Disability Rating Finalized: How to Pursue Education

[BC_89]

So I've received my final disability rating on my E-benefits portal today which was submitted the first day after my terminal leave on February 26th. I'm listed as 100% Disabled (all service connected) but still under the Temporary-Disabled-Retirement-List (TDRL). My confusion and shock is coming from my IDES results through my PEBLO while still on the active duty side which put me at 80% (and what I had signed) before going on terminal leave and on to my medical retirement.

Has this confusion happened to anyone else on the E-benefits portal? I don't want to receive higher tax-exempt compensation only to be told a "glitch" has occurred in my final determination and thus have to pay it all back while preparing for my program. The other issue is if it is indeed 100% on TDRL, how does this play out in my schooling? Does my budget need to be adjusted lower since 9 out of 10 times people that pursue higher education get their ratings lowered due to being a full-time student at the 100% TDRL rate? Trying not to put things out of proportion, but this would put a wall in front of me if this becomes permanent status by the time I graduate only to be told Im restricted on my income due to the status I've been given (and in my mind, defeat the purpose of more schooling only to be restricted on my salary).

VA hasn't returned my messages yet so out of curiosity (while I wait for a response) I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has been in this situation. If so, how long did it take to correct itself? I can see the government throwing this in my face if I don't act quickly. Thanks in advance.

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[esob]

I think you are talking about two different systems, sorry I'm just seeing this btw. Anyway, your status from the Army is separate from the VA and you simply need to opt to take one payment or the other (always take the VA payment). My Army rating is much lower than my VA rating, always has been, but the VA will usually rate you from Army records. It used to be that they literally used the same manual for ratings but for whatever reason the VA rating was always higher. I'm not sure if that is the case but regardless, your rating from the Army is a different beast altogether from your VA rating. All that matters is that your army rating stays high enough to keep Tricare.

 

[BC_89]

I think you are talking about two different systems, sorry I'm just seeing this btw. Anyway, your status from the Army is separate from the VA and you simply need to opt to take one payment or the other (always take the VA payment). My Army rating is much lower than my VA rating, always has been, but the VA will usually rate you from Army records. It used to be that they literally used the same manual for ratings but for whatever reason the VA rating was always higher. I'm not sure if that is the case but regardless, your rating from the Army is a different beast altogether from your VA rating. All that matters is that your army rating stays high enough to keep Tricare.

Truth be told I thought I deleted this post (oops lol oh well educational for others). My confusion was stemmed from two ratings from the VA as my DOD side of the house was a 70% TDRL. Looking back on this in April, the confusion came from a letter from the VA side of the house finding me at 80% and would be back-paid from my last day of service back in February since I opted into the VA compensation as I suppose most do (always a higher rating).

However, while I was getting back-pay at the 80% rating, my E-benefits had all of a sudden stated that I would be getting a letter from the VA back-paying me a "second-time" at the 100% rating....I was nervous thinking perhaps a glitch happened and they meant to reiterate my final retro-active payout at the 80% rate based solely on my medical records while AD (as was also done with my soon-to-be 100% VA finding). It turns out, my DOD rating had nothing to do with any of this which doubly made me confused getting 3-different ratings, opted for the VA pay-out, but double tapped for a bigger pay-out after a second finding without my appealment…..Its confusing even when I type it here!!!

It ended up sorting itself out and folks at the VA do not know what happened but....I've got it in writing (again) that I am now paid up for my monthly compensation at the 100% + spouse + two dependents under 18 pay....This was enough to make me sweat thinking the government would try to recoup money due to their own mistake...

 

[esob]

Truth be told I thought I deleted this post (oops lol oh well educational for others). My confusion was stemmed from two ratings from the VA as my DOD side of the house was a 70% TDRL. Looking back on this in April, the confusion came from a letter from the VA side of the house finding me at 80% and would be back-paid from my last day of service back in February since I opted into the VA compensation as I suppose most do (always a higher rating).

However, while I was getting back-pay at the 80% rating, my E-benefits had all of a sudden stated that I would be getting a letter from the VA back-paying me a "second-time" at the 100% rating....I was nervous thinking perhaps a glitch happened and they meant to reiterate my final retro-active payout at the 80% rate based solely on my medical records while AD (as was also done with my soon-to-be 100% VA finding). It turns out, my DOD rating had nothing to do with any of this which doubly made me confused getting 3-different ratings, opted for the VA pay-out, but double tapped for a bigger pay-out after a second finding without my appealment…..Its confusing even when I type it here!!!

It ended up sorting itself out and folks at the VA do not know what happened but....I've got it in writing (again) that I am now paid up for my monthly compensation at the 100% + spouse + two dependents under 18 pay....This was enough to make me sweat thinking the government would try to recoup money due to their own mistake...

Ahh, yeah, that sounds like a paperwork nightmare. They do recoup their money if they find out they overpaid you by 2 cents, lol. I went from full time to 3/4 time one semester a while back and it resulted in an overpayment of a couple of hundred bucks and the VA sent me more letters about it than they have sent me for all of my healthcare in 20 years, lol.