Has anyone had DOD or VA ratings go down?

Hi guys,
I have posted a few times before. I am trying to get information to help my husbands case. We are waiting on ratings for DOD and VA. He has schizoeffective disorder and its service connected. He is worried to go to a formal board or fight the process after he gets his ratings. The DOD rating would most likely be the one we choose. He has 19 years total and 14 active for service. Obviously, he has been found unfit. This came out of the blue on a deployment, he was hospitalized for three months, and came home early after four months on deployment. I am trying to encourage him if the rating comes back too low to fight the process. He is worried that the DOD rating would be lowered. I am trying to tell him that with a mental health conditionls....that he will have for the rest of his life...with severe psychosis( at one point) would most likely not result in a rate reduction. Any help would be great.
 
Click to expand...
Beth36 said:
Hi guys,
I have posted a few times before. I am trying to get information to help my husbands case. We are waiting on ratings for DOD and VA. He has schizoeffective disorder and its service connected. He is worried to go to a formal board or fight the process after he gets his ratings. The DOD rating would most likely be the one we choose. He has 19 years total and 14 active for service. Obviously, he has been found unfit. This came out of the blue on a deployment, he was hospitalized for three months, and came home early after four months on deployment. I am trying to encourage him if the rating comes back too low to fight the process. He is worried that the DOD rating would be lowered. I am trying to tell him that with a mental health conditionls....that he will have for the rest of his life...with severe psychosis( at one point) would most likely not result in a rate reduction. Any help would be great.
Click to expand...

Its a hard question to answer - yes it is possible, but not too likely. you have a step or two that might help. First, wait for the ratings. In the meantime, if you do not have a service rep (DVA, VFW, etc, working with you - go see one quickly). Also, if you do not have a MEB/JAG attorney working with you - get over there and show them your packet. Secondly, when the ratings come back, you have a one time option to ask for a VA reconsideration of the UNFIT condition(s) where you can submit additional evidence and ask for reconsideration before it goes to PEB for a decision. IMHO, this is the point in the process where you want to get it right. In order to do so - get some experts on the process on board(in addition to the assistance the members on here can provide). Jason is an excellent resource. If you have questions on the C&P when it comes back, I might be able to assist with that. Best of luck.
 
Here is how mental disorders are rated:

General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders:


Total occupational and social impairment, due to such symptoms as:

gross impairment in thought processes or communication;

persistent delusions or hallucinations; grossly inappropriate

behavior; persistent danger of hurting self or others; intermittent

inability to perform activities of daily living (including maintenance

of minimal personal hygiene); disorientation to time or place; memory

loss for names of close relatives, own occupation, or own name 100%


Occupational and social impairment, with deficiencies in most areas,

such as work, school, family relations, judgment, thinking, or mood,

due to such symptoms as: suicidal ideation; obsessional rituals

which interfere with routine activities; speech intermittently illogical,

obscure, or irrelevant; near-continuous panic or depression affecting

the ability to function independently, appropriately and effectively;

impaired impulse control (such as unprovoked irritability with periods

of violence); spatial disorientation; neglect of personal appearance and

hygiene; difficulty in adapting to stressful circumstances (including

work or a worklike setting); inability to establish and maintain

effective relationships 70%


Occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and

productivity due to such symptoms as: flattened affect; circumstantial,

circumlocutory, or stereotyped speech; panic attacks more than once

a week; difficulty in understanding complex commands; impairment

of short- and long-term memory (e.g., retention of only highly learned

material, forgetting to complete tasks); impaired judgment; impaired

abstract thinking; disturbances of motivation and mood; difficulty in

establishing and maintaining effective work and social relationships 50%


Occupational and social impairment with occasional decrease in work

efficiency and intermittent periods of inability to perform occupational

tasks (although generally functioning satisfactorily, with routine

behavior, self-care, and conversation normal), due to such symptoms

as: depressed mood, anxiety, suspiciousness, panic attacks (weekly or

less often), chronic sleep impairment, mild memory loss (such as

forgetting names, directions, recent events) 30%


Occupational and social impairment due to mild or transient symptoms

which decrease work efficiency and ability to perform occupational

tasks only during periods of significant stress, or; symptoms controlled

by continuous medication 10%


A mental condition has been formally diagnosed, but symptoms are not

severe enough either to interfere with occupational and social

functioning or to require continuous medication 0%


Get a copy of his records and any statements from mental health doctors that match up with the language above.

