john999

Your SSA will be reduced if you retired under CSRS. I don't know by how much but lets hope it pays for your medicare. When you hit 65 you get medicare regardless of SSA. I retired under FERS so I got my OPM offset by 60% of SSD until age 62. It is really chickenfeed. Changing civil service to FERS really destroyed the system. What FERS employees get in pension is just a joke. My FERS pension barely pays for my medical insurance. I could not live on what I get from FERS and SSD.

This is what VA told Commander Bob about his PTSD claim. No in-service record of PTSD therefore claim denied.

This NOD contains too much information. The RO won't read it. The NOD is the first step in the appeals process. I also think you should request a DRO Hearning before you go to the BVA. You should be able to get all your NOD on a double spaced single sheet. Everything that Jbasser says about medical statetments and links is also necessary. I know just how you feel about a horrible C&P exam. If your PCP can help you via more testing to refute what exam concludes that might help since you can't afford IMO. Can you afford to wait years and years and then be denied again?

Berta No staged rating. O% and on appeal with more testing I got 60%. I had two tests involving an echo cardiogram with treadmill and another with chemical. Result 60% rating. I am not greedy but I don't want any of my rights walked on either. I don't expect 6 figure retro on this. What I got was HB.

Berta Shouldn't one of these lawyers hire you to be the expert on DIC? If not maybe you should hang up your own shingle. My wife will one day need your help and many others will also. Why should you not get paid something for your knowledge and expertise? You are just light years ahead of most on these issues. Plus, I think widows are so grossly under compensated it is a shame and a scandal. Why is the spouse expected to be able to live on half of what her vet live on?

TestVet I forbide you to die! For God's sake you need to collect for at least another 20 years. You worked too hard to get 100%.

In no way do you need a lawyer to file for OPM disability retirement. I did it and got it in 4 months. Did you file for SSD as well?

When you had the heart attack it was not presumptive for AO at that time. If you had filed a claim for heart disease in 1993 you would come under Nehmer. You have nothing to lose so I think I would try and file a claim as an inferred claim under Nehmer. I don't know if you will win. The VA perhaps should have inferred a heart condition as secondary to PTSD. I think I would seek out a lawyer and see if there is any way you can fight this. The VA is going to say NO right off the bat I think, but that means nothing.

You know I was rated 0% for arterioscelorisis(spelling?) and on appeal I got 60% for heart disease. Do I have any claim under Nehmer. I filed in 2003 and it was rated 0% so I was not denied per se. I was not included in the Nehmer group. I don't want to rattle this cage unless I can get something because I got "S" out of the 60% rating and that rating was a benefit of doubt rating.

If they are on presumptive list the only question should be degree of disability. Do you have a VSO? The RO should be able to rate these issues.

I think they usually want you to go at a pace that will justify the expense. They like job oriented training where you can get a job at the end of the training or education. They don't want to pay for PH.D. in philosophy. If you can train for something with a certificate at the end of that makes you very employable that would really be a selling point. If you have DDD you know that as you age you are not going to be able to keep pace with the job you have. When I was a postal worker that is the argument I used. I was near 50 years old. That was the hard part since I probably would not be able to get the same overall benefit package from entry level job even with a few years of training and I would be too old. The Voc Rehab people agreed with this and they said I was not really suitable for the program. This actually helped with my IU claim later.

You know you can have the pain and nothing shows up on an MRI. I have been hurting for years and finally something showed up on the MRI. I had numbness also way back. Half a dozen doctors got it wrong.

If I had lots of potential retro or difficult SMC I would look for a lawyer. These guys often know doctors who can write it up so it passes. I had a lawyer for another matter whose wife had been a shrink at the VA. I went to her and my claim took wing. The VA accepted it lock, stock and two smoking barrels. They were praising her report in the decision letter. It is not what is wrong with you as much as who is looking after your interests.

