ArNG11

I imagine I am headed down the same path as you guys. Once I get rated correctly by the VA I may consider it. I am fighting federal workers comp at the same time and it gets frustrating. My hands are shot from my federal job. I've had six hand surgeries and still need at least 3 more to go. I also came down with an auto immune disease this past March that I believe was from my exposures to aircraft fuels being a tank rat fuel mechanic. From what I read you can collect both benefits somehow. As long as its not the same body part or illness as your military service connection you can. I'm not an expert by no means but thats what I've been getting from the regs. Fortunately the regs for Federal civil service are similar. Although one important benefit you don't get on a federal comp case is the benefit of doubt doctrine. I despise these systems that treat people like a liar. OPM is a nut case of it's own.

The bilateral thing should be an easy connection at least I would think so but once again the need for the nexus needs to be acquired and solidified. If you hurt or damage a knee, you are bound to put more weight on the good knee to compensate which will gradually cause addition premature wear and tear on the ligaments, tendons and joints of the healthy body part.. Much like other things like hips or hand injuries. It is inevitable. Very rarely does the VA connect this association on their own. IME's and IMO's to the rescue. joy. Never count on the VA comp side to do this for you. JMHO.

Has anyone tried this aggressive treatment for GERD?

I don't want to add to the fire but I agree. It seems like I am a bother to my VA PCP and nurses. Every time I mention a program, a procedure, or means to get outside referrals they play dumb. I'm sick of it. I thought the choice program might be a step in the right direction, however, so far it just feels like another ploy to try to mitigate all the bad press the VA healthcare has gotten.

I have to agree with 63sierra here this sight is invaluable. This is a little personal for me because I am in the same boat except for me it happens to be the L1, t11-T12 with similar type of damage. I discuss a great deal with my rainmaker and this is an excellent post that really relates to my situation. Other than the L2 it almost mirrors mmy cases, hopefully it won't take that length of time but heh Thanks guys. Always good to learn like this.

11 year ride wow. None the less congrats, make sure you take advantage of all that is available to you at that rrating. Comm X, dependent benefits and all that jazz. Take care and good luck to you and your family.

I can understand your frustration. I'm kind of headed there myself. I would say "the ends justify the means" If so many people are having so much luck with emailing the head honcho then why not. I've been in the military or was for 13 years or so and I am well aware of the chain of command, however, sometimes when the cards are stacked against you from the get go, when the VA raters and compensation process is so adversarial then what choices are you left with. I much rather get what I am entitled to from the beginning than go through this process of getting a little of what I am entitled to here and a bit of it there and maybe get just ratings later after much wasted time, energy, resources, and years of your life.

That's exactly right from what I read and understand. You don't have to meet both requirements. If you live more than the mileage line OR have waited for an appointment in excess of 30 days you should be good.

With the VA... Patience pattawon learner...patience. Don't get me wrong I'm having to deal with the long waits as well. It drives me crazy. but remember slow is smooth and smooth is fast.

John that would be an awesome trick. Quality, fully researched, developed and decided claims Properly rated and decided claims according to the evidence, regulations, and law. Hmm. Wait a minute? Isn't that supposed to be happening already? Am I dreaming, quick, pull the trigger. I think things may start to turn around and these problems will start to wither away or just plain be eradicated. However, it may be agonizingly slow. So far it's been good and changes and positive results have been occurring more frequently. I am in the hopes that the new leadership will keep this going. QA (quality assurance) for the VA. Hmm...

Not that I am defending the VA ploy. There are more qualifiers to be able to get this card, like waiting more than 30 days to see a provider. However, much like anything else, programs have to go through there bumps. What I am finding so far is that the program is so new no one really knows all the details. Hell my own VA PCP team didn't know about it. But they didn't know about or acknowledge the fee based system either. I wonder if third party billing would work better. Or hell maybe the VA can pay my private insurance premiums and co pays since they can't give me timely care or acknowledge my conditions. Hmm.

EBennies will not have copies of your exam. If the C&P was conducted at a VAMC then you can get a copy from the Release of Information office(records office), however, if it was done at a hired gun office like a QTC or VES then you would only have access to it after a decision was made on your claim and then only after a FOIA request. If you happen to live close to the VARO then schedule an appointment to review your records, again this would be after a decision is made on your claim and if your exam was not done at a VAMC. JMO

I live 13.1 miles from my VAMC. There are other qualifiers like waiting more than 30 days to see a doc/ specialist and so on . For now I still have private insurance so I use that while I have it but I am going to look into the program. You never know when you might need it.

Low and behold the VA Choice Card. I just received mine in the mail today. Forwarded from my old address since the VA has not updated it. Seems the NOD and the letters from my rainmaker can't make it through the address correction phase . 9 months is an awfully long time for that. Anyways there is a lot of conditions on this program and even if they send you the card it does not guarantee anything. I will follow up on the hoop ha once I talk to some live people and get intel on what I find out on my end.

