your disability disrupts your ability to live a normal, healthy life. The higher the percentage, the more severe your condition.
In general, VA disability ratings are rounded to the nearest 10 percent for compensation purposes. They can range from 10 percent to 100 percent. Your disability rating will be the primary determining factor when the VA is calculating how much compensation you will receive each month.
Here is a video explaining how the VA combined ratings table works from one of our Veterans Disability Lawyers.
Read Also: How Do I Change My Veterans Disability Direct Deposit
How To Maximize Your Rating
The VA has no set guidelines for mental health ratings based on specific diagnoses, but instead uses discretion and examines all of the medical evidence on your symptoms and functional limitations before deciding on a rating. This means it is extremely difficult to predict what rating you will receive. Typically, however, the VA provides very low ratings for mental health conditions. Here are some ways to get the highest rating your mental condition warrants.
Consider Malingered Or Factitious Ptsd
The next step is to determine whether observed PTSD-like symptoms are being volitionally produced. Patients feigning symptoms of PTSD will often give vague or non-specific answers to direct questions and will provide stereotypic or dramatic, heroic, or cinematic symptom depiction. It is important to determine if this is due to symptom avoidance, mistrust of the clinician, or exaggeration compensating for memory impairment.4,5,9,18,28,44 Patients attempting to portray PTSD often underestimate the body movement that typically occurs with PTSD nightmares, overestimate the frequency of flashbacks, and underappreciate the dissociative quality that typically accompanies them.4,18
Feigned PTSD is not necessarily a complete manufacturing of symptoms, and it is valuable to consider malingering patterns as described by Resnick: pure malingering is when the person feigns non-existing symptoms, partial malingering is when the person consciously exaggerates existing symptoms, and false imputation is when the individual consciously attributes existing symptoms to a cause not responsible for the symptoms .19 The motivation for malingering may be influenced by third parties, such as when patients are encouraged by legal representation to present for treatment for the sake of gaining a diagnostic report to bolster their case or for prolonged care to demonstrate refractory psychopathology to increase a potential financial settlement.9
You May Like: How To Calculate Disability Retirement Pay
Fully Developed Disability Claims
The next fasted option is the Fully Developed Disability Claims program.
The primary difference between the FDDC program and filing a standard claim is the Veteran must provide all evidence upfront and certify there’s no additional evidence needed to make a claim decision.
At a minimum, the Veteran should provide:
- All military personnel records on the condition, and
- All service treatment records on the condition, and
- All private medical records on the condition, and
- All VA health records or supplementary information about related VA health records that the VA can request on your behalf
If the VA requires additional information, the claim typically gets removed from the FDDC program and is processed as a standard claim.
Va Compensation Rates 2021 Ptsd
VA Disability Rates 2021 Veteran military customers who became unwell, hurt, or wounded during their services could be entitled and suitable to get VA disability compensation a tax-free benefit payment supplied from the Department of Veterans Affairs. For any more detailed go through regarding the most lately upgraded VA Compensation Rates 2021 Ptsd, see the article under.
Recommended Reading: How Much Does Disability Pay In California
Social Vs Occupational Factors
Sometimes, the Veterans medical records and claims file focused on social factors instead of occupational factors. This can have a large impact on the rating you receive for your PTSD. What are social and occupation factors?
- Social factors include family relationships and interactions with friends and peers
- Occupational factors as the name suggests, encompasses challenges faced at work and on the job
When submitting an appeal, its important to focus on both social and occupational factors as both are important when determining your disability rating. By submitting additional evidence about how your PTSD impacts your job, you have a better chance of increasing your PTSD rating.
Symptoms Of Anxiety Disorders
It is natural to experience occasional anxiety or worry.
However, when negative emotions begin to interfere with daily activities like work and family , you should consult a medical professional.
Victims of severe anxiety and panic disorders often feel like they have no escape from their suffering.
In many examples, the victim may avoid certain places or situations to prevent these negative feelings from arising.
Whenever these feelings are difficult to control, out of proportion to the actual danger, or frequently occur its time to seek help.
Thankfully, there is a wide range of treatment options for patients that suffer from anxiety disorders.
The symptoms of severe anxiety may begin during childhood or teenage years.
Veterans often cite their time during service as the time in their life when anxiety levels became unmanageable.
The following symptoms are common:
- Feeling nervous, tense, or restless
- Increased heart rate
- Gastrointestinal problems
- Difficult controlling amount of worry
Those that suffer from anxiety disorders often have the urge to avoid certain situations that may trigger negative feelings.
Don’t Miss: What Does Pending Processing Mean
Dont Exaggerate Your Symptoms
Weve seen several C& P exams where the examiner accuses the veteran of malingering, or exaggerating his or her symptoms. Often, this is NOT the case. However, if an examiner BELIEVES you are malingering, it may affect the entire report. Doctors use exams, such as the MMPI, on veterans who they think are malingering. This will obviously negatively affect your claim.
A Current Diagnosis Of Ptsd
It is important to note that veterans will not be eligible to receive VA disability benefits if they are not currently diagnosed with PTSD. For service connection purposes, VA requires a formal diagnosis from a qualified healthcare professional, whether it be a therapist, psychiatrist, or general practitioner, made using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition .
Don’t Miss: How Do You Change Your Va Disability Direct Deposit
What Happens After Va Grants Service Connection For Ptsd
Once a veteran establishes service connection for their PTSD claim, the battle 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.
Va Disability Pay Chart Expectations For 2022
The announcement for the following years’ change in COLA doesn’t typically come out until October. However, based on the Consumer Price Index, VA disability pay could increase anywhere from 5 to 6 percent in 2022.
We will update our charts here accordingly when the numbers are finalized.
FOOTNOTES:
You May Like: Guard And Reserve Retirement Calculator