VA Compensation Rates

[john999]

How about everyone writing their congressmen and pointing out how low our compensation rates are especially for younger vets who become 100% and have no significant SSA or pension benefits from a long term job.  If I was 25 years old even with 100% benefits I would be living in near poverty.  I could not afford to buy a house in my area on $3200?  This is chump change for a young disabled vet.  Old guys like me have SSA and maybe pension benefits plus our VA compensation.  Unless you are getting TDIU or 100% you don't even get $2000 a month maximum for 90%.  I have disability insurance payments plus SSA and pension.  I do OK but if I did not have that extra I would be hurting. How many vets have all that? I am lucky.

[john999]

I was a postal worker in Florida. Twenty years ago I was making about $20 an hour with certain premium pay for weekends and nights.  I felt rich back in 1990's.  I could afford a house and decent car.  $20 an hour now before taxes is just 41K.  If you take out about 30% for all taxes including payroll tax I made about $650 a week.  Now that is chump change.  I could not buy the house I live in now on my old wages.  To be in the same place today as I was in 2000 I would need to make $40-$50 an hour.  Wages have stagnated for the last 40 years.  Many guys on Wall Street have gotten fabulously wealthy while working class has gone broke.  You throw inflation top of that and we are hurting.  VA compensation should be double what it is for disabled vets.  When government decides on cola they don't include food or energy into the equation.  This is just where it really hurts.  Housing is just out of the question where I live. It is going up 15-20% a year and rent is following the price of houses.

[Richard1954]

I know my response is late but here goes anyway. The VA rates of compensation have not increased at least since just after WWII. In reality the only raises we receive are COLA and we all know the COLA increased never actually increase our earnings. Recently, we were given one of if not the highest COLA increase in years, and at 5.9 it did nothing for any veteran because it is not actually based on the cost of living at the time the increase is given, and in addition in this day and age, everything has increased in cost, used auto's 34% as an example. Today the cost of gas is over $4.00 in Texas. I read somewhere that the next cost of living raise will be 8-12 percent because of what is going on. Frankly, those in power do not care about what is happening, if they did changes would be taking place. Writing a congress critter is about all we can really do, but does anyone remember writing their congerss critter and getting an answer to the issue other than the party line. Most of the time they ignore us unless in  an election year.  I am fortunate, I get two retireirement checks, SS and va compensation, but I am not rich, and my purchasing power has gone down by $5000 a year just for gas, according to the local news. Most veterans do not have my income.  Honestly one reason I am always ready to file a new va claim is because I am looking for increased compensation. Most of my claims have not amounted to an increase in compensation, just a long list of disabilities. Congress should raise compensation rates, and I have written numerious letters concerning this any other issues, that only congress can change. but again, most will do nothing to help veterans just a lot of talk. In fact if anything VA is trying to limit compensation by changing the rating guidelines for many disabilitys, those that come to recent memory are ratings for respiratory conditions to inclued sleep apnea. but in the last five years alot of ratings have been changed making it harder for the veteran to get service connection at higher percentages. Another rating that changed was those for Bask injuries , Degernerative disc disease  conditions,,  specifically where they increased the requirements to get higher ratings. If I were rated for my back injury today I would not be rated 60% because the ratings require doctor bed rest, when we all know most doctors don't generally don't give bed rest for DDD.  The same issues arise for my ratings for COPD and sleep apnea, almost no one will get 100% for COPD or 50% for sleep apnea under the new ratings. So we have to fight against both issues and I am not sure how to do it. 

[Vync]

