The men and women who serve our country in the military are entitled to certain benefits. These include disability benefits through the Veterans Administration (VA). Veterans who are diagnosed with a service-connected disability may seek these monthly benefits for both physical and mental health conditions.
When a person applies for veterans disability, the VA will assign a rating that is meant to represent the level of disability or impairment that they experience as a result of their service-connected disability. It is possible to increase your VA disability rating if your condition has worsened over time. Our Georgia veterans disability attorneys can help you increase your mental health disability rating to receive the benefits you deserve.
At Perkins Studdard, we are dedicated to helping people get the benefits that they are entitled to for work-related and service-connected disabilities. We offer free initial consultations and never charge a fee unless we recover benefits for you. Reach out to our law office today to schedule an appointment with a Georgia veterans benefits lawyer.
Is It Possible to Get a VA Disability Rating Increased?
A disability rating is a number used by the VA to determine the level of impairment that a veteran experiences from a service-connected condition. This rating is calculated as a percentage that represents how your disability affects your daily life and earning capacity, from 0 to 100%. This number is particularly important because it impacts the amount of compensation and benefits that you may receive.
When determining a disability rating, the VA considers:
- The severity of your condition;
- How your symptoms affect your ability to work and perform daily activities; and
- The supporting evidence (such as medical records and evaluations from treating physicians).
The VA will then assign a rating, with a higher percentage indicating a more severe impairment. Generally, larger disability ratings will lead to higher disability benefit payments.
A veteran can receive a disability rating for both physical conditions, such as a low back injury or loss of a limb, and mental health conditions. Increasingly, mental health conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and depression are recognized as issues that many veterans experience. A person with a service-connected mental health condition can get a disability rating based on how this condition affects their ability to work and function in daily life.
It is possible to seek an increase in your VA disability rating for any service-connected condition. To do so, you must demonstrate that your service-connected condition has either worsened or that it was underrated by the VA. Getting a higher disability rating will lead to greater compensation and access to benefits.
If you believe that your disability rating is too low, the first option is to file an appeal. You have 1 year from the date of the decision to file an appeal. There are three options for appealing a disability rating under the Veteran Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act:
- Supplemental Claim: This allows you to request that the regional office review your case again with new evidence.
- Higher-Level Review: With this option, a more experienced rating specialist will conduct a higher-level review of your claim using the same evidence from the prior decision.
- Notice of Disagreement: This can be filed as an appeal with the Board of Veterans’ Appeals, either with or without additional evidence, and an optional hearing before a Veterans Law Judge.
Alternatively, if your condition has worsened since your original disability rating or if it has been more than 1 year since you got your disability determination, you can file a new claim for an increased disability rating. The VA will treat this application like a new claim and review the evidence and assign a disability rating to you.
Finally, if your condition is severe, you could consider filing for Total Disability Based on Individual Employability (TDIU) benefits. Essentially, if your service-connected disability prevents you from getting or keeping gainful employment, you can get TDIU even if your combined disability ratings are less than 100%. An award of TDIU allows you to be compensated at the 100% payment rate.
Getting an increased disability rating typically requires proof. Except for appeals that don’t involve new evidence (such as a higher-level review), this will mean gathering and submitting new documentation. This may include:
- Medical records from private medical doctors (note: the VA will gather any records from VA medical professionals);
- Test results;
- Supporting statements from family, friends, and co-workers that explain how your life has been affected by your condition or how it has worsened; and
- A nexus letter to establish a link between your disability and your medical condition (if it has not already been established).
Our Georgia veterans benefits lawyers can help you collect the necessary evidence and will work with you to either submit an appeal or file a new claim based on your worsened condition. This can help you get an increase in compensation and access to benefits.
How to Increase a VA Mental Health Disability Rating
If you currently have a VA disability rating for a mental health condition related to your military service, such as PTSD, it may be possible to get a higher rating. As described above, this may be because the VA’s initial rating was too low or because your condition has worsened over time.
To understand your eligibility for a higher disability rating, it is important to understand how the VA rates mental health conditions. Generally, it is based on the symptoms a person experiences and how those symptoms impact their life. For example, for PTSD or another mental health disorder, a veteran might receive a rating as follows:
- 0% PTSD Rating: formally diagnosed with PTSD, but the symptoms are not severe enough to affect work or social functioning or to require medication.
- 10% PTSD Rating: work or social impairment due to mild symptoms that appear only during times of significant stress, or symptoms controlled by continuous medication.
- 30% PTSD Rating: work or social impairment, with occasional decrease in work efficiency; generally able to function well; symptoms may include depressed mood, anxiety, suspiciousness, panic attacks (weekly or less often), chronic sleep impairment, mild memory loss (such as forgetting names or directions).
- 50% PTSD Rating: work and social impairment, with lower productivity and reliability due to symptoms such as flattened affect, stereotyped speech, panic attacks more than once a week, difficulty in understanding complex commands, impairment of short and long-term memory, impaired judgment, impaired abstract thinking, disturbances of motivation and mood; difficulty in establishing and maintaining effective work and social relationships.
- 70% PTSD Rating: work and social impairment, with deficiencies in most areas due to symptoms including suicidal ideation, obsessive rituals, illogical speech, near-continuous panic or depression, impaired impulsive control (such as unprovoked irritability), spatial disorientation, neglect of personal appearance and hygiene, difficulty adapting to stressful circumstances, and inability to establish and maintain effective relationships.
- 100% PTSD Rating: total work and social impairment, with symptoms such 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, disorientation to time or place, memory loss for names of close relatives, own occupation or own name.
For example, consider a situation where you were initially assessed with a 30% disability rating for PTSD. You had infrequent panic attacks and some difficulty sleeping, but overall, you were able to function well. Over time, your PTSD seemed to get worse to the point that you were having multiple panic attacks a week, were having difficulty getting motivated, and were struggling with both work and personal relationships.
Because your PTSD symptoms have gotten significantly worse, you might be eligible for an increased disability rating. You will need to see a doctor and/or therapist (either privately or through the VA) to document these changes. You should also talk to friends, family, and co-workers to ask them for statements about how your condition has changed. This can all be submitted as part of a new claim or an appeal. Our Georgia veterans benefits lawyers can help you get the documentation that you need to support a claim for increased compensation.
Getting an increased rating, such as from 30 to 50% could mean a significant increase in benefits. According to the VA compensation tables, for a single veteran, monthly disability benefits could increase from $537.42 per month to $1,102.04. If you are struggling because of a mental health condition, this additional money may be necessary for financial stability.
How Our Law Firm Can Help
Too often, veterans are diagnosed with physical and/or mental health issues that were caused by their military service. While there is a system set up to help veterans, it can often be difficult to navigate. This is particularly true if you are also struggling with a disability that is affecting your ability to function. Our team of skilled veterans disability lawyers can work with you to file an appeal to increase your disability rating and get the benefits that you are entitled to under the law.
At Perkins Studdard, we represent veterans who have honorably served our country and are dealing with the aftermath of service. We work hard to help you get the full amount of benefits that you deserve, and never charge a fee unless we recover money for you. To learn more or to schedule a free initial consultation with a Georgia veterans disability benefits attorney, give us a call at 770-285-1198 or fill out our online contact form.
Related: Receiving VA Disability Benefits for Mental Health Conditions
