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Ricky

Master Chief Petty Officer
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Everything posted by Ricky

  1. Glad to see you are planning ahead. However, as you already know you must wait to see the outcome of this current claim. From your wording in your post I take it that no stressors were verified. As such one would have to ask were you asked for evidence that would provide verification of a stressor?
  2. Even dracula could not speed up your claim. They are an organization entrenched in a govt bureaucracy laced with enough redtape that would scare China. Hang tight. It is a very, very slow process, but it is the best disability system in the world - once on the inside it will take very good care of you.
  3. Bronco - the VA, right or wrong, considers the maximum benefit to be the maximum benefit for the disability the veteran is claiming. Once awarded at the 30 percent level they specifically tell you that our records indicated that you are being paid at the single rate AND that you may be eligible for additional benefits for dependents. My award package contained a blank 686c and they told me that if it was completed and filed within one year of the award any benefits my dependents may be eligible for could be awarded back to the date of the award. You gotta keep in mind the wording of these things as they play straight from the black and white in these areas. The vets original claim does provide info on the dependents, HOWEVER it is a claim for disability benefits for the veteran. Dependent benefits are for the dependents and not the veteran, therefore, a seperate application for them is required. the online system, if used, generates such an application when you put your claim together. If you are doing it by hard copy and you suspect that you will be awarded 30 percent or higher then you can also fill out and provide the 686c with your claim. THEN if they fail to pay and you take no action you could possibly have a CUE claim for the effective date of dependent payment.
  4. It appears from the date of the letter that they time period for you to request a hearing to stop the reduction has passed. You still need to file a NOD if you have not do so at this time. I am sorry that if you missed the date for requesting a hearing. If is much harder to get something reestablished than it is to have it continued. Your nod will have to focus/argue against the reasons they gave for the reduction and you will have to have medical evidence to back your arguments.
  5. If a VSO has the power of attorney for your claim then yes they would attend the meeting alone if you for some reason could not make it. HOWEVER, remember, it is your claim and no one is going to care about it like you would. So I would request the meeting and make sure that I was there (if you have a vso they will be with you).
  6. Cherie - a permenate and total status is not something that is simply added. It must be presented in the same manner as any claim. By this I mean medical documentation. One of your posts indicate that your VA doc say you will "probably" never work again. The "probably" really needs to go away and they need to say that you are unable to seek and hold gainful employment. I understand what you are saying about the SSDI letter but as has already been posted the VA is not bound by the SSA's decisions. However, I can almost assure you that in your case they will use it because it contains disabilities that you are not service connected for. So the bottom line is that you ask your docs if they think you are unemployable and if so will the put it in writing along with their rationale as to why they think you are unemployable. Ricky
  7. You will have to have a current diagnosis of depression - along with an opinion from the doc that your service connected disabilities aggravate the depression. As Larry said "you answered your own question".
  8. With the issues mentioned this appears to be a complicated claim. One that will be hard to wade through via the internet. The OP really needs someone in their local area who can sit down and wade through the VA replies and the veterans SMR's. If they do not know anyone personally then they are going to have to depend on a SO from DAV, VFW etc....... The most important thing at this point is to APPEAL THE ATTEMPT TO REDUCE immediately. This will hold off the VA for a bit until the vet can find someone to assist with the issue. Once this is done then maybe Hadit can assist.
  9. The shortest and sweetest way to handle this is to file a simple NOD and request a hearing with the local DRO. That way you can present your evidence and arguments in person.
  10. Shark - I am just a tad confused on this. You say it was in an effort to justify TDIU which was recently denied. However, the letter centers around an extra schedular rating. Now without having the luxury of being able to review your file let me make a couple of comments: 1+1 is not adding up to 2 in this case. You clearly meet the requirements for TDIU (PERCENTAGE WISE) which are: if there is only one such disability, this disability shall be ratable at 60 percent or more, and that, if there are two or more disabilities, there shall be at least one disability ratable at 40 percent or more,which when combined with the additional disabilities the overall rating equals 70 percent Now as we all know the second part of the formula for a TDIU rating is: when the disabled person is, in the judgment of the rating agency, unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation as a result of service-connected disability Now you posted that you have 50 percent for PTSD and others giving you a total of 80 percent schedular so you meet the precentage requirements so why this focus on an extraschedular rating action? At this point your focus should be on obtaining medical evidence which opines and medically rationalizes the fact that you can not secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation as a result of your service-connected disabilities. The doc should be commended for his eagerness to assist you as that is uncommon in today's VA. However the letter as written centers on an action that is not needed (an extraschedular rating) and does little to center on the fact that you cannot work. I am afraid that along with his previous letter supporting your efforts to obtain a Phd, which I assume was a VocRehab issue along with this current letter which at no point provides that "in my opinion Mr. Shark is unemployable due to his service connected disabilities of PTSD, xxxxx and xxxxxx. My opinion is based on and supported by my treatment of him for his PTSD and the fact that his PTSD coupled with his XXXX and XXXXX yada, yada, yada etc....... I hope this makes sense. What the RO sees is that you are saying that you can not work due to your AGE!!!!!! etc.... but you feel well enough to enter into and complete a Phd program which is supported by your doc followed with another letter from the doc which says yep he can complete a Phd program however, he kinda cannot, may not be able to work without any firm committment or any medical rationale to back up the statement - along with this it also speaks of improvement. When in reality all it needs to say is in his medical opinion you can not find or hold employment due to your service connected disabilities and his medical rationale to support that statement. I am sorry but I just call them as I see them and I think this will not/does not support or enhance your efforts to win a TDIU claim. - and I hope for your sake that I am wrong on this one. Good luck my friend. Ricky
  11. Jon, God bless you - hang in there. You will only receive the one rating as it is the same system so your rating will remain at one 60 percent. Since you are already drawing 100 percent TDIU there will be no 100 percent temp rating as it will be considered a moot point. Good luck on the operation and remember we will have you in our prayers. Ricky
  12. If they sent you a decision letter (remand back to the RO) then it should show on their webpage. Could you please post the docket number so we could see?
