GatorNavy

to add contentions to a NOD all I should have to do is put in another NOD form listing the contentions that were missed. The VARO will look in VACOLS to see if the contentions are duplictaes, if not, the contentions will be added. A DRO review is supposed to be "De Novo" but apparently in this case it wasn't or these issues wouldn't have been (or shouldn't have) overlooked. Now comes the hard part: the argument.....

work is completed

This varo infers nothing. I had to push for 8 years to get to 100%. They ignore any positive evidence including Vista records. When you shove the evidence in their face, they go into "develop to deny" mode. They do it by hammering on multiple c&p exams until they get the negative results they need to deny the claim. They actually gave the benefit of the doubt to themselves once. When they are forced to grant, they always lowball and you can bet the effective dates are wrong and always against the veteran. I had to practically light their a$$ on fire to get them to work on a BVA remand which 2 years later they are still screwed up and now the ping pong ball is going back to the BVA. How many other varos are like this one? Don't everyone stand up all at once now!

That sounds like a good strategy. I will make an anon copy of the decision. I have the c&p exams as well. I read the m21 today and found out that I need to do a "Request to withdraw" and specify which contentions to drop from the 256 claim before they make a decision on it. I will see if I have the rating sheet. I had a representative then and I know sometimes they send it to them and not the veteran. The NOD was certified to the BVA but hopefully they will pull the c-file back if I can get the additional NOD in before I get a docket number at the BVA.

I goofed. There was a decision dated 27 April 2016 that had multiple contentions that should have went into the NOD. The NOD did not contain the core issues, thus the SOC read like a mongolian road map. The decision did not list critical, positive evidence which were two C&P exams dated 4 April 2015. Each exam suggested "Total" disability on two distinctly different anatomical body systems. I am vascillating between this world and the next. So Ol' unca Joe is movin kinna slow at the junction. SMC-S should have been in the NOD as well. I put all of these contentions (which should have been on appeal) on a 256ez instead of a NOD. Can I still put in another NOD listing these additional contentions? How do I withdraw the 256 claim? All but one contention on the 256ez need to go on the NOD. Thanks in advance...

Buck, I think that if the "system" is allowed to win, then there won't be any changes. I am a frequent flyer at the local ER. Fortunately I'm still here to talk about it. The nearest VAMC is 100 miles away. I am also CHOICE. The biggest problem here now is that the non-va heathcare systems won't train properly. I had one gal at the business office that told me the ambulance wouldn't be paid for. Wrong answer she soon found out. With CHOICE the Doctor needs to do a request for services and that authorization takes a week and it only good for 3 visits for certain period of time. Then the ER visits become a bag of worms. I don't have the answers however it's wrong. County money is all property,sales tax. I pay reduced property taxes but I don't think county money should go to pay the VA's bils.

Just trying to help as I come on here to get help as well. My VA PCP nurse has helped me with the ER visits. As long as somone puts a note in your record why you went the bill will get paid. i don't think I would worry about it much. The hospitals know they have to go to the VA to get paid. If they call me I kindly remind them that they need to go to the va. They know the deal. They can't hit your credit because you are not the resonsible party and they know that.

I have had that problem. Some times the Hospitals don't want to wait for payment from the VA so they try and gaff you. Other times the non-va fee coordinaor is a no show. I kept leaving voice mail to the fee coordinator and then she completely shut down her mail box. I sent Bob (VA Sec.) the hospital bill and told him to try and call his fee coordinator. Three days later I got a call from the fee coordinator and the hospital telling me the bill was paid. Another ER visit to the same hospital and they sent me a 10,000 dollar bill (not evveryone gets the word). I just ignored it till a collection company called me. I told her unless she wanted to be a party to fraud and testify in Federal Court that she contact the hospital and tell them to contact the non-va fee coordinator. Again the bill was paid. We shouldn't have to go through this. Sorry it happened to you. Thank you for your service!

