no word on final from pdbr as yet, let's hope the long wait means good news for us, either way with the lawsuit and all the recent publicity thats has been going on about the low rating and seperations from service, i think the government is not in a rush to step on a ant nest AGAIN, they (the pdbr- dod) are just taking their time, while royally sticking it to us the veterans AGAIN,
Physical Disability Board of Review Update
- Thread starter Jason Perry
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strykerpro
PEB Forum Regular Member
Try not to be impatient, I want a decision yesterday too. We have no choice but to give the board an opportunity here. I don't know where to draw the line though. Im going to ride it out for a few months longer and in mean time I will start making phone inquires to the board as well.
I was talking to a soldier the other day that was getting Med boarded for sleep apnea just like my case. He said it was almost complete and in December they changed their minds and said Sleep apnea was no longer considered Non-Deployable. At least the 1554a has allowed people like him to stay in; I just hope I’ll make out form this board with Med Retirement. I’ve lost allot from this and so have many that were prepared to do 20 and got med boarded with less time and got 20% or less from the Army.
Not really a reply but a question. I was put out of the Army after a MEB with 0% disability and disability severance pay. Catch, had 24 total years service, 20y3m27d for retirement. Only rated me for hearing loss and subjective neck pain. The 2 they could get away with rating me at 0%. I was diagnosed with PTSD (Chronic/Severe/Combat related), Sleep Apnea (Obstructive w/CPAP) and several smaller issues. The MEB refused to hear/rate PTSD, Sleep Apnea, etc. I am 100% P/T VA and on Social Security. Sent my packet to the ABCMR twice, both times denied relief. Received a letter from the Army stating they "miscalculated" my retirement and I should have been retired, but their not going to do anything about is because I "accepted" secerance pay (which is bullshit). They cannot produce a document where I signed waiving my retirement (because there is none) which you must sign. After reading the instruction for the PDBR it states they will only review those diagnosis that were rated by the MEB. Back to square 1. They left out a majority of the diagnosis and refused to accept records showing the diagnosis. Am I going to get screwed by this board because the MEB wouldn't accept any other diagnosis than the 2 mentioned earlier? I have provided this board with all information and copies of diagnosis, VA rating and Social Security award. Anyone got any ideas? I was on the invasion, one of the officers (used loosly) even stated that there was never a scud launch while I was in country. That's how stupid the Army is.
Jason Perry
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W.A.,
Good to have you here! You will almost certainly not have your other conditions considered by the PDBR. I think this is illegal, but that is their position.
Your remedy may be through the US Court of Federal Claims. It is hard to know for sure without seeing what the BCMR stated, but that is where I suspect you may want to go for relief.
Good to have you here! You will almost certainly not have your other conditions considered by the PDBR. I think this is illegal, but that is their position.
Your remedy may be through the US Court of Federal Claims. It is hard to know for sure without seeing what the BCMR stated, but that is where I suspect you may want to go for relief.
This just in......
At today's Senate Wounded Warrior hearing, DoD stated they were making major changes to the PDBR
1. All conditions sent to the PEB are available for review by the PDBR regardless if the PEB found them fitting or not.
2. The PDBR will rate per the VASRD in effect at the time of separation and that conflicting DoD and Service rating criteria will be ignored.
See the testimony of General Meurlin beginning at about 429PM EST.
C-SPAN Video Player - Senate Armed Services Cmte. Hearing on Wounded Warrior Policies
Mike
At today's Senate Wounded Warrior hearing, DoD stated they were making major changes to the PDBR
1. All conditions sent to the PEB are available for review by the PDBR regardless if the PEB found them fitting or not.
2. The PDBR will rate per the VASRD in effect at the time of separation and that conflicting DoD and Service rating criteria will be ignored.
See the testimony of General Meurlin beginning at about 429PM EST.
C-SPAN Video Player - Senate Armed Services Cmte. Hearing on Wounded Warrior Policies
Mike
Thanks Mike,
Sounds like some great news
Sounds like some great news
Jason Perry
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This is a huge development that will have a major impact on the decision of whether to file with the PDBR or the BCMR.
Thanks, Mike, for the heads-up!
Thanks, Mike, for the heads-up!
Could this testimony of General Meurlin just be for the cameras and the Senate or is their anything in writing yet? How does this work? Just wondering because this has been a long roller coaster ride.
