VA Rated me lower than the Coast Guard PEB? How does that work?

[uscgdonald]

Hi Jason & all. Been a while since I visited the boards, but I am hoping someone can point me in the right direction again. Just to refresh your memory, I was Medically Retired from the Coast Guard with a 60% rating. I had surgery on my back while on Active Duty, and the S1 nerve root was severed, leaving my left leg weaker, atrophied, spasms, pain, etc... so anyway, flash forward to the VA, and somehow, in the span of a Doctor seeing me for 10 minutes, they rated me at 30% They said your back is healed now, etc. Well, the problem is not with my back anymore! It is almost as if they totally missed the fact that a nerve was severed during a surgical procedure. On top of that they refuse to rate me for Shingles which was diagnosed while on Active Duty. Thy say they are not service related. I was always under the impression that if it was something that came up while you are on Active Duty it is rate-able. To be honest, I do not know what to do. I just got the letter explaining that they are withholding benefits while they calculate my pay or something. If I fight it, will it hold up my education benefits? (assuming they ever get back to me!) Is it true that they cannot lower it? Am I even getting anything extra from the VA besides a headache? Are they going to be taking away this 376.00 from my other pay and make just 376.00 per month non-taxable? Do I qualify for Voc-Rehab with a 30% rating? How will that affect my 60% rating from the Coast Guard? I am so confused!! Thanks for any and all help. I will try to keep the questions to a trickle....

-Don

 

[xeno]

Kinda rare rating I think. However, Jason would know something about something and will be posting here soon.

 

[robs42]

people always think they will get a higher rating on the VA side of the house, which in your case it was the total opposite. i'm assuming you left the service after months of fight the DES, now you have another fight on your hands. don't give up. are you dealing w/your claim on your own or are you using one of the service agancies. if you are going @ it alone or want to there is plenty of help through the VA. i just used a rep. from the VA regional office to help assist in checking on and updating my info. i go to my local vets center for counseling and the VA has that rep. come in once a month. just FYI. there are some good agancies out there. i'm currently using the DAV. i was using the VFW. after things move ahead i may switch to the order of the purple heart (you don't need a PH to utilize them). they are a small agancy compare to the other two, so you get a more one on one approch, because the VFW and DAV are loaded w/cases. hang in there bro and don't give up the fight. good luck and keep us posted.