Va Disability Rating For Obesity

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Va disability rating for obesity. Obesity occurs when Body Mass Index BMI reaches 30 percent and morbid obesity is defined by a BMI of greater than 40 percent. Obesity is a very common bridge claim. The Rating Veteran Service Representative RVSR at the VA MUST consider a buddy letter because its considered a secondary source of evidence in support of your VA disability claim. For instance if you.

Since obesity isnt part of the rating schedule it cant be reviewed by a court unfortunately the way the current system is set up. Typically its not rateable independently as the VA commonly thinks of weight gain as a matter of personal lifestyle and not a medical side effect. Obesity can however be considered an extra-schedular rating or a factor that can be considered when weighing existing disabilities according to the VA. While the underlying reasons for the high rates of unhealthy weight among Veterans might be diverse and complicated a few factors have stood out.

You can service connect obesity. Obesity VA Disability Posted by Stephani Bennett on October 2 2020 in Medical Recent studies have shown that nearly a third of military Veterans are classified as obese. No obesity is not considered a VA disability. If you can tie your obesity or weight gain to another service-connected condition and then show that the.

To my knowledge obesity is not a disability that a Veteran can receive service connection for. You can be rated for obesity or conditions caused by it. The weight of the evidence is against a finding that the Veterans diabetes is due to or the result of his active service due to his service-connected bilateral knee disabilities or aggravated by his service-connected bilateral knee disabilities. It will be yeomans work and could take the equivalent of 1 Year on Saturn to prove 4 and 5 to the VA.

Obesity increases the chances that you will suffer from sleep apnea arthritis type 2 diabetes mellitus cardiovascular disease and even some cancers. The VA does not define obesity as a disease that qualifies for disability benefits. Two of the least common causes of OSA and two of the most common consequences of OSA. Obesity and Social Security Disability.

Obesity is not recognized by VA as a disease or a disability for compensation purposes. No there is no VA disability rating for Obesity weight gain under the law. Once the VA grants service connection for a disability they will assign a disability rating based on the symptoms and the severity of the veterans service-connected condition. Obesity and VA Com.

Obesity is not listed on the VAs Table of Impairment Ratings. When writing or obtaining a buddy letter for Sleep Apnea you can simply use the VA Form 21-4138 Statement in Support of a Claim. We do this to make sure that your total VA disability rating doesnt add up to more than 100. Thats because a person cant be more than 100 able-bodied.

The VA does not consider obesity a condition for which service connection can be granted. Military Advantage Obesity Is Not a Service-Connected Disability. But because the VA likes to blame Obstructive Sleep Apnea on obesity and neck girth. You may be able to seek service connection or an increase for the condition that is the underlying cause.

For VA benefits purposes a disability is defined as a disease or injury that results in a veterans loss of earning capacity. We use a method called the whole person theory to determine what we call your combined disability rating. Once you get your claim approved the VA will assign you a disability rating that reflects how severely your disability impacts your life. Once VA grants service connection for a disability it will assign a disability rating based on the symptoms and severity of the veterans condition.

Thats what the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims has held and that is that obesity is not a disability for the purposes of disability compensation. Obesity leads to back pain knee and leg problems and can reduce your lifespan by 6 to 10 years. It can also be an intermediate step. According to the Journal of American Medicine JAMA one-third of all adults in the United States are obese and the National Institutes of Health report morbid obesity rates continue to rise.

To VA Obesity is Not a Disability VA defines a disability for purposes of receiving disability compensation as a disease or injury that results in a veterans loss of earning capacity. However the Walsh case established that Obesity may be an intermediate step for secondary service connection between a service-connected primary disability and a nonservice connected disability when the current service-connected condition aggravates the Obesity weight gain also qualifies here. The VA recognizes obesity as a Chronic Disease.