The Blog at Military Disability Made Easy: Conditions to Cover in the MEB Exam for Military Disability

The MEB exams are the most important medical exams for both DoD disability and VA disability. Why? Because if a medical condition is not recorded in the MEB exams, then neither the DoD or the VA will give it a Military Disability Rating it for military disability.

The MEB exams are the medical exams a service member undergoes when first starting the MEB Process when leaving the military because of a disability.

Make sure that when you go to the MEB exams that you cover EVERY condition you have with the examining physician, no matter how small. You may need to also be examined by specialists for individual conditions. This is a good thing: The more evidence you have of a condition, the better it will be rated, and the more legit it will seem to the Rating Authorities. Remember, it is NEVER a good idea to fake it. People who fake it make me feel like this guy.

The DoD will only rate conditions that make a service member unable to do his job, but the VA will rate every condition that can be clearly connected to military service. So, even if a serious condition develops in the future, but is caused by a condition that was incurred while in the military, the VA will definitely rate it as long as the medical records are thorough enough to prove the relationship.

So, don’t be a macho man (or macho woman) and not go to the doctor about a condition. Your future depends on complete medical evidence that was recorded while you are in the military. Just go. It’s worth it. Similarly, don’t fake it and don’t understate it. Doctors can tell when you are faking, and if you fake one condition, they may think you fake them all, so you won’t get rated properly for your legit conditions.

Also don’t understate them. There have been clear cases where a soldier will go into an exam and try to act like the condition doesn’t really bother them—they’re fine, strong and brave. But if the physician records that you don’t really have any serious conditions, but then one gets worse, you don’t have any proof that it was caused by service, and so won’t get compensation for it. Just be completely honest right from the beginning, and you’ll get the military disability rating you deserve.

If you are already separated from the military, but you don’t have any medical records of conditions that were caused by or during service, sorry, it’s just too late. You MUST have documentation to get disability compensation. Sorry. I know that makes you feel like this guy.