Saturday, November 1, 2014

Unemployability: When Will They Make Me Permanent and Total?

BLT 1/3 on the USS Okinawa late 1967. I still had an M-14. They would make me
trade it for a 16 a few weeks after this photo. Vietnam was like being dropped on
another planet for most Americans, in a culture that was so alien to us that we
were truly strangers in a strange land. Long term effects like PTSD were sure to happen.
Unemployability: When Will They Make Me Permanent and Total?


When you  receive an  unemployability rating, you are getting the same benefit as a veteran  with 100% rating. The difference is one is schedular (100%) and the other is non-schedular (below 100%  but considered totally disabled). For PTSD, once you reach 70%, the VA automatically considers you for  unemployability. You will remain at 70%, yet, you will be 100%, which can be confusing. So why do some veterans get rated Permanent and Total and others do not?
  1. The amount  of  time you have been in the system.
If you have maintained employment most of your life and received unemployability in the last few years, the VA may not make you Permanent and Total right away. There may be a chance you can recover and go back to  work. Of course, for PTSD this is unlikely, but the amount of time you have been in the system can matter.

 2. Your age.
Once you reach age 50, you are kind of over the threshold with the VA. If you are on unemployabilty for PTSD, the VA knows you are not likely to maintain  employment ever  again. Employers aren’t likely to seek you out and tend to prefer younger people. Most Nam vets now fit this category.

3. Your Case History.
This goes back to point #1 and the amount of time you have been in the system. If you have a long history of PTSD and are over age 50, they are more likely to consider you for Permanent and Total (P&T).

Advantages of Permanent and Total

If you are single, there are no advantages other than a commissary card, and the VA won’t call you in for Comp Exams. I believe that you can once again take military flights, but you should check first. You don’t have school age children or a wife so ChampVA insurance and school benefits aren’t available.

If you are married with school age children, you get the commissary card, ChampVA Insurance for you family, education benefits, and no Comp Exams.

For veterans with families who have been declared unemployable, but have not been declared Permanent, it would be worth it to push your service organization to help you get permanent status. However, after five years you will probably reach Permanent and Total automatically.

If you are single or married and have been declared unemployable but not Permanent, but you don’t have school age children and you don’t need the ChampVA insurance, have your service organization check to see if the VA has you in the system for any future Comp Exams.

If you are not listed for a future Comp Exam, let it alone. Don’t push for Permanent and Total because the VA will not bother you again until you bother them. Then, say after five years, maybe pursue the Permanent rating if you think you need to. But don’t make waves unless you have to. You will be upgraded to Permanent and Total eventually.

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If and when you are called in for a Comp Exam while on unemployability for PTSD, remember the VA cannot take your percentage away just because they feel like it. They would have to show you have improved and can maintain employment. They will check Social Security records to see if you have had any taxes taken out from employment while unemployable.

After five years, the VA must review the entire claim history before deciding to cut your rating. With PTSD, a cut is unlikely because of the age factor and because PTSD just doesn’t go away. Probably the most important factors in the Permanent and Total rating are age, how long you worked, how long you have been in the system, and the 70% rating.

There is legislation, or changes have been suggested by a group of analysts, to stop Unemployability after age 65 because a veteran could have already retired if working. I don't know if anything will come of it, and it will not change the status of veterans already on UE. This is still in the discussion phase on the way the VA budget can be cut. Hopefully, nothing will happen.

Dennis Latham Books