30 replies to this topic

[robert51]

Just how hard is it to get to 100% for PTSD... I have a very good batch of private doctor reports going back to 2004 each year I get a new report and across the board they say Poor.... has anyone gotten 100% PTSD? I hope not but with the problems happening maybe us with 70% IU and SSD will get shafted on the IU so I want to test the waters... I have a total of 9 years of twice a month doctor visits the last 5 with a private doc... My chances are???????????

[Wings]

Just how hard is it to get to 100% for PTSD... I have a very good batch of private doctor reports going back to 2004 each year I get a new report and across the board they say Poor.... has anyone gotten 100% PTSD? I hope not but with the problems happening maybe us with 70% IU and SSD will get shafted on the IU so I want to test the waters... I have a total of 9 years of twice a month doctor visits the last 5 with a private doc... My chances are???????????

If the medical evidence supports the 100% higher rating, then file a claim for increase, 38 CFR 3.160(f). Having 100% PTSD would enable you to file for special ratings down the road. ~Wings

[rentalguy1]

Unfortunately, you also have to be nearly totally incapacitated in every aspect of your life to get 100% for a adjustment or anxiety disorder. You should go to the mental health claim repository and look at the 100% criteria before filing the claim. It will also be much easier for the VA to reduce your compensation in the future if a single medical exam shows some improvement. It is much harder for them to reduce TDIU if you don't go back to work and send in your employment questionnaire every year. Don't wait on them to send it to you, print one off, fill it out, and send it in on your own.

[poolguy11550]

You can also seek extra-scheduler consideration.

[john999]

If you are rated IU you give up opportunity to get housebound. I sometimes think that it is best to get the rating and see where the chips fly. If you are rated 100% for PTSD then the VA is supposed to also consider you for HB which is another 300 some odd dollars a month. There are pros and cons to a schedular rating, and the same goes for TDIU. To me it is the same rating since no one I know with a 100% rating for PTSD or any mental disorder works, and part of that rating is not being able to work. I think they should make every TDIU vet 100% schedular. The VA used to make vets who could not work 100% schedular. Work is the main criteria they use to determine higher levels of disability for any emotional disorder. Also if you are not able to work and you are 100% schedular if the VA reduces you to 70% they are supposed to consider you for TDIU. If you are housebound then go for the 100% schedular since you deserve it. If you are housebound then by definition you are also 100%.

[Commander Bob]

TITLE 38--PENSIONS, BONUSES, AND VETERANS' RELIEF

CHAPTER I--DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRSPART 4--SCHEDULE FOR RATING DISABILITIES

Subpart B--Disability Ratings

4.129 Mental disorders due to traumatic stress.

General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders:

Total occupational and social impairment, due to such symptoms as: gross impairment in thought processes or communication; persistent delusions or hallucinations; grossly inappropriate behavior; persistent danger of hurting self or others; intermittent inability to perform activities of daily living (including maintenance of minimal personal hygiene); disorientation to time or place; memory loss for names of close relatives, own occupation, or own name....................... 100%

Occupational and social impairment, with deficiencies in most areas, such as work, school, family relations, judgment, thinking, or mood, due to such symptoms as: suicidal ideation; obsessional rituals which interfere with routine activities; speech intermittently illogical, obscure, or irrelevant; near-continuous panic or depression affecting the ability to function independently, appropriately and effectively; impaired impulse control (such as unprovoked irritability with periods of violence); spatial disorientation; neglect of personal appearance and hygiene; difficulty in adapting to stressful circumstances (including work or a worklike setting); inability to establish and maintain effective relationships........................... 70%

Occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity due to such symptoms as: flattened affect; circumstantial, circumlocutory, or stereotyped speech; panic attacks more than once a week; difficulty in understanding complex commands; impairment of short- and long-term memory (e.g., retention of only highly learned material, forgetting to complete tasks); impaired judgment; impaired abstract thinking; disturbances of motivation and mood; difficulty in establishing and maintaining effective work and social relationships........... 50%

Occupational and social impairment with occasional decrease in work efficiency and intermittent periods of inability to perform occupational tasks (although generally functioning satisfactorily, with routine behavior, self-care, and conversation normal), due to such symptoms as: depressed mood, anxiety, suspiciousness, panic attacks (weekly or less often), chronic sleep impairment, mild memory loss (such as forgetting names, directions, recent events)........................................... 30%



Occupational and social impairment due to mild or transient symptoms which decrease work efficiency and ability to perform occupational tasks only during periods of significant stress, or; symptoms controlled by continuous medication............... 10%



A mental condition has been formally diagnosed, but symptoms are not severe enough either to interfere with occupational and social functioning or to require continuous medication..................... 0%

Edited by Commander Bob 92-93, 08 January 2009 - 03:18 PM.

