Military Vs. Va Rating

[sbrewer]

If the military places you on TDRL with a 50% rating, does the VA also have to rate you at 50% or

do they have different ratings for the same disability?

Thanks,

sbrewer

[Raven]

If the military places you on TDRL with a 50% rating, does the VA also have to rate you at 50% or

do they have different ratings for the same disability?

Thanks,

sbrewer

They are different and subject to the raters opinion- I was medically retired PDRL for depression from the AF at a 50% rating (appealed but it did not change). I then filed my VA claim only using the same medical reports from the PDRL board and the VA rated me at 70%. It seems the military are harder to get a higher rating out of

[sbrewer]

My husband had just the opposite done. He was TDRL from AF 50% but the VA gave him 10%.

This was before we met and was 25 yrs. ago. He just recently got his SMR(yesterday) and I

read through it this morning and according to the " General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders"

he should have been rated at least at 70%. Is it way too late to do anything about this?

Does the VA not go by SMR's?

Thanks,

sbrewer

[vaf]

Their rating decisions are usually preceded by the words, to some effect, that the service medical records have been reviewed and considered. So yes, in theory the VA is required to review and consider service medical records. In theory, they're also supposed to determine the existence of grounds for claims the veteran didn't think to file while they're reviewing the service medical records. In practice, of course, this hardly ever, if at all, happens. I believe that a majority of the problems veterans have with the VA about their claims stems from the fact that there's a disagreement over whether evidence in the service medical records exists to support the claim. In my husband's case, they downright ignored it, so we would resubmit and resubmit, all the way up the appeal process.

Did your husband initiate a claim for a mental disorder when he left the military, or anytime inside of one year from his exit date?

Someone here will chime in, but if the evidence is clearly in the records, and the VA did not meet its obligation to recognize and rate it, regardless of whether the veteran filed a claim for it, would this meet the requirements to file a CUE?

[Testvet]

The VA does what it wants to region by region it depends on the rating team you get, Maine seems to be the best as far as vets go, they seem to get a better deal up there, and New Mexico isn't far behind

[sbrewer]

Vicki,

I guess he did or someone did file a claim because he is currently at 10% and has been for the last

26yrs. However, upon looking through his records this morning and seeing some of the terms used

they fall under the 70% criteria according to " General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders". He

was very young at the time and I really don't even know if he had any kind of representation helping

So the VA did rate but very low. So would there be anything that could be done about that now?

Sbrewer

[Angela]

If your husband is still disabled at the same level he should request an increase and submitt new (current) medical statments or exams. Then once he gets the new (hopefully 70%) rating, go back and request an earlier effective date back to the original rating decision.

This process would probably be easier as the standard of proof is much more stringent when argueing a CUE than in any other type of claim. In CUEs, the evidence (of legal error) must be clear and unmistakable, but in cases of earlier effective dates the standard of proof (medical) is the much more lenient "reasonable doubt - equipoise" standard.

Angela