Catastrophic Disablement...

Due you have a permanent severely disabling injury, or a disease that compromises your ability to carry out the activities of daily living to such a degree that you require assistance to leave the home or bed? If so, perhaps you are "Catastrophically Disabled." As to what that means...

Catastrophic Disablement...

(Thanks to UNITED SPINAL ASSOCIATION's "VetsFirst" Quarterly Magazive, Summer Issue, Volume 1, Number 1, 2004 ):

Veterans who are catastrophically disabled are veterans who have “a permanent severely disabling injury, disorder, or disease that compromises the ability to carry out the activities of daily living to such a degree that the individual requires assistance to leave the home or bed or requires constant supervision to avoid physical harm to self or others.”

A VA determination that a veteran is not catastrophically disabled may be appealed.

Criteria for Catastrophic Disablement:

1 - Quadriplegia and quadriparesis, paraplegia, blindness, persistent vegetative state, or a condition resulting from two of the following procedures provided the two procedures were not on the same limb: amputation through hand; disarticulation of wrist; amputation through forearm; disarticulation of elbow; amputation through humerus; shoulder disarticulation; forequarter amputation; lower limb amputation not otherwise specified; amputation of great toe; amputation through foot; disarticulation of ankle; amputation through malleoli; other amputation below knee; disarticulation of knee, above knee amputation; disarticulation of hip; and hindquarter amputation.

Or,

2 -

A. Dependent in three or more activities of daily living - eating, dressing, bathing, using the toilet, transferring, incontinence of bowel and/or bladder, with at least three of the dependencies being permanent with a rating of 1, using the Katz scale.
B. A score of 10 or lower using the Folstein Mini-Mental State Examination
C. A score of 2 or lower on at least 4 of the 13 motor items using the Functional Independence Measure
D. A score of 30 or lower using the Global Assessment of Functioning

Non-service-connected veterans who are catastrophically disabled and have income over the attributable income limit will have to pay a co-payment for the care provided.