so
welcome to cck live my name is kayla dinofrio and i'm joined today by my colleagues matthew fusco
and brandon fiva and today we're going to be explaining how to get a 100 permanent and total va
disability rating so first we'll just start with the basics what is a permanent and total rating
basically permanent and total disability or pnt refers to veterans whose disabilities
are rated as total meaning that they're at 100 or they have tdiu
and permanent meaning that there's zero or close to zero chance of improvement
for the purpose of just defining these terms a total rating would be 100 rating or tdiu like i
said which would indicate that you are completely or totally disabled for the purpose of va benefits
a permanent rating is when va deems that a disability is permanent making it reasonably
certain based on medical evidence that the level of impairment will continue for the rest of the
veteran's life so there's really no chance that that condition is going to improve it's important
to point out that since permanent means a veteran will be disabled for the rest of their life va is
allowed to take into account the veterans age in determining whether that disability is permanent
which can mean that it can be a little bit more difficult for younger veterans to get
that permanent determination just because va will sort of factor that into making that decision
and just a final note on this topic although permanent and total is often used as a single
phrase veterans can have a total rating that is temporary so it's not going to be
a permanent finding for va purposes or they can have a permanent disability that's not
rated at 100 it just means that va has found that that condition is not likely to improve
so brandon how would one go about getting a permanent and total rating that's a good question
kayla so in order for va to consider printing 100 permanent and total disability rating the
veteran will need to show two things the first is they need to show evidence of a service connected
disability veterans wishing to obtain permanent and total status uh with va in order to get those
ratings they need to first prove that they're that they actually have a service connected disability
so first and foremost you need to have a disability that is deemed to be service connected
the second thing that the veteran or the claimant will need to show is they'll need to show proof
that their conditions will not improve this may include medical reports from doctors psychologists
cardiologists oncologists and even other medical professionals so sometimes obtaining an opinion in
these circumstances is somewhat necessary now these reports in these circumstances can and
should detail why the veterans condition is not expected to improve i.e those reports need to show
why or how these conditions are going to be the same essentially throughout the veterans
life so essentially a veteran needs to have a report from a medical professional so to
speak that shows that this condition will not or at least is not expected to improve
so how does a veteran actually go about asking va to rate them as permanent and totally disabled
so if we believe or if veteran believes and they have evidence showing that their
disability is unlikely to improve at any point in the future you can go ahead and submit a claim to
va requesting a permanent rating excuse me now with your claim you definitely want to be sure
to include medical evidence treatment records and those doctors opinions or reports showing that the
condition cannot be expected to improve in the future so oftentimes having medical evidence
in these circumstances if you're seeking that permanent and total rating is not only recommended
in most circumstances that is required to show va that not only you have a service connected
disability but that service-connected disability is not inspected to improve
great thank you and matt how do you know if your condition is permanent
sure so some combinations of disabilities are automatically deemed permanent in total excuse me
including the irreversible loss or loss of use of both hands both feet one hand and one foot
sight in both eyes or becoming permanently helpless or bedridden when va decides a veteran
service connected condition is permanent in nature it importantly no longer requires veterans to
attend re-examinations so according to 38 cfr 3.327 you're exempt from future examinations
when your condition is static or unchanging when your condition has persisted without
material improvement for a period of five years or more which is referred to as a stabilized rating
when your disability is for is permanent in character or of such nature that there is no
likelihood of improvement when you are over 55 years of age although some exceptions may apply
to this specific criteria or if the rating you received is prescribed minimum rating or
if a lower rating would not affect your combined disability rating so all of those qualifications
no longer require veterans to attend re-examinations when determining the permanent
and total status of their disability great thank you and to determine if you are rated as permanent
and total take a look at your va decision letter or your rating decision there should be some
language in there that would indicate that they have made the permanent and total finding this
language will vary depending on the regional office so you'll likely see one of the following
one is that they'll explicitly check off a box that says permanent and total if you have been
granted the 100 rating or tdiu you may also see language like eligibility to dependence chapter
35 or dependence educational assistance or that champ va has been established or you may also
see something like no future examinations are scheduled like matt was saying um any of those
phrases or any of that language would indicate that they have made a finding of um permanence
if the letter says anything to the extent that a future examination could be scheduled or a
future examination will be scheduled then your disability is not considered permanent by va
so now looking at whether va can reduce a permanent and total rating
the short answer is that no va cannot reduce your permanent and total ratings
they are protected from being reduced and they may entitle you and your family to additional benefits
in cases involving dependency and indemnity compensation or dic the spouse will need to
have been married to the veteran for at least 10 years prior to the veteran's death otherwise
the benefits will stop upon the veterans death even if they were rated as permanent in total
according to the regulation 38 cfr 3.105 e a rating reduction may only take place in cases
where the veteran or where va has received the veteran's entire medical history the
veteran undergoes a thorough examination that is adequate for rating purposes meaning that there's
really nothing wrong with the examiner's reasoning and va finds sustained improvement
in the veterans ability to function under the ordinary conditions of life including employment
so here sustained improvement is considered to have been demonstrated when significant evidence
shows a lessening of service-connected symptoms that has persisted consistently over time across
situations and under the ordinary conditions of life really just meaning that there's sustained
improvement there's no circumstantial factors or mitigating factors that are attributed
to that improvement that's been found on that single exam um so one thing that i do want to note
for this is that once you've been found permanent in total um if you do not file new claims the
va will not schedule you for new exams you won't that's just part of the regulation
like matt was talking about um so if you do file a new claim that can potentially open
the door to va looking at your conditions again and potentially reducing those ratings so just
something to keep in mind as a potential risk once you have been found permanent in total
if you are interested in filing a new claim at that point um and matt are there any additional
benefits for veterans with 100 permanent and total ratings yeah so there are um additional benefits
that veterans with permanent and total rating may be eligible for some of those include which was
mentioned earlier champ va healthcare benefits which is va healthcare for your dependents
veterans who are permanent and total may also be entitled to chapter 35 dependence educational
assistance programs they may also be entitled to dependency and indemnity compensation which is
often referred to as death benefits uh and many individual states also have special benefits for
veterans who are permanently and totally disabled so if you have attained that status before va due
to your service connected conditions take a look at what your states may offer in terms of specific
special benefits because they do vary by state and specific states may entitle you to additional
benefits um up to and including the ones that we just mentioned great and if you're not sure what
benefits you might be eligible for um definitely reach out to local va offices as well
um or veteran service organizations or other representatives they may be able to point
you in the right direction and let you know what other benefits you might be eligible for
and with that i think that's a good place for us to close out today thank you all so much for
tuning in for more information on this topic and other va disability topics you can check out our
blog at cck-law.com and also be sure to subscribe to our youtube channel to catch our future videos
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