Thanks
Thanks
i hope the latest developments from the sasc, and the general speech about the PDBR-DOD, will bring the actions thats is need to correct the great injustice that was done to us, the disable veterans of the wars in afganisthan and iraq,who is suffering because of the type of seperation and rating we recieve, 0 to 20%,for servicemembers who ptu their life on the line in combat and who got injuried in the war zone,onlyto be medivac, or return to be kick to the curve, by the same dod who sent us into combat in the first place VETERANS of the WARS in AFGANISTHAN and IRAQ we have a voice and i think washington is starting to listen,, it ain't over until its over.
Below is the MOAA posting on the subject:
Disability Board to Loosen Restrictions
Pentagon officials announce this week that the Physical Disability Board of Review (PDBR) will loosen current restrictions in two main areas in order to meet Congress' original intent of the board.
The PDBR allows disabled servicemembers who were medically separated since September 11, 2001 an opportunity to have their disability ratings reviewed to ensure fairness and accuracy.
The acting director of the board, testifying at a Senate Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee hearing this week on the PDBR's progress, said the Pentagon will soon make two major changes that increase the possibility of an applicant's disability retirement upgrade.
Currently the board is limited to reviewing the specific condition(s) that made a member unfit for continued military service. The board will now expand its review to include all disability findings of a service during the medical evaluation process.
Additionally, any service-specific and DoD guidance at the time that conflicted with the VA Schedule of Rating Disabilities (VASRD) will be disregarded during the review. In many cases, the more restrictive DoD/service guidance caused the member to receive a lower disability rating than the VASRD would have provided.
MOAA previously identified these board shortfalls to congressional staffers and Pentagon officials, and we applaud DoD's decision to make these adjustments and provide fairer evaluations for many who were previously separated with "low-balled" disability ratings.
Disability Board to Loosen Restrictions
Pentagon officials announce this week that the Physical Disability Board of Review (PDBR) will loosen current restrictions in two main areas in order to meet Congress' original intent of the board.
The PDBR allows disabled servicemembers who were medically separated since September 11, 2001 an opportunity to have their disability ratings reviewed to ensure fairness and accuracy.
The acting director of the board, testifying at a Senate Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee hearing this week on the PDBR's progress, said the Pentagon will soon make two major changes that increase the possibility of an applicant's disability retirement upgrade.
Currently the board is limited to reviewing the specific condition(s) that made a member unfit for continued military service. The board will now expand its review to include all disability findings of a service during the medical evaluation process.
Additionally, any service-specific and DoD guidance at the time that conflicted with the VA Schedule of Rating Disabilities (VASRD) will be disregarded during the review. In many cases, the more restrictive DoD/service guidance caused the member to receive a lower disability rating than the VASRD would have provided.
MOAA previously identified these board shortfalls to congressional staffers and Pentagon officials, and we applaud DoD's decision to make these adjustments and provide fairer evaluations for many who were previously separated with "low-balled" disability ratings.
More Disabled To Keep Severance Pay
More Disabled To Keep Severance Pay
Tom Philpott | May 07, 2009
More Disabled To Keep Severance Pay, Win Ratings Review
A few hard-nosed choices by the Bush administration in implementing laws to help disabled servicemembers are being rolled back under congressional pressure and a new team of Pentagon policymakers.
One regulation change soon to take effect will allow more disability severance pay recipients to keep those lump sum payments without worry that those dollars will be deducted from their VA disability compensation.
Another change will allow more servicemembers separated since 9/11 with disability ratings of 0 to 20 percent to see those ratings upgraded by the new Physical Disability Board of Review (PDBR). Here are more details:
DISABILITY SEVERANCE – The 2008 National Defense Authorization Act made several enhancements to disability severance paid to servicemembers found medically unfit due to conditions rated 0, 10 or 20 percent disabling. Two of these enhancements soon will affect more members separated on or after Jan. 28, 2008, the date the bill was signed.
The first deals with years of service used in calculating disability severance pay. Instead of actual years served, the 2008 law sets a minimum number of years to apply to the severance pay formula. No matter how long a member served before injury, at least six years will be used to calculate severance -- if injury occurred in the line of duty in a combat zone or in performance of duty in combat-related operations. A new minimum of three years is being used to calculate severance for any other members.
The second enhancement deals with deduction of disability severance pay from VA disability compensation. Under the 2008 law, no deduction is required if the disability is incurred in the line of duty in a combat zone, or in performance of duty in combat-related operations.
