john999

DDog The VA did the same sort of thing to me even though I had 70% and was on SSD. You do need the IMO to separate your SC conditions from NSC conditions and to say your SC conditions are the entire reason you can't work. Your IMO needs to dissect the SOC and rebutt everything the VA says about your being IU due to NSC reasons. We are all in the ballpark but the VA is good at dirty business.

Yes, Kelly, it is a damn shame and disgrace for a vet to wait three years for a decision. If the USA wanted to shout out to every young man and woman that being a military member is a sucker's game they could not do it better it they tried. I am waiting almost 7 years on my CUE and may have 7 years to go for all I know.

Don't military retirees suffer offset or reduction in SSA? If you are FERS and are on SSD you suffer offset to your OPM until you reach regular retirement age which is usually 62. CSRS suffer permanent reduction to SSA. Neither one affects money from the VA. The only thing that can affect VA is worker's compensation for the same injury.

If you are under 50 years old and have a disability that won't kill you eventually you can often get very cheap term life via Select Quote. When I was 50 I got $250,000 worth for about $700 a year and I was 30% at the time for mental. Now if you have had a heart attack you won't be able to get that rate most likely. The idea of life insurance is to replace your potential earnings if you die early. It is not to just bury you. I got the 10,000 from the VA because it is a gift. It is actually better to save the premiums rather than give them to some insurance company. You are betting you are going to die and they are betting you won't. I don't like that bet if you are under 70 years old.

Yes, you can submit new evidence and you can ask for another personal hearing before you get in line at the BVA. You want an IMO that states definitely that you cannot work due to PTSD and any co-morbid conditions. It will probably take a year to get your claim certified to the BVA. You could win it in that time at the VARO if you have the right evidence. I was 70% for mental condition and denied TDIU. I got IMO's and won TDIU at the VARO. I kept asking for personal hearings and/or reconsiderations based on new evidence. John

All of us who get SSA, VA or federal pensions are vulnerable to hidden cuts to our benefits if gangsters in Congress regigger the formula for the COLA. I do write my senator and congressman telling them that the quickest way to loose my vote forever is to cut SSA or VA in order to make a deal to cut debt.

Thanks Captain. I may hire a reseacher just for my own satisfaction. When I appealed to BCMR about my discharge and some medals I thought I should have gotten the BCMR implied that my duty in Vietnam was sort of like a vacation at a tropical resort. John

This is great because CAVC is even more hard assed than the regular VARO or BVA.

Veldrina Have you heard the term "top sheeting" at the VA. The PBS Newshous discussed it tonight.

Not P&T, but you must be totally disabled for 10 years or die from SC condition for spouse to get DIC benefits. If you were married 8 years to same spouse while you were total you get some extra money. It is not a lot of money, but if you combine it with SSA then I guess a spouse can live off it. John

That is a good file. You could probably multiply those cases by 10,000 or 100,000 to show how VA screws vets and even employees regarding disability claims.

If you are not automatically awarded "S" when you get 70% for PTSD you may have to file a CUE using Bradley vs Peake. I got my "S" after I filed for it with two years retro because the VA did not grant S when they should have and never would have if I had not filed for it.

A 50% and 70% rating does not equal 100% using VA math. I have 70%,60% and five 10% ratings and I have 90% TDIU.

I was on OWCP for a while and applied for SSDI and TDIU. When I got TDIU I took OPM and gave up on the OWCP wage loss since it was for the same basic injury. My total plus SMC is more than both my SSDI and OPM combined. It should not take long to get OPM. SSDI and VA can be harder by far. Once you get all three you will have enough money to take care of yourself pretty well. I was a vet who had to take either OWCP or TDIU. John

I wish the IMO spelled out all the connections to service in simple and direct language. You can't assume the VA will make these connections. You have to have your doctor dot all the I's and cross all the T's.

I think you might need the total % rating you got when you got TDIU plus 60%, but I am not sure. I got TDIU at 70% for a single disability and then got an extra 60% a few years later. I got SMC S via Bradley V Peake, but I was already total and then got 60%. What is your actual rating right now?

Try and keep your VA and OWCP claims separate. If you file papers saying work related accident aggravated sc disability you may have to choose between va and owcp benefits for the same injury at some point. For instance, a vet says job has aggravatd his sc ptsd. He goes out of work on owcp. Owcp will check to see it vet has sc for the ptsd and if vet has is applying for increase to va this may cause big problems between va and owcp benefits and there could be overpayment.

You were fine before the military. During and after the military you became depressed. Steer clear of questions about your childhood, high school, drug abuse or anything that could be used to try and paint you as a personality disorder.

The problem I see is simply "Time". It took the VA two years to correct a clerical erroron a current claim. I am a Vietnam vet, so I am not getting younger. If a C&P exam doctor makes an error on your exam that could be corrected with a phone call, or fax, you may end up waiting years to bring it up on appeal. The VA does give vets the benefit of doubt on some issues, but the physical mess most of our C-Files are in often requires countless resubmissions of information. My claim was held up once because the VA said they did not have my DD214. It was sitting on top in my C-File. If they have to get records from SSA or your employer it could take years. The VA once mixed up a claim I had for a dental problem with a claim I had for a psychological problem. They used the report from the dentist to deny my mental claim and the report from the psychiatrist to deny my dental claim. My claim for SSD was done in about 4 months. They looked at the evidence and called me at home. SSA asked me if I would go for an exam. I said "yes". The next week I got a letter from SSA saying my claim was approved. It took me about a year after I got SSD and was rated 70% by the VA to get TDIU. It took another appeal to get P&T. Really "time" is our enemy when dealing with a dysfuctional system like the VA.

My aunt was in a nursing home. She had DIC, a pension and SSA. She also had considerable income and assets. She was able to deduct her nursing home expense from her taxes, so she paid no tax even though she had pretty good income from stocks. She had DIC since before WWII.

If your VARO knows you are on federal disability and on SSDI that is pretty good proof for IU. Send the information in to the VA.

Is your fight with the Army or the VA?

Justrluk Hang in there! Is there any money left on the table in your appeals you might just look around for a lawyer to take it from here and hand it off to him/her. I could never have done my CUE without a lawyer. The VA appeals process would have just tied me up in knots. If you beat the BCMR then I think you can win with the VA. John

Yes, do you have a combat ribbon? I don't think you will be able to get retro back to 2009 because you let the appeal period run out of time. Can you post the 2009 denial so we can look at why exactly they denied it. If you are a combat vet you don't have to prove you were in life threatening situation. It is assumed. The VA may have made an error. Don't drop your present claim under any circumstance.

If you do file a CUE claim you can bet that you will be in a prolonged fight. You need a lawyer I think to help you every step of the way if you do not have a expert knowledge of what a CUE means. My lawyer and I believe we have a really tight CUE claim, however, my CUE claim is waiting a decision at the CAVC right now after 6-7 years. If I were you I would try and get 100% now and then file your CUE. I would do as John has suggested and get a lawyer to help you with this. What kind of discharge did you get? Was it a medical discharge? Do you have a complete copy of your C-File. You may have to shop it around to various lawyers to get them to take the case, especially if you think there was an error made. Considering you may have almost 30 years of retro it might not be that hard.