wallyg

Hi PAT, Give me a call, I've still got the same cell phone number. Wasn't sure you were still alive and kicking. Too busy to keep track, now that MAC is gone.

Meanwhile, you should at least make sure that you NOW receive your 10%, and that VARO has your correct address.

That is what I have too, but although VA diagnosed it, they can't agree on whether it is a heart problem, which is NOT SC, or a Neurological problem, which might be SC. So the local VA regrads mine as a heart problem, not SC. Don't be surprised if your VARO decides it is neurological, if you are claiming for a heart attack. See the following extract from The Medical Dictionary. Tachycardia, paroxysmal atrial (PAT) Tachycardia, paroxysmal atrial (PAT): Bouts of rapid, regular heart beating originating in the atrium (upper chamber of the heart). Often due to abnormalities in the AV node "relay station" that lead to rapid firing of electrical impulses from the atrium which bypass the AV node under certain conditions. These conditions include alcohol excess, stress, caffeine, overactive thyroid or excessive thyroid hormone intake, and certain drugs. PAT is an example of an arrhythmia where the abnormality is in the electrical system of the heart, while the heart muscle and valves may be normal.

JohnM was right as far as he went, but he did not finish the calculations. Jangrin, 38 CFR does NOT say "add them all together" it says "combine them', (which is VA math). Take up where JohnM left off, then add 10% of that amount, and you get 56 + 5.6 = 61.6%, which rounds to 60%, if there are no other ratings. If there are other ratings (non bilateral and less than the 61.6%) then they get combined with the 61.6%, since bilateral ratings are ALWAYS computed first; BUT ratings are combined with the largest first, in descending order. If there was a non-bilateral rating that was bigger than the bilateral rating calculated under the above rules, then that would be used first. In that case, the bilateral aspect is less helpful, since it is affecting a smaller base amount.

Congratulations John, I'm happy for you. Glad to see that you are still on the VA's butt!

It is foolish in the extreme not only to resort to force before necessity compels, but especially to madly create the conditions that will lead to this necessity." : Benjamin Tucker, Liberty, May 22, 1886 = "The industrial way of life leads to the industrial way of death. From Shiloh to Dachau, from Antietam to Stalingrad, from Hiroshima to Vietnam and Afghanistan, the great specialty of industry and technology has been the mass production of human corpses." -Edward Abbey "It is part of the general pattern of misguided policy that our country is now geared to an arms economy which was bred in an artificually induced psychosis of war hysteria and nurtured upon an incessant propaganda of fear." —General Douglas MacArthur, Speech, May 15, 1951 = "The shepherd always tries to persuade the sheep that their interests and his own are the same.": -- Stendhal [Marie-Henri Beyle] (1783-1842)French writer = Political language. . . is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind: George Orwell

"In the end more than they wanted freedom, they wanted security. When the Athenians finally wanted not to give to society but for society to give to them, when the freedom they wished for was freedom from responsibility, then Athens ceased to be free."- Edward Gibbon (1737-1794)Source: Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 1909 "If men use their liberty in such a way as to surrender their liberty, are they thereafter any the less slaves? If people by a plebiscite elect a man despot over them, do they remain free because the despotism was of their own making?": -- Herbert Spencer - (1820-1903) British author, economist, philosopher 1884 "Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is that numbers of people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of the leaders of their government and have gone to war, and millions have been killed because of this obedience. . . Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty" : Howard Zinn = The feeling of patriotism - It is an immoral feeling because, instead of confessing himself a son of God . . . or even a free man guided by his own reason, each man under the influence of patriotism confesses himself the son of his fatherland and the slave of his government, and commits actions contrary to his reason and conscience." : Leo Tolstoy, Patriotism and Government

