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Medical Discharge?
Has anyone gone through the process? My husband is towards the end (at least we think) of it and I am curious how quick things will go now. We are just waiting on his ratings. They already told him he is not fit for duty. From my understanding once the ratings come back we will be moving pretty quickly. I am stressing about the upcoming move. We will be staying with my sister when we first get to NE but I do not want to be there too long. I also want to find a job asap but don't know when to apply for jobs since I don't know when we are moving. Any information or advice would be great!
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Re: Medical Discharge?
I wouldn't rush anything....make sure that EVERYTHING is documented especially injuries that occurred on Active Duty. If anything occurred on AD then he can file for disability benefits through the VA. Any injuries that are military related are 100% covered by the VA and makes his status higher as far as treatment goes AND if that is the reason he is being discharged you can file for Disability payments.
I have a friend who was considered 60% disabled after getting out of the Navy and now receives around $600 a month for the rest of her life. BUT it ALL has to be documented in his record.
We aren't rushing things at all. Everything is already going through the VA as well. He will get the ratings from the VA and Army at the same time. He already went to all of the physicals and such for the VA. The VA rep told him that they will add up percentages for EACH issue that he has where as the Army will just give him a percentage for the one main issue. He keeps copies of everything and is very good about paying attention to his documents. They are even adding in a minor surgery that he had for his wrist (the VA) and that will increase his rating from them. So far the people he knows around here that already went through it they all got a much higher rating from the VA than the Army.
Simply put, this is because the VA will rate you on how every condition you have affects your livelihood and the Army rates you on how the condition you are being boarded for affects your ability to do your job in the military.
That will all be changing to a combined rating system, but I'm not sure when.
The VA rating is more important than the Army one because you'll be getting your disability payments from the VA. Sounds like you have done everything you can do so all you can really do now is wait. I only stressed on the rushing part because the Military tends to be sloppy when they're rushed and that could result is paperwork coming up missing or being entered incorrectly. Good luck you you both!
From what I've seen, getting a medical discharge can happen quickly or slowly, depending on an infinite number of factors. Hurry up and wait, or who knows. LOL
ETA: I put in a significant amount of time working an Operations desk at the base level. Yay for me.
Yeah, some people in his unit started the process last summer and they are still waiting. My husband officially started the process in December but knew it was going to happen in September. They said since they can't "fix" him it goes a little quicker since there will be less appointments. Who knows. I know all about the hurry up and wait but this is killing me lol. It is hard to figure out a life outside of the military when we don't know when it will start.
My husband ended up getting medical retirement. Many soldiers are in too much of a hurry to file the paperwork and wait for medical retirement/ temporary duty retirement list (TDRL). The differance between discharge and retirement is basically with retirement you get to keep Tricare for the rest of your life as insurance as a retiree and you still have access to the PX and Commissary. It's defintely worth the wait. Also, you still are entitled to a last "free move" back home once retired.
And you are guaranteed retirement pay, even if the VA rating lowers (but since this retirement is for those with less than 20 years, you only recieve pay from the higher amount, either the retirement pay or the VA pay). This may change in the future, as congress considers changing the law that prohibits payment of both.
Maybe this helps,
Applejackrach