100% Rated To Scd?

[foleyj]

I have not been able to find any posts to address my questions, so here it is, are you permitted to work if the addition of multiple ratings for SCD adds up to 100%?

[Philip Rogers]

foleyj - first of all, I appoligize!!! It's just that I see so many that want to work and collect SSDI and/or VA Comp, at the same time. I shouldn't have taken it out on you.

If the VA determines you are TDIU, you can't work. If a claimant has the totals (which I haven't checked w/the VA math) and gets 100% that way, they could work but you can probably count on the VA trying to reduce them somewhere down the line, unless they are below poverty line. We had an amputee, in my group, that could work but to me that's different. Ever notice that if people can't see your disability they don't consider you disabled? jmo

Again, I apologize!!!

pr

Thanks to everyone that gave a reply. Maybe I didn't explain myself. First to Philip, I am not trying to claim disability and work at the same time. If you are not aware there are certain veterans that have disabilities and are still able to work. I did not apply for my disability because I could not work. I applied for disability for the loss of use and change in the quality of life due to my injuries. My question had to do with individuals that are rated for multiple SCD for example;

Leg 40%

Arm 30%

depression 30%

Pain 30%

Hand 30%

shoulder 40%

loss of appendage 50%

This list of SCD when added using the VA compensation formula would add to 96% which would be rounded to 100%. So my question was if and individual was rated this way, would that individual be unemployable or would they still be able to work. I just ask because I know certain individuals who have multiple SCD.

Edited October 29, 2009 by Philip Rogers

[jbasser]

Foley, and all. Va compoensation is based on the how ones disability hampers ones earnings capacity within the national economy.

If a Veteran is schedular due to physical disabilities and is rated at 100 percent then Veteran has every right to find a job that he can do.

If a Veteran is deemed unemployable or TDIU the award is based on the veteran being unemployable and the veteran will lose in the form of a reduction because the veteran is working and no longer qualifies for the IU.

If a Veteran has a 100 percent mental disability, of which the regs basically state that work is precluded.

Any Veteran at any time is entitled to file for SSDI or SSA if they qualify.

J

[broncovet]

A good point has been brought up. The VA discriminates between Veterans with a physical disability and those with a mental disability. Max Cleland and Tami Duckworth are examples. I am pretty sure both of these are 100% disabled Veterans and working..Tami is a big shot with the VA. The are both multiple amputees. Somehow, if an amputee is able to work by overcoming their disabilities, (s)he is a hero but if a mentally disabled person is able to work by overcome his disabilities, (s)he is a fraud. This is a terrible discriminatory practice by the VA.

Since many people are "mixed", that is, have both physical and mental disabilities, are they frauds or heroes when they are able to over come and work?

I am not sure this has been tested in court.

The VA also discriminates against the hard of hearing. Hearing doctors, nurses, and C and P examiners rarely really understand what it is like to be hard of hearing in a hearing world. The rating system is extremely biased against the hard of hearing. You not only need to be wearing hearing aids, but you practically have to have a sign interpreter to be able to get a 10% hearing loss..everything else is zero percent.

All through grade school, high school and college we are taught how important communication is. Some colleges or even high schools require a foreign language, and all require several years of English. You dont pass English, and you dont get a degree is pretty much universal. Then, you go serve your country, and loose your ability to communicate, and the VA "decides" that is worth 0%. I was rated at zero percent and can not go to the movies...movies pretty much universally do not have close captions and I can not watch them as they may as well be speaking Chinese, as I simply dont understand much of what they say. Worse, when we talk to people, there is no close captioning, and frankly people not only tire of repeating themselves, but often refuse and even insult the hard of hearing by saying, "I wasnt talking to you," or "Nevermind what I said".

It is pretty insulting when you lost your hearing serving our country and people wont so much as even spend 30 seconds to repeat what they said in honor to a disabled Veterans who has lost their hearing serving our country.

The VA insists that I list my phone number..insists that I call and make an appointment. A telephone is pretty much useless to me except as a device I use to hook up to the internet..yes I can hear part of what is said, but it is an unacceptable communication device for me..I much prefer email. However, email addresses of Va employees, doctors, nurses, etc are pretty much never available to me while phone numbers are. I guess they are worried about spam, but it is not like we never get "spam" phone calls..they are just called telephone solicitors as opposed to email solicitors (spam).

Edited October 29, 2009 by broncovet

[Commander Bob]

Any Veteran at any time is entitled to file for SSDI or SSA if they qualify.

J

A long time ago, I once wrote the VA and stated that SSDI was for civilians and that the military should take care of it's own. I have been out of the VA loop for a very long time. So many new rules and changes now a days. In the late 1970's, I was informed that I qualified for SSDI, and I turned it down because I was young and thought I could bootstrap myself back up on the horse and leave the bureaucrats in the dust.. Perhaps when I got older, I could retire to a villa in Tuscany or something. LOL.. Later I found out that I only had a five year window to apply for social security disability after my VA rating... So I never applied for the SS benefit. I'm so close to retirement age now, that I could just wait and file for regular SS.

Question: Has the five year time limit rules changed on SSDI? I have always wanted to avoid that additional ball and chain that comes with SSDI. By "qualify", do they mean that a disabled person had to have worked at least five years before applying for SSDI. Just curious. Maybe some other vet is wrestling with the decision to go for it or not.

Edited October 29, 2009 by Commander Bob

[Pete53]

Sometimes I think that we loose sight of what TDIU is. Its the VA way to get someone to full benefits who does not make it schedular. It is really a blessing for thousands of Veterans.

For Foley working is probably feasible. Like I have said in other posts you have Veterans working who are 100% and if they can work more power to them.

For most 100% Veterans working is a road to having their rating reduced.

[Teac]

Jbasser said it best....

A person rated TDIU or 100% schedular for mental disability cannot work or risk losing thier rating.

A person rated 100% schedular for physical disability can legally work. In fact, the only reason we are paid disability is to help offset the loss of earning capacity we have because of the disability.

I am rated 100% P/T just for my lungs alone, legally I can work, and working would not put me at risk of losing my compensation. Again, compensation is paid to help offset the loss of earning capacity not punish us.

The actual rating for those with a 100% rating due to mental issues, states the veteran is unable to work. In fact it seems to me the 70% rating appears to say a veteran cannot work......

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

Edited October 29, 2009 by Teac