john999

I think she is qualified for some A&A but it will all go to the nursing home. I do not believe she is qualified for a VA nursing home. After she is destitute she can get medicade to pay for the nursing home. Ask an Elder Care Lawyer about this and they may just tell you if she is or isn't qualified for some A&A.

It is really hard to go from 90% to 100% scheduler. I am 90% TDIU for 12 years.

I had to shop my CUE claim around to a few lawyers. If they guy who took it really understood how difficult it would be I don't think he would have done it. Although the VA likes to pretend CUE's are cut/dried, and rare errors they are anything but that. They involves lots of case law. The worse the mistake the harder the VA fights it, especially if it is going to impact other vet's claims.

I don't even trust myself. I keep sneaking up on myself. No, actually, I like people. I usually believe what people tell me until I find out they are lying. There are lots of good people and 10% bastards. Unfortunately, the bastards run the world. John

Get a lawyer!

The DOD and the VA have known for years the absolute cost of OIF/OEF was going to be three trillion dollars and now they want to weasel out of paying for it. I have been IU for 12 years. I am glad I did file a CUE for 100%, but if they cut IU they won't hesitate to cut 100% vets. I don't think it will happen myself but the government likes to scare us.

VA told me I was considered fully insured according Obama care. That means no penalty for not having other insurance. I thought most countries in Europe had free insurance for all like France.

Try getting an Honorable Discharge changed to a medical discharge with pension benefits.

This will just make it harder on vets who don't have computers or printers.

With TDIU unless you have gone back to work you are not apt to lose it. If you read the regs on this it is hard for VA to cut TDIU.

Never mention anything about your father or any outside issues beyond military causes of PTSD. Think about like this: You were fine until the military, and now your are emotionally broken and it is their fault. If you dwell on family matters before or after military the VA will blame your PTSD on those factors and say "less likely than not" that ptsd is service connected. What have you told VA about your father and his abuse (I assume it is abuse) of you? If he beat you every day and twice on Sundays you must bury that to get military based PTSD. Compensation from VBA is not treatment based, but based on documented incidents, injuries or illness from military service.

If VSO's would just represent us in congress that would be worth paying dues. When they take on role of being an advocate as a POA they fall down big time. I think vets should be able to hire lawyers from the jump. However, once you make your initial claim and file your NOD you can hire a lawyer (if you can find one that wants your case). Your claim does not have to be denied as I understand it to hire a lawyer. If you are dissatisfied with your rating you file the NOD and then get the lawyer. The trouble is time. It takes a year to get the initial lowball or denial so there is a lot of pressure to get it right the first time and this almost never happens. If you get an SOC that means you have not gotten maximum benefit you might be entitled to get, therefore, the appeal and the lawyer.

When I got my TDIU I was service connected for schizophrenia, depression, PTSD, social phobia and panic. However, my paperwork just shows 70% for Schizophrenia et al. The VA just throws it at the wall and rates 10% of it. I was SC'ed for mental health condition 40 years ago. The VA just had no idea what was wrong with me. PTSD DX did not exist at the time. Military records said depression, anxiety and personality disorder. VA ignored that and came up with schizophrenia and then rated a psychotic disorder at 10%. How can a person who is psychotic just get a 10% rating? Because I never got appeal rights with my decision I let it go for years.

Did you claim the gulf war syndrome problems? You can't appeal them if you did not claim them. I would appeal your denial of Chapter 35.

Have you already filed for Gulf War Illness and been denied or would these be new claims?

I went to group therapy for many years. It helped me most during the first few years. I did not use VA group. The group I used was run by private psychologist. The group was small and there was some but not that much turn-over. There were vets and non-vets in the group. It helped me see myself a bit as others saw me. I believed I had a big X on me that others could see or sense. It was not true. I found if I acted normal I could be normal. Nobody saw that I was cracking up on the inside. People just judge you, or like, or dislike you based on your actions directed at them. John

This happened a few years ago and created a big controversy. The fact that VA was trying to low ball vets from PTSD DX to Adjustment Disorder DX started a firestorm among vets for a while.

First you get the VA insurance and then apply for the waiver. It must be a "new" disability and not just an increase in an existing disability. You can go to the VA website and download the application for insurance and you can get the waiver as well if memory serves. I was already P&T when I got 10% for diabetes. I applied based on getting SC'ed for DMII. John

What does "Waiting for 5103 Review" mean? This has held up ebenefits claim for months.

Yes, hand carry a copy of your SSDI award to the VA and get it date stamped. This is what I did and I still had to struggle with TDIU because of something one of my doctors said. The VA will use any excuse so watch what information you give them. I got SSDI in about 3-4 months on my own. TDIU took over a year even though I was 70% for bipolar at the time.

You know the rules on psychotic and neurotic ratings changed between 1971 and 1973. I filed a CUE for a claim filed in 1972 that was decided in 1973 and it got remanded because of rule change for rating mental disorders that happened between times. That cost me an extra couple of years of wait time. This got by the BVA and was caught at CAVC. Car wrecks for guys with depression/PTSD is and was one of the most common ways to do a suicide. I wonder if Phil ever talked to a shrink while in VA care. Did anyone do work-up for head injury with psychological tests that might have shown depression. My psychological testing from 1972 disappeared from my file. Phil, did you ever get a DX of depression from the VA before the PTSD DX in 1989? Did you ever see a shrink in the military for anything to do with sleep problems or alcohol abuse or anything that might have pointed to depression? You know how it is with CUE's. They only deal with what was or should have been of record when original rating was made. John

You can't get compensation for a "personality disorder".

Do whatever you must because things may get harder as Iraq and Afghanistan vanish in the rear view mirror. Hire a lawyer if you must but keep going. Consider that every OIF/OEF vet is probably going to file a claim in the near future as they begin to realize how the government made chumps out of them. The only revenge is to make the USA pay you. John

It is a good idea to get part B, but the VA does not require it since they cannot collect from medicare. That would be one government agency to just pay another and create another financial mess. If you have ChampVA you must get part B when you are eligible. I don't know why. John

We are trying to determine if your SMC is statutory or based on your conditions. If you want a higher level of A&A you need the evidence that you are entitled to it. If you have the evidence there is no reason to believe the VA is going to take away your 100%. How long have you been 100%? John