@Richard1954 I was watching the news the other day and they said when people go to register their car this year, expect to pay more. They explained that due to the increase in value of used cars, that means the government can charge more annual renewal taxes on them. In some states, vets get a discount or break to varying degrees.
  Like others who posted in this topic, I was fortunate enough to secure a VA loan in a lower cost of living state in order to get a house before the prices went through the roof.
  Years ago, my former employer would do salary increases about every few years. They did it to adjust salaries to match what was being paid for equivalent roles in the area where we worked. It also had a bit of a COLA factor in it too. That was outside of the traditional merit pay raises and bonuses. My current employer has only done that once, but it was over 10 years ago.
  Please note I am avoiding turning this into a political post by simply describing the steps I took to engage Congress and not pointing fingers to one party or the other. Last time I contacted my Congress critter about a year ago, they said they had little ability to influence anything related to the VA because their opposing party was in charge of the Veterans committee. However, they were nice enough to provide their contact information. I contacted them and received a call a couple of weeks later saying they would take my recommendations under consideration. To date, none of the changes I requested were implemented, but I'll probably reach out to them again before and after the midterm elections.
  I still work, but am only in my 50s. My employer recently transitioned me to full time telecommuter status. I am more productive at home because I do not have to deal with hypervigilance, distractions from other employees, the hour long commute each way is gone, and when my back seizes up or migraine kicks in I can simply lay down until it subsides. Of course, I'm SC for a number of those factors and my employer refused to provide me with a couch when I had my own private office in the company building. Despite being P&T, I cannot get the SMC-S/housebound because I lack the single 100% rating, but on the bright side I can see my kids whenever I want (until they start school). The VA considers TDIU status as if it is that single 100%, but they do not afford the same consideration for us P&T vets. That's something else I hope they fix eventually, but I am not counting on it happening anytime soon.
  You're not joking about the DDD spine ratings becoming more challenging to raise. Even for me who is SC for cervical and lumbar with bilateral radiculopathy in both arms and legs, it feels next to impossible to get an increase. The sad thing is that a simple sneeze can take me out of commission for days. The whole bedrest factor they use is hogwash. They factor it based on having a doctor prescribe bedrest and most docs don't do that unless you just had some sort of surgery. Having SC rhinitis and spine issues is a pretty crappy combination. The VA fails to consider the impact of comorbid disabilities like these.

[Richard1954]

28 minutes ago, Vync said:

The VA fails to consider the impact of comorbid disabilities like these.

You are correct, I am also appalied that the VA doesn't consider the overall  impact of separate disabalites  completing the picture for the acual total disability, its just a numbers game to the VA. Of course SMC should come into play here, but I cannot remember any award that the VA actually gave an SMC when it was due, and not when It was asked for.

Another problem I have is having 3 medical conditions ( COPD/Asthma?Copd) combined to one rating for compensation purposes. While I have 100% for all there, the other guy may hove  one or two issues and he gets the same 100% that I get. I am not complaing that the other guy gets 100%, but I just find it unfair that I only get 100%. ( I know life is not fair) Recently some idiot rater awarded ED  and combimed it to my 2 year old diabetes II award, without any increased rating.  And forget or didn't care to give me the SMC K. The same thing happened when I was awarded arthritis for my left knee, instead of a separte rating, it was combine with the original issue of a torn meniscus, that was awarded in 2016 and did not raise the rate.  Ironically, i have two separate awards for my right knee, one for the torn meniscus, and one for the arthritis . I don't think the raters are getting any training, Most of us on this board could do a better job.

But I degress. instead of the va making it harder to get an award, they shold be making is eaiser, even when they tell you it will be eaiser to get a 100% award ( new revised COPD rating) it just not so.

[Vync]

1 hour ago, Richard1954 said:

You are correct, I am also appalied that the VA doesn't consider the overall  impact of separate disabalites  completing the picture for the acual total disability, its just a numbers game to the VA.

Too bad SMC-K is not inferred for vets having issues with their hydraulics. Gotta file a claim the old fashioned way to request it. I did have SMC-S/housebound for three months after my heart attack, but then my exams showed modest improvement and the single 100% was reduced to 60%.

I agree with you 101% on the way they calculate the combined ratings table and peaking it all out at 100%. I read a while back that being 100% schedular should yield better payments than those who have TDIU or IU, but it's not their fault that they are unemployable due to their disabilities. And for us schedular vets, if we unfortunately get additional disabilites, it's just too bad then.

I am not a knee rating expert, but have heard vets can get two ratings, usually arthritis and another one. Sounds like you might have a CUE or some potential correction on your hands.

With the VA being required to perform ratings sympathetically to veterans, it sure feels like many rating revisions and claim processing are taking the opposite approach.
 

[Richard1954]

2 minutes ago, Vync said:

I am not a knee rating expert, but have heard vets can get two ratings, usually arthritis and another one. Sounds like you might have a CUE or some potential correction on your hands.

Your comment is correct, and that is what they did for my right knee, but on the left they combined two issues into one and denied an additional rating for the arthriitis.