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

[Berta]

I feel a little optimistic about this-I got it earlier from the American Legion and just got home-

and was surprised at some of the proposed changes- they sounded good .

But I will read and re read it many times-the MH 10% makes sense- how could any vet with a MH issue, that is due to their service ,have a SC "0" percent.  But some have been rated that way----

 

I did notice the AL ( this was  from the Stars and Stripes article ), said with the first day of this news they have already gotten almost 700 comments at th Fed Reg site.

 

In part: 

"A full list of the changes can be found on the Federal Register. Members of the public have until April 18 to comment on the proposals. As of Wednesday — one day after they were posted – the changes had garnered nearly 700 comments.

“This appears to have generated interest, even overnight, with hundreds of comments on each of the proposed systems,” McDonough said. “I encourage anyone to submit a comment if they have one.”

VA proposes changing disability ratings for mental health, other conditions | The American Legion

I dont have time to post the Fed reg link so I hope someone here will- this is everyone's chance to have input into this proposed regulation.

 

[Rivet62]

On 2/15/2022 at 8:53 PM, Buck52 said:

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

Which would suggest prevention, if not a cure the way I'm reading it.  Where is VA headed with that?  I'll be the first to stand up for whatever cure they say because as much as I loved my F-4s the memories ring in ears. To me it seems like VA is imposing the need to argue harder for a tinnitus initial claim.

[Rivet62]

On 2/15/2022 at 8:53 PM, Buck52 said:

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.

Hill & Ponton uploaded a video to YouTube on this topic a day ago.

The video was live streamed Q&A so other things mixed in with the topic. Fast forward to 4:56 to start the video.

 

Edited February 17, 2022 by Rivet62

[Rivet62]

On 2/15/2022 at 8:53 PM, Buck52 said:

Evaluating mental health conditions based on a more robust and holistic approach that assesses how impactful the disability is to cognition,

I got denied for cognitive impairment because VA doesn't seem to acknowledge that such a thing is real with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), but my VA psychiatrist does. In fact, right there in her office was a brochure listing cognitive impairment as one of the more serious symptoms of MDD.

The reason why I don't think VA formally recognizes cognitive impairment as a serious symptom is because they appeared to categorize mine as vascular dementia and I got denied because none of my medical evidence supports that conclusion, while at the same time I was already rated at 70% for MDD alone.

I'm taking heart that the proposed VA changes take cognitive impairment seriously and that it is just one more measure in what Hill & Ponton describe as a rubric approach to assessing mental health.  The video link that I posted above does not go into a lot of speculation on these VA proposed changes, but what the older female rep said is that VA is attempting to add numerical values to symptoms that add up to a total that better defines the disability for rating purposes. I took that to mean that VA is attempting a rubric approach.

Some may ask, what is MDD cognitive impairment like? Well, for me it's not like the immediate environment starts melting like a Salvador Dali painting but it's more like audible and visual cognition of print becomes less defined.  So, audible instructions sound like Charlie Brown's teacher, and print becomes blurred and jumbled. I have no problem executing my own original ideas, but taking instruction from others is impeded by MDD cognitive impairment episodes.

Edited February 18, 2022 by Rivet62