Neccesary Reform
Posted August 23rd, 2008 at 07:36 PM by Jason
As an advocate for those in the Physical Disability Evaluation System, I have tried to fight two battles: fighting for members going through the PDES and trying to fix the broken parts of the system.
The problem that I have is that there are many individual cases that require assistance to get a fair evaluation. Recently, though, I have been thinking more and more about the problems inherent in the system that make getting a fair evaluation more difficult than it should be. Fixing these problems will make it easier for those going through the process and will make my goal of all members getting the best opportunity for a fair rating easier to reach. After being involved with this work for the past few years, I have gotten some insight into the changes needed to ensure a fair and easier to navigate PDES. Over this past week, I have been giving more and more thought to this part of the problem and have decided to put together a proposal to reform the PDES. The changes will likely require little (if any) Congressional action to accomplish (but may require it to force the Department of Defense to implement). As I envision it, a huge impediment to fair ratings is the procedures used at the PEB and the Approval Authority level do not lend themselves to fast, accurate, and accesible adjudication or appeals nor are they aligned structurally with the processes used by the VA to come to a rating decision (remember, the 2008 NDAA directs the Secretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs to implement to “the extent feasible, procedures to eliminate unacceptable discrepancies and improve consistency among disability ratings assigned by the military departments and the Department of Veterans Affairs, particularly in the disability evaluation of recovering service members…”).
I am posting this as a heads up that I will be publishing my ideas in the coming weeks . The purpose in doing this is two-fold. I hope to get some constructive feedback from you, the member going through or having gone through the PDES, and to put this out there for our leaders to see (rest assured, I will also be submitting my proposals to our leaders, both in Congress and in the DoD). But with the power of the internet, you never know what method will catch someone's attention.
Stay tuned for more!
The problem that I have is that there are many individual cases that require assistance to get a fair evaluation. Recently, though, I have been thinking more and more about the problems inherent in the system that make getting a fair evaluation more difficult than it should be. Fixing these problems will make it easier for those going through the process and will make my goal of all members getting the best opportunity for a fair rating easier to reach. After being involved with this work for the past few years, I have gotten some insight into the changes needed to ensure a fair and easier to navigate PDES. Over this past week, I have been giving more and more thought to this part of the problem and have decided to put together a proposal to reform the PDES. The changes will likely require little (if any) Congressional action to accomplish (but may require it to force the Department of Defense to implement). As I envision it, a huge impediment to fair ratings is the procedures used at the PEB and the Approval Authority level do not lend themselves to fast, accurate, and accesible adjudication or appeals nor are they aligned structurally with the processes used by the VA to come to a rating decision (remember, the 2008 NDAA directs the Secretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs to implement to “the extent feasible, procedures to eliminate unacceptable discrepancies and improve consistency among disability ratings assigned by the military departments and the Department of Veterans Affairs, particularly in the disability evaluation of recovering service members…”).
I am posting this as a heads up that I will be publishing my ideas in the coming weeks . The purpose in doing this is two-fold. I hope to get some constructive feedback from you, the member going through or having gone through the PDES, and to put this out there for our leaders to see (rest assured, I will also be submitting my proposals to our leaders, both in Congress and in the DoD). But with the power of the internet, you never know what method will catch someone's attention.
Stay tuned for more!
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| | I receive Concurrent disability pay with my retirement pay. I was given 50 percent disability. I retired in Nov 2003 from the Marines (non combat related). I recently had to travel to receive a physical in Atlanta regarding my neck problem only. Sort of a re-evaluation. My worry is that, I will be reduced from my 50 percent disability. This was done by a civilian doctor. How do I find out if my disability was downgraded by this civilian doctor? |
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