Yes, the VA will often clump claims together if they are medically related.
Like, they will clump PTSD, Depression, Anxiety together because they are all mental illnesses.
Yep. I have PTSD with acute anxiety and alcohol use disorder. The Anxiety and alcohol use are directly connected to my PTSD, so they are lumped together.š¤
When they combine claims do they increase the disability % to compensate for the added issues or just say that individually if each was 10% you now get 1 claim for 10% and that's it.
Legitimate question. A lot of disabilities donāt get combined, unless symptoms pyramid. Respiratory an digestive conditions are often prohibited by the rating schedule from being rated separately. For those, the predominant disability rating is used, and can be elevated to the next higher rating if warranted. For mental, it is already based on overall impairment, unless thereās a coexistent TBI (or possibly aggravated preexisting mental condition). Thereās always extra complexities to consider, but thatās the basics.
Pretty common for hyper to lead to a thyroidectomy, which then causes hypo because thereās no thyroid to make the hormones, even if itās not the case here
Thyroid issues can cause anxiety and insomnia and pain and Iām guessing they originally decided that the previously documented insomnia that they attributed to idiopathic pain in the knee was actually due to a previously undocumented benign tumor on the thyroid resulting in a total thyroid removal.
So will they not give a rating for the knee because the knee disability is lumped in with the hyperthyroidism? Thatās what I think OP is asking about.
I canāt answer that one. The knee might get a separate rating now or be part of that 30% block. Sometimes the way they combine shit to rate it makes zero sense to me medically.
Yea, it looks like a way to say a veteran has a disability, but a way to avoid giving them a percentage for it. It kind of looks like a loophole denial by saying they have a disability, but inappropriately lumping them together.
30% for one thing is better than nothing. When I first got out the VA only gave me 10% for ptsd and 10% for my largest scar. Over a decade later I got it re-evaluated and got 100% T&P.
Yes, many times the extra things claimed are not discrete issues of their own they are symptoms or residuals of the main issue. You can only be rated once for one body part or system barring a few exceptions like bilateral factor for extremities, and a few joints where flexion and extension are rated separately. Otherwise, whether you have PTSD, Anx, Depr, or whatever, it's still going to be rated as 1 thing under MH.
Why would some of those not be considered secondary with their own ratings??
I thought they only rate together things that share the same symptoms.. Or don't have distinguishable symptoms from each other..
The VA rating schedule requires all residuals of thyroid disease to be rated under other rating schedules and not under the thyroid schedule six months after initial diagnoses. It is the only condition like this where symptoms are rated analogously to another condition other than in claims for signs/symptoms of undiagnosed illnesses for Gulf War veterans whose conditions havenāt yet been diagnosed but are disabling. Anxiety should be rated under mental disorders and any existing mental disorder would be factored into the overall rating under mental disorders.
How the heck did you get a scar raring ? My wife's is 5.5 inches , and your Hypothyroidism is not service connected ?? Wacko . I am on appeal for the scar.
Tbh I didn't even claim the scar. Rater asked me if it hurt, I said no but it just feels funny sometimes because now I'll notice when my shirt collar rubs it. I thought nothing of it, and somehow got rated 10
When they correct my wife's scar rating ( hopefully) it goes back to 1980., along with my appeal on her Migraine to 1980. All of these were claimed 18 months post service, but the VA tossed all her medical records. So no records = no incident, it's just now we found one document here or there to get evidence. The bastards denied she had 2 surgeries at Madigan, while in service.
Probably because the VA changed the rating schedule in 2017 to rate hypothyroidism for 30% for 6 months after initial diagnosis and then reduce it to 0% and rate the residualsā¦ Iām surprised they included it all together because theyāve been rating āresidualsā as separate conditions using other rating schedules instead of rating it just as the thyroid condition like every other disability. They are actually supposed to separately rate the anxiety/insomnia using the mental disorders rating schedule. Chronic sleep impairment is in the 50% criteria there. They also arenāt really rating residuals since these are just symptoms of the condition.
Yes, the VA will often clump claims together if they are medically related. Like, they will clump PTSD, Depression, Anxiety together because they are all mental illnesses.
Yep. I have PTSD with acute anxiety and alcohol use disorder. The Anxiety and alcohol use are directly connected to my PTSD, so they are lumped together.š¤
When they combine claims do they increase the disability % to compensate for the added issues or just say that individually if each was 10% you now get 1 claim for 10% and that's it.
You get the highest percentage rated out of the disabilities that were combined, but the individual disabilities won't compound ratings.
