70% VA Disability Rating for PTSD: Criteria and Compensation

CCK Law: Our Vital Role in Veterans Law

A 70 percent PTSD rating is one step below the highest VA schedular rating for the condition. Many veterans receive a 70 percent PTSD rating because their symptoms cause significant levels of impairment both occupationally and socially. A 70 percent rating can open the door to crucial benefits and compensation for veterans with PTSD.

The 70 percent evaluation is typically assigned to veterans with PTSD symptoms that are one step below totally disabling. The criterion for a 70 percent PTSD rating is as follows: “Occupational and social impairment, with deficiencies in most areas, such as work, school, family relations, judgment, thinking, or mood, due to such symptoms as:

• Suicidal ideation
• Obsessional rituals which interfere with routine activities
• Speech intermittently illogical, obscure, or irrelevant
• Near-continuous panic or depression affecting the ability to function independently, appropriately and effectively
• Impaired impulse control (such as unprovoked irritability with periods of violence)
• Spatial disorientation
• Neglect of personal appearance and hygiene
• Difficulty in adapting to stressful circumstances (including work or a work-like setting)
• Inability to establish and maintain effective relationships.”

The 70 percent disability rating criterion for PTSD is the most inclusive insofar as it represents a wide array of symptoms. It also reflects a progression of the symptoms included in the lower disability ratings. Namely, a veteran who receives a 70 percent PTSD rating suffers from all of the symptoms included in the 50 percent rating, but at a higher frequency, severity, and duration.

Here, the veteran is almost always in a state of panic or depression that affects their ability to interact with others. The veteran may also have trouble controlling their emotions in a way that leads to violent outbursts or conflict with others.

The level of occupational and social impairment may be evidenced by the veteran’s inability to hold down a job or complete classes for school. A veteran may also engage in obsessional rituals such as checking the locks on their doors multiple times throughout the course of a day as a result of being hypervigilant.

Watch CCK Law Partner Jenna Zellmer explain the significance of 70-percent PTSD VA ratings:

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Do I Need To Have All of VA’s Listed Symptoms To Get a 70% PTSD Rating?

This is a question we see often at CCK Law. No, a veteran does not need to have all of these symptoms in order to qualify for the 70 percent rating. The Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims officially declared in Mauerhan v. Principi that the symptoms listed in Diagnostic Code 9411 (PTSD) are not intended to constitute an exhaustive list, but rather serve as examples of the type and degree of the symptoms, or their effects, that would justify a particular rating.

In other words, the symptoms listed in VA’s rating schedule are just some of the ways to demonstrate eligibility. For example, a veteran who only experiences suicidal ideation and near-continuous panic or depression might still meet the rating criteria.

How Do I Increase My PTSD Rating?

If you believe VA assigned a PTSD disability rating that is lower than you may be entitled to, or your condition worsens, you have the right to appeal or file for an increased rating. You will have to submit evidence to VA demonstrating that your symptoms are worse than originally rated.

Appeals can be slow and challenging, especially if you are dealing with PTSD. Feel free to contact CCK Law at 800-544-9144 for a free case evaluation.

A 70% PTSD VA Rating May Make It Easier To Get TDIU

A higher rating is not the only path to more compensation. If your PTSD significantly impairs your ability to work, you may also be eligible for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) — a VA benefit that allows veterans to receive compensation at the 100 percent rate if their service-connected condition(s) prevent them from securing and maintaining substantially gainful employment.

There are two ways veterans can qualify for TDIU based on their PTSD under VA’s regulation 38 CFR § 4.16: schedular and extraschedular. To be eligible for schedular TDIU:

• Your PTSD must be rated at 60 percent or higher on its own; or
• You must have a combined rating of 70 percent or higher when your PTSD is taken together with other service-connected conditions and at least one of those conditions is rated at 40 percent or higher on its own.

If you do not meet the eligibility requirements listed above, but you are unemployable due to your PTSD, you may qualify for TDIU on an extraschedular basis. In both cases, you must show that your PTSD (along with your other service-connected conditions, if applicable) contribute to your inability to work.

Call Chisholm Chisholm & Kilpatrick for a Free Case Evaluation