"The trade of governing has always been monopolized by the most ignorant and the most rascally individuals of mankind." -- Thomas Paine (1737-1809) = "Those in power need checks and restraints lest they come to identify the common good for their own tastes and desires, and their continuation in office as essential to the preservation of the nation." -- Justice William O. Douglas (1898-1980), U. S. Supreme Court Justice Source: We, The Judges, 1956 = "Men in authority will always think that criticism of their policies is dangerous. They will always equate their policies with patriotism, and find criticism subversive." -- Henry Steele Commager (1902-1998) Historian and author Source: Freedom and Order, 1966

Do not fear the enemy, for your enemy can only take your life. It is far better that you fear the media, for they will steal your Honor. That awful power, the public opinion of a nation, is created in America by a horde of ignorant, self-complacent simpletons who failed at ditching and shoemaking and fetched up in journalism on their way to the poorhouse: Mark Twain. = "In the First Amendment, the Founding Fathers gave the free press the protection it must have to fulfill its essential role in our democracy. The press was to serve the governed, not the governors. The Government's power to censor the press was abolished so that the press would remain forever free to censure the Government. The press was protected so that it could bare the secrets of government and inform the people. Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government. And paramount among the responsibilities of a free press is the duty to prevent any part of the government from deceiving the people and sending them off to distant lands to die of foreign fevers and foreign shot and shell." Justice Black. NYT v. US. 403 US 713

"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is that numbers of people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of the leaders of their government and have gone to war, and millions have been killed because of this obedience. . . Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty" : Howard Zinn = The feeling of patriotism - It is an immoral feeling because, instead of confessing himself a son of God . . . or even a free man guided by his own reason, each man under the influence of patriotism confesses himself the son of his fatherland and the slave of his government, and commits actions contrary to his reason and conscience." : Leo Tolstoy, Patriotism and Government

"It is part of the general pattern of misguided policy that our country is now geared to an arms economy which was bred in an artificially induced psychosis of war hysteria and nurtured upon an incessant propaganda of fear." —General Douglas MacArthur, Speech, May 15, 1951 = "The shepherd always tries to persuade the sheep that their interests and his own are the same.": -- Stendhal [Marie-Henri Beyle] (1783-1842)French writer = Political language. . . is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind: George Orwell

Thanks Carlie, I'm glad there is somebody around who still understands English. B) B) :P

"Perhaps the fact that we have seen millions voting themselves into complete dependence on a tyrant has made our generation understand that to choose one's government is not necessarily to secure freedom." -- Fredrich August von Hayek (1899-1992), Nobel Laureate of Economic Sciences 1974 = "We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.": Aesop - (c. 550 B.C.) legendary Greek fabulist

Jim, If you receive 100% from the VA, it will not affect your retired pay at all, as you will get 100% of that too. Under the present CRDP prgram. If you get a lesser percentage, then things can get a little complicated. Below 50% from the VA, and you are paying yourself. Since you will give up a corresponding amount from your Retired Pay. Just save a little on taxes, since VA awards are tax free. Between 50% and 90%, you would need to check out the CRDP tables to see how much you would get, over and above the amount of the VA award. For example, I retired in 1980, and until I reached the 80% disability mark, I was paying myself. Then CRDP was introduced eff. 1 Jan 2004, and the USAF finally started paying me some. Another thing about the 100%, if you are 100% Schedular (means you have disabilities that actually total 100% under VA math) you will get full retired pay now. If, on the other hand, you are 100% TDIU (that is granted Total Disability on the basis of Individual Unemployability; on the basis of Service Connected disabilities), then you will have to wait until 2009 to get 100% of your Retired Pay, until then it is phased in each year, for this category alone. Everybody else, below 100%, their CRDP, if it survives the Republican's attempts to do away with it altogether, will have to wait until 2014, until they recover their full Retirement Pay.

I live in the Philippines. There is no such thing as a Svc Officer here, at least any that know what they are doing, and aren't just kissing the VAs nether portions. CONUS SOs can't get copies of our files from Manila VARO, so you have to do it by yourself, if you are going to succeed

Thanks to all for your good wishes, and Carlie, we'll probably go to Australia for a couple of weeks, and visit my wife's sister on the Gold Coast, next year during school vacation. I have a 14 year old in High School and a 5 year old in Preparatory. Both winning medals and doing well. Assuming of course that I can stand the travel that far. Since a two hour trip to Manila OPC wears me out.

