How to get 50 VA disability for migraines? The United States Department of Veteran Affairs known as VA recognized migraine headaches as the service-connected disability. In this case, if you think that your military service is the main cause of your headaches, you must prove it. Here, you can file a claim. Of course, it is not as easy as you may think. You should be able to show the event, the incident, and the location during your service that caused migraines. Shortly, the migraines happened while you were in your duty. Or, the migraine happened due to any condition related to your service.
Generally, the VA rates migraines are about the frequency you experience them as well as the severity level. Meanwhile, headaches are not easy to access. It is something different from cancer or high blood pressure. It is not easy to diagnose headaches. So, if you ask us about how to get 50 VA disability for migraines, you should know first that VA provides four possible ratings to determine the seriousness of headache and the eligibility to get the compensation or benefits.
How To Get 50 VA Disability For Migraines Based On The Rating System
How to get 50 VA disabilities for migraines is from your disability claim. At first, the VA rating experts will examine your disability claim. During this process, he will try to find any evidence that your headache is very severe so that you are eligible for disability. In addition, a prostrating migraine is a term to describe you have an extreme weakness. You must lie down in some period of time. During the examination, VA rating experts will assign one of four ratings to your headache severity and frequency.
The Rating System From VA Specialists
Here are the following criteria that VA specialists used to determine the level of your migraine and to provide the rate:
50% – This rating means “very frequent completely prostrating and prolonged attacks productive of severe economic inadaptability”
10% – This rating means “characteristic prostrating attacks averaging one in two months over last several months”
0% – This rating means “less frequent attacks”
Why Should Document Your Migraines Experience?
If you want to know how to get 50 VA disability for migraines, you should know first about how to get the proper rate for your migraine. Here, the best thing to do is to always document your migraines properly and carefully. You should document that you are not experiencing a headache, but a migraine. Besides, you should have medical records that can show the diagnosis of migraines from the professional medical expert, such as a neurologist. Otherwise, you can ask help from a migraine specialist or an ophthalmologist.
Well, what you need is more than just a diagnosis. You should have records that can be the evidence of the severity and frequency of your migraines. It is great to have headache diaries or employment records that can tell how often you have missed your work because of a migraine.
Commonly, you will only get a zero percent rating if you have no prostrating migraines. In addition, this rating is what you will get if the migraines only happened for less than once per two months. Therefore, if you have migraines and these are not too frequent, you are not eligible on how to get 50 VA disability for migraines. The highest rating is 50 percent.
Things You Must Show To Qualify
To qualify the 50 percent rating, VA mentions that you must have “very frequent completely prostrating and prolonged attacks productive of severe economic inadaptability.” We know that it is quite long to describe how to get 50 VA disability for migraines. So, if you want to know it clearly, you should break the words down into “very frequent”, “completely prostrating”, “prolonged” and “productive of severe economic inadaptability”
Once you can break down these words and their definitions, you can easily know about how to start the claim and get disability compensation.
“Completely Prostrating”
Prostrating is lying down. In the term of Layman, it is a kind of headache that forces you in the bed or lying on the couch. So, if you want to get your compensation, you should prove to them that you have severe headaches that make you cannot do anything. What you only can do is going to bed, sleeping, or resting when you experiencing it.
In addition, it is possible to compare the 30% and the 50% level of migraines. For the 30% level, it means that the headache is not so completely prostrating. On the other hands, if you have a 50% level of migraine, it is “completely”. It makes you cannot sit up or stand up at all.
“Prolonged”
Prolonged is all about the length of the headaches when it comes. It is not temporary. It is more about how long they make you stay in your bed or on your couch.
Besides, it is about the severity of the headache that affects the length. For example, if you have a bad migraine that disappears in 45 minutes, it means a “prolonged” migraine attack.
Well, actually it is so simple. You may experience a headache that lasts for 4 hours and that is minor for you. But, you may experience 15 or 30 minutes of severe headache that is completely prostrating. If you have the second condition, it defines prolonged migraine headache.
“Severe Economic Inadaptability”
The next important factor to determine how to get 50 VA disability for migraines is about severe economic inadaptability. It sounds so fancy but it is all about how it affects your capability and ability to work. If you have a severe headache that forces you to lie down for two to three times per month, it is enough to say that you have migraine headache with severe economic inadaptability.
If it happens to you, it means that your headache is the main reason why you miss multiple days to work per month. When you miss that much work because of your migraine headache, it will ruin your life and your work productivity.
Also, it can cause you to use your time for vacation. Other than that, it can ruin your business with your employer. You can get fired, too.
