For Veterans who have experienced a psychological disability, it is important to be aware of the VA benefits available to get the proper care and services they are entitled to. The amount of benefit you receive will depend on the severity of your condition, which is rated from 0% to 100% at increments of 10. Naturally, the ratings come with different levels of benefits. We will explore how you can increase your VA benefits rating from 50% to 70% and what this difference can mean for you and your dependents.
After applying for benefits, the VA will review your condition and assign a disability rating that matches the severity of your disability. This rating will then be used to calculate the monthly compensation paid out for your condition, so an individual with a 70% score will be receiving a larger payout than someone with a 50% score for the same condition.
Factors that the VA will look at to support your claim include occupational and social impairment, symptoms, doctor records, claim exam results, information from other sources, and employee references, among any other factors that you can include in your application.
At this point, you may be curious as to what the different ratings get you and why you should be aiming higher. Benefits compound with each level, so you will just be adding more the higher you go. To put it into a clear perspective, let’s look at what a 50% rating could get you, as of 2023:
Remember, these benefits are all compounded from former benefits. Let’s see what happens when we keep moving up. Here’s what else a Veteran could get from VA benefits with a rating of 70%:
As you can see, getting a 70% rating comes with significantly more benefits than a 50% rating.
Total Disability Individual Unemployability is available to all Veterans who qualify that have one disability rating at 60% or multiple ratings that equal 70% with one disability rating at 40%. If you can show that your service-connected psychological condition prevents you from working in substantially gainful employment, then you are entitled to be paid at the 100% disability rate. This equates to $3,631.95 per month as of 2023, which over the course of the year will bring in over $32,000 more than that of a Veteran at the 50% rating level. This goes to show how big a difference your disability rating can make.
Here are some of the key things you will want to keep in mind when you are looking to increase your disability rating for a psychological condition.
A high-value claim is a disability that has a higher likelihood of getting rated above 30%. Mental health conditions are commonly categorized as such, so when filing a claim you should focus on that condition ahead of any physical ailment you went through during your service.
This has been proven to be the #1 best way for increasing disability rating, but what exactly does it entail? A VA DBQ is a standardized form created by the VA to give you more control of your VA claim. Obtaining this form from a qualified medical provider will allow you to present your medical diagnosis and current symptoms through the ICD Code, and we found that in some instances the DBQ alone can increase a disability rating.
Through an Independent Medical Exam (IME), you could show what the occupational and social impairment was, as well as explain your current symptoms, as recorded by your doctor.
Navigating VA benefits can be extremely difficult, which is why you should enlist in the help of Jan Dils, Attorneys at Law, for your disability case. An experienced Veterans disability attorney can have a tremendous impact on every phase of your claim, and no team is more committed to helping our Veterans than the team at Jan Dils. To learn more about how to get from the 50% rating to the 70% rating, call today and set up your free disability evaluation, or try our VA disability calculator.
