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Julie1975
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Posts posted by Julie1975
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Thanks everyone for your replies and support. I feel better about it this morning and have checked eBenefits and my bank a million times over the weekend to make sure nothing has changed. :D
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Congratulations! I went through that, too, where you are at first elated when you win 100% but then realize the reality of being disabled.
You should consider carefully whether or not you want to disclose this to others. Sometimes that's good, at other times, people are jealous and can even be vindictive.
Broncovet,
I really don't discuss the VA or my med issues with most of my friends and family. I'll only pass on the news to a select couple of friends and family that have witnessed how I struggle with my health. Thank you for the advice and for replying to my posts over the past couple of years.
-Julie
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Well I don't know where to start except the title says it all. I started my journey six months before my military retirement (June 2013). In Oct 2014 I received my initial rating of 90% and in Dec 2014 I filed my NOD to the Houston RO. Last week I received a phone call from the rater who went over a few of my items and told me he was approving one item (out of 7) and granting IU. He said he still needed to look over my other new C&P exam and if I received 100% scheduler, the IU would be a moot point. The very next morning, I received another phone call from a different individual stating that I would be very happy with my decision but he couldn't discuss it with me. I told him about my phone call with the rater and then he said that IU was moot and I was 100%.
I received my statement of case two days later and read through the six denials (the same exact reason they initially denied was again listed almost verbatim); the SOC stated that my migraines were increased and IU was moot. The next day, after checking eBenefits a million times, I noticed that it was updated to 100%. I went to my letters and noticed that the commissary letter was suddenly listed. I opened it up and sure enough it said I was P&T with no future exams. I still haven't received my BBE but I did notice yesterday evening that a large sum of money is projected for deposit into my account on Tuesday. I'll wait for the BBE but am feeling pretty confident that this is real.
So....why am I not happy and jumping off the walls?? I woke up this morning feeling extremely cranky and have been short with my husband all day. Maybe it's the reality of it all and the fact I would rather be able to work full-time to help support my family but can't due to my medical issues. My husband has a great job and supports us comfortably but I have always made just as much or more than him and always enjoyed working, even on the crappy days. I feel really guilty about being P&T when so many others, who did so much more than me and need it more than me, may never reach P&T. I don't know why but I'm having mixed emotions about it all but am extremely grateful at the same time (if that makes sense). I'll post up when I receive my BBE. Who knows, I could be jumping the gun here relying on eBenefits and the projected deposit.
Although I don't post much I've learned tons from this site. Thank you to everyone who contributed...I'll be making another donation to this site. Those random, odd posts (Is eBenefits working, etc.) are the ones I gravitated to and helped calm me when I was anxious. I received my NOD format and solid advice from this site and appreciate all the knowledge and personal experiences people shared. Enjoy the rest of your weekend...we are trying to stay dry here in Texas today. :)
- Pete53, #1Cavtrooper, flores97 and 1 other
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Wow Mark, you couldn't make this stuff up if you tried. What a disaster! I've often thought about driving the 3-hours to Houston but would be afraid they would waste my time. I'm not sure if you've heard but Allison Hickey no longer works for the VA...I believe she resigned Friday.
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Good morning, Mark!
Absolutely nothing new on my NOD. It's still showing an estimated completion date of Oct 15 - Jan 16 which is around the one-year mark. Sigh...
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It's always good to see movement and partial wins but that is strange your appeal items disappeared. I've been watching your NOD since we had our C&Ps around the same time and are both out of Houston. I heard a rumor that the appeals portion on eBenefits will be live on 20 September. Seems strange how they are working yours. This entire process is definitely a marathon and just as tiring. Hope to see you post a big success story soon. :D
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When I received my initial rating I also had to initiate a phone call to DFAS and fax over my award letter. Somehow the VA dropped the ball (my initial was out of St. Louis for BDD program). I live in Texas and Houston is now my RO and so far they have been very good to me. Good to hear that retro hit your account. :D
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Thanks everyone! I just received a projected deposit for exactly $2300 retro pay. Funny thing is after I received my initial rating last year, I felt my retro pay was short. The math just didn't add up in my simple mind. I even asked them twice to perform another audit but just gave up on it. By my math, I still feel like I'm still missing some backpay...maybe they are auditing the rest or maybe I shouldn't do math in public :) I'll wait for the BBE to explain it all.