I guess the 'Luck of the Irish' finally came through. This AM received a letter awarding "Entitlement to individual unemployability effective November 6, 2003". With "Basic eligibility for Dependents Educational Assistance" and also "No examination will be scheduled in the future." It was a long haul, but by rebutting every denial with specific citations from their own regulations. and stubborn persistence, my goal was achieved. The lump sum back payment from VA and CRDP make a useful sum too, now we can have a proper vacation. Hadit.com helped to inspire me to persist, and I'll be sending along a check to TBird very soon. Wish you all luck with your claims, and I'll probably spend more time on the board, once I get my backlogged Tricare claims done.

Here, in the Philippines, everybody at Manila VA, (except Director and Dep.Dir) are 'firstname.lastname@vba.va.gov'. Maybe because Manila VA is small, but that goes for both VARO and the OPC, including the doctors.

I will agree with those who said the overall rating is 80%, IF THERE ARE NO BILATERAL ratings. However, none of the individual calculations are correct, after the first two values. I guess everybody must have gone to school after New Math was introduced.

Renee It really doesn't matter what his award was, for DIC purposes, as Berta said. However, with the information you provided, there is no ACCURATE way of computing his rating. He obviously is bilateral for upper extremities, but how about the lower extremities? Are they bilateral too? To simplify, is the peroneal nerve damage affecting BOTH lower extremities??? If so that would add all the leg awards into the bilateral pot, which would make for a significant increase. W/O the LEs being bilateral, it would be 92% rounded to 90. If the LEs are bilateral, it would be 96% rounded to 100%

John, It is nice to have the book, as a reference, but the CD is much easier to search, and has links to all the reference material as well. I like to get the CD as often as I can afford it, and the manual occasionally as a reference to carry with me.

Dorothy I don't know whether it would more effective stateside, but the last C&P that I had, I filed an immediate protest with Patient Affairs at the Manila OPC, and when that met the usual potted rejection, I then raised the level, and went to the Clinic Manager. When I still met BS there, I wrote to the SM at VARO, stipulating that since he was the coordinating officer with OPC for the quality and effectiveness of C&Ps, then maybe he should look into a totally ineffective internist, who didn't even know how to use a goniometer, or possess a percussion hammer, or any of the basic tools for doing an IVDS C&P. I also pointed out that since I was already SC for both cervical and lumbar radiculopathy, bilaterally, that a lumbar MRI, and a lumbar EMG/NCV, was NOT going to satisfy the requirements of a competent examination. I got a cervical MRI and a cervical EMG/NCV. Don't accept incompetence. Fight it all the way up the Chain of Responsibility.

http://www.triggerpoints.net/_sgt/m1m1_1.htm

It means that Federal Judges knows which side their bread is buttered, as long as we have anti-veteran crooks in the White House, and on Capitol Hill. NOBODY will get more than 10% for tinnitus!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BIG SURPRISE.

IF you really have an award for BILATERAL tinnitus, then your old award should have been 30%. Bilateral factors are ALWAYS considered first, and bilateral 10s evaluate as 20.9%. 10 COMBINED with 10 = 19 + 10% of that = 20.9% COMBINED with 20 = 20.9 + 15.8 = 36.7 COMBINED with 20 = 36.7 + 13.5 = 50.2 COMBINED with 10 = 50.2 + 5.0 = 55.2 which would round to 60% However, using the table at 38 CFR 4.26, it would equate to 55.0, so you should still get 60%. If, however the tinnitus is NOT a bilateral award, despite what the award letter says, then it would be calculated as: 20 COM 20 = 36 COM 10 = 42 COM 10 = 48 which will round to 50%; either way, you need to fight it. Good Luck