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Old 04-01-2020, 07:25 PM   #1
CWtheMan
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Disabled American Veteran Eligibility Categories

Are you a veteran or a service connected disabled veteran? Do you know your eligibility catagory?

My catagory is 1. I did 31 years and went straight on the Perminent Disabled Retired List (PDRL) upon retirement because of a VA disability rating. (I did my homework and had a complete medical examination/evaluation before retirement).

VA disibility ratings are not automatic. When I had a procedure related to my service connected disability, I had to apply to a VA disability board to verify the procedure warranted an increase in my disability percentage.

Now days retirees have to keep current with VA evaluation methods. To draw concurrent retired pay and VA compensation pay your VA rating must stay at 50% or higher. Everyone higher than 50% is a category one. 50 - 99% used to be category 2.

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http://americasveterans.org/categories.html
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Old 04-03-2020, 05:54 AM   #2
DDG
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CWtheMan, thank you for your service. As I said I did 6 years in the Army. I'm a category 1 thru the VA. Do all my Doc at the VA for about 20 years they are great. I'm a life member of DAV and VVA. I want to thank you for all the information that you have given on the forum it has help in many ways. Thanks DDG
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Old 04-10-2020, 08:37 PM   #3
McRod
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I did 22 years active duty. 3 full years in combat. I am proud to say my disability is ZERO. I haven't even been to the doc since my exit physical in 2009.

In my 22 years active, I seen too many malingerers and to many professional Benni seekers spending the last years of their service doing nothing but going on sickcall to get a pay bump in their retirement. Unfortunately, it's fraud like that which will be the undoing to many of my fellow soldiers that returned from combat truly disabled.

Seems everywhere I go now in forums, there is a veteran promoting "helping" others get their pay bump.

I don't know if that's the case here, but I can tell you people tend to gravitate towards the well, until it's all dried up. It wasn't long ago that medical pay offset retired pay. Kept people in check. Needs to go back to that, IMO.
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Old 04-11-2020, 03:12 AM   #4
CWtheMan
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I did 22 years active duty. 3 full years in combat. I am proud to say my disability is ZERO. I haven't even been to the doc since my exit physical in 2009.

In my 22 years active, I seen too many malingerers and to many professional Benni seekers spending the last years of their service doing nothing but going on sickcall to get a pay bump in their retirement. Unfortunately, it's fraud like that which will be the undoing to many of my fellow soldiers that returned from combat truly disabled.

Seems everywhere I go now in forums, there is a veteran promoting "helping" others get their pay bump.

I don't know if that's the case here, but I can tell you people tend to gravitate towards the well, until it's all dried up. It wasn't long ago that medical pay offset retired pay. Kept people in check. Needs to go back to that, IMO.
Maybe you should research the subject more carefully. The VA guidelines for disability ratings are very stringent and only approved after medical evaluations and doctor recommendations.

An example: I had a very close and good friend (75 years old). He also retired with 22 years service without any service connected disabilities. When he died he was on 100% disability. At 73 years old he developed terminal cancer. Guess what? after all those years it was determined agent orange caused the cancer and his 100% disability started the day of cancer discovery. Civilian doctors determined the cause of the cancer and contacted the VA on his behalf.

There are a lot of different doors to enter for VA medical coverage. Without them there would be a lot of veterans unable to pay their bills because of medical problems that can be traced back to those days they served their country.
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Old 04-11-2020, 08:09 AM   #5
JRTJH
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I ran a primary care clinic in the VA system for 20+ years. During my time treating veterans, I made the recommendation that many of them seek a disability rating (because I knew what was in their future). Many, actually most were reluctant to ask for help and proud to be able to support their family without seeking assistance. I always documented their medical record with our conversations and when the time came that they couldn't support their family or themselves, I walked them down the hall to the disability exam section to make their appointment.

To characterize a group of veterans as "bennie seekers" is repugnant and reeks with impropriety. I won't characterize any group of people, but if I were to "slip for a moment", from personal experience working in the system for decades, those who protest loudest against the disability program are often the ones who scream loudest when they need help and expect it NOW.....

The VA disability system is "played by some" but that percentage is honestly very small. Helping those who protected us with their lives, their health and their future was the most rewarding part of my medical career and I fully support continued care, assistance and benefits for every disabled veteran. They are the reason we can protest on an impersonal forum without soldiers knocking on our door to punish us for not "following government policy"...

I appreciate every veteran's contribution to our nation's safety and want them to enjoy what's left of their health and lives.
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Old 04-11-2020, 08:37 AM   #6
travelin texans
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I did not serve, but our son retired 1 year ago with 21 years of service.
IMHO if anyone that was in combat that came out with NO physical or mental disability was VERY lucky.
From an outsider looking in, modern day warfare is nowhere near what our fathers/grandfather's went through. For them both sides wore uniforms & they knew which were good or bad, nowadays the opposing warriors may be wearing a dress or even diapers. It's a wonder any soldier can come home & sleep at night.
They deserve whatever they can get.
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Old 04-11-2020, 08:00 PM   #7
McRod
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Originally Posted by JRTJH View Post
...

To characterize a group of veterans as "bennie seekers" is repugnant and reeks with impropriety. ...

I appreciate every veteran's contribution to our nation's safety and want them to enjoy what's left of their health and lives.
It probably is as you say. But I speak from the inside looking out. Not from a position of someone on the outside looking in. Medical care is not a benefit in so much as it is a safety net. Some feel as if it's an entitlement of pay (Many I served with), rather than a care and respect for those who put themselves in harm's way. One train of thought is showing benevolent gratitude and the other is just socialism.
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Old 04-11-2020, 08:19 PM   #8
McRod
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I did not serve, but our son retired 1 year ago with 21 years of service.
IMHO if anyone that was in combat that came out with NO physical or mental disability was VERY lucky.
From an outsider looking in, modern day warfare is nowhere near what our fathers/grandfather's went through. For them both sides wore uniforms & they knew which were good or bad, nowadays the opposing warriors may be wearing a dress or even diapers. It's a wonder any soldier can come home & sleep at night.
They deserve whatever they can get.
That is a perspective. Head on a swivel actually means something. Your statement reminds me of a convoy I was on in Kadhimiya, Iraq. Everything was a potential IED. I remember going past a corpse of a dead dog thinking that was it. We were going to get hit as soon as we drove by. Insurgents often used common sights as a deception. Didn't happen, was just a dead dog in the road - that time.
I do often reflect on the differences in wars. I served in 3 different theaters of war, Iraq, Afghanistan and Egypt and all of them were different than Vietnam, Korea, and each of the WWs. Personally, I think those before my generation had it ALOT harder. Uniforms or not. The US has such a technological advantage over current threats it don't even seem fair in most cases nowdays.

Anyhow...just rambling as I go to bed. I get your point, but don't agree. Those before my gen had it worse, IMO.
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Old 04-11-2020, 08:21 PM   #9
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It probably is as you say. But I speak from the inside looking out. Not from a position of someone on the outside looking in. Medical care is not a benefit in so much as it is a safety net. Some feel as if it's an entitlement of pay (Many I served with), rather than a care and respect for those who put themselves in harm's way. One train of thought is showing benevolent gratitude and the other is just socialism.
https://www.va.gov/about_va/vahistory.asp
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