Posted on Feb 24, 2016
The C&P Exam - How to prepare for your C&P Exam
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The C&P Exam (short for "Compensation and Pension") is an exam performed by a VA salaried or contracted physician to document the current severity of a condition that is being considered for VA Disability and DoD Disability.The C&P Exam is the first step of the VA Disability Process, and Step 3 of the Integrated Disability Evaluation System.
In many cases, more than one C&P Exam will be required. The first C&P Exam is usually conducted by a general physician. If all the conditions that are being evaluated for disability are fairly routine or simple, then just one C&P Exam will be needed.
For more specialized conditions, however, a specialized physician will have to do the evaluation—an optometrist for an eye condition, an audiologist for hearing, etc. The VA is required by law to have specialists conduct the C&P Exam for all conditions that medically require advanced or specialized training. Each of these additional exams is also referred to as a “C&P Exam”.
In the C&P Exam(s), the physician should examine every condition a Disabled American Veteran has. The VA gives VA Disability Benefits for every service-connected condition.
In the C&P Exam report, the physician should establish the diagnosis of the condition, note the exact nature of the condition, and record all necessary measurements/test results needed to rate the condition.
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Preparing for the C&P Exam
Make sure to bring the following to your C&P exam:
– Complete medical history of the conditions to be examined in the C&P Exam, including all doctors' reports and tests. You may have already submitted this information, but bring it to your C&P Exam anyway just in case the physician hasn't seen it or needs any of the information in it.
– Specific knowledge of the exact information and tests the Rating Authorities need to properly assign a VA Disability Rating to each of your conditions. You can Find Your Conditions on our site to figure out exactly what is needed to rate them.
It is essential for you to be proactive at your C&P Exam. All VA Physicians have access to C&P Exam Templates that guide them through the exams to ensure that they record the correct information, but while we’d like to think the system works perfectly, there is far too much proof that it doesn’t. A contributing cause to the VA’s massive backlog is incorrect or incomplete data recorded in the C&P Exam reports. This causes the cases to be returned, after months of waiting in line, for another C&P Exam to be conducted to provide the missing/proper information. If you come properly prepared to your first C&P Exam, you can help make sure this doesn’t happen to your case.
Even though it shouldn't be, make it your job to ensure that the C&P Exam physicians (1) have all the information they need and (2) perform the proper tests at the C&P Exam.
For example, supraventricular arrhythmia (a heart condition) is rated on how many episodes of arrhythmia are recorded every year. The type and quantity of medication, etc., doesn’t matter for rating. All the physician must record during the C&P Exam is the number of episodes that were properly documented during the past year. Extra evidence never hurts, but if the physician fails to record the necessary info, then the case will have to be sent back.
A C&P Exam does not need to be excessively long to get a proper rating. All that needs to happen at the C&P Exam is for the proper information to be recorded.
Just be prepared and proactive, and your C&P Exam should go well.
In many cases, more than one C&P Exam will be required. The first C&P Exam is usually conducted by a general physician. If all the conditions that are being evaluated for disability are fairly routine or simple, then just one C&P Exam will be needed.
For more specialized conditions, however, a specialized physician will have to do the evaluation—an optometrist for an eye condition, an audiologist for hearing, etc. The VA is required by law to have specialists conduct the C&P Exam for all conditions that medically require advanced or specialized training. Each of these additional exams is also referred to as a “C&P Exam”.
In the C&P Exam(s), the physician should examine every condition a Disabled American Veteran has. The VA gives VA Disability Benefits for every service-connected condition.
In the C&P Exam report, the physician should establish the diagnosis of the condition, note the exact nature of the condition, and record all necessary measurements/test results needed to rate the condition.
Return to Top
Preparing for the C&P Exam
Make sure to bring the following to your C&P exam:
– Complete medical history of the conditions to be examined in the C&P Exam, including all doctors' reports and tests. You may have already submitted this information, but bring it to your C&P Exam anyway just in case the physician hasn't seen it or needs any of the information in it.
– Specific knowledge of the exact information and tests the Rating Authorities need to properly assign a VA Disability Rating to each of your conditions. You can Find Your Conditions on our site to figure out exactly what is needed to rate them.
