Ricky

Joesphine - I feel the same way. I read my SOC a million times. Each time I repeated to myself "the key is here, the key is here". I never did find it! Hey Pete - "if bad advice accidently gets on this Board" You gotta quit telling people that I post here hahahahahahahahhahaha

Betty, just think - this time when they reel in the line maybe a big whale will be on the hook and it will swallow them all hahahahaha. Hey, a guy has gotta dream a little.

The submission of your rating decision was a good decision on your part for it will provide to them what the VA has rated you for, a summary of the relevant evidence used and the total rating issued by the VA. Good luck.

I like robert's ideal. the slaughter of their "buddies" on the battlefield won't have any effect on them either since they are all a bunch of cutthroat, back stabbing SOB's that want their "buddies" done in anyway.

Most states offer only one set of plates at a reduced cost UNLESS you are 100 percent, P/T. Then most will provide two at the no tax/reduced tax rate.

Yep they gotta notify you. However, when an agency develops a regulation which is not open to any oversight and to take it one step further the same agency is removed from any accountability unless caught at something---------------- :) I assure you that they will make instant notification of any mistake they commit hahahaahhahahahahaha Oops forgot to mention instant notification as soon as they finsh with their 12 month search on ways to hide their mistake........Once they determine hiding the thing is impossible, they hit the hill greasing the skids prior to offically briefing congress. This allows them to brief on a day when most congressional seat holders spent the night before getting that last monthly roll with local ladies before they return home to their family and holiday dinner AND last but not least - gives them the knowledge that Ted Kennedy will be drunk during that session!!!!!Lets see that would turn out to be 364 days for on the other day he is in rehab hahahahahahahahahaha JUST KIDDING I think.......

I used to crap on myself when I was one so I guess this explains my current IBS. Dang those DoD guys are good. I will go turn myself and my 214 in tomorrow. Guess I will also lose my retirement pay. DoD has gotten to where it makes me sick at my belly.........some of the crap they come up with to cheat service members out of well deserved benefits is simple criminal acts. Those criminal acts, that according to them when they used to tell us that we had to fight to protect America's freedom, are only conducted by dictators and communist leaders...... hmmmmmm maybe the current DoD leaders learned too well from the same sick basta--s they trained us to kill.

CG it is taxable but hey what the hell, our entire life is taxable. Congrats on the payment. Now if you were to throw a huge party, maybe, just maybe you could write it off as a business expense!!!!!!!

I don't wanna be a disabled veteran so if they have good health I will swap with them and let them have all the compensation in the world that they may want.

Flatbroke - if you have your ducks in order all will go well during the hearing. My experience and the experience of those I have helped is that the hearings are very laid back. So calm down and put what you are going to present into a logical order then get this thing on my man. We will all be pulling for you.

Doc, mental health issues are all rated the same. By this I mean you can not receive a rating for, lets say, PTSD and MDD. That would fall under the pryamid rule in title 38. So you will not see any help there. The only way to get an increase is with medical evidence. Or if they overlooked or simply failed to use the evidence you have already presented then the next logical step is to continue your appeal to the board.

Larry, my comments early on in this post were not meant to suggest anything other than an uneducated medical concern. I do not and I suggest anyone else not to change any thing about their meds without consult with the doctor. As to this fraud tone - stopping your meds for an exam IS NOT fraud. Due to my career I can comment on this with an expert opinion. Things such as pain meds and even hypertension meds are given to you to simply allow your body to cope with the disability. Now if the meds were meant to and had been proven to CURE a condition and you attempted to simply keep the condition in order to draw disability payments then maybe you could make such a charge stick. Thats a very slim maybe and depends on the level of aggression the DA/AUSA. So Larry, do what you need to do. My concern was simply that you not harm your body. Pete/Six - this is a great post so let it run. Anytime you have a forum such as hadit you are going to get a couple who strongly advocate their opinion as law and issue some attacks. Just something we all gotta deal with and can not control. As long as it does not turn into a big 50 percent against 50 percent war we should be ok.

Jab - is there a tax exemption for those p/t disabled or over 65? Most states have such an exemption so I was just wondering. If I were you I would attempt the tactic that Pete suggested. Just take you VA award along with you SSDI award for the SS people have determined that you are P and T.

Tamara - I understand your reluctance to appear at the hearing but keep in mind this is your future earnings! Do what ever it takes and then you can sit back and enjoy life a bit.

Thank you sir. You can delete it if you desire.

The post below is for chess and not Kent as indicated (damn missing edit button)!!!! I had someone else on my mind as I was posting. Sorry for the confusion. Ricky I fixed the first post for you.

