donews

First I want to apolagize for dropping off and not keeping in touch. I have been sick for the most part of the past few months. As I type this I am fighting a cold, sometimes thats all it takes to knock me down these days. For those who might not know, I was given a grant of SC as Secondary to my DMII earlier this year with an effective date of 2005 (When I originally filed). But due to the VA listing my Heart Disease as "Aggravated By" instead of "Caused / Secondary" to my DMII I was given a rating of 0%. I received my decision today on the NOD for my Heart Disease Secondary To DMII. I was granted 100% Effective 2005 for my Heart Disease as "Secondary to" my DMII. I also was awarded SMC Housebound from 2007. It has been a long road to get here, and I still have more to fight with the VA, but it feels good to put one in the win column for a change. I absolutely must thank HADIT ( Thank You TBird) and all the caring members for this win. Without Hadit I seriously doubt I would be typing this post. Thank you to all those that read, posted, and replied to my posts. To go beyound that, I feel that I must mention a few people that I feel I can never thank enough for all their assitance and support. Carlie, CowGirl, Josephine, and Berta for all your support and thoughts. Morgan and Dr. Bash for all the time spent assisting me in putting everything together. Morgan spend endless hours assiting me for quite some time, she took time from her life to make sure I had everything I needed to fight and do well at my hearing. Dr. Bash took the time and effort to put together an opinion that I would say is a piece of art. I will do my best to check in until I get better, then I hope to spend more time contributing again. Donews

You are correct it is Two Years from a new connection not just an increase. As for the waiver, you DO NOT have to be 100% Service Connected, but you must be considered unemployable.

Very interesting to see that this is an offical form. That one particular time is the only time I have seen that form. I will let you know if I get another during any of my current claims.

Very good work. Good luck!

You can apply for the $10,000.00 Service Disabled Veterans Life Insurance within TWO years of any rating decision, even a 0% rating. You can either fill out VA FORM 29-4364 or fill out the online form. Here is a link to the SDVI page: VA Service Disabled VEterans Life Insurance Once you get approved for the Life Insurance, if they do not already see an infered claim for a Waiver of Premiums, then you just request that they give you a Waiver of Premiums. If that is approved, then the $10,000.00 in life insurance is premium free for you. If you do get approved for the "Waiver of Premiums", then you automatically become available to purchase an additional $20,000.00 of Life Insurance, but you must pay for the additional insurance, you can not get a waiver on the additional $20,000.00 of insurance. So you end up with a total of $30,000.00 in insurance but you only pay for $20,000.00. Hope this helps!

The system has a way of doing that to a person.

I never knew the clinics were open on Saturday, good to hear. I can certainly see how it is a benefit to run them on weekends, even more so if your a working vet.

A C&P on a Saturday?

It sounds like you got yerself an explorer hyjack causing you trouble.

I have been noted to have memory issues for a long time, at least I think I do / did. If they ever gave me any toys / devices, I must have forgot about them.

Goto the SSA website and locate your local SSA office. Call the local number for your office. Request a copy of your SSDI file. If it is located locally they will be able to get it done in little time. If it is in the repository, it may take a few weeks. They may or may not charge you for the file, I had to pay around 100 bucks for mine. Some people have managed to get them free, so its a hit or miss type thing. Should be pretty straight forward.

It is great news that you got awarded your pension. So I take it from your post, that a VSO filed for any benefits that may be due and asked that they adjudicate your husbands unfinished claims on your behalf?

Are you asking him to let you review the C&P exam records from the exam? Or are you asking about other records? If you are asking about the C&P records, sometimes they are not available immediatly, you can request them from the VAMC that in incharge of the C&P clinic. Sometimes the examiner needs a supervisor to sign of on the exams before they are considered final, and that may be why they are not avaialable immediatly. No, it is not against if they do not make them available to you right there. They can require you to fill out a release form and they can even require that your records be mailed to you as sometimes the records have such types of information that a supervisor must sign off on the release. If you are asking about seeing your VAMC Recs or C-File, not they are not required to have access to them to complete a C&P exam. There are many times when a C-File or SMR's are not available to the examiner. It is not against the law. It might have been a misunderstanding on the examiners part as to what you were requesting or he could be a "ride the short bus to school" type of doctor or he might just be a butthead. Do not be discouraged.

The above quote says they have not made an actual decision yet. It is good news tho that it is moving along the cahin and not sitting in a dust pile for years. I would rather get a denial and SOC in less than six months or even a year, than to wait for years while my file sits around, because at least then I can be developing my strategy and files for a appeal. Just my thoughts, for whatever they are worth.

Excellent news. Now sit back, relax and wait a few years or ten and you might get something from the va also.