VA Preposes changes in rating disabilitys

[Buck52]

The Department of Veterans Affairs is proposing changes to the VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities specifically pertaining to the respiratory, auditory and mental disorders body systems.

 

The proposed updates to the rating schedule for these conditions will enable VA to incorporate modern medical data and terminology to provide Veterans with more accurate and consistent decisions.

 

Veterans who currently receive compensation for a service-connected condition in these body systems will not have their disability rating impacted when the VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities is updated. Updating the rating schedule allows Veterans to receive decisions based on the most current medical knowledge relating to their condition.

 

By incorporating modern medical data in the assessment of disabilities and how they impact earning capacity, Veterans will receive evaluations which more accurately compensate them for their service-connected disabilities. Proposed updates include:

 

Modernizing the evaluative rating criteria for sleep apnea, using developments in medical knowledge to evaluate it based on its responsiveness to treatment, bringing the rating criteria for sleep apnea more closely in line with the stated purpose of the rating schedule.

 

Evaluating tinnitus (ringing in the ears) as a symptom of the underlying disease which causes it, rather than as a stand-alone disability.

 

Evaluating mental health conditions based on a more robust and holistic approach that assesses how impactful the disability is to cognition, interpersonal relationships, task completion, life activities and self-care. Additionally, the proposed evaluation criteria include a 10% minimum evaluation for having one or more service-connected mental health conditions and will no longer require “total occupational and social impairment” to attain a 100% evaluation.

 

No change to a Veteran’s current rating would occur due to these proposed changes. If the proposed changes are finalized, Veterans who currently receive compensation for a service-connected condition can apply for increased compensation, but no reductions shall be made unless an improvement in the Veteran’s disability is shown to have occurred.

 

The public has 60 days to provide comments to VA regarding the two proposed updates via the Federal Register notices located here and here.

 

Thomas J. Murphy

Director, Northeast District

Performing the Delegable Duties of the Under Secretary for Benefits

If you know a Veteran who is in crisis, call the Veterans Crisis Line at 1-800-273-8255 and press 1.

Source:  

Veterans Benefits Administration 

 

Edited February 16, 2022 by Buck52

[Buck52]

I would lose my 10% for tinnitus  is they figure out how to stopp it  It drives me crazy at times and I try maksking it  with hearing aids and other 

Evaluating tinnitus (ringing in the ears) as a symptom of the underlying disease which causes it, rather than as a stand-alone disability.

My opinon if they do pass this  its applies to veteran that file for increase and maybe first time veterans file their claims..I don't think it effects a veteran already rated    they have the 5 year rule the 10 year rule  and of course the 20 year rule for Veterans that has been cocurrently rated for that long.

And I really don't think they csan reduse your current benefits  they may call us up for an evaulation  (C&P Exam) and see how your current disability is?  if its worse or has  got better   this is where the C&P examiner Dr comes in because what ever he writes in is exam report  thats usually what they go by.

so whatever you do  ''Don't Piss of the C&P Examiner  and if you get a letter letting you know an evaulation has been scheduled   you better go to it.

Edited February 16, 2022 by Buck52

[Mr cue]

Right now if you got a good rating or tdiu.

Leave the veterans affairs alone

I just watched CBS new and the did a thing on camp lejenne water claims

I know I did spell that right but you get it lol.

Well any way it was on the VA call these np and nurse specialist.

When they are not.

The way I see the VA has and is changing again they do this from time to time.

But these changes are not helping the veteran.

That new comp exam system is a set up.

They are using it to reduce veterans.

This is my opinion.

I see alot more reduction.

I even had 4 in my record to try and reduce. An I apply for smc benfits.

Each time they were told I am 25 year protected.

If you are going to put in for a increase I would wait till the 5 year or 10 year rating protection.

Why play with your income and hope the VA does the right thing.

Yes they are going to change the mental health thing.

To many veterans rated total under it.

Just like they change ivds I am under the old rating 5293.

The new ratings code is about bed rest and all this other stuff that make it in possible.

Alot of veteran were granted total under this also.

This is all my opinion.

But I will tell veterans with tdiu or a nice rating.

To leave them ppl alone lol.

