Unemployability/ Total disability?
I will do telehealth psychological evaluations, including completing a DBQ, when Veterans want help with showing the VA that they are not able to work. Why is this even necessary?
The VA’s own OIG just published a report that they found that the VBA keeps making mistakes related to these claims. They noted:
When a veteran is unable to secure and maintain a substantially gainful occupation because of service-connected disabilities, VA policy states that the veteran should be rated totally disabled—also referred to as total disability based on individual unemployability (TDIU)—for monthly compensation. The VA OIG conducted this review to determine if claims processors were following policies and procedures and accurately deciding claims for individual unemployability. After reviewing two statistical samples of individual unemployability claims (granted and denied claims), the team found claims processors did not consistently follow policies and procedures when processing these claims, resulting in at least $100 million in improper payments (underpayments and overpayments) to veterans from May 1, 2022, to April 30, 2023. The team estimated that 74 percent of granted TDIU claims and 76 percent of denied TDIU claims completed during the review period had at least one claims processing error.
You can read their full report here: https://www.vaoig.gov/reports/review/vba-needs-improve-accuracy-decisions-total-disability-based-individual
I of course also helped to make decisions on Social Security disability claims for years so we can also address that at the same time if desired.