In implementing these two changes, the Bush administration drew the ire of veterans' service organizations by narrowly interpreting "combat-related" injuries to those incurred in a combat zone or in armed conflict.
What Congress intended, lawmakers have since made clear, was a broader definition of combat-related used to establish eligibility for Combat-Related Special Compensation. That includes injuries during training or resulting from an "instrumentality of war" which can mean falls aboard ship or even a stateside traffic accident involving a military vehicle.
William J. Lynn III, the new deputy secretary of defense, promised during his Senate confirmation hearing to reconsider the department's more narrow definition of combat-related for severance pay. A revised regulation is now under final review in the Pentagon. When signed,it will apply the broader definition of combat-related injuries but only prospectively, to disability separations after the revised regulation takes effect.
Meanwhile, Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) has introduced a bill, HR 593, that would make an identical change. But through Smith's bill, the change would apply retroactively to separations since Jan. 28, 2008.
EXPANDED RATINGS REVIEW – The 2008 defense bill also directed DoD to establish a special board to review disability ratings below 30 percent given to members separated since 9/11. This responded to complaints that the services had low-balled ratings for members found medically unfit. A rating of 30 percent or higher from a service branch qualifies a member for disability retirement and a lifetime annuity, rather than severance pay.
But as the new Physical Disability Board of Review Board (PDBR) began accepting applications three months ago, retired Army Lt. Col. Michael Parker, an advocate for disabled veterans, sounded an alarm. He said the PDBR would not operate as Congress intended.
Congress wanted the board to review disability cases using the Veterans Administration Schedule for Ratings Disabilities (VASRD), the same liberal rating criteria used by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Parker said. Instead the board would use the same service-modified versions of VASRD that has been used when original rating decisions were made.
By February, the PDBR was feeling heat from Capitol Hill. On April 29, Air Force Major Gen. Keith W. Meurlin, acting director of the Defense Department's Office of Transition Policy and Care Coordination, announced two "significant modifications" to the way the PDBR would operate.
First, he told a Senate committee, "service-specific DoD guidance that conflicts with the VA's schedule for rating disabilities…will be disregarded and the conditions and rating will be evaluated only with the VASRD."
This could have a significant effect on the number of rating adjustments, particular for conditions not rated high by the services including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and even sleep apnea.
Second, in reconsidering ratings, the PDBR will review all findings made originally by the service's physical evaluation board (PEB), including disabling conditions found to have had no effect on fitness for duty.
For example, Meurlin said, the hearing loss of an artilleryman might have been acknowledged by the PEB but not found to be unfitting by the Army. It could now be considered for a rating adjustment by the PDBR.
In a phone interview, Meurlin acknowledged initial reaction from Capitol Hill showed "they weren't too pleased with the way we were doing it."
So far more than 200 veterans have applied to have ratings reviewed. They are being advised now to supply information on all disabilities found by their PEB. The pool of veterans eligible to have disability separations since 9/11 reviewed is estimated to be as large as 90,000.
The PDBR mailing address is: SAF/MRBR, 550 C Street West, Suite 41, Randolph AFB, Texas 78150-4743.
Meurlin also announced that DoD will propose legislation to pay family caregivers of catastrophically injured servicemembers – usually mothers or spouses – monthly compensation. The amount would equal what home health care aides are paid in the private sector.
More Disabled To Keep Severance Pay
Tom Philpott | May 07, 2009
More Disabled To Keep Severance Pay, Win Ratings Review
A few hard-nosed choices by the Bush administration in implementing laws to help disabled servicemembers are being rolled back under congressional pressure and a new team of Pentagon policymakers.
One regulation change soon to take effect will allow more disability severance pay recipients to keep those lump sum payments without worry that those dollars will be deducted from their VA disability compensation.
Another change will allow more servicemembers separated since 9/11 with disability ratings of 0 to 20 percent to see those ratings upgraded by the new Physical Disability Board of Review (PDBR). Here are more details:
DISABILITY SEVERANCE – The 2008 National Defense Authorization Act made several enhancements to disability severance paid to servicemembers found medically unfit due to conditions rated 0, 10 or 20 percent disabling. Two of these enhancements soon will affect more members separated on or after Jan. 28, 2008, the date the bill was signed.