They are no playing fair right now.

They are not responding to you you will never get anyone to talk to you during your process.

No number to bva.

To me it all a set up

 

[john999]

I agree with Buck and Mr. Cue. When VA starts messing around with ratings it usually does not benefit the vet.  About a year ago I decided that my rating for DMII was too low since I was hospitalized for it and had to go on insulin injections twice a day. Included in my claim for an increase was my ratings for neuropathy which was rated at 10% for each limb.  My rating for DMII was not increase from 20% to 40% because of a loophole.  However, my ratings for neuropathy was increase from 10% for each limb to 40% for each limb.  You cannot ever tell with these claims. If you think you have a really good reason to ask for an increase go for it, but remember what was said about waking up the monster.  I have my main rating protected at 20 year level, but other ratings are only protected by 10 year level.  I would not claim an increase for MH just to find out what will stick on the wall.  After WW11 the VA reduced thousands of vets who had higher ratings but were in the work force.  In those days a guy could get a good union job.  Vets did have some advantages when getting hired.  If they could drag themselves to the factory floor and put in 8 hours that was better than small money for compensation.  My father got 10% rating and he got $8 a month in 1946.  100% was probably a few hundred dollars a month.  That was low even in those days.

[marathonjon]

While the elimination of tinnitus as a stand-alone disability doesn't affect those of us who are currently rated for it, I think it unfairly affects veterans who might want to apply for tinnitus as a disability in the future. VBA says they're proposing the changes to "incorporate modern medical data." However, I don't think they account for the fact that the underlying cause of tinnitus cannot always be determined. Therefore, I think they should not delete Diagnostic Code 6260 for tinnitus. I submitted the following comment, and I encourage other concerned vets to comment as well. Read and comment on the rule change here: https://www.regulations.gov/document/VA-2022-VBA-0009-0001

My comment: Proposed Rule AQ72 states by way of background, "current medicine reflects that tinnitus likely results from abnormal neural activity at some point or points in the auditory pathway ... As a result, it is a symptom associated with an underlying condition, such as hearing loss, Meniere's disease, traumatic brain injury and cerebral atherosclerosis, not an independent disease." The Proposed Rule proposes changes to DC 6100 for Hearing Loss, DC 6200 for Chronic suppurative otitis media, and DC 6205 for Meniere's syndrome, but it doesn't even include any language regarding tinnitus associated with traumatic brain injury or cerebral atherosclerosis.

VA raters tend to read 38 CFR literally, so if tinnitus is included as a symptom only for DCs 6100, 6200, and 6205, then those are probably the only DCs for which they will consider it. In point of fact, "While tinnitus is often associated with hearing loss, there are roughly 200 different health disorders that can generate tinnitus as a symptom," according to the American Tinnitus Association (https://www.ata.org/understanding-facts/causes). 38 CFR should list all health disorders that can generate tinniuts as a symptom and that are ratable disabilities in 38 CFR. Furthermore, many authorities acknowledge that "It is not known exactly what causes a person to 'hear' sounds with no outside source of the noise," including MedlinePlus (https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/003043.htm), the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/tinnitus#2), and the Veterans Health Library (https://www.veteranshealthlibrary.va.gov/Search/142,41686_VA). In a 2020 clinical update, Piccirillo, Rodebaugh, and Lenze state that tinnitus can be associated with spontaneous occurence, meaning there's no known underlying cause (Jay F. Piccirillo, MD; Thomas L. Rodebaugh, PhD; Eric J. Lenze, MD, "Tinnitus," 323(15) JAMA 1497-1498 (2020)).

38 CFR must not delete DC 6260 but retain it for those rare cases where the underlying cause of tinnitus cannot be determined.

[Vync]

@marathonjonThat is a very good comment backed by research they can confirm on their own! With tinnitus being the top disability, the VA is trying to stem the potential of having to grant a separate 10% rating for future tinnitus claims.

[GBArmy]

Agree 100% that the changes are meant not to incorporate new medical practice, etc., but reality to reduce VA disability expenditures. It is, IMHO, the absolute undeniable truth sorry to say. The most awarded disabilities are tinnitus and hearing. They want to make it harder for veterans to get them.