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Question about compensation rate

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Steve34

Question

Guys,

So I have a rating of 90% and have some of my other claims submitted again that were denied without good cause.

My question relates to my rating and the breakdown of amounts

PTSD 

tinnitus 

hearing loss 

Lumbo sacral 

—->Secondary right sciatica 

——>Secondary left sciatica 

So, my question is whether or not the bilateral factor is applied for those secondary conditions?  I am currently awaiting decision on MIgraines, Sleep Apnea w/CPAP, and TBI.

I have my C file and it doesn’t look good personally. The sleep Apnea the doctor wrote he feels is not service connected and that my complaints during service and directly after were insomnia and that my Apnea didn’t develop until years after. I left the Army 2006 and my Sleep study was in 2016 even though I went to them many times before but they just told me it was my ptsd and gave me ambien every single time and refused to give me a sleep study. My wife has been complaining of the snoring and stuff since I was even in the military.

Migraines the MD wrote during comp and pen that “Therefore veterans migraine at least as likely as not proximately due to or the result of PTSD”. So i’m Assuming they are just going to lump that into ptsd and not rate me migraines or maybe rate it secondary to migraines. 

The C &P for TBI was only a week ago so that’s not in my Cfile yet I guess but he just asked about migraines the entire time and that was it.

Thanks for any info as usual guys

Steve

Edited by Steve34
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It doesn’t specifically say that the bilateral factor is involved. They just gave me the rating for lumbosacral and then listed left sciatica as a secondary with its own rating and right sciatica as a secondary with its own rating. As of now the bilateral rating would not change my current rating, still keeps me at the same percentage. But I have other claims not completed and it would make the difference if those get a percentage for service connection.

Thanks

Steve

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  • HadIt.com Elder

Roger that.

I was reading this from Hill& Ponton disability attorneys.

What is the reason behind the bilateral factor? The law recognizes that these situations are much more limiting on a veteran. If a veteran has a disability affecting his right arm, and then his left arm becomes disabled, he is severely limited in his ability to function.  A veteran with a disability affecting only his left arm has his right arm to use for daily tasks. However, a veteran with a disability in both arms is able to do far less. The bilateral factor’s purpose is to compensate a veteran for the additional loss of their ability to function as a result of both sides of their body being affected.

It is important to note that a veteran does not have to have the same disability on both sides in order for the bilateral factor to apply. VA disability ratings look at whether an upper extremity (such as the arm), or a lower extremity (such as the leg) are affected by a disability. The bilateral factor will apply as long as the veteran has disabilities affecting the left and right upper extremities or the left and right lower extremities.   For example, the bilateral factor will still apply if a veteran has a right knee condition and a left hip condition because there is a disability affecting the right lower extremity and a disability affecting the left lower extremity.  However, the bilateral factor would NOT apply if a veteran has a right shoulder condition and left knee condition.

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