The first deals with years of service used in calculating disability severance pay. Instead of actual years served, the 2008 law sets a minimum number of years to apply to the severance pay formula. No matter how long a member served before injury, at least six years will be used to calculate severance -- if injury occurred in the line of duty in a combat zone or in performance of duty in combat-related operations. A new minimum of three years is being used to calculate severance for any other members.
The second enhancement deals with deduction of disability severance pay from VA disability compensation. Under the 2008 law, no deduction is required if the disability is incurred in the line of duty in a combat zone, or in performance of duty in combat-related operations.
In implementing these two changes, the Bush administration drew the ire of veterans' service organizations by narrowly interpreting "combat-related" injuries to those incurred in a combat zone or in armed conflict.
What Congress intended, lawmakers have since made clear, was a broader definition of combat-related used to establish eligibility for Combat-Related Special Compensation. That includes injuries during training or resulting from an "instrumentality of war" which can mean falls aboard ship or even a stateside traffic accident involving a military vehicle.
William J. Lynn III, the new deputy secretary of defense, promised during his Senate confirmation hearing to reconsider the department's more narrow definition of combat-related for severance pay. A revised regulation is now under final review in the Pentagon. When signed,it will apply the broader definition of combat-related injuries but only prospectively, to disability separations after the revised regulation takes effect.
Meanwhile, Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) has introduced a bill, HR 593, that would make an identical change. But through Smith's bill, the change would apply retroactively to separations since Jan. 28, 2008.
EXPANDED RATINGS REVIEW – The 2008 defense bill also directed DoD to establish a special board to review disability ratings below 30 percent given to members separated since 9/11. This responded to complaints that the services had low-balled ratings for members found medically unfit. A rating of 30 percent or higher from a service branch qualifies a member for disability retirement and a lifetime annuity, rather than severance pay.
But as the new Physical Disability Board of Review Board (PDBR) began accepting applications three months ago, retired Army Lt. Col. Michael Parker, an advocate for disabled veterans, sounded an alarm. He said the PDBR would not operate as Congress intended.
Congress wanted the board to review disability cases using the Veterans Administration Schedule for Ratings Disabilities (VASRD), the same liberal rating criteria used by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Parker said. Instead the board would use the same service-modified versions of VASRD that has been used when original rating decisions were made.
By February, the PDBR was feeling heat from Capitol Hill. On April 29, Air Force Major Gen. Keith W. Meurlin, acting director of the Defense Department's Office of Transition Policy and Care Coordination, announced two "significant modifications" to the way the PDBR would operate.
First, he told a Senate committee, "service-specific DoD guidance that conflicts with the VA's schedule for rating disabilities…will be disregarded and the conditions and rating will be evaluated only with the VASRD."
This could have a significant effect on the number of rating adjustments, particular for conditions not rated high by the services including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and even sleep apnea.
Second, in reconsidering ratings, the PDBR will review all findings made originally by the service's physical evaluation board (PEB), including disabling conditions found to have had no effect on fitness for duty.
For example, Meurlin said, the hearing loss of an artilleryman might have been acknowledged by the PEB but not found to be unfitting by the Army. It could now be considered for a rating adjustment by the PDBR.
In a phone interview, Meurlin acknowledged initial reaction from Capitol Hill showed "they weren't too pleased with the way we were doing it."
So far more than 200 veterans have applied to have ratings reviewed. They are being advised now to supply information on all disabilities found by their PEB. The pool of veterans eligible to have disability separations since 9/11 reviewed is estimated to be as large as 90,000.
The PDBR mailing address is: SAF/MRBR, 550 C Street West, Suite 41, Randolph AFB, Texas 78150-4743.
Meurlin also announced that DoD will propose legislation to pay family caregivers of catastrophically injured servicemembers – usually mothers or spouses – monthly compensation. The amount would equal what home health care aides are paid in the private sector.
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That is some good news. Any idea when the PDBR will start to make decisions on claims? I have 5 years of active time and 6 years of National Guard time, my severance was only based on the original formula, can I reapply to have my severance upgraded to the full 11 years? Thanks for any information.
Is their any chance that people paying back there severance, that were discharged prior to Jan. 28, 2008, can atleast get refunded the money thay paid back since that date? Would be nice. I'm STILL paying mine back.....lol
How would this work if i get 30% retirement? I am currently 80% SC from the VA. The military discharged me at 10% and the VA rated me at 30% for the same disability. If i get retirement will I get 30% retirement and 50% compensation? This is kind of confusing any knowledge is extremely appreciated.