[Welfare & Veterans] Disability Grade Re-determination Physical Examination for National Meritorious Persons: Requirements and Documents — Your Grade Can Also Go Down

3-Line Summary

1. Re-determination Physical Examination is a procedure for persons with disability grades who have already been recognized as national meritorious persons to have their grades reassessed. You may apply if two years have passed since the final determination date or if there is a reason for recurrence or aggravation.
2. The result may go up or down. If there is no change, the application is considered dismissed.
3. Before applying, you must compare the criteria in Annex 4 of the Enforcement Rule with your recent medical records, and decide whether to be assessed via a Veterans Hospital physical examination or a National Veterans Disability Certificate.

Table of Contents

1. Re-determination Physical Examination: A physical examination to reassess grades
2. Re-surgery arriving two years after a Grade 7 determination
3. Verifying application requirements: The 2-year lapse and reasons for aggravation
4. Cases where the grade decreases: Changed measurement items after reconstructive surgery
5. Preparing medical records: Rehabilitation records and range of motion
6. Veterans Hospital physical examination vs. National Veterans Disability Certificate
7. Filling out and submitting the application, and the month it takes effect
8. Notification of results and methods for appeal
9. Things to check before applying for a Re-determination Physical Examination

I am an administrative agent (Haengjeongsa) working in Songdo, Incheon. I would like to introduce a case I handled while consulting regarding disability grades for national meritorious persons.

Article 6-3 of the Act on the Honorable Treatment of and Support for Persons, etc. of National Meritorious Persons mentions physical examinations for re-determining disability grades. An individual may apply for this, or the Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs may conduct it ex officio. Most people read this clause as “an application to raise one’s grade.” However, Paragraph 7 of the same Article separately specifies the effective date in cases where the disability grade is lowered. This means the grade can decrease. This case began with this single sentence.

1. Re-determination Physical Examination: A physical examination to reassess grades

Physical examinations for veterans are divided into four types under the law:

• New Physical Examination: The first examination received by a person who has applied for registration after passing the eligibility review.
• Re-examination (Re-review) Physical Examination: An examination received when there is an objection to the results of a New Physical Examination.
• Re-confirmation Physical Examination: An examination received by those who failed to receive a grade in the New or Re-examination Physical Examinations.
• Re-determination Physical Examination: An examination to re-determine the grades of those who have already received a grade and become national meritorious persons.

The subject of this article is the last one, the Re-determination Physical Examination. This is different from the examination received by those who failed to receive a grade. I covered the procedures following a “failure to meet grade requirements” in Application Period and Documents for Re-examination Physical Examination for National Meritorious Person Grade Non-compliance.

The results of a Re-determination Physical Examination fall into one of three categories: the grade increases, remains the same, or decreases. Article 6-3, Paragraph 3, Subparagraph 2 of the Act stipulates that if there is no change in the disability grade as a result of the Re-determination Physical Examination, the application shall be deemed dismissed.

2. Re-surgery arriving two years after a Grade 7 determination

First, I received an email. There were three attachments: a Notice of Decision on Registration as a National Meritorious Person, a Notice of Grade 7 Disability Determination from about two years ago, and a photo of an MRI reading of his knee from last autumn.

The sender was a male in his late 20s. He tore his right anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after falling during night training while serving in the military, and after applying for registration after his discharge, he received a Grade 7 determination. He currently works as a facility management technician in an apartment complex in Songdo. His job involves going up and down the stairs of a machine room several times a day. He was also facing marriage next spring.

Last autumn, his knee buckled again on the stairs. The ligament was re-torn, and part of the meniscus was also torn, so he underwent reconstructive surgery again. Since the surgery, he has been in a state where he cannot fully bend his knee.

He had already tried a few things. When he called the Veterans Office, he was told, “You can apply for a Re-determination Physical Examination.” On online veterans community boards, there were several posts saying, “I had a re-determination and my grade dropped.” He thought the grade would naturally increase since he had undergone surgery, but he said he stopped writing the application after reading those posts.

He had only one question: “Am I in a situation where I am allowed to apply?”

3. Checking Eligibility: The 2-Year Period and Grounds for Deterioration

An in-person consultation was scheduled for Saturday morning. Before that, I checked the eligibility requirements using the notice he had sent me.

Article 17, Paragraph 1 of the Enforcement Decree stipulates two cases in which an individual may apply for a re-determination physical examination (Items 1 and 3; Item 2 was deleted in 2012):

1. A person for whom 2 years have passed since the date of the final disability rating determination
2. A person for whom there are significant grounds for a change in the disability rating, such as the recurrence or deterioration of the disability-causing injury

The determination date on his Grade 7 determination notice was 2 years and 3 months ago. He was eligible to apply based solely on the first requirement. The re-rupture and re-surgery could also fall under the grounds for deterioration in Item 3. However, since the applicant must provide evidence for the “significant grounds” required by Item 3, I decided to list both as grounds for the application, given that the first requirement was already met.

