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Welcome to The Veterans Disability Nexus, where we provide unique insights and expertise on medical evidence related to VA-rated disabilities. Leah Bucholz, a US Army Veteran, Physician Assistant, & former Compensation & Pension Examiner shares her knowledge related to Independent Medical Opinions often referred to as “Nexus Letters” in support of your pursuit of VA Disability every Tuesday & Wednesday at 7AM Central.
Take control of your medical evidence related to your benefits and visit https://podcast.prestigeveteranmctx.info/veteran/ for more information and to connect directly with us!
Hey, guys. It's Leah b here from Prestige Veteran Medical Consulting. I am a US army veteran, physician assistant, and former compensation and pension examiner. So today, I wanna come on and discuss, a really important topic, and we've done a ton of videos on this in the past, individual videos related to each not each type, but many types of VA compensation and pension exams. But this is just gonna be an overall general, sort of video on what you can expect from a VA a VA disability compensation and pension exam.
Leah B:So if you file the VA disability claim, there's a good chance that you're gonna be scheduled for a compensation and pension exam, often referred to as a C and P exam. So for many veterans, this is one of the most stressful parts of the process, but it does not have to be. In this video, I'm going to explain what a C and P exam is, what actually happens during it, and how you can prepare so you can feel confident and informed going in. So what is a C and P exam? A compensation and pension exam is an evaluation requested by the Department of Veterans Affairs to help determine whether your condition is connected to your military service and how severe your symptoms are for ratings purposes.
Leah B:These exams are not, treatment related visits. They're medical evaluations used strictly for evidence in your claim. C and P exams typically are performed by VA clinicians or contract examiners from different companies that VA has arrangements with or agreements with. So their goal is to gather the medical information that aligns with the VA's disability rating criteria for adjudicators to evaluate. So the structure of your C and P exam depends on the type of condition being evaluated, physical, mental, health, or both.
Leah B:Here's what you can generally expect. So they're gonna, first thing is you're probably going to receive some kind of packet in the mail that's gonna tell you when and where your appointment's going to be, who the provider is, how long they've been doing this type of exam, and what their specialty is. So when you get there, they're gonna identify, who you are. They're gonna verify your identity. The examiner is gonna confirm your name, date of birth.
Leah B:They may ask you for identification at the front desk. So they're gonna discuss a review of your records. So they're usually gonna review parts of your claims file, also called your c file, which may include service treatment records, prior medical notes, and any private opinions yours you've submitted. They might not discuss that with you specifically, but they may review some of that before, after, or both, you know, during your exam. So they may ask you about your military service, how your condition began, and how it affects your daily life.
Leah B:This is your chance to clearly describe your symptoms in your own words. Medical examination, depending on the condition, is is really gonna be it's so widely variable. Again, I've got a ton of videos that are condition specific that you guys can check out. So depending on the condition, the examiner may take, your vital signs. They might conduct a physical exam or assessment or perform range of motion testing.
Leah B:For mental health exams, expect questions about mood, sleep, memory, and social or occupational functioning. Functional impact questions, the examiner might ask you how your symptoms may limit your work, mobility, relationships, or daily activities. Be honest and specific. This part often directly affects your ratings. So this is not the time to try to be modest.
Leah B:Don't overinflate or, you know, sort of overexaggerate your symptoms, but just be be honest and accurate. So you're not gonna get an immediate decision right there, and then because the examiner does not decide your claim or tell you your rating. Their job is to just gather evidence and submit a report to the VA for review for the adjudicators. Right? So how to prepare for your exam?
Leah B:So, there's a few things you can think about and and discuss with your, legal professional. They may have advice on this as well. So as I mentioned, be honest and accurate. Don't exaggerate your symptoms, but don't minimize them either. Be clear about how your condition affects your life on a day to day basis.
Leah B:Be consistent. Make sure what you tell the examiner matches what's written in your claim or medical records or explain why it's not consistent. So consistency can often build credibility. You can also consider bringing key documentation. It should be in your file, but, you know, if it's not or maybe you just received it, you can take those copies to your, to your exam, of your private medical records or prescriptions or a symptom journal if you think you can help clarify your condition.
Leah B:I've heard some, veterans state that the examiner won't take any documentation that you submit. I'm really not sure what the, kind of rules on that are, so you'll wanna follow-up with a VSO or your attorney or a legal professional to sort of get advice if if something's not accepted from you at the day of the exam. So you wanna describe your bad days too. So if your symptoms fluctuate, explain what they're like at their worst, not just on an average day. The VA rates things generally based on overall impairment, not just isolated good days.
Leah B:Be respectful and professional. Even if you're frustrated with the process, staying calm and courteous makes a strong impression, helps the exam stay focused. So after the exam, the, C P examiner is gonna complete a report known as a DBQ or a disability benefit questionnaire. And then this report is gonna go back to VA and become part of your claims file. You can request a copy of your C and P exam results, by contacting your local VA regional office.
Leah B:If you got a an accredited legal professional with VBMS access, they may be able to get it pretty quickly. You can also request your claims file, which takes a little bit of time from my understanding. It can take, several months and up to a year, I've heard. If you believe the exam was incomplete, inaccurate, or didn't address key issues, you can discuss those options with your VA accredited attorney, accredited claims agent, or a VSO, veteran service officer. Sometimes a private medical opinion from your doctor or a medical opinion company can help clarify or challenge an inadequate C and P report or can help your attorney or your claims agent to do that.
Leah B:Beyond that, I wanted to just kinda show you guys where you can review some of these DBQs in advance in case you want to check them out. So give me one second while I pull up my share screen here. Let's see. Okay. So this is va.gov.
Leah B:We've gone over this several times in the past on different videos. Again, I I think if you've got a specific video you'd like to, or a specific condition you you're interested in, like what happens in a CMP for back pain, that's one of my really popular videos. You can go and check that out where we go over the individual videos, the individual DBQs. This here is, benefits.va.gov/conversation/dbq_publicdbq.asp. So there's a lot of really great here.
Leah B:It's gonna hang on one second, guys. Sorry about that. It's gonna tell you, here that if you're let's see. You're you're entitled to in most instances, you're entitled to a no cost disability exam with VA. In some instances, we they may determine additional disability examination is required to complete the claim.
Leah B:If an exam is scheduled, you must report for the exam. So they're also saying they do not pay or reimburse any expenses or costs incurred while completing and or submitting, you know, your own private DBQ. So if you're gonna get one from your doc your treating doctor or something like that, VA is saying here they're they're probably not gonna pay those expenses. So, but if your treating doctor is willing to provide you one, that's that may be very helpful. So let's see here.
Leah B:So here's all the we're not gonna talk about separation health assessments today. That's a different that's a whole another ball of wax. But here you can see there's all these different categories, cardiovascular, dental, dermatologic, endocrine. It goes on and on. All these different categories, musculoskeletal.
Leah B:And then you can just click on the hyperlink for whichever condition, and it's gonna pull up I'm gonna pull up this one I just clicked. This is for elbow and forearm. Okay? So it hyperlinks straight up to the specific DBQ. Let me make this a little smaller for you guys.
Leah B:So you can go over all the components. So I'm not gonna go over this one here today. I just wanted you to be familiar with where to go if you, you know, wanna find some of those DBQs. So let me just jump off this share screen here. Okay.
Leah B:So I hope this was helpful to you guys. Please like and subscribe and share this video, with other veterans who may be curious as to what's gonna happen at their C and P exam. Please drop some comments if you have any questions or feedback. And as always, thank you for watching. Alright.
Leah B:See you guys.