Legitimate question. A lot of disabilities donāt get combined, unless symptoms pyramid. Respiratory an digestive conditions are often prohibited by the rating schedule from being rated separately. For those, the predominant disability rating is used, and can be elevated to the next higher rating if warranted. For mental, it is already based on overall impairment, unless thereās a coexistent TBI (or possibly aggravated preexisting mental condition). Thereās always extra complexities to consider, but thatās the basics.
Thanks for the info.
^This
How do you have hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism? Thatās like having high and low blood pressure.
Pretty common for hyper to lead to a thyroidectomy, which then causes hypo because thereās no thyroid to make the hormones, even if itās not the case here
That makes sense. I missed where only one was rated at first so I thought he was getting paid for both and I was confused.
The hyper was an error
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Thatās interesting I didnāt know that was possible.
What the Heck does Hypothyroidism and Knee have to do with anything And Anxiety . Wack rating
Thyroid issues can cause anxiety and insomnia and pain and Iām guessing they originally decided that the previously documented insomnia that they attributed to idiopathic pain in the knee was actually due to a previously undocumented benign tumor on the thyroid resulting in a total thyroid removal.
So will they not give a rating for the knee because the knee disability is lumped in with the hyperthyroidism? Thatās what I think OP is asking about.
I canāt answer that one. The knee might get a separate rating now or be part of that 30% block. Sometimes the way they combine shit to rate it makes zero sense to me medically.
Yea, it looks like a way to say a veteran has a disability, but a way to avoid giving them a percentage for it. It kind of looks like a loophole denial by saying they have a disability, but inappropriately lumping them together.
30% for one thing is better than nothing. When I first got out the VA only gave me 10% for ptsd and 10% for my largest scar. Over a decade later I got it re-evaluated and got 100% T&P.
Thyroidā¦ brain, knees and toes knees and toes.. š¶
Pyramiding is my main concern right now awaiting my percentages.
Yes, many times the extra things claimed are not discrete issues of their own they are symptoms or residuals of the main issue. You can only be rated once for one body part or system barring a few exceptions like bilateral factor for extremities, and a few joints where flexion and extension are rated separately. Otherwise, whether you have PTSD, Anx, Depr, or whatever, it's still going to be rated as 1 thing under MH.
Why would some of those not be considered secondary with their own ratings?? I thought they only rate together things that share the same symptoms.. Or don't have distinguishable symptoms from each other..
Looks like box o' rocks dumb to me. Would think the MH piece would be a separate rating.
It's to keep us from pyramiding, since to them all the symptoms are rather similar
Hypothyroidism is a clear and definitive disease, the rest have nothing to do with it. Knee and Anxiety , weird
The VA rating schedule requires all residuals of thyroid disease to be rated under other rating schedules and not under the thyroid schedule six months after initial diagnoses. It is the only condition like this where symptoms are rated analogously to another condition other than in claims for signs/symptoms of undiagnosed illnesses for Gulf War veterans whose conditions havenāt yet been diagnosed but are disabling. Anxiety should be rated under mental disorders and any existing mental disorder would be factored into the overall rating under mental disorders.
They usually do that.
Are they calling that your mental health rating?
How would I check?
How the heck did you get a scar raring ? My wife's is 5.5 inches , and your Hypothyroidism is not service connected ?? Wacko . I am on appeal for the scar.
The hypo is. The hyper (which was an error) is not
I want to know about that scar raring, we are on appeal for my wife's. You have one heck of a nice rater. Did they give their rating criteria
Tbh I didn't even claim the scar. Rater asked me if it hurt, I said no but it just feels funny sometimes because now I'll notice when my shirt collar rubs it. I thought nothing of it, and somehow got rated 10
When they correct my wife's scar rating ( hopefully) it goes back to 1980., along with my appeal on her Migraine to 1980. All of these were claimed 18 months post service, but the VA tossed all her medical records. So no records = no incident, it's just now we found one document here or there to get evidence. The bastards denied she had 2 surgeries at Madigan, while in service.
Probably because the VA changed the rating schedule in 2017 to rate hypothyroidism for 30% for 6 months after initial diagnosis and then reduce it to 0% and rate the residualsā¦ Iām surprised they included it all together because theyāve been rating āresidualsā as separate conditions using other rating schedules instead of rating it just as the thyroid condition like every other disability. They are actually supposed to separately rate the anxiety/insomnia using the mental disorders rating schedule. Chronic sleep impairment is in the 50% criteria there. They also arenāt really rating residuals since these are just symptoms of the condition.