How To Get 50 VA Disability For Migraines – How To Be Eligible
How to get 50 VA disability for migraines? Migraine headaches can attack many veterans because of their service. In some cases, they can get traumatic brain injuries that lead to migraine headaches. If you want to be eligible for this disability, it is important to show that migraine headaches happen as the result of your military service. Nevertheless, when you receive the service connection for your disability, you should deal with the VA rating.
So, if we talk about how to get 50 VA disability for migraines, it means we are talking about the highest rating based on the diagnostic code. Whether you have so bad headaches and so frequent, there is no more than a 50% rating.
As the patient, your burden is on how to convince the VA that you are suffering from the debilitating migraine headaches. Your doctor can write the details in your medical record so that the VA specialist can accept the diagnosis of your migraine headaches. In fact, the specialist cannot rely on what you have shared in your application. They also have more concern about things that have been printed in your medical record.
Therefore, if you want to know how to get 50 VA disability for migraines, you should talk to your doctor first. You can discuss your migraine with the following details:
- The frequency of migraines
- The impact of the migraines (make you feel weak, make you lie down in a quiet room for hours or days, and others)
- How the migraines ruin your life
You should tell your doctor about the details of your migraines. It is all about the symptoms and how it really impacts your life. Tell your doctor how the headaches often prevent you from going to work, prevent you from supervising your kids, and others.
Once your medical records tell that you have prostrating headaches, you can file a claim.
What Evidence To Prove
If you want to get the disability benefits for your migraine headaches, your task is to complete your claim with the strong evidence. You should have evidence that your headache is because of your military service. You should prove that you have a debilitating migraine. If you have a plan to file a claim, make sure that you complete it with the following proofs:
- The specific event or incident happened during the military service that caused migraines.
- The evidence that your migraines started during the period of your military service.
- You have migraines because of another condition connected to the service.
How To File A Claim For Individual Unemployability (IU) From Migraines
Just in case you have so frequent migraine that you are unable to hold your job, it is possible to qualify Individual Unemployability (IU). IU means the part of a VA disability program to give you 100% o compensation if you are a veteran. You can get this compensation if your disability based on service was not at 100%.
To be eligible in this program, here are the criteria you must complete:
-
- You are a veteran that cannot maintain “substantially gainful employment” because of your service-related condition. VA will not consider minimal or minor odd jobs at this point.
- You are a veteran with a disability based on the service with the rating at 60% or more.
- As a veteran, you have two or even more disabilities due to the service you have done. One of them at least has rated at 40% or more. The total rating is 70% or more.
Getting IU And Social Security Disability
It is possible to get both IU and social security disability at the same time. In fact, there are many veterans are doing this because they get the disabilities during their service and that is the same as ones they used for their Social Security. If you have a plan to get both, it means you should prove your claims in these forums.
At the point you are receiving Social Security Disability benefits, you should let the VA specialist review your rating and the important records. After that, they will decide your employability. In fact, even though you are 100% disabled based on Social Security, it is possible for the VA not to issue the IU rating. It is helpful if Social Security disabilities are the same as your disabilities based on your service. If you have a 100% disability rating from VA specialist, you can start filing your social security disability application.
Things To Do If You Are Not Qualified For IU
It is possible if you have worked hard on how to get 50 VA disability for migraines but the evidence cannot make VA specialists accept your claim. If so, you should be able to show that your disability comes from the exceptional or unique circumstances that ruin your earning ability. It is called a special consideration and it is possible to happen. For example, you should prove to them that your migraine makes you get frequent hospitalizations so you cannot show up your job consistently and you have lost your job due to your migraines.
Popular Questions about VA Veteran Claims and Benefits
- How to start a claim for the benefits?
To start filing your claim, you can do it online by visiting at https://www.ebenefits.va.gov/ebenefits/homepage. This is the easiest way to submit and then track your claim. The second option is to visit a VA Regional Office. Their staff can help you. To start, you must bring the evidence for your claim to avoid any delay. Also, you can complete the application at home and then mail it to the VA Regional Office near your area.
- How to get the forms to apply for VA Benefits?
Each type of VA benefit comes with their own VA form to apply. You can search and then print the forms from the VA website at http://www.va.gov/vaforms/. Alternatively, you can contact the VA Regional Office in your area.
Just in case you have no ideas on how to get 50 VA disability for migraines, but you have strong evidence, you can hire a veteran disability lawyer. This lawyer can help you with assessing your eligibility
Sources:
- 50% Migraine Headache VA Rating
- What Is The VA Rating System Used To Determine Disability For Migraines?
- TDIU – Qualifying to get a 100% VA Rating for Unemployability
- What are Veterans Benefits?
- Image: woodslawyers.com
