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Should I file now?

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bbackus0113

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Hello, Army OIF/OEF vet here.

In 10/2015 I initially filed for claims with little/no evidence. Most were of course denied. Through appeals I am now at 40% SC for IBS and tinnitus. I appealed my anxiety denial and was given a C&P exam in 06/2016, fast forward to 01/2017 and the VA sends me an SOC along with the VA form 9. I hired Vet Comp and Pen to help me gather supporting documents. (I think they did an excellent job) and submitted my VA for 9 along with new documents (02/2017) and waived my hearing before the BVA to help expedite things.

 

Much to my surprise I was told I should still expect to wait about a year or so for the BVA's decision. In the meantime I have been developing a FDC for sleep apnea. Should I go ahead and file it even though the BVA currently has my anxiety claim or should I wait until it is decided? Thanks, and hopefully my post wasn't too lengthy.

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  • Content Curator/HadIt.com Elder

The BVA is not known for their speed, so 1+ years sounds typical.

If it was me, I would go ahead and file the FDC for sleep apnea:

1. If you win, it will protect the effective date of the claim.

2. If you use a CPAP machine for SA and win the FDC, that's a single 50% rating.

3. Check the math and the dollars. Assuming you are currently 30% for IBS and 10% for tinnitus, adding a potential 50% SA win would result in your combined rating being 68.5%, which rounds up to 70%. If you are unmarried and have no dependents, your monthly amount goes from $589.12 to $1338.71, which is about $749.59 more each month tax-free. If you waited one year to file, that means you could be losing out on $8995.08.

4. Once you reach 50% combined rating, it means no more VAMC co-pays for non-SC treatment visits or meds.

5. Lets assume you end up winning your BVA appeal, the MH rating % would then be factored into your combined rating. Based on the effective date, it might result in an increased combined rating and possibly more retro dollars. I say "might", because it takes much more to advance to higher combined ratings. If your MH rating comes back with 10%, it would not boost you above 70% (in addition to a winning SA claim), but a MH rating of 30% should be adequate to push you to 80%.

6. Your c-file will be collecting dust somewhere in the meantime, so why not consider filing for the SA. If you have everything which meets the Caluza triangle requirement for the SA claim, you might end up winning the claim before you hear anything from the BVA.

Good luck! I hope you win. Remember, most initial claims are denied but won on appeal. 

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