Also download a mental disorder DBQ (disability benefits questionnaire) from the VA and see if his current MH provider would fill it out for him. This could be useful on appeal if the VA CP examiner tries to lowball him.

Psychosis is a pretty serious thing. Being out of touch with reality is not a mild condition. So it's doubtful they will rate it low but you never know.
 
Worry is common while waiting for ratings. I encourage you to not get to far down the road thinking about a FPEB when you don't yet know what the rating will be from the IPEB. I was in your husband's shoes two years ago waiting and wondering. Many cases work out just find at the IPEB level.

Happy holidays
Mike
 
Please forgive me if this sounds ignorant. Do we talk to a JAG attorney at our current base or the ones based in San Antonio. He is Air Force. Thanks so much!
 
If you are waiting on ratings to come back, he can register for a premium account on the VA's myhealthevet website and use the "blue button" to download all of his notes which will include a copy of VA CP exams which you can then compare to my post above "general rating formula for mental disorders" and on militarydisabilitymadeeasy.com to sort of wargame and get a good idea of what the ratings might be before official notification.

Your lawyer will just tell you to wait on notification.
 
Beth36 said:
Please forgive me if this sounds ignorant. Do we talk to a JAG attorney at our current base or the ones based in San Antonio. He is Air Force. Thanks so much!
Click to expand...
I highly doubt your local JA office will help you on a MEB. That being said, the MEB lawyers in San Antonio are supposed to help you along the way during the whole process, but when I went thru my MEB I wasn't actually able to speak to one of the actual attorneys until my ratings came in. They were supposedly very busy and low manned at the time (2014), so maybe things have changed.
 
Beth36 said:
Hi guys,
I have posted a few times before. I am trying to get information to help my husbands case. We are waiting on ratings for DOD and VA. He has schizoeffective disorder and its service connected. He is worried to go to a formal board or fight the process after he gets his ratings. The DOD rating would most likely be the one we choose. He has 19 years total and 14 active for service. Obviously, he has been found unfit. This came out of the blue on a deployment, he was hospitalized for three months, and came home early after four months on deployment. I am trying to encourage him if the rating comes back too low to fight the process. He is worried that the DOD rating would be lowered. I am trying to tell him that with a mental health conditionls....that he will have for the rest of his life...with severe psychosis( at one point) would most likely not result in a rate reduction. Any help would be great.
Click to expand...

Schizoaffective disorder is a chronic condition... meaning he would have had to have it for YEARS prior. Why this condition vs PTSD w/ psychotic features if it developed while on deployment?
 
I read this as he already had tne condition prior to deployment (rated for it) and it was aggravated by his most current deployment.
 
If h
gsfowler said:
I read this as he already had tne condition prior to deployment (rated for it) and it was aggravated by his most current deployment.
Click to expand...

He never should have been allowed to deploy with schizoaffective disorder.
 
Siligurl said:
Schizoaffective disorder is a chronic condition... meaning he would have had to have it for YEARS prior. Why this condition vs PTSD w/ psychotic features if it developed while on deployment?
Click to expand...
He had absolutely no prior history of any mental health symptoms prior to deployment. It began as sleep deprivation and also he was not in a combat related deployment. There was no prior diagnosis. The diagnosis was from a forensic psychiatrist at ft Sam, San Antonio when he was brought back home. I trust their judgement. He got wonderful care. They said with the perfect storm of stress and lack of sleep...this is what happened.
 
gsfowler said:
I read this as he already had tne condition prior to deployment (rated for it) and it was aggravated by his most current deployment.
Click to expand...
The condition was set off bc of deployment. He had no prior history, diagnosis, or any mental health symptoms.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top