It is essential for you to be proactive at your C&P Exam. All VA Physicians have access to C&P Exam Templates that guide them through the exams to ensure that they record the correct information, but while we’d like to think the system works perfectly, there is far too much proof that it doesn’t. A contributing cause to the VA’s massive backlog is incorrect or incomplete data recorded in the C&P Exam reports. This causes the cases to be returned, after months of waiting in line, for another C&P Exam to be conducted to provide the missing/proper information. If you come properly prepared to your first C&P Exam, you can help make sure this doesn’t happen to your case.
Even though it shouldn't be, make it your job to ensure that the C&P Exam physicians (1) have all the information they need and (2) perform the proper tests at the C&P Exam.
For example, supraventricular arrhythmia (a heart condition) is rated on how many episodes of arrhythmia are recorded every year. The type and quantity of medication, etc., doesn’t matter for rating. All the physician must record during the C&P Exam is the number of episodes that were properly documented during the past year. Extra evidence never hurts, but if the physician fails to record the necessary info, then the case will have to be sent back.
A C&P Exam does not need to be excessively long to get a proper rating. All that needs to happen at the C&P Exam is for the proper information to be recorded.
Just be prepared and proactive, and your C&P Exam should go well.
The C&P Exam - How to prepare for your C&P Exam
Posted from militarydisabilitymadeeasy.comPosted in these groups: 
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
Disabled Veterans
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Disabled Veterans
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 3
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Thanks for keeping us informed SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL. My biggest issue has been bnot with the doctors who examined me but with the administrative bureaucracy which is supposed to process the results. I have been told I was a no-show, been told that even though rated at 70% initially I was entitled to no compensation, etc.
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SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL
LTC Stephen F. sorry to hear this, continue to march to the drummers beat and hang in there.
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If you are an iPhone user, go to the App Store and download the app "My VA Benefits". If you like to be proactive in your claim, this app does 5 very important things:
1. It allows you to select from every different condition in the VA C&P, giving the diagnosis and the code used in the system.
2. After selecting the disability, it takes you to a page that gives the supporting information that the C&P examiners will be looking for.
3. It allows you to see what guidelines they use to determine the percentage, and this is very important when it comes to your claim, because it allows you to see the specific information for which they grade.
4. It allows you to select multiple disabilities, and accurately adds them in accordance in rating. An example would be receiving a 50% on PTSD and 40% on arthritis, the calculator adds it up at 70%.
5. It gives the amount of your payment based on percentage of awarded disability.
It helped me out greatly, and is a great tool in being proactive.
In addition, I am posting the link to the eBenefits page for the VA. If you are like me and you like to watch your claim through the process, this site is incredibly helpful. It gives you up to date information on the processing of your claim. In addition, you can see if they are requesting information the day they request it instead of receiving it a month after because of processing. You can upload the information as well. Being able to do this cane take weeks off of the process because you are not waiting weeks for information to be requested and returned. On the same day they request it, they can get it back.
My claim was processed Quickly with no snags on the first time because I used these resources.
https://www.ebenefits.va.gov/ebenefits/homepage
1. It allows you to select from every different condition in the VA C&P, giving the diagnosis and the code used in the system.
2. After selecting the disability, it takes you to a page that gives the supporting information that the C&P examiners will be looking for.
3. It allows you to see what guidelines they use to determine the percentage, and this is very important when it comes to your claim, because it allows you to see the specific information for which they grade.
4. It allows you to select multiple disabilities, and accurately adds them in accordance in rating. An example would be receiving a 50% on PTSD and 40% on arthritis, the calculator adds it up at 70%.
5. It gives the amount of your payment based on percentage of awarded disability.
It helped me out greatly, and is a great tool in being proactive.
In addition, I am posting the link to the eBenefits page for the VA. If you are like me and you like to watch your claim through the process, this site is incredibly helpful. It gives you up to date information on the processing of your claim. In addition, you can see if they are requesting information the day they request it instead of receiving it a month after because of processing. You can upload the information as well. Being able to do this cane take weeks off of the process because you are not waiting weeks for information to be requested and returned. On the same day they request it, they can get it back.
My claim was processed Quickly with no snags on the first time because I used these resources.
https://www.ebenefits.va.gov/ebenefits/homepage
Airmen who were exposed to agent orange while serving on contaminated C-123 aircraft and have a related disability may be eligible for benefits.
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