I verified one more thing here: the left ankle pain he mentioned. The ankle was not a registered disability-causing injury. Since a re-determination physical examination is a procedure to review the rating of an already recognized disability-causing injury, we did not include the ankle in this application. Other body parts would require a separate review regarding their connection to military service.

The eligibility requirements were met. The problem lay elsewhere.

4. Cases Where the Grade Decreases: Changed Measurement Items After Reconstructive Surgery

Disability ratings are determined according to the Standards for Each Body Part in Annex 4 pursuant to Article 8-3 of the Enforcement Rule. For joints such as the knee, the degree of joint instability and the extent to which the range of motion (flexion and extension) is limited are assessed separately.

I reviewed the basis for his Grade 7 determination from about two years ago using the determination notice and the physical examination records from that time. The basis was knee instability due to ligament damage. At that time, his range of motion was almost normal.

However, this recent reconstructive surgery was specifically intended to address that instability. The surgical report stated that stability was restored after the reconstruction. If he were to undergo an examination now, the item that served as the basis for the Grade 7 determination might actually be measured as improved. Instead, a new problem had arisen: flexion limitation. Depending on whether this met the criteria for Grade 7 or higher, the result could either increase or decrease.

It is natural to think that the grade would increase since he underwent surgery. However, a re-determination does not look at “how much he was injured,” but rather which criteria the current remaining disability falls under. If the surgery is successful, one measurement item improves.

Article 6-3, Paragraph 7 of the Act also stipulates the effect of a downgrade. If the disability rating decreases in a re-determination applied for by the individual, the lower rating will be applied starting from the month following the month in which the determination was made. This is why one must weigh this risk before applying.

5. Preparing Medical Records: Rehabilitation Records and Range of Motion

We decided to decide whether or not to apply after reviewing the records. I instructed him to obtain necessary materials from three places:

• The operating hospital: Reconstructive surgery records, discharge summary, and MRI readings before and after surgery.
• The rehabilitation hospital: Physical therapy records for each session and joint range of motion measurement values.
• Military hospital records: Medical records from the time of the initial injury (already submitted during the initial registration, but copies were secured for comparison purposes).

His fiancée took charge of collecting the materials. Since the methods for issuing copies of medical records differ among the three hospitals, one required a visit, while another allowed for online application.

The basis for our judgment came from the rehabilitation records. Immediately after surgery, the flexion angle was significantly limited but gradually recovered; however, from around the 9-month mark post-surgery, the measurement values stopped improving and remained within the same range. The attending physician’s opinion was also that “additional recovery is limited in the current state.” When comparing the measurement values against the range of motion standards in Annex 4, even if the instability item improved, there was a possibility that the flexion limitation item could fall into a higher grade than the existing Grade 7.

Conversely, if he had undergone the examination while in the midst of active rehabilitation, it would have been difficult to predict the result. For a joint in the process of recovering, measurement values can change within a few weeks. Therefore, we set the timing of the application to a point after the attending physician considers the symptoms to be stabilized.

There was also one lighthearted incident. Throughout his rehabilitation period, he had been measuring his flexion angle every day using a protractor app on his phone and recording it in his memo app. Among those notes, next to a 3-day entry, he had written, “The cat climbed onto my knee, so I measured again.” Since it was a personal memo, it was not used as submitted evidence, but it was helpful in confirming that the trend matched the hospital’s measurement values.

6. Veterans Hospital Physical Examination and National Veterans Disability Certificate

We also had to decide on the method for undergoing the assessment. Generally, one undergoes a physical examination at a Veterans Hospital on a designated date. According to Article 18 of the Enforcement Decree, physical examinations are conducted on designated days at least once a month.

There is one other method. Under Article 6-3, Paragraph 8 of the Act, if one submits a National Veterans Disability Certificate (Form No. 9 of the Enforcement Rule) issued by a tertiary general hospital or a medical institution of hospital grade or higher as prescribed by Presidential Decree, it is deemed that the physical examination has been conducted. Article 13, Paragraph 2 of the Enforcement Decree designates the Police Hospital, the Armed Forces Capital Hospital, and medical institutions notified by the Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs as these medical institutions. While this method cannot be used for an ex officio re-examination, it can be used for a re-examination requested by the individual.

We compared the two methods.