This varo likes to handout c&p exams until they can find a way to trump positive evidence. They gave me two exams in April of 2015 which warranted higher ratings on several conditions but totally ignored them. I QUOTED THE DOCTORS IN THOSE EXAMS LAST WEEK When going for the smc-s. Now they scheduled for all new exams. I fired off a letter stating that they should already have enough evidence to decide the claim. I have a BVA hearing certified for another contention. Might as well let the BVA deal with this crap too.

filed for statutory housebound back to effective date of IU which is Oct 2011. I have the total one disability of 60% and additional disabilities at 60%. I am scheduled for a C&P exam and was given the infamous housebound//AA form to fill out. I am P&T and don't really care to attend any more of their dog and pony shows. Not sure what i should do at this point.

No one here has confused me. Rather, you all have been a wealth of information. What confuses me are the existing regulations. After reading the VAOIG report that came out (attached), it is apparent that the ROs missed the boat with how they have been deciding housebound claims. IU was granted sometime ago with an effective date back to 2010. I am in the process of constructing a claim argument that will ask for housebound to be effective back to 2010, when IU actually started. Of course there are rating increases on appeal now that may have effective dates that could impact the housebound claim. VAOIG-15-02707-277.pdf

I see a wide disparity of information here. Housebound seems simple to comprehend however the arguments and ways that it is adjudicated seems to be quite complex. There seems to be three avenues a Vet could take to argue the benefit before the ROJ. TDIU 100% schedular Medical state indicating housebound The first two are classified in the adjudication manual as "Statutory" whilst the 3rd is deemed Housebound in Fact (fill out the form loleeedah). Some of us can't work at some point after service because of our SC disabilities. We aren't at 100% so we ride the IU pony and draw SSDI for a number of years until the VA gets around to rating us at 100% schedular. IU P&T translates into 100% schedular P&T. We still can't work and are considered "Total". So then the entire thrust of the argument is that we cannot leave home to go to work. All of this high order rating math that Congress tried to do for Housebound is just a canary in the cage (to me anyway). Filling out the form and then having a C&P examiner proceed to report to a rater that I can do cartwheels along and out of my driveway doesn't seem like a very good way to get the claim approved. And what about 5 years ago when that one disability just kicked my buttocks and caused me not to be able to work when I went on IU? The adjudication manual tells the story of how not to tally up the disabilities for housebound that make up the TOTAL single disability for IU: §4.16 Total disability ratings for compensation based on unemployability of the individual. (1) Disabilities of one or both upper extremities, or of one or both lower extremities, including the bilateral factor, if applicable, (2) disabilities resulting from common etiology or a single accident, (3) disabilities affecting a single body system, e.g. orthopedic, digestive, respiratory, cardiovascular-renal, neuropsychiatric, (4) multiple injuries incurred in action, or (5) multiple disabilities incurred as a prisoner of war. However a primary and a secondary disability are not listed above. 38 CFR considers a primary and it's secondaries as one or (still holding up one finger) a single disability in order to avoid pyramiding. I'm still confused..... .

Trying to figure out if this is a valid claim for TDIU housebound: Nerve impingement cervical 20% (Primary) mood disorder 50% (secondary) THE ABOVE DESCRIBED IN THE DECISION AS TOTAL RA 40% DDD 20% HCV 20% Thanks in Advance!

After a long battle of 5 years and 3 months my appeal was finally granted in full. I am now 100% P&T! The BVA hearing was in April 2014. The decision from that hearing was a complex remand which was handed down to the AOJ in Oct 2014. The VARO finally granted the appeal today, one year and a month later. I would like to thank everyone here, most notably asknod who got me started and pointed me down the right path. He stayed with me every step of the way. A big thank you goes out to my attorney. It was her tireless pursuit and tenacity that brought about this favorable outcome.

