CaptainJack

Once I was rated at 50% a few years back, I got all those things from the state of Oregon, nice. One of the surprise benefits was when I was taking some out of town guests to Crater Lake, Oregon's only national park, and the toll gate guy noticed my permanent veteran plates and issued me a National Park Pass Card(no experation), no gate fees for any park! Pretty cool.

Yes, in the "Reasons for Decision" section of the award letter, "2. Eligibility to Dependents .....Chapter 35" the last line reads: "...evidence shows the veteran currently has a total service-connected disability, permanent in nature" They couldn't just say that I was P&T on the front page, it has to be buried in a paragraph about dependents educational assistance, which is why I missed it the first time because that benefit is not applicable to us. I will call Tuesday and double check. I also want to find out about ID cards for military commissary access. Thanks for the heads up about "Chapter 35"

Hello everyone, Found out Thursday, thru a large deposit in my checking account, that my application for IU had been granted. Information on health benefits for my wife seem to be all over the place on the web, so I thought I'd ask here. If I have gone from 80% permanent rating to IU 100%, does my wife now qualify for health care under Champva(or Tricare)? Any input appreciated.

Went to the exam last Tue, and all went well. Two hour exam which included five pages of "circle the number which best describes..." forms. He told me he didn't have the latest findings from April(where I was rated 70% for PTSD), but made a note to himself to find and review. He told me he is going to recommend an increase to the IU board, so, time will tell. Thanks everyone for your thoughts and comments. Jack

I don't have a treating psychiatrist. At our local VA hospital, I only ever had appointments with an PA. Not sure they even have one on staff at our hospital. She always thought drugs were the answer. I'll look into it.

Yeah, I'm planning on a denial the first time around. I just turned 65 last March, so I'm sure that will come into consideration at some point. I resigned from my part time job back at the end of February after finishing the tear down of an annual Christmas drive through display. I've been the supervisor for twenty years and if I hadn't had a second in command for the last several years, I doubt the festival would have been up and running on time these last several years. As much as my physical problems have increased(because of SC injuries)over the last five plus years, the mental issue has become too much.

Hello everyone, Back in March I went through two C&P exams for my requested increase in ratings. The PTSD exam came back with a 70% rating(up from 30%), neck 20% and back 10% for an overall of 80%. Because I had to quit my job at the end of February due to mental health issues, I filed for TDIU. Tomorrow I have another psy exam to attend in reference to the IU claim and I was curious if this is normal? And how worried should I be about not only a denial of IU but a new psy doctor reducing my 70% ptsd rating? Thanks for any thoughts or insights, Jack

Only awarded 80% at this time, but once I receive the official paperwork, I will be appealing a back rating and adding a Secondary Service Condition request for rating. And I agree with you about the income levels even on 100%. Back in the mid ninety's, I was making almost 6k a month, hell of a hit in pay over the last 20 plus years.

Hello everyone, Just found out yesterday that my application for increased disability rating from the VA was approved(dated 3/6/18)taking me from 50% to 80% with PTSD at 70%. I will be appealing for secondary conditions to the spine, but the most I can hope for when everything is said and done is 90% rating. Which brings up TDIU. I have been on SSDI for 23yrs and when I turned 65 on 3/7/18, it rolled over to SS. The only "work" I've done is for a non-profit(for 20yrs)here locally and that work is six months out of the year. I receive a stipend of $1000. a month for the six months out of the year. In February of this year, I had to tender my resignation to the group because my disabilities have caught up with me and I can't do the work anymore. My question for anyone who might have delt with the TDIU process is will they even consider granting me the IU rating given my "work" history and the SSDI? I've got the 21-8940 sitting in front of me and the work history section is the concern. Thanks for any input, Jack

You're right Long Tooth, you're either 100% with SSDI or nothing. Took seven years of appeals to win that case. And if anyone thinks the VA is slow, try working with the Social Security Administration some day. You don't even start that process without getting a lawyer.

Interesting Berta. My SSDI is from a SC disability and a civilian injury(thor back was SC and total R knee civilian). The SC was what put my case over the top at the SSDI hearing, but that will probably do nothing for my PTSD claim and my request for increase(from 10%)on the SC.

Actually Basser, she did know about the SS Disability and mentioned it in the DBQ. I walked in the door with two mental health reports from my local VA and copies of the determination by SS just to make sure there wasn't any "waiting for files" BS in this case. I know some guys have waited longer, but it's been a year and a half waiting for the inital C&P exam. Jack

Hello All, Just got a copy of my C&P exam for PTSD done by QTC in August. Two things popped up while reading it, a GAF of 60 and under the heading of "Occupational and social impairment", she checked the box that corresponnds to 30%(..with occasional decrease in work efficiency and intermittent periods of inability....). The claim is service related(actually provided a newspaper article with my name and picture in it), but one of the not sure factors is the fact I'm 100% disabiled by Social Security. Does anyone have any experience with how well the QTC exam findings correlate to VA ratings? Does the VA look at the SS rating as a factor? Thanks for any input, Jack