The place where he underwent reconstructive surgery was a tertiary general hospital, and the professor who performed the surgery knew his progress best. We decided to proceed with the disability certificate. Since the measurements must be recorded according to the specific form, I instructed him to print out the relevant items in the attached form and Annex 4 before his outpatient appointment. If the doctor omits any measurement items, there will be insufficient grounds for the Veterans Review Committee to make a determination.

Regardless of the method, the grade is determined through the deliberation and resolution of the Veterans Review Committee (Article 6-4, Paragraph 1 of the Act). The certificate serves as the evidentiary material for the determination.

7. Application Preparation, Submission, and the Month of Effectiveness

The application is the Application for Re-examination/Re-assessment Physical Examination (Form No. 8 of the Enforcement Rule). Since one form is used for both procedures, it must be clearly indicated that it is an application for a re-assessment physical examination.

The documents submitted along with the application were as follows:

1. Application for Re-examination/Re-assessment Physical Examination (Form No. 8)
2. National Veterans Disability Certificate (Form No. 9)
3. Reconstructive surgery records and pre- and post-operative MRI reading reports
4. Records of range of motion measurements during the rehabilitation period
5. Physician’s opinion (regarding the determination of permanent symptoms)
6. A copy of the previous Grade 7 determination notice

In the reasons for the application, we stated both Requirement No. 1 (two years have passed since the final determination date) and Reason No. 3 (re-rupture and re-surgery), and we attached a summary table organized to show how the previous basis for determination differs from the current disability. This was to allow the reviewers to compare the previous records and the current records side-by-side.

We also confirmed the timing of when the effectiveness begins. According to Article 6-3, Paragraph 7 of the Act, if the grade is increased, the effectiveness begins from the month in which the application was filed. Even if it takes time for the determination to be made, it is applied retroactively to the month of application. Therefore, we filed the application in the same week the certificate was issued.

8. Notification of Results and Methods for Appeal

The results came out a few months later. The Veterans Review Committee recognized the limitation in flexion, and in this case, the grade was adjusted from Grade 7 to Grade 6. The effectiveness was applied from the month the application was filed.

Results do not always turn out this way. If there is no change, the application is considered dismissed, and the grade may even decrease. When appealing a determination, one should check the following:

• Objection (Administrative Objection): Pursuant to Article 74-18 of the Act, if one falls under any of the following: error in application of laws and regulations, failure to review important evidentiary materials, or discovery of new evidentiary materials, one may apply to the Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs within 30 days from the date of receiving the disposition.
• Administrative Appeal: This can be filed regardless of an objection, and if the results of an objection have been notified, one can file an appeal within 90 days from the date of notification.

The methods and deadlines for appeal must be re-confirmed through the guidance text in the notice of disposition. Since the requirements vary depending on the case, individual verification is necessary.

On the day they set the wedding date, he sent a short email. He said that while he still climbs the stairs in the machine room while holding the handrail, he has placed the Grade 6 determination notice in the same file folder as his medical record copies.

9. Things to Check Before Applying for a Re-examination for Physical Examination

Before applying for a re-examination for physical examination, please check the following items:

1. Application Form: Prepare the Application for Re-examination or Re-evaluation (Form No. 8 of the “Enforcement Rule of the Act on the Honorable Treatment of and Support for Persons, etc. of National Merits”).
2. Requirements: Check whether two years have passed since the date of the final determination and whether there is data showing recurrence or aggravation.
3. Basis of Previous Determination: Confirm which measurement items resulted in the previous grade by reviewing the determination notice and the physical examination records.
4. Comparison with Current Records: Compare the measurement values in recent medical records with the criteria in [Annex 4] to assess both the possibility of an increase and the possibility of a decrease.
5. Timing: If you are currently undergoing treatment or rehabilitation, consult with your attending physician regarding the timing of symptom stabilization before applying.
6. Method of Determination: Decide whether to proceed with a physical examination at a Veterans Hospital or a National Veterans Disability Certificate.

Services Provided by the Administrative Agent Office

Hwang Yunsang Administrative Agent Office provides services regarding the re-examination for physical examination for national merit disability grades, including comparing the basis of previous determinations with current medical records, drafting and submitting applications for re-examination or re-evaluation, and preparing statements of reasons for application and comparative data. We also provide drafting and submission services for objections against determination results and requests for administrative appeals. The overall registration process can be found in Registration Procedures and Required Documents for National Merits and Persons Eligible for Veterans’ Compensation.

A re-determination is a procedure to re-measure the remaining disability before it is a procedure to increase the grade. By first confirming through records what has improved and what remains, you can decide whether or not to apply.

This content has been restructured for better understanding and is not related to any specific person or event.