You are nearing the end of the beginning. Compensation claims are a lifetime ordeal. I filed my first claim in 1986 and will probably die before all is said and done. A few Vets get under the wire just to show the public that the VA claims process is viable when in fact it's a broken arrow. It's like a marathon race. The VA c&p exam process is a farce. Most Vets who have filed a claim understand it and how, why it happens that way. Frustrated and angry Vets tend not to prevail in the long run which is why the VAROs throw out so many errors. The system is designed this way with the approval from Congress who would just as soon sequester compensation. They want to reduce Vet benefits to zero so that their buddies can get earmarks. The best way to handle it (as you will soon find out) is to just shovel out the required paperwork and then walk away and let it take it's course. Easier said then done...I've been there

25. Docketing Substantive Appeals Introduction This topic contains information on docketing substantive appeals, including adding appeals to BVA’s docket, and notification by BVA. Change Date August 4, 2009 a. Adding Appeals to BVA’s Docket Add appeals to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (BVA) docket by updating the Veterans Appeal Control and Locator System (VACOLS) immediately following the receipt of VA Form 9, Substantive Appeal, at the regional office (RO), and without requiring BVA to physically take possession of the related claims folder. Notes: When the RO enters the date of receipt of the VA Form 9 into VACOLS, VACOLS will reserve a slot on the docket based on the date entered, and assign the Docket Number when BVA receives the appeal. The related claims folder will remain at the RO until it is certified as ready for BVA review. Once the claims folder is certified, it will be transferred to BVA immediately, unless the folder must remain at the RO because a BVA Travel Board or videoconference hearing has been scheduled. Reference: For more information on tracking appeals in VACOLS, see the VACOLS User Guide.

Once you file a form 9 the RO is supposed to enter the appeal into VACOLS and that system will spit out a docket number. Within the docket number is your date of appeal to the BVA. Get that docket number and hold their feet to the fire.

I wouldn't recommend having a tele-video conference for a BVA hearing. Mine was a disaster. I faxed in highly probative evidence to the point of being prima facie, four days before the hearing. The AVLJ said he didn't get it and the evidence was not weighed or even mentioned in the decision. I did discuss the evidence at the hearing so it was mentioned in the transcript. With a face to face BVA hearing you can pass the evidence to the judge at the hearing and discuss it. My BVA decision was entirely remands with a do over at the RO. Make no mistake about it. The BVA will tie 13 knots in a rope and show you the thirteen steps!

I don't see where the appeals process is streamlined to be any faster with an FDC. Also, what is the lowball or denial rate as compared to the standard claim?

Douglas William Elmendorf is the Director of the CBO under John Boehner. He was a Brookings Institute (Think tank) senior fellow and the author of all of this Horse$hit against Veterans. http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/va-dodges-budget-cuts-but-veterans-will-still-feel-effects-of-the-sequester/2013/03/08/f5266034-8527-11e2-98a3-b3db6b9ac586_story.html

What does an FDC do?

This has been dropped like a bad habit. It will probably come up again. Usually does. Congress would rather have ear marks for the military bases in their own states. However Congress knows that if you screw the Veterans too much then the young ones won't be so quick to volunteer to put on the uniform. Some of us were drafted or volunteered to avoid the draft.

"these folks are trying to do a tough job and are usually short of resources" Mr Rootbeer, after being close to the RO and having been there many times I think that resources are not the problem. It seems to be a tough job though and isn't for just anyone I should think. According to the law of the land, the VA is mandated to be non-adversarial. Only at the CAVC level is the VA Secretary and his hundreds of minion OGC attorneys on equal footing. However, that is not what we see. We see legally "flawed" decisions from the BVA. The chicken S__t judges put our remanded claims on a perpetual hamster wheel. We see "missed" C&P exams as negative evidence. We see the ROs going out and getting an IMO to counter a positive opinion. That is a bona-fide no-no for the RO to go out of their way to "manufacture" negative evidence against a claim. We see "Lost" c-files that contain unarchived Service Treatment Records. We see obvious and constant lowballs on the ratings. We see the ROs reducing or taking away ratings without due process or medical evidence. The laundry list is a long one.

I've been known to walk into the RO and begin to "wallpaper" the place until I received duplicates in the mail. Or, mail in so many letters that their desks look like the judge's bench in the movie "Miracle on 34th St". The first one is the green card but after that I 've used up a book of stamps if need be. My congressional rep used to be the chair of the House Vets Affairs Committee until she was voted out of office, and was "palsy walsy" with the director. Which is why my RO is as screwed up as Hogan's goat!

thanks rootbeer. I don't understand why they can get away with the wait. No accountability because there is no one manager that is willing to do anything I suppose.