The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (the VA) can provide you with benefits, including monthly compensation, if you qualify as a veteran disabled by memory loss. The VA rates memory loss between 0% and 100%.If you want to obtain a VA rating for memory loss, please call Stone Rose Law at (480) 498-8998 or use our contact form for help.
What VA Disability Benefits Are Available for Memory Loss?
The VA assigns a percentage-based VA disability rating for veterans with a service-connected memory loss condition. This percentage level can be from 0% to 100%.
Unlike many other disabilities, the VA does not have a diagnostic code that it assigns specifically to memory loss. Instead, the disability rating you receive is based on how your memory loss condition originated.
For example, if you are diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), then the VA recognizes PTSD as a compensable disability. Your memory loss symptoms connected with PTSD can increase your PTSD disability rating because they increase the severity of that condition.
Other disability conditions that can contribute to memory loss include traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and mental disorders like Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
Memory Loss VA Ratings
Because memory loss is a contributing factor to other disabilities instead of a disability in its own right, your VA rating associated with memory loss will be tied to the underlying disability causing it.
Memory Loss and PTSD
If your memory loss arises from PTSD, then the VA rates PTSD disability at any of 0%, 10%, 30%, 50%, 70%, or 100%, depending on how severe your symptoms are, how often they occur, and how long they last.
Memory Loss and Traumatic Brain Injury
If your memory loss is connected with a traumatic brain injury, then your disability rating can be 0%, 10%, 40%, 70%, or 100%. A severe TBI-related disability can also qualify you for special monthly compensation.
Memory Loss and Mental Disorders
If your memory loss is related to an underlying mental disorder, then your disability rating can be 0%, 10%, 30%, 50%, 70%, or 100%.
VA Disability Rating
Common Symptoms
0%
You have been medically diagnosed with a disability condition.
Your condition is not serious enough to interfere with your work or your social functioning. It does not require continuous medication.
A 0% disability rating does not qualify for monthly compensation. But it does enable you to receive other VA disability benefits, including healthcare benefits.
10%
You experience occupational and impairment of your social life because of mild or transient symptoms, but only during periods of significant stress.
Symptoms controlled by continuous medication.
30%
You experience occupational impairment and social impairment.
You experience difficulty in routine behaviors and care for yourself because of symptoms including:
Depressed mood
Anxiety
Suspiciousness of others
Panic attacks
Chronic sleep impairment
Mild memory loss
50%
Your occupational impairment results in reduced productivity at work. You also experience increased social impairment that makes it hard to establish or maintain effective social relationships.
Symptoms include:
Flattened affect
Circumstantial, circumlocutory, or stereotyped speech
Panic attacks that happen more than once weekly
Trouble following instructions
Impairment of short and long-term memory
Impaired judgment
Impaired abstract thinking
Experiencing memory loss
Difficulty maintaining motivation
Mood changes
70%
You experience significant trouble with your work efficiency and social impairment and have trouble functioning independently. These include neglect of personal appearance and personal hygiene.
You engage in thoughts and behaviors including:
Obsessive rituals
Near continuous panic attacks
Depression
Mood changes
Impaired impulse control
Spatial disorientation
Suicidal ideation
100%
You experience total occupational and social impairment that includes inappropriate behaviors and persistent risk of hurting yourself or others. You are only intermittently able to perform daily living activities, including maintaining personal appearance or personal hygiene.
Your thoughts and behaviors include:
Disorientation in time and place
Memory loss, up to and including inability to remember the names of close family members
Persistent delusions or hallucinations
Gross impairment of thought processes and the ability to communicate
Memory Loss and Total Disability Based on Individual Unemployability (TDIU)
Even if your memory-loss related disability condition does not by itself qualify you for a 100% disability rating, you may still be able to receive total disability compensation through TDIU.
Schedular TDIU Benefits
To qualify for schedular TDIU benefits, you must be unable to keep substantially gainful employment andmeet one of the following conditions:
You must have one disability rating of at least 60%; or
You must have a combined disability rating of at least 70%, and one of the individual disability ratings must be at least 40%. To learn more about how combined disability compensation works, see our VA Disability Calculator.
Extra-schedular TDIU Benefits
If you cannot qualify for schedular TDIU, in some circumstances the VA may still consider you eligible in an extra-schedular capacity based on an unusual or exceptional disability.
How to Make a Claim for Memory Loss-Related VA Benefits
To receive VA disability benefits for a memory loss disability condition, you must file a claim with the VA using VA Form 21-526EZ. With this form, along with additional supporting documentation, you must convince the VA that:
You have been formally diagnosed with a disability that you are currently experiencing symptoms of; and
An in-service event or circumstance caused the disability; and
A medical connection, or “nexus” exists between your current disability symptoms and the in-service event or circumstance.
To support your claim, you will need to have documentation evidence to establish a service connection. This documentation can include any of the following:
Medical evidence in the form of in-service medical treatment and your civilian medical records and medical bills.
Medical test results, including medical loss tests.
Independent medical opinion evidence.
A nexus letter that your treating doctor will prepare for you.
Written statements by people who can attest to your symptoms and their effect on your ability to work and engage in daily life activities (also known as “buddy letters”).
Testing for Memory Loss VA Disability
To support your claim for memory loss-related VA benefits, you will likely need to undergo memory loss testing. The purpose of this test is to establish the extent of your memory loss condition so the VA can assess its impact on your underlying disability.
Specifically, memory loss testing evaluates:
The depth and severity of your memory loss.
Whether your memory loss is likely to be temporary or permanent.
Whether your memory loss is service-connected.
Memory loss testing usually includes the following parts:
Review of your history of symptoms.
Consideration of whether you have a family history of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.
Review of your medical treatment records and any medications you are taking.
A physical exam, including hearing, vision, heart, and neurological function tests.
Blood and urine tests.
Objective cognitive testing.
Cognitive testing can include a brief memory test, including testing your long-term memory by comparing your test answers to someone else close to you, like your spouse or another close relative.
If the results of your memory loss testing suggest that more detailed testing is needed for cognitive problems, then you may be referred to a specialist like a neurologist for additional examinations like brain imaging or brain scans before the VA will make its final decision.
What if the VA Denies Your Benefits Claim for a Memory Loss VA Rating?
The VA does not always approve benefits claims the first time it considers them. The reasons for denial can vary. For example:
You did not provide enough evidence with your claim for the VA to conclude that you are suffering from a service-connected disability.
There are errors in your claim documentation.
You did not attend memory testing if the VA schedules it for you.
The VA concludes that your disability was based on a pre-existing condition that was not aggravated by the circumstances of your service.
In some cases, the VA itself might make a mistake when processing your claim.
If your claim is denied, then you have options to seek a review of your claim. These include:
Filing a supplemental claim that includes new and relevant evidence to support your initial claim.
Requesting a higher level review of your original claim.
Making an appeal to the VA Board of Veterans Appeals.
Do You Need Help with Your VA Memory Loss Claim?
At Stone Rose Law, our veterans lawyers provide highly professional legal representation to military veterans.
A Stone Rose VA disability lawyer can help you prepare your disability claim, monitor your claim status and consult with you before disability examinations, at no cost to you.
If the VA denies your original claim, then our VA benefits law firm will assign a VA disability appeals lawyer to help you pursue a VA appeal with the Board of Veterans Appeals while providing free representation on a contingency fee basis.
For more information about how one of our VA disability lawyers can help you with your VA disability compensation claim or appeal, request a free assistance consultation by calling (480) 498-8998 or using our contact form.
