Question

I have a 60% rating for PTSD and wanted to see about an increase due to some recent bipolar diagnoses and alcoholism and also sleep apnea but don’t know what to do to seek help and I don’t want my VA insurance or rating to go down.

Jim's Reply

It's common that our conditions change over time and our rating should change as the condition does. If you're confident that your condition is measurably worse than it was when you were last examined, seeking an increase isn't difficult to do. You will have to apply for the increase in the usual way and provide information about what and why you're applying for the benefit. VA will then set you up with a C & P exam and following that, the adjudication process will happen. While it is possible that VA will see improvement and try to reduce your rating, That's infrequent and usually doesn't happen. The possibility that it can happen isn't a good reason to not file if you believe an increase should be considered.