It is currently at 100% disability. I have been trying for several years to get dental care but my VA primary care provider keeps telling me that I am not eligible despite the fact that all od my dental problems are related to old fillings put in by the army which are now falling out and causing my teeth to crack.
I do have a “service related disability” for my heart problems which first started in the army but despite Social Security stating that I am 100% disabled effective December 2000, the VA still refuses to adjust my rating above 5 percent because I was once working at a desk job as a computer programmer.
I am also suffering from constant back and left knee pain from in juries suffered in the army and documented on my service record. The VA declares these “treated and resolved by the Army” despite my constant suffering since my release from active duty. I was treated four times over a three year period while in the army including two trips to the emergency room.
I fell and knocked my left kneecap loose while in the army which lead to three major operations on my left knee about 16 years after getting out. This injury also appears in my medical records and is dismissed by the VA as of insufficient evidence since there were no broken bones, only soft tissue damage to the very important elements which hold the knee together.
Forget about the VA itself ever granting you approval for disability compensation and their own doctors will fight against you due to the rules that are required to give service under.
The only way that you can get the appropriate disability compensation is by going through an external doctor and getting their statement of disability and the more doctors the better. HOWEVER, the VA is very careful to ask if you are receiving care outside of the VA and will be quick to drop you if they find out.
Sounds like you are getting screwed. I had a much better experience in Seattle. Have you tried going to a Vet Center? They helped me a lot.