The Role Of A Vocational Expert In A TDIU Claim

Veterans sometimes have trouble adjusting to normal life after returning home. When you add an injury to that, they usually have no chance of simply easing into the workforce.

Thankfully, veterans can apply for a Total Disability Individual (TDIU) claim which allows them to receive the same type of compensation as someone with a total disability. In other words, they may receive the same compensation even though they don’t qualify for total disability.

This helps these retired soldiers improve their quality of life as a certain combination of disabilities makes it impossible for them to continue working under normal circumstances.

However, the process for receiving TDIU can be difficult to navigate, so if you’ve been thinking if there are any vocational experts near me who can help, you’ve come to the right place. Here’s everything you need to know about filing a TDIU claim and the role of the vocational expert in the process.

TDIU Benefits Explained

This type of disability benefit is available to veterans who have a service-related condition that affects them physically or mentally. For a health condition to be considered service-related, it needs to be connected to active duty and caused by the veteran’s military service. 

This doesn’t apply to self-inflicted injuries or ones that happened as a result of a person’s misconduct. Other than that, most injuries that happened during active duty will be considered service-related - everything from being wounded in action to inhaling dangerous chemicals.

This also covers disabilities that were aggravated by military service, as well as conditions where symptoms didn’t occur after discharge.

However, this is limited only to the injuries that end up having a significant impact on life functions.

Disability Ratings

The organization in charge of assigning ratings that describe the degree of the impairment to disabilities is the Veterans Administration (VA).

Even if a veteran has a disability rating lower than 100%, they can receive a TDIU rating if they are unemployable. To be eligible, a veteran must have two or more disabilities that combine into a disability rating of 70% or higher. That is if one of the disabilities is rated at 40%.

Additionally, veterans who have a single disability rated 60% or higher are also eligible to receive TDIU benefits. If the VA determines that the claimant cannot find or hold down a substantially gainful job (annual income over the poverty line) due to their disabilities, they will assign a TDIU rating. 

The VA will also take into account additional factors when deciding whether they should award a TDIU rating, including:

1. The nature of the disabilities

2. Education

3. Vocational skills

4. Employment history before and after disability

5. Reasons for any termination of employment

Medical Evidence Required

The connection between a disability and military service is based on documents from the veteran’s time of service. Any treatment records and documents will typically be found in the personnel file and provide enough information to establish any injuries sustained on active duty.

Along with the personnel file, medical records created after the fact contribute to the full picture of the disability. This is especially true for records that prove the continuity of symptomatology, which helps connect the injury suffered during service to the current condition.

In some cases, medical records are unable to establish this continuity. For example, the veteran might have waited until symptoms became intolerable before they finally sought treatment. 

In this scenario, they can obtain a diagnosis from a medical professional who can generate new records that support the disability claim. Normally, VA will require a veteran to go through a compensation and pension (C&P) examination.

Functional Evaluation

Doctors prepare functional evaluations by measuring limitations in veterans’ ability to perform different tasks. These evaluations form an integral part of the documentation for supporting a TDIU claim. 

A functional evaluation can establish the proper impact of the disability on common workplace tasks. For example, it can help conclusively quantify the limitation and may determine that a patient cannot sit for 30 minutes or stand for more than ten. This is valuable information that eliminates a lot of jobs from being performed successfully by the veteran.

The Role of a Vocational Expert

When you used the search term vocational experts near me, you were probably wondering about how they can help TDIU claims. 

Vocational experts use all available medical records, including the findings of the functional evaluations to assess employability. They determine whether the veteran has the necessary skills and functional abilities to perform the required jobs up to standard. 

If a vocational expert finds that there are no jobs in the veteran’s geographic area that they can successfully perform, then this is evidence that the veteran may be entitled to receiving TDIU benefits.

Additionally, vocational experts consider the full picture of the condition whereas medical experts can only attest to one aspect of the veteran’s ability to work. The former consider all factors and make recommendations based on their expert knowledge of the current work environment and job market.

The opinion from the vocational expert’s testimony can also be used to counter and refute any unfavorable results from the C&P examiner or the doctor working for the VA. While these medical examiners may have knowledge of the medical conditions in question, they cannot provide a comprehensive picture of the veteran’s employability.

For instance, a doctor may state that a person who has trouble lifting and bending over can complete sedentary work. However, they may not consider a lack of transferable skills or limited education that makes it impossible for that particular person to do an office job.

Choosing a Vocational Expert

When considering things like if there are any vocational experts near me who can help, you also need to factor in their experience. 

Your choice of a vocational expert matters since these individuals help bridge the gap between documented limitations and functional limitations in the current labor market. This is something that physicians and medical providers cannot produce even though the decision in the case often hinges on their opinion.

If you want to ensure you’re setting your TDIU claim up for success, feel free to contact OAS. The experts we employ have upwards of four decades of experience, and we helped many veterans like yourself receive the most favorable outcome in disability claims.

Fill out our online form now and schedule a consultation with our team.