FDC Claim & DBQ

[triman8654]

Requesting an increase on e-bennies, near the end it has the add button for a DBQ form. If I don't have a DBQ completed by a physician,  will the claim still be FDC

[triman8654]

Very good info, thank you all..

[Buck52]

Filing a claim for first time or filing for increase...I'd send in the intent to file 21-0966  and then get a 21-526ez Form and add all your evidence and anything favorable to your claim  this can also be done on a form  statement in support of claim 21-4138

 Basicly the intent to file  they will get it and then send you what all you need to send them back what forms to ue and all medical evidence what they require ect,,ect,, the intent to file claim as USMC_VET mention above helps save your EED (earlist effective date)   so if the VA goes and approves your claim and says the EED is when you first filed your claim 21-526 ez  this can be a year later and they try to beat you out of a years worth of retro   so the intent to file would be your EED

correct me if I am wrong?

 

jmo

 

................Buck

[pwrslm]

DBQ's are not required to be submitted in any claim, it is only a way to speed the process up.  The VA has the obligation to provide the DBQ, and if you do not submit it, it does not remove your claim from the FDC status.

 

If you submit a DBQ, they can still request a C&P, however, you may not be needed for that, the C&P can be solely for a medical opinion based on your medical history.

Edited September 29, 2015 by pwrslm

[bluevet]

DBQ's are not required to be submitted in any claim, it is only a way to speed the process up.  The VA has the obligation to provide the DBQ, and if you do not submit it, it does not remove your claim from the FDC status.

 

If you submit a DBQ, they can still request a C&P, however, you may not be needed for that, the C&P can be solely for a medical opinion based on your medical history.

Submitting a DBQ from a private doctor won't really speed up anything. What it will do is increase your odds of getting your claim decided in your favor, by a huge margin. The Va will almost always schedule a C&P ( to include a dbq). As it stands, the odds of a VA contracted C&P examiner providing a favorable exam or medical opinion is not very good. There are a great number of C&P examiners who; have no idea what the Va is even asking of them; do not understand what constitutes service connection; are totally hostile toward veterans; or are just plain incompetent.

If you get a well written IME or IMO (depending on your needs) from a private practitioner, and submit it with your claim, you are very very likely to have your claim decided in your favor on the first round. The reason for this is simple. If the C&P exam fails to support your claim, but the IME/IMO you submitted does, the benefit of the doubt goes to the veteran.

There are many who will tell you that the VA will apply more weight to the C&P examiner. This is simply not true. Unless the VA has a valid reason to question the credentials or opinions of your private doctor, the VA will almost always give your private Doctor's evidence equal weight or better. What really gives one doctor's opinion more weight than another's is how well reasoned and backed up by the records the opinions are. This is why you should seek IMEs/IMOs from doctors who have experience in providing evaluations and opinions for VA disability claims. 

Although you may run into a jackass of a rater who wants to give less weight to a doctor simply because you hired and paid him, this policy is not endorsed by the BVA and claims denied this way will almost always be overturned.

Edited September 30, 2015 by bluevet

[USMC_VET]

Filing a claim for first time or filing for increase...I'd send in the intent to file 21-0966  and then get a 21-526ez Form and add all your evidence and anything favorable to your claim  this can also be done on a form  statement in support of claim 21-4138

 Basicly the intent to file  they will get it and then send you what all you need to send them back what forms to ue and all medical evidence what they require ect,,ect,, the intent to file claim as USMC_VET mention above helps save your EED (earlist effective date)   so if the VA goes and approves your claim and says the EED is when you first filed your claim 21-526 ez  this can be a year later and they try to beat you out of a years worth of retro   so the intent to file would be your EED

correct me if I am wrong?

 

jmo

 

................Buck

Correct, the Intent to File establishes the EED for most claims and is required now since this year to establish it.  If you dont file it your EED will be when you actually submitted your claim which could mean months of lost retro.  Unless you have been pursuing a claim and appealing the intent to file establishes this date.

 

Submitting a DBQ from a private doctor won't really speed up anything. What it will do is increase your odds of getting your claim decided in your favor, by a huge margin. The Va will almost always schedule a C&P ( to include a dbq). As it stands, the odds of a VA contracted C&P examiner providing a favorable exam or medical opinion is not very good. There are a great number of C&P examiners who; have no idea what the Va is even asking of them; do not understand what constitutes service connection; are totally hostile toward veterans; or are just plain incompetent.

If you get a well written IME or IMO (depending on your needs) from a private practitioner, and submit it with your claim, you are very very likely to have your claim decided in your favor on the first round. The reason for this is simple. If the C&P exam fails to support your claim, but the IME/IMO you submitted does, the benefit of the doubt goes to the veteran.

There are many who will tell you that the VA will apply more weight to the C&P examiner. This is simply not true. Unless the VA has a valid reason to question the credentials or opinions of your private doctor, the VA will almost always give your private Doctor's evidence equal weight or better. What really gives one doctor's opinion more weight than another's is how well reasoned and backed up by the records the opinions are. This is why you should seek IMEs/IMOs from doctors who have experience in providing evaluations and opinions for VA disability claims. 

Although you may run into a jackass of a rater who wants to give less weight to a doctor simply because you hired and paid him, this policy is not endorsed by the BVA and claims denied this way will almost always be overturned.

Agreed.  And the plus side of most IMO/IME's is that often if not most of the time a NP or the like does your exam and dbq.  This puts you in an excellent position, becaus eyour guy trumps their guy.  theres no way the VA can go with their guy over a specialist, and if they do they will get egg on their face in appeals.  As blue vet stated this position of IME's are no good is not held up upon appeals.

[pwrslm]

Submitting a competent DBQ can increase the speed of the claim.  If the DBQ is sufficient to show the level of the rating, and the RO does not have to get one, and if there are no questions as to the service connection of the condition (as C&P exam can be requested for medical opinions as well), it can save the entire DBQ timeframe, which can be as much as 30-60 days.

 

The entire premise of the FDC is based on speeding up processing time.  The DBQ's were made available for use to the claimants for this purpose.  If the RO has a DBQ on hand, it really would need to have a cause to request a second one if the first one submitted by the claimant was insufficient (for a reason in other words).  If they just randomly requested a DBQ after they already had one, that could be noted in an appeal as an adversarial act, or developing to deny a claim.  They actually have to have a valid reason to disregard a DBQ submitted by the claimant in light of recent policy letters on the topic coving DBQ's.

 

see VHA DIRECTIVE 2013-002

(2) (b)  ....(3)  Veterans may also have their private physicians complete DBQs.  The forms are designed for easy use and can be completed by physicians who do not have specific experience evaluating patients for disability purposes.  Guidance to providers on the use of DBQs can be found at http://www.benefits.va.gov/TRANSFORMATION/dbqs/providerinstruct.asp.  The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will not reimburse Veterans for costs they may incur when private physicians complete DBQs.

 

Edited September 30, 2015 by pwrslm