Chess I read the docket number you provided. I am sorry but I do not see where you are coming from. This appeal was for entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss. The board did note that you had complained of tinnitus at a 2002 C/P exam and informed you that if you chose to file a claim for this to notify the RO. As far as inferred claims, the board is a very specific body in that if you do not list your desired appealed issues on the form 9 and those listed must have been completed by the RO then their hands are tied and they do not have jursidiction on such items. For them to have commented on depression or any other issue you would have had to brought it forth on the form 9. Then as I stated above if the RO had not completed a claim on it the board would has simply told you to file a claim for the issue as they did on the tinnitus. You stated: Upon my Successful appeal through the BVA I was awarded a "complete grant of benefit sought" -Although I did not see any such wording in the board decision yes you were awarded a complete grant of benefits sought with that being service connection for bilateral hearing loss. The boards quote in the decision was: Order: Service connection for a bilateral hearing loss disability is granted. As for the zero percent: The medical evidence provided to the board was that your pure tone threshold levels averaged 52.5 decibels in the right ear and 55 decibels in the left ear. If you will look at the charts provided in CFR 38 part four you will see that pure tones of 52.5 is assigned a III and those of 55 are also assigned a III. Now look at the next chart. When you find a III and follow it over where it intersects with III you will see that a ZERO percent is assigned. Inferred claims: When a rater is reviewing the medical records and finds medical evidence in the folder of a disability that is not on issue at the time that is an inferred claim. It is not when a veteran simply complains of a disability as there still has to be medical evidence supporting the issue. So if the rater who decided your claim reviewed your medical files there would have to be some medical evidence that says you have depression due to your hearing loss. Outside of that then you must file some form of a formal claim inorder for it to be a claim. As to tdiu - when a veteran meets the requirements, has an approved rated disability that meets the requirements for tdiu the rating decision should include instructions on how to file and the appropriate forms (8940)for filing. You did not meet such requirements with this rating as the only award possible with the medical evidence reviewed was a zero percent rating. Bottom line is the RO has correctly implemented the order of the BVA on the decision render in 03-09-248. Now if you had an informal claim - a complaint of depression at the RO- then followed it up with a written request for a disability rating and included the required medical evidence to support the claim and the RO did not act then maybe you have a valid claim and we can help you work through it. I know that you do not want to hear this but based upon what you have posted at this point this is how I see it. Keep in mind this is just my opinion and my opinion has been wrong in the past of At the time of his July 2002 VA audiological examination, the veteran complained of periodic tinnitus. If the veteran desires to pursue a claim of entitlement to benefits based on such condition he should so inform the RO such that appropriate action may be taken. Speech audiometry revealed speech recognition ability of 96 percent in the right ear and of 96 percent in the left ear. Thus, the competent medical evidence of record demonstrates a current bilateral hearing loss disability as defined by 38 C.F.R. § 3.385. Service connection for a bilateral hearing loss disability is granted. THE ISSUE Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss.

I think that I will just start flying my private jet down to the VAMC to get my meds. To $$$$ with the mail system.

Kent - Yes it will be a new issue. If they nexus letter is written well by the doctor your old knee claim or personality order should not be a factor. Notice I said should not. You are dealing with the VA and anything is possible. However, with a proper current diagnosis and then a nexus letter associating the depression with that current diagnosis you do have a proper and winnable claim.

Pete - be careful what you ask for. Remember if they offered a universal champus type deal the universe is a whole lot bigger than the small world of ChampVA.......My point is that a few million would want the same which would do a number on your little world. Just my opinion...........not meant to be political or cause a ruckus my friend.....

Hmmm... not taking meds....... I don't know if I would do that. Especially with any type of anti-depressants. By doin this you are endangering yourself and others around you. when they say stopping anti-depressants without assistance of you doc could result in....... believe me they know what they are talking about. What if you stopped 2 weeks prior to the exam. One night you woke up so depressed you did not know or care what happened and you harmed your family or yourself - would a small increase in compensation be worth it then? you decide but I would hope your decision would include a discussion with a doctor. Pain meds........hmmmmmmm...... if you wanna hurt I guess its up to you. Just remember in orthro problems pain is but only one consideration. The overall disability is based upon limitation of motion. With my Dejerine - Roussy Syndrome I take 4000 mg of neurontin, 2000 mg (just increased) Trileptal, 180 mg of Cymbalta along with some narcotics. When they did my exam for PN the doc opined that the exteremly large doses of the neurontin, trileptal and Cymbalta would mask PN on a dead guy...... Claim was approved without EMG. Just my experience.

Depends on your situation: -If you are a retiree then 100 percent schedular is best as it allows for full CRDP. -If you are healthy enough to work the 100 percent schedular is best as it allows you to continue to work. -If you can not work the TDIU is the best route to go as it can be awarded eventhough you are not really declared 100 percent disabled. However, as Dataman put it none of them are good if you have to give up your health for them.

Pete - thanks for the explaining. How ever ole buddy you opened the door when stated that the recommendation window was open hahahahahahaha. Based upon what you just posted my recommendation is as follows: All involved in Hadit know the mid to older guys so what if you had to earn your edit button? Make the cutoff at let us say 300 posts. That way no new posters would be able to carry on in the manner you described. Then if it appears that one of the oldies is carrying on in such a bad manner it could be handled off site through email. If the poster says hey you know me and I did not do that then his user name could be observed for a bit looking for the demon responsible. Ahhhh don't make no difference anyway. If you guys can read em, I can keep typing em the way they are hahahahaha. I thank Tbird and each of you for your dedication to this community and the hard work you put into making Hadit available. Ricky

The edit was suspended because of abuse Nothing like the good ole Army punshiment system of gettem all while we can"! hahahaha Pete - I am not the smartest ole fool but I ain't the dumbest either so I must ask how the heck can you abuse an edit button when it only allows you to edit your own posts???????? Come on guys if you have someone who abuses/violates the rules of engagement then suspend him/her. If it is a wide spread abuse problem then post a warning to all for some may not realize that their actions are considered abuse. Thanks

Based upon what I think you are asking I will try to answer your question. If you now have depression, lets say, because of a service connected condition such as IBS etc.... that is medically documented as such then it is a new claim. In other words if you can get a doctor to provided that the depression is due to the service connected claim then you have a new claim. I hope this helps you! By the way what did your original claim for depression look like - what exactly did you claim?