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I had two successes today and just wanted to share since it seems like the Success forum doesn't get nearly enough action.
1. My son dropped off my award last semester so yesterday I went into eBenefits to add him back on (he's 21 and a full-time student). While adding in eBenefits, I kept receiving an error when adding his previous school. Plus...the application had me input my daughter and husbands information even though they are already on my award. I submitted it after fixing the errors and it generated a new claim with an estimated completion date of Jan 2017. Thinking I would be waiting almost two years I was surprised when the VA called me this morning. They said there was an error in my application and she wanted to fix it. She fixed my son's information and said that it looks like I never got backpay for my daughter when she transitioned from High School into college last year. She said she would send me the form to fix it. Anyway, the nice lady (also an AF Vet) called me back twice and ended up adding my son back and fixing my daughter's information. First class A+ service from the Houston RO.
2. I received another call on Monday from the Houston VA letting me know my existing claim will close soon. After my initial rating from the St. louis RO, they recommended I file for some feet issues based upon the X-Rays they took during my C&P; I filed in November 2014. Well my case just closed today and out of the six items i filed (based on their recommendation) I was denied five and awarded 0% for one. I wasn't expecting anything more than zero but it's so silly to tell me to file then deny it...just a waste of everyone's time.
My NOD is still pending but the gentleman on Monday told me that's going to take a while. That's the claim that makes me anxious.
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Since we're being PC, she technically shouldn't be addressed as General. She retired as a Brig Gen; one star, not four...big difference.
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I am by no means an expert but when I submitted mine, I filled out the form and put *continue on attachment. Within that attachment (a word document), I clearly spelled out the request for De Novo review. I sent in the form and all my evidence at the same time. Good luck!
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Good luck! I'm curious what your outcome will be.
I thought about asking them to CUE themselves but ended up going the NOD route because I wasn't sure if the items I thought were CUE's were just personal interpretation on the raters part. I honestly feel my case was rushed because all the decisions provide very vague and incomplete (or inaccurate) justification. For S&Gs, here are two examples of the wording in my decision letter for IBS and IU.
1. Decision Letter: "Your irritable colone syndrom (spastic colitis, mucous colitis, etc.) warrants a noncompensable evaluation based on: Alternating diarrhea and constipation".
Yep, that's all they put.
2. Decision letter: (For IU) "VA Form 2l-4192, received July 26,2013, notes you were on a profile that limits your physical abilities, wherein you had to stay within your profile limits. You received a rating decision for vocational rehabilitation, dated August 6,2014. The evidence fails to show that you are unemployable due to"….(insert all my SC conditions here)
On this item, my last year in service I missed 81 days of active duty due to my SC conditions and I had very strict profile limits. Also, when I applied for vocational rehab, under the question "what do I want to achieve from this program" I listed that I wanted help getting into a rehab program to help me cope with my medical conditions, etc etc. I wasn't asking for help with work or school. Clearly nobody read the form my employer submitted or my vocational rehab application.
I guess being on a profile, missing work, and applying for vocational rehab automatically disqualifies you from IU.
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Berta,
I would love to see you on FoxNews. They have no problem reporting on VA problems such as yours. I could only imagine how Bill O'Reilly would expose this or how Megyn Kelly would talk about this scandal with that perfect disgusted look and tone of voice only she can give to the audience. You should email them your recent VA shenanigans.
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Also Houston RO w/DRO election. Filed NOD Dec 2014, 8 items, had two C&Ps June 2015 and case is still pending. I'm in the initial stages and was surprised to already have exams.
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Wow, that's just unbelievable! You couldn't make it up if you tried.
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I had the same issue for my retro. I spoke with DFAS who told me to fax my award letter over (which I did promptly). I also made a follow-up call to DFAS to verify they received the fax then called to verify audit completion; also, I sent IRIS a message the day I faxed my documents over. As a 20-year career HR employee, I know that if you don't like the assistance you're receiving, there is always someone higher up. You have to be a bulldog about these things because the squeaky wheel really does get the grease.