[Philip Rogers]

robert51: I'm 100% for PTSD, rated back to the first day of my original claim, via the BVA appeal process. I think it's almost impossible and the reason I say this is I vaguely remember seeing either a BVA or CAVC appeal, probably BVA, that was denied because the the claimant was TDIU and according to the VA, since the benefits are the same the issue was moot. So it was denied. I disagree because of the HB/A&A issue and the fact that some states award benefits only to 100% vets.

pr

Just how hard is it to get to 100% for PTSD... I have a very good batch of private doctor reports going back to 2004 each year I get a new report and across the board they say Poor.... has anyone gotten 100% PTSD? I hope not but with the problems happening maybe us with 70% IU and SSD will get shafted on the IU so I want to test the waters... I have a total of 9 years of twice a month doctor visits the last 5 with a private doc... My chances are???????????

[john999]

One way to go in the backdoor on this issue is to apply for housebound. If you are, indeed, houseboung the VA will have to award 100% if they award HB. A friend of mine did it this way. He proved he was housebound and then the VA bumped him up to 100% from 70% IU.

[robert51]

thanks guys for the info....

[Cavman]

Unfortunately, you also have to be nearly totally incapacitated in every aspect of your life to get 100% for a adjustment or anxiety disorder. You should go to the mental health claim repository and look at the 100% criteria before filing the claim. It will also be much easier for the VA to reduce your compensation in the future if a single medical exam shows some improvement. It is much harder for them to reduce TDIU if you don't go back to work and send in your employment questionnaire every year. Don't wait on them to send it to you, print one off, fill it out, and send it in on your own.

I never get an employment questionaire from the VA?

Cavman

[Wings]

I never get an employment questionaire from the VA?

Cavman

Me neither ~Wings

[Cavman]

Just how hard is it to get to 100% for PTSD... I have a very good batch of private doctor reports going back to 2004 each year I get a new report and across the board they say Poor.... has anyone gotten 100% PTSD? I hope not but with the problems happening maybe us with 70% IU and SSD will get shafted on the IU so I want to test the waters... I have a total of 9 years of twice a month doctor visits the last 5 with a private doc... My chances are???????????

Just wondering, when you were granted 70% IU did it also say no future exams?

Cavman

[robert51]

not at first ... first 70 and IU then i filed a NOD and got PT about 9 months later but it still said something about a review from time to time was possible

[mobie16r]

If your Psychiatrist or clinical psychologist states, you are unable to work now,and will not be able to work in the future,because of your PTSD,Va is suppose to rate you 100% PTSD.
Mobie 100% PTSD

[halos2]

Mobie16r, Are you meaning if you are already at 70% for ptsd or do you mean if even at 50% for ptsd? Where are you finding this imformation? What basics are you using to formulate this decision?

If your Psychiatrist or clinical psychologist states, you are unable to work now,and will not be able to work in the future,because of your PTSD,Va is suppose to rate you 100% PTSD.
Mobie 100% PTSD

[mobie16r]

Halos2,I was rated 30% PTSD and i filed a notice of disagreement and ask for a De novo Dro and seven months later i was rated 100% Ptsd TP. It don't make any different what precentage you are rated,if your psychiatrist or psychologist write a statement saying that you are unable to be gainful employable now,and in the furure,because of your post-traumatic stress disorder,you will be granted 100%,and this is base on my rating and other veterans that i personaly know that was rated 100%.
mobie

[sf_ranger]

100% for PTSD is not difficult to receive for those that have the disabilities of a 100% PTSD Veteran....

Well, we would all like to believe that but since it is not accurate I do occasionally touch base with a POW vet from the Iraqi War that has 100% PTSD. It took him close to 2 years to receive 100% P+T and that is after he was hospitalized for more than 30 days on two occasions. I have been 20% for almost 38 years then reapplied using several After Action Reports I am on showing combat and how we fought along with honorable letters from co-workers and hospital doctor visits from the last 22 years. Now I am 100% P+T.

P+T along with 100% is full disability. Vets can be 100% P+T for 15 years and still get shafted. It is the 20 year mark that makes a vet really 100% P+T.

Steve
Company K, 75th Rangers,
Vietnam Dec 24,1968-Feb 1970

[sf_ranger]

not at first ... first 70 and IU then i filed a NOD and got PT about 9 months later but it still said something about a review from time to time was possible

I guess anything is possible and still we must remain vigalent. PTSD is something that does not just go away. I am in a group of PTSD vets who attend a meeting once a week and now we have been attending this group meeting for more than 2 years using Psyche doctors in between.

I am quite sure that none of us need attention. We PTSD Vets just need constant help to a problem that was given to us by serving so proudly. When it comes to defending my belief in America being forever free, I would come to it's defense again and again.

