john999

Why are not DAV, VFW and AL marching on Washington in protest? I understand this was VCS that got this going. They are claiming it anyway. It is a scandal and where are out million man VSO's in all this? They are worried about Tricare.

Teac You should have gotten "S" when you got 60% for asthma. You may have to go to court to get it. Somehow and somewhere you should have gotten SMC. Your VARO just does not want to pay that retro. That is all there is to it.

What ever rating you get less than 70% file an appeal. Stay in treatment at the VA. I think you may want an independent medical opinion. If you are not working file for for TDIU. I got 70% with a GAF of 50. The C&P doctor is saying you have severe PTSD and mild TBI, but that you are capable of working. If you are homeless with severe PTSD I don't see how you can work. You do need treatment for the PTSD. You must insist on it from VA. Even if you have to go to inside program for PTSD and get help for homelessness and alcohol abuse. It is VA responsibility to help you.

I claimed "S" in 2010 and got it retro to 2008 when I became total plus 60%. I did not even know about Bradley until Teac and others brought it up last year. So I got $8500 in retro. Now if I had been total plus 60% since 2001 I don't know if I would have got all that retro, but I don't see why not.

I think you can win on appeal.

Heat stroke I think would be an accepted condition. Heat exhaustion is more something you can recover from and be OK. I had it in Vietnam and even in Florida. Heat stroke will kill you. They usually medivac a guy with heat stroke because he is on the verge of death. I don't know what lasting damage heat stroke causes besides death.

I got "S" being TDIU plus 60% because I fit the profile exactly. I think I was just lucky. I happen to have one disability at 70% IU and another one at 60% that was awarded just after Bradley in 2008. It all seems illogical and murky.

I can't even read a book any more. My lower back has the same problem. You say you had some problems later? I have heard that fusions cause other discs to go bad after a while. I am 61 years old. I would like to spend the years left being able to do basic things without pain. All this was gradual and just gets worse and worse. I am going to talk to my psychologist about it. His wife had it done. So, all in all, you think it was worth it?

John Did it help significantly with pain? How was recuperation? To tell you the truth it scares me. My lower back is crapped out as well but I don't get referred pain like with the neck.

Think about poor bastards trying to survive just on SSD. I knew many at the post office who took disability retirement. You get a very small pension and live in poverty. If we do get 100% or TDIU it gives us enough to live on without starving, so it is something to strive for and everything else you can get as well. Get every dime before you get to old or too sick to fight.

I would talk to a lawyer first and then decide what I am going to do. Your potential employer admits discrimination because of your disability? That is rare indeed. You have that in writing?

Has anyone had one of those fusion things done on their necks and what was the result. My newest doctor said that is fix for stenosis and disc herniation in my neck. It makes me want to cry. Same for lower back, but it is not that bad yet.

WAC There are many vets who are eligible for "S" right now who are not getting it because they don't read Hadit. I do suspect the VA may bump up vets on TDIU to 100% to avoid "S". You have to be total plus 60% so if you get bumped to 100% you need an extra 60%. If I did not file claim for "S" I never would have gotten it even though I am not supposed to have had to file for it. This would be a good question to ask VA lawyer. Once you get "S" I don't think they can take it away easily even if you go from 90% TDIU to 100% schedular, but this is still a good question that should have legal, techical answer. I am going on gut feeling about it.

If these wars in Iraq and Afghanistan really start to wind down the vets will be quickly forgotten. I think at that point VA claims process will get much harder. The VA just does not want to pay a couple of million new vets who may all qualify under new PTSD regs. Who knows what new presumptives will crop up for these vets. Vietnam Era vets are totally forgotten as if the war never happened and they make up the bulk of living vets. I watched "Winter Soldier" with all horrendous stories of war crimes and that is all forgotten as if it never happened. There were vets there with such horrible PTSD that they could never adjust to society. It took them 20 years to get a dime. The budget hawks want to renig on medicare and SSA. Do we think they will not betray veterans? Get a lawyer and get your money now.

I would stick with the lawyer and not risk working if my P&T is for mental condition unless I cleared that with my lawyer. Your lawyer may have some claim to some of that SMC money. With lost records maybe there is a question about EED. Is so you want your lawyer on that since the more you get paid the more he gets paid. I agree with the Captain. Call your lawyer's office and bug him until you get a response. However, if your lawyer will not cooperate then go interview another lawyer.

Us older vets are just chopped liver. Our spouses or significant others get nothing. This is your government's way of saying you were a sucker.

I think I would do as Yulooking said to do, but I don't know what will mean for your claim. It seems they never worked on your reconsideration . You filed the NOD within a year so you are covered there. I don't know if your reconsideration just goes away or if they might treat it as a NOD. This is why it is good to keep an eye on the shot clock when you file the reconsideration because if you had not filed the NOD you might be out of luck according to some technical booby trap. I would go to the QTC exam.

Wac I am at 90% and I got the SMC "S". I wonder the same thing since If I got up to actual 100% would I lose "S"? I don't know the answer either. I was 80% IU and got an extra 60% and got the "S". I am 90% schedular. I won't be asking for any increases I don't think except my CUE. However, if I got the CUE that might also make me retro for "S" back many years. If you are 90% you have to get an extra 50% to get to 95% and thus to 100% schedular. You see how hard it is to get there? Your question is a good one. When I got "S" is was result of a CUE.

Since you filed the NOD I don't think it will matter. Did you ask for DRO Hearing?

If you had any combat badges I don't know how the VA could deny you. That is not even required under new rules for PTSD. What was your MOS? Did your claim fail for lack of stressor verification? That would be old criteria.

Once again the VA proves they care more about cost than about vets. I cannot exactly split my pills, so I get an irregular dose of meds. Is that good?

Once you have filed the CUE claim all the VA has to do is just say that there was no CUE thus claim denied. Then you have to appeal and fight it out over the rules governing a CUE claim. If they violated duty to assist in the worst way possible that is not a CUE. CUE is not like a normal claim with benefit of doubt, duty to assist, etc. It is based only on everything that was before or should have been before the rater when the error was made. So if you told them about VA medical records where the doctor said "PTSD/Unemployable" that should have been before the rater. According to what I have read in Veteran's Benefits Manual you had an inferred claim for TDIU. That does not mean you would have won it, but the VA should have considered it and officially rejected it with reasons and basis back in 1995 when you were first rated. The VA had evidence that you were unemployable and they ignored it. If you had filed an appeal then I think you would have won, but now you are under CUE rules. That is another kettle of fish. Much harder after the fact because as I said before even if the VA admits they made an error they may fall back on the fact you were only rated 30%. If the VA had all the evidence before them and only rated you 30% that is a problem. If they did not have that doctor's evidence about the PTSD/Unemployable before them that would be very different because how could they rate you only 30% if you are unemployable. That would be closer to 100%. That would be an error I think.

You might be able to get insurance but it would be very expensive. Why not just put the money away to buy your wooden box. The VA supplies the head stone and the ground. 20-30 grand is not much money if you have to pay 200 bucks a month to get it. Get the heart SC'ed and if that kills you then you get buried for free or almost. The money from VA insurance is just a burial policy in this day and age. My mother got the same 10 grand 55 years ago when my vet father died. It was a lot them and it is chump change now.

You have to have a new disability and file for the insurance within two years. You only get 10,000 free insurance. The other you have to pay for the next 20,000 if you want it. If you were rated high enough for the heart you might be able to get extra money in form of SMC such as housebound.

If I was going to file for chronic pain I would file for chronic pain and depression. Are you seeing a VA psychiatrist and going to VA pain clinic. You need to complain about depression and see it gets into the doctor's notes.