  13. Reconsideration = you have new evidence in support of your claim that was obtained and/or was not available prior to a rater making a decision on your claim. In most cases it is quicker than if you start the appeal process. All requests for a reconsideration have to be clearly marked as such..... ie "THIS IS A REQUEST FOR RECONSIDERATION: based upon the evidence attached I ask that the VA review such information a reconsider their prior decision made on my claim dated blah blah blah. IF YOU DO NOT CLEARLY INDICATE THAT IT IS A REQUEST FOR A RECONSIDERATION OF YOUR PREVIOUS RATING AND YOU HAVE ATTACHED NEW EVIDENCE they will 99.9 percent of the time automaticaly consider it a disagreement and begin the appeals process (see below). DRO/DRO de novo review = the DRO process is the begining of the APPEAL PROCESS. It is referred to as THE INFORMAL APPEALS PROCESS and allows you to receive one more look at your claim by a senior rater assigned to the appeals team before going into the formal appeals loop. It is prompted if you send in a piece of paper (any type)to the VA after you receive your rating in which you clearly state that you DISAGREE WITH THEIR DECISION. This is normally done if you have no new evidence (at the time you prepare your Notice of Disagreement) however, you feel the need to argue legal and medical points in your claim that you feel the rater did not properly consider. ie.... you feel that the rater did not consider specific guidance or law contained in CFR 38 and if he/she had they would have awarded your claim or you feel that based upon their failure you were awarded a 30 percent rating verus a 70 percent rating. Now even though you may not have had new evidence when you prepared you Notice of Disagreement that does not mean you can not submit new evidence collected by you during the process. De novo, as has already been provided, is a legal term that simply means " a new look/review of a case without taking into consideration the previous decision". Normally when a vet submits a Notice of disagreement they will ask that it be done on a De novo basis. What this is supposed to do is take the last decision completely away from the file, give it to the senior rater and asked him to process the claim as though it was never processed (now if you think this is done then I have some bridges to sell you hahahaha). However, as you read on this site and others listen to the war stories about rubber stamped or carbon copy DRO reviews! To your third question NO NO NO NO! A Notice of Disagreement is the start of the appeals process and will never ever be considered by the VA as a reconsideration!!! If you meet the requirements for a reconsideration then YOU BETTER MAKE SURE it is clear in your request! If you do submit a reconsideration you have to keep in mind that all the while you are fishing and drinking beer waiting on the VA to reconsider your claim THE APPEALS TIME LINE IS TICKING and you only have 12 months to begin the appeal from the date of your decision letter. This is important in that when you ask for the reconsideration the rater may not deem such an action appropriate (remember it is for when you have new evidence that is not associated with your claims file at the time the decision was made - it is not to simply argue a point with the rater). If an when he makes a determination, which could take 6-8 months, he may not notify you. Now you are sitting there all dumb, fat and happy sucking them suds and catching catfish think the VA is gonna do you right. The next thing you know its been 13 months since you heard any thing from the VA so you call and they say "your file has been closed" and now you cry!!!!!!! What happened was whilst you was a thinking they had to see it your way, the rater never got back to look at your reconsideration or he did and was to lazy to send you even a computer generated form and now you time to appeal (Send in your notice of disagreement) has expired!@!!!!!!!!! and they closed your claim out causing you to lose possibly 3-5 years of backpay. So the moral of the story is stay active in your claim. Keep in mind that no matter what you think you have that should be reconsidered, the VA may not think so and sometimes a recon could take a while even though you hear stories of them being handled within two weeks (its possible) The appeals process goes like this: Vet gets rating - he has 12 months FROM THE DATE OF DECISION to submitt his notice of disagreement. The NOD begins the informal appeals process Nod submitted and vet gets the Statement of the Case from the DRO - vet now has 60 days to file the VA Form 9 which will be attached to the SOC. This is caused the formal appeals (or the perfection of the appeal which began by the submission of the NOD) process and will get you to the BVA. Vet gets a DECISION LETTER (not an SOC) from the BVA. - he now has 120 days to file his NOTICE OF APPEAL with the court. Long post but I hope it helps to understand the process. If anything seems strange or don't make sense it is just my nightly meds kicking in hahahaha.