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Good luck! Hope it goes quickly. I had two C&Ps (same doc) on 25 June for my NOD and they were received by the Houston RO yesterday. VES said they were a little behind on getting the exams out to the VA.
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Mark,
I'm also with the Houston RO (live in San Antonio). eBenefits states my case has been farmed out to St. Paul though. My NOD was submitted Nov 2014 but eBennies states 26 Jan 2015. To be honest, I was surprised to have my C&P exams so soon.
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Mark,
Mine also says pending decision approval and some of the items aren't accurate (looks like they were sloppily hand-jammed). The estimated completion is 6/13/2015 - 07/22/2015. I'm hoping it sorts itself out. Looks like my appeal is just waiting my C&P from last month.
Are you with the Houston RO?
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I know that the new and improved appeals is supposed to launch in September but I was doing my daily eBenefits check and noticed something odd. On my dashboard, under disabilities, I scrolled to the bottom to see my pending disabilities. I noticed that everything I applied for as an increase was listed twice. For example, I applied for "Individual Unemployability" and it was also listed separately as IU. Some items that were added seemed off, as if there was a rush to put it in-system (total speculation on my part). My CTS major hand is actually my right vs left etc.
Anyway, I clicked on the added items and it pulled up as an appeals status with a completion date and status = preparation for decision. I also noticed as some point my file was moved to a temp RO of St. Paul.
Just wanted to share with y'all. My appeal wasn't listed anywhere else but this specific location.
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Julie,
Its unlikely that congressional testimony will help your claim. Why? Well because we are applying for specific benefits for a specific injury for a specific person.
Congressional testimony is mostly about legislative issues, and problems with VA.
It is possible, tho, if you or your doc testified to congress about YOUR specific issue, you could cite that as evidence.
I see this all the time on hadit. A vet comes on says he's 30 percent for this, 20 percent for that, so the doc said this, but he really was that so is that a CUE?
If you want spefic help on your condition you need to give specific details. "General" details can, at best, yield a "general" response. Berta often asks that you post your decision..and that is a very good idea. Unfortunately my BVA decision was 32 pages long. It was so long VARO never read it and did not comply with half the stuff.
Good morning, Broncovet. I don't think I understand your response or maybe you misunderstood my question. I have a claim pending in eBenefits and under the tab that shows documents that were submitted for my case it has an item named "Congressionals" listed along with birth certificates of kids, marriage certificate, etc. I've never filed a congressional or testified to anyone about my case. There are many issues under this claim so I'm not asking about any specific item, I am simply asking if anyone knows why a document named "Congressionals" would be listed as evidence when I have never ever filed a congressional, testified anywhere, doctors never testified etc, etc, etc. I would post my initial decision but I'm not sure it has anything to do with my question. I'll move along because it's clear I won't know what the document is until I receive a copy of it after my case is resolved.
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Thanks for the reply, Vync! After all is said and done I will ask for a copy of that document. :)
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Has anyone had "Congressionals" added as a document under unsolicited items on their claim? The only thing I can think of is an email I sent to BGen Hickey but my issue was resolved and it wasn't a congressional inquiry. The case is still pending but I already knew it would take some time.
Success! 100% P&T, No Future Exams
in Success Stories
Posted
Just wanted to update you all and let you know I received my BBE two days ago and it was just as eBenefits stated, 100% P&T, no future exams with a list of benefits and an effective date of 1 Dec 2013 for my kids education eligibility. They also CUE'd themselves on one 0% item effective date, which didn't make any difference at all. Yesterday I forced myself to go downtown to the property tax office with my BBE and apply for the 100% property tax exemption they so graciously give us here in Texas. I was pleasantly surprised to see that they backdate it one tax cycle, meaning I'll be receiving all monies I paid into my property taxes back from Jan 2014. Considering we pay around $750 a month in property tax, that equates to a large chunk of change and the savings each month on our mortgage is life-changing. I did splurge and spend $150 on something I wanted but am afraid to spend anything else.
Navy04- Thanks for sharing your story. You hit the nail on the head when you said the balloon is deflated...I definitely need to find a hobby now since checking eBenefits is no longer on the table. :)