[jessejames]

If anyone has been increased from TDIU to 100% schedular and then have your rating reduced from 100%, I would suggest you keep this Court Case showing it WAS illegal for the VA to increase or change your TDIU rating. The Regulation states the reasons for changing a TDIU rating and one of those reasons is NOT to CHANGE you to 100% schedular.

http://www.ll.george...ons/97-7049.pdf
"When the RO awarded the veteran individual unemployability, 38 C.F.R. § 3.343© (1978) prohibited its
termination except upon a showing by clear and convincing evidence that the veteran had regained his ability
to be employed. When the RO in its rating decision of January 1981 amended the veteran’s award by
assigning a total schedular rating as directed in DVB Circular 21-80-7 (Sep. 9, 1980), in place of the
individual unemployability award, the RO violated § 3.343©, because it did not establish by the necessary
Collaro v. West file:///C:/data/HOOKER/fed/97opinions/97-7049.html
4 of 9 12/14/2004 9:33 AM
"clear and convincing evidence that the veteran had regained his ability to work."

[carlie]

[quote name='mobie16r' date='Feb 13 2009, 11:45 PM' post='130700']
Halos2,I was rated 30% PTSD and i filed a notice of disagreement and ask for a De novo Dro and seven months later i was rated 100% Ptsd TP. It don't make any different what precentage you are rated,if your psychiatrist or psychologist write a statement saying that you are unable to be gainful employable now,and in the furure,because of your post-traumatic stress disorder,you will be granted 100%,and this is base on my rating and other veterans that i personaly know that was rated 100%.
mobie


Mobie,
How about posting a reg to support this or a link to some case's that show it,
or scanning in your rating decision - reasons and bases for us to have a look-see.
carlie

[john999]

The VA did not send me an employment questionaire so I made an affirmative statement over the phone to the VA and they accepted that as equivalent to my questionaire. I quizzed them about this via IRIS and the VA called me and told me that they had my statement that I had not worked since 2001 and that was enough to affirm my TDIU status. I think the only good reason to go for 100% vs TDIU is some kind of A&A. Once you get P&T you don't really want to mess with that if it means that you lose it when you get 100% schedular. P&T lets you sleep at night. Even when you get P&T it is still important to stay in treatment. These creeps can wait until your 19th year at 100% and then call you in for an exam and try and reduce you. If you read the criteria for 100% for a mental condition you are talking about a major disability.

[Cavman]

john:

What about state benefits? Is an 80 or 90% IU P&T gonna get you benefits that require 100% disability?

Cavman

[john999]

Caveman

In Florida you have to be permanently and totally disabled to get the maximum state benefits. I am TDIU P&T and I got the maximum state benefits in Florida. All you really get is a the exemption from property tax and cheap plates for your car. If you are on SSD and are totally disabled you can get the tax exemption from what I have read in Florida anyway.

[robert51]

well i applied for a 100% vs a 70% and IU .... i told them i planned on moving to a state that required 100% for benefits it will take time but i will see for evidence i sent 5 past years of doctors reports ... from a IMO

[purple]

robert-
please don't tell me that you put in your claim request that you "plan on moving to a state that required 100% for benefits".......

this is just what it sounded like.

[robert51]

Well the VA sent me a letter saying.... your request for increase has no merit as you are already 70% and IU PT and you would gain nothing from this claim... so i said the reason i wanted to be 100% scheduler is the state i wanted to move to required a full 100% to have some benefits and i may in the future apply for AA ... i have 8 years of doctors 2 times a month and the last 5 years i have gotten reports that would put me close to 100% as it is so i am giving it a shot..

[purple]

Ummmmm, I guess I've never heard of someone actually telling the VA that they only want an increase in rating just for the benefits.

[john999]

In order to get 100% schedular you have to meet the criteria. It is not valid for the VA to deny 100% if you meet the criteria. It has nothing to do with the money or if you need benefits or not. What you need is medical evidence that meets the 100% standard.

[robert51]

Ummmmm, I guess I've never heard of someone actually telling the VA that they only want an increase in rating just for the benefits.

well if you think about it what reason can i give them because its true there is no increase in bennies according to them /// and to use their words i am not relly asking for an increase of any type.. only a different way of going to the same place

Edited by robert51, 17 March 2009 - 12:26 AM.

[robert51]

In order to get 100% schedular you have to meet the criteria. It is not valid for the VA to deny 100% if you meet the criteria. It has nothing to do with the money or if you need benefits or not. What you need is medical evidence that meets the 100% standard.

well what I have is every year the doctor fills ;out a form used by SSD with her to check Good Fair Poor it lists about 40 items and every year for 5 years now I have had her fill out the form and she has me listed as poor for every place but two and the two she list as fair is do I show up for our appointments ... fair.. most of the time... and is the patient lacking hygiene... fair while he is often un shaven and dressed very casual he does appear to be clean and I contribute this to his wife who often drives him to his appointments and keeps him tidy....

[poolguy11550]

Just as a note, its always best to leave the money, benefits (state or otherwise), and debt issues out of your claims communications with the VBA. No one on the VBA really cares about such and no laws address or instruct the VBA to consider such. The best that happen is that you get a letter stating the like as Rosbert51. The worst is that a VBA employee re-opens your claim and then your being set up with C&P exams for re-evaluation.