  14. As already stated call SSA for such information. There are a multitude of rules and regulations on this issue. In today's time most are pro-receipent and intended to get you back on the job roles if possible.
  15. Uncle Harvey left me and the kids a bunch of money. I guess if he had not done so I would have to work, but I doubt I could because when people start discussing personal issues with me I get this strange blink in my right eye and blackout for a couple of hours. I try my hardest to recall what goes on during this period but for the life of me I can't. It scares me sometimes cause when I regain my mind I find blood on my hands. It works, word gets around and you probably won't have to worry about others going into that area of your life. Have a good one my friend
  16. First if you have proof of the request for a DRO hearing and they never gave you that opportunity then you or you VSO need to be screaming foul very loud as that meeting in particular is part of the due process rights during an appeal. If you scream loud enough you will get it and it will be held by a DRO other than the one who did the de novo review. Based upon the time line it appears that they were doing some closet cleaning in the appeals team area and yours was one that got cleaned out with a carbon copy denial. I have personally seen this happen to several vets. Start screaming quickly. -Second once you reach the traditional appeals process your file receives a docket number but stays with the appeals team (DRO)until that particular docket number is called for by the BVA. This is evidenced by the fact that each time you have submitted new evidence it was reviewed and a new SSOC was issued. If the 2007 date (vs 2009) is correct in your post you are just about at the time when the BVA should be asking for your file (24) months. Once they asked for it (which will be done 2-3 months in advance) the DRO will once again review your file to insure it is complete and they have rated it in accordance with the requirements of CFR 38 (yep right!) then he or she will "certify" it to the BVA. Once the certification is done you will be notified that your file was transferred to the BVA. The fact they said substaniated simply means that your appeal was proper (met all the required time lines). Hope this helps a bit - I still do not know how a VSO can let the RO get away with not honoring a request for a hearing during an appeal. If this is the case I would be "writing him/her their last pay check (figure of speech since their help is free).
  17. The security is the same at all RO's. It is directed by the Federal Protective Service. Just think for a moment - if you were a RO employee you would want the same to insure you were safe within the work environment. This is based upon their job of having to give out entitlements. As we all know about 75-80 percent of the vet population is not pleased with the service they provide and you have to admit - there are some pretty damn pissed off and dangerous vets among us. They, the RO employees, are the only organization/group of employees that has to deal directly with a group of people that is trained to mame, kill and destroy its target. Therefore, each time you have personal contact with the Ro you are met with much needed security procedures. jmho
  18. Things are slow in today's VA. Just sit tight since you are still drawing your unreduced amount. I know it is hard but try not to worry.
  19. It is truly a one-way street my friend. What happened they considered and were right to do so, the filed 21-686c as your certified statement for next to your signature it reads "I CERTIFY..........." So in VA figuring, they figured you did not have the needed information as you certified on the 686c that the info you had was what you had, therefore, they said give us the documents. It would have been nice of them to say hey the form was incomplete as it was missing complete date information for the listed previous marriages of your current spouse ...........
  20. Sharon - I think my meds were hard at work during my response - my intent was to say the same as you said, however, I intended to ask him if any of the information on the form could have caused the conflict or if there was something of record, claim from a former spouse, insurance form which lists a previous spouse as the beneficiary etc...... just anything the VA could lock it's greasy little hands around to scream CONFLICT!!!!!! SORRY TO BOTH OF YOU FOR THE CONFUSION and I truly do not know how I got this turned around - after re-reading it I now see the errors of my way hahahahahahahaha
  21. 30% for ptsd with secondary alcoholism (in remission), depression and anxiety. This is your pathway for the Cirrhosis of the liver claim so you really need to file it. As for the PTSD - The old records mean nothing as you were rated for PTSD so don't lose any sleep over this issue. The only way for an increase in this area is to (if you have a current mental health doc)obtain an IMO in an attempt to negate the VA Doc's assessment. For a reconsideration in this situation you will have to have new and fairly recent dated evidence that the rater did not have when he/she made the decision. Outside of that you will need to appeal the decision.
  22. What were his range of motion measurements during the exam and any they used in the denial letter?
  23. Which one is deemed the Start of Treatment for your disability requiring the temp rating; and how long in-between each one? Examples: 1st surgery (NOT CONSIDERED FIRST TREATMENT) and doc writes orders that you need two month rest from work - then you rate two months convalesent rating. Then comes along second surgery 4 months later which is deemed to be the first date of treatment for your condition. In this case you should have received two seperate ratings: 1-convalesent rating for two months and then 100 percent effective the day of the second surgery. However, if first surgery was deemed the start date of treatment for your disability - then you rate 100 percent per rating table from that date making a convalesent rating mute.
  24. From reading the iris response it appears that you are talking about a BVA hearing. As such the normal time frame for a decision is 6-12 months so I do not know where they came up with the 3 month figure. It is true that if you ask the RO to provide a copy of a BVA hearing they will have to ask for your file back from the BVA which will throw an ape wrench vs a monkey wrench into the process. The TS was done in Washing D.C. Vs locally.
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