Air force Medical Discharge…?
My husband has been in almost 3 years. He was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes nov 08. he was a firefighter for them then has now been placed at a desk job. He recieved his MEB results and they only offered him 20% disability so he is now going to texas toappeal and fight for more to get at least medical benifits bc there is no way we could afford his medical supplies. my question is, what restrictions or things may likely get him more disability? his dr. is going to write a letter so we want to know what is going help us out the most.
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Tags: air force medical, desk job, disability, Discharge..., force, husband, Medical, medical benifits, type, WAT
8 Responses to “Air force Medical Discharge…?”
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Contact the VA. Most of the time the AF will offer you the absolute lowest possible. However people at the VA can help you with trying to get more.
Other than that have him ask his shirt and chief who he can contact to find out more about that.
You absolutely want to try for 30% or more, and you apparently already know why.
It is almost impossible to get the MEB to modify its preliminary informal rating by going to a formal board. Absent some evidence that the MEB miscalculated, or mis-applied the evidence to the pertiment regulations, the MEB is not going to change that 20%. So, my advice:
1. Read the applicable Air Force regulation. The percentage of disability is determined pursuant to Air Force regulation. Be sure the MEB correctly applied the regulation.
2. If the Air Force regulation states that diabetes is rated according to the VA schedule, then consult the VA schedule to determine if the MEB correctly applied the VA schedule criteria. I noticed that the VA schedule rates diabetes “requiring insulin, restricted diet, AND regulation of activities” at 40%. If the diabetes is manageable with insulin and restricted diet, then the rating is 20%. [Note: The VA schedule is contained in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 38, Part 4. Diabetes is in section 4.119 (Endocrine System.) So, if the VA rating is applicable, AND your husband requires insulin, diet restriction, AND activity restriction, but the MEB incorrectly believed that youe husband requires only insulin, with no lifestyle modification, then husband has a chance at a higher rating if he can demonstrate that insulin plus significant lifestyle modifications are necessary.
3. Be sure ALL of your husband’s disabilities are accounted for in the MEB’s decision. For example, if your husband also has a back injury, or hearing impairment, be sure the board considered those as well.
Even if the rating remains at 20%, your husband will be eligible for VA medical services. I believe medical supplies are free through the VA for service-connected conditions.
The criteria the military uses for a disability is not qualified for world wide duty. A type 1 diabetic in almost all cases needs insulin. Since that need to be refrigerated, it may not always be available in a deployment situation. So no world wide qualified.
A 20% rating will mean he gets a medical separation. They hand him some money and good bye charlie. He needs at least a 30% rating to get a medical retirement. And that is what he needs to push for.
If they try to turn around and say he can get care through the VA, he needs to say that the VA is not present in all locations and a medical retirement will allow him to use TRICARE if need be. Also, the two systems are not connected and there is no guarantee the VA will rate him any higher. They probably will, but no guarantee.
Here is what he needs to do.
First…does he need insulin every day? YES?…then he is at least 20% disabled. So he can not go down in rating if he fights it.
Second…does he have any diet restrictions AND restriction on activity? Since he was a firefighter and they restricted his activities and gave him a desk job, the answer to that is YES. That bumps him up to 40%. They can not restrict his activity and only give him a 20% rating.
However, he sounds too healthy to get bumped up to 60% so you will have to be content with 40%.
Third. He needs to point out that since they pulled him from his firefighter position they have make him unable to apply for a civilian job and say he was fully qualified. They have limited his employment in the profession that he has done for the past 3 years.
Once he gets the 40% they still may try to medically separate him. He needs to fight for a medical retirement. Again, do not let them try to sell him on VA benefits. He needs to get the best deal he can out of the Air Force because there is no way to predict what the VA will do.
Assuming the best, he gets 40% and an Air Force Medical retirement. Then he turns around and applies to the VA. They use a different rating system and he may end up getting more from them. BUT DO NOT COUNT ON IT!! He needs to fight it out with the Air Force as much as possible.
(My wife was rated at 30% and put on TDRL. On TDRL you get 50%. After 18 months they moved to permanently retire her at 30%. She went and fought it and got bumped up to 50%. But since the VA turned around and rated her at 80%, she gets no retirement from the Air Force. BUT…if concurrent receipt goes through like Obama stated it, she would get both her medical retirement and the VA disability. So the fight was definitely worth it…assuming Obama keeps his word.)
Have him register at the nearest VA Hospital…
for Treatment asap…
Then get a VSO and file a claim with the VA
for his Diabetes…
Since he will have his disability already it
won’t take long to get a Service Connection
rating from the VA…
Then his Diabetes Treatment and Meds
will be covered FREE for Life….
His Compensation will then be his own
to do what he wants with…
WARNING: If they give him Severance Pay
DO NOT SPEND it as the VA WILL recoup
it from him before issuing any Comp Money..
Make sure he gets copies of ALL of his
Medical Records before he is Discharged…
He is entitled to them under UCMJ…
Will really speed his claim up…
If they give him 30% he will be lucky…
Any questions email me…
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