Id check again. It just let me on without issues.

I have noticed a few things here lately. With eBenefits, the FDC process, and electronically submitting documents, its seems the VA is still up to the same old tricks. Denying they ever got a submission of evidence, even though there is an electronic receipt of submission. Asking a claimant for information or evidence without going through their elected representative or power of attorney first. Manipulating appointments in the 30 day appointment cue. Hmm. I don't know. If it looks like a fish and swims like a fish, and eats like a fish, then it MUST BE A TURD. * FISH* Some things just don't change. Heh Navy04. Remember the C&P won't be in your medical records at your local VAMC unless it was performed there. Since it wasn't and done by the hired guns you have to wait until the decision is made on your claim. At that point I would submit a FOIA request for a copy of your C file. However, if your Regional office is nearby you can pay them a visit and ask for a copy of that specific exam or schedule a time to review your c file, either way you can have access to it then and get the information you are needing. JMO

I haven't experience this myself. I did submit a FDC claim electronically and right now it states a complete date of Feb2016. Also the new gimmick if you submit a new claim while having an existing claim open the close out the oldest claim and lump all the conditions to one new claim. I think it is just a smokescreen to get their numbers up like others have posted here. Back on point. If that is the case, I would send the evidence you submitted along with a copy of the verification page of the submitted information that has the submittal date on it. They can choke on their own system. As long as you have proof that you submitted the information when you say you did you should be golden.

. I'd be careful with that. By regs and law any request from the VA for evidence or information must be done be in writing. Ebenefits is not a proper channel for the VA to ask for information, Especially if you have a VSO or Rainmaker. The updates for the request can be on there but the hard copy request has to have been sent by mail. Also they must permit you adequate time to respond, typically 30 day suspense limit. Others can chime in if I am incorrect.

Congrats. Enjoy and good luck

You're right to a certain degree. This process is not vet friendly at all. The game is stacked very heavily against you from the get go. I agree that the opinion of a doc that has seen you for years should blow the opinion of a one time 20 minute doc out of the water, from a logical perspective you would think that would be the case. I have found that it doesn't matter how solid your claims are if they are intent on denying you they will and they won't fold until they get their hand caught in the cookie jar. From history it seems that the BVA is the start of where things might be to your favor. Definitely at the CAVC, but at that point, you really are afforded no luxuries, you are on an equal footing with an agency that is out to snuff you out, destroy your credibility and out to shame your service to your country. I may be going off the deep end here a bit but there is truth to my statements and opinions. The thoroughness of an exam still escapes me. I can and will point out, behind my attorney, the conflicting statements that the VA examiners have made in my claims, how they omit information to justify the denial, at the same time acknowledging the information to approve a lesser rating for another condition. I believe that you definitely should not be specific when filing claims, even though most veterans are competent enough to know the illness and conditions they suffer from. I write this in reference to starting the claim. At least from my experience you don't want to do that from the get go. Let the VA make their diagnosis and then fight it with the medical evidence and diagnosis from your treating docs and service medical records. They are so intent on denying that they misdirect and misconstrue the very simplest of claims. I have been learning this the hard way. I am off to the lengthy part of my fight and the stakes are high now. Man I so wish I would have found this forum before I started my fights with the VA. It would have been much easier with a lot less headaches. The broad argument I think is a good move and a solid foundation from which to build upon.

Robert Ellis. He did an okay job. But I felt that he just piggybacked off what the VA had already service connected in some respects. He also missed some specific injuries while in service to contest the denial of service connections for my hips and knees. He also did not mention the severity of the IBS. However, he is doing a revised report. I will give my full opinion of using him once he rectifies the report and after the VA tries to attack the IME/IMO. However,I do have to say that I'm not terribly concerned, my service medical records, private records, functional capacity examination, and my IME/IMO from my private back MD, should rectify the deficiencies. The continuity is there and the level of functional impact is there. Of course this is based on the fact of the DRO actually has to look at reading everything. From what my rainmaker stated we are going to be off to the BVA for my ratings to my nerves and other needed service connections, they are not budging on those even though the regs and evidence clearly show my left side qualifies for a moderate level and should be rated higher than what they afforded and illness and conditions appeared while in service and manifesting to at least 10% disabling before 2016 time frame. I don't believe that I will have the success I am looking for at the regional office level, at least not complete success.

I got the IMO/IME, not that I needed that, my records are pretty straight forward. It's a game though. Gotta low ball it all to hell and hope the Vet is not any wiser. Not it.?

True, though a part of the rating criteria states a higher rating if you have abnormal spinal contour, or muscle spasm, or abnormal gait. Though the VA does not give any extra if you happen to have all three. I don't agree with it being lumped together like in my case. Of course they go with the IVDS. No doctor that I know or have heard of on this board prescribes bed rest. Least of all for like 4- 6 weeks which yields the higher ratings for that condition.