MEB Change

[wh962]

I was recently medically retired from the Air Force. I was an activated Guardsman that had been on active duty for the past 71/2 years. I was injured on duty in a auto accident. I suffered a back injury that required surgery. Doing my pre-surgery testing they also found out that I was a diabetic. The surgeon decided at that point that surgery wasn't my best option. My MEB was a total mess. I was taken off active duty when I shouldn't have been only to be put back on 6 months later because I should not have been taken off in the first place. I received back pay but only for 3 of the months because the other three were in the last fiscal year. Not sure why that happened.
The MEB told me that I would get 20% for my back injury and 20% for a neck injury that I had. When I got the paperwork the following day, I got 20% for my Back and 20% for the diabetes. Now I have processed through the VA for a claim and the VA rated my back at 60% which is the same that my MEB lawyer said I should have gotten. I did have a chance to appeal the MEB decision but the lawyer told me that I would probably loose what I had (the 40%).

My question is should I go to federal court to try to get the MEB percentage Changed based on the VA findings. They are supposed to use the same rating and it is obvious that the MEB was looking to get away as cheaply as they could. The difference in the amount is around $1500 a month and that is a lot considering I cannot go back to work.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[IrishLady47]

Originally Posted by wh962

I was recently medically retired from the Air Force. I was an activated Guardsman that had been on active duty for the past 71/2 years. I was injured on duty in a auto accident. I suffered a back injury that required surgery. Doing my pre-surgery testing they also found out that I was a diabetic. The surgeon decided at that point that surgery wasn't my best option. My MEB was a total mess. I was taken off active duty when I shouldn't have been only to be put back on 6 months later because I should not have been taken off in the first place. I received back pay but only for 3 of the months because the other three were in the last fiscal year. Not sure why that happened.
The MEB told me that I would get 20% for my back injury and 20% for a neck injury that I had. When I got the paperwork the following day, I got 20% for my Back and 20% for the diabetes. Now I have processed through the VA for a claim and the VA rated my back at 60% which is the same that my MEB lawyer said I should have gotten. I did have a chance to appeal the MEB decision but the lawyer told me that I would probably loose what I had (the 40%).

My question is should I go to federal court to try to get the MEB percentage Changed based on the VA findings. They are supposed to use the same rating and it is obvious that the MEB was looking to get away as cheaply as they could. The difference in the amount is around $1500 a month and that is a lot considering I cannot go back to work.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Although the active service medical board evalations are supposedly now using the same standards at the VA, I have not seen one case yet where the VA did not give a higher overall rating. Keep in mind that even when you get a % rating on each condition, your overall rating is not simply an addition of all, even with the VA. For example - you could have 4 separate service-connected disabilites, each rated at 40%. Your overall rating might only be 70%.

You should not only talk to a lawyer about the cost of taking this to court--but I'd get some free feedback from someone at the DAV. They are very experienced in dealing with these kinds of cases and could give you a realistic outlook.

If you are getting a disability retirement based on 40% vs 60%, how is that $1500 a month? The base amount difference would have to be $7500 a month to make that kind of difference.