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

PTSD Claims: the Increase In Comp

PTSD Claims

When you file a claim for PTSD, you believe combat stressors have altered your life. Combat stressors are the key to the original rating. The VA admits you experienced events that changed your life forever. When you apply for an percentage increase, the increase is not based on additional stressors. You don't need additional stressors when you apply for an increase.

  Some veterans believe the more stressors they submit during the course of the claim, the higher their percentage. After the initial service connection, your percentage is based on your ability to function and support yourself in the work force. Most combat veterans mistrust authority, which can make life difficult when you job search or try to hold a job. Many veterans who had a position of authority in the service suffer from extreme survivor guilt over troops they lost. They often do not want to be put in a position of responsibility for others again. When you add drinking, drug addiction, paranoia, startle response, lack of sleep, and inability to feel emotions, it results in a bad case of PTSD.

  Some veterans can mask it for awhile, but others fall apart sooner. A severe employment handicap covers any increase beyond initial service connection. So if you put in for a increase, you must stress the problems you have at work if you are working or with a past employer if you no longer work. Don't bring up additional stressors unless they directly relate to your job. Many PTSD combat veterans prefer to work isolated so they don't have to deal with other people. This can result in job problems or self-employment, sometimes in a family business. The VA cannot penalize veterans for being self-employed.

Questions And Answers About PTSD and The VA

How can I request a waiver to not pay back the debt?

 To request a wavier you need to explain, in writing, the reasons you feel that you should not be held liable for your debt. Please explain the circumstances leading  up to the overpayment, and the steps you took to prevent the overpayment from occurring. You should also complete and return the Financial Status Report (VAF 20-5655), which was enclosed with your notification letter.

I filed a claim for unemployability due to PTSD. I told the DAV rep I was 100 percent disabled from Social Security for a physical disability, but he didn't want to use that information for now. I told a VSO the same thing and he said to use the information. What should I do?

 The VA is supposed to consider information from Social Security is you want them to, but...if you are 100% from Social Security for a physical condition, don't use that information in a PTSD claim because the VA could argue that you're unemployable because of the physical condition and not the PTSD, even though PTSD is the major problem. This could increase delay time for adjudicating the increase. The DAV rep is suggesting the smart move.

Is there any advantage to filing a claim for Type 2 Diabetes when I’m already 100% Unemployable?

  If you have been unemployable for at least ten years, there is no real advantage. You get treated for everything anyway after 50%. But if you have only been  rated UE for a few years, you must die of your service connection to make your spouse eligible for DIC survivor benefits. So if you were unemployable for PTSD and you died of complications from Type 2 Diabetes, but you were not service-connected for it, your spouse may have a hard time collecting DIC even though you were 100%.

  So below ten years unemployable, I would file. After ten years, you’re covered for any illness that can kill you so it’s not that important if you are total and permanent. It’s all about our wives or minor children if we have them. So I guess I would have to say file the claim, especially for Type 2 or any other Agent Orange related illness because it’s considered presumptive, and if you have it you get an automatic service connection.

If I am rated 100% for unemployability, can I do any kind of work at all?

  You can work as long as it’s not long term full time employment for a year or more. You can also help out in a family business or have scattered employment as long as it’s not long term full time employment. If you have your own business and show a huge income to the IRS, that could be a problem with the unemployability rating because  you are able to support yourself.

  The VA always sends me a paper every year wanting to know if I had taxable income or wages that were subject to Social Security. I imagine they will begin sending all kinds of papers to anyone on unemployability in the future, trying to find out if your ability to make money is restored.

  Just remember, working a few days a month or helping a family business on a scattered basis does not mean your earning capacity is restored. Being restored means a regular full time job.

Can the VA take away my money award?

  Generally, for physical disabilities, the VA can reduce your compensation, even for combat wounds, if the condition improves to the point where it has no effect on your life.

  For PTSD, once you are service-connected, you are pretty much service-connected for life. There is no cure for PTSD, and once you have a percentage for five years, the VA would have to review the entire claim history before cutting your percentage. They can call you in for Comp Exams, and they can give you a high GAF score on a given day. Just because you may feel good on a given day, doesn’t mean you are cured. And they cannot reduce you for a temporary improvement in your condition.

How long should it take a claim for unemployability to be granted?

  There is no way of telling because each case and RO is different. For PTSD, when it is the only disability, it shouldn’t take more than a few months is you are rated 70%. If you meet the combined criteria for unemployability for physical wounds or other disabilities, then it may take longer because the VA deals with each disability as it rates to working. The only good thing in waiting is that it will probably go back to the last day you worked or back to the day you filed. I’ve known a few vets who received over $100,000 in back pay by the time it was over. The main thing is to not give up when you have a good claim.