Pete I agree that $300 dollars is not enough to keep a HB vet in his house as he gets older. My wife is pretty healthy for now. She could go back to work part time but she likes being "retired". If a vet is truly HB then he needs to have someone there to look after him/her. That costs a hell of a lot more than $300 a month. If they tripled HB it would not be enough.

Yulooking C-5 and C-6 is where I have my problem and it affect the whole left side of my upper back and into my shoulder. Just typing makes it hurt. I got Dragon program but I never use it. The nerves are being squeezed and irritated. Then the spastic cramp starts in my shoulders. If someone does something it should be a neurosergeon. They usually don't do anything unless you are really in severe trouble because of obvious risk. I don't want to be in an iron long or on a respirator.

It is a great victory, but the bastards should be paying interest.

Can't you get G.I. Bill with general under honorable? Have you checked into that. You know my review board came to the VARO to do their hearing. However, with a lawyer on the case I think you have a much better chance especially with a 50% rating for mental condition. I think you will be OK. If you were trying to upgrade LTH or to medical it would be harder, but not impossible. I really think you should have gone for medical and have your fall back as honorable. I assume you were discharged as unsuitable due to personality disorder. This was in injustice to you. Did you serve in a combat zone? You were treated like a dog. So were many of us. Get every benefit you can get. The people that kicked you out will get everything the system has to offer and then some. You know I spent two months in a mental hospital in the Army and was under psychiatrist's care when I was kicked out for PD. I got just 10% from VA for major mental disorder. Now I am TDIU for the last almost ten years. I filed a CUE on my original rating and hired a lawyer. In both our cases the military threw us on the garbage dump. Show them the same mercy they showed you. Take it easy, but take it. You are one of a horde of vets who were screwed so don't feel lonely.

I am a retired investor. Buy pork bellies at 20 and sell them at 50. Good day, my man. My investments actually did pay off so if I win my CUE maybe I will buy a little cottage on the coast of Maine. Ah, the idle rich lazing on a sunny afternoon. Now I just need a butler....oh, Jeeves! What we get from the VA is the very least they can do.

That is fast track on PTSD claim. It used to be that many got hung up on stressor verification for months if not years. Larry really condensed the process down to a T. It should be like that for claims and not a wait and see process that goes on for years with VA stumbling all over the place. When I filed my mental claim I had a letter from the Vet Center head couselor and the VA just ignored it and gave me some other DX. All I was interested in was getting the percentage, so it did not matter that much, but it still bugs me how they did it. I see it is much improved.

What was the nature of your discharge? Was in general under honorable or LTH? If you have good evidence you should be able to get an upgrade. I got an upgrade many years ago after Vietnam. Going from honorable to medical is a different animal. That means the military has to pay so they fight like cats and dogs. If you have a hearing will your lawyer be there to represent you? You need someone familiar with the rules to be there for you. I had a hearing. My rep had them crying at the end. It was such a sad story I felt like crying. I have never been so sorry for myself in my life. That is the proof of a good rep. Even the hardassed military officer seemed to melt a little. There were civilians and military at the hearing. It is informal but you need a rep.

When I went to my BVA hearing with my lawyer and our copy of my C-File I noticed that the BVA's copy of my file was three times as large as the one I had. My lawyer immediately requested a copy of what the BVA judge had in front of him. In the last 6 months of my army service I was on a number of psychiatric drugs including stelazine. This all disappeared from the record. I have requested records of my psychiatric treatment from HAAF near Ft Steward and have never been able to find them. They are not in St. Louis and HAAF says they don't have them. Where did they go?

You may be able to get Fee Base but I have heard that it is not all that great.

Right! I get orthopedic care outside the VA. I get podiatric care outside the VA. I get PT outside the VA. I get psychiatric care inside and outside the VA. I did hear that someone I know got very good care at the VA for a very serious condition. If I have misjudged the VAMC system I would love to be surprised. I just want better physical access.

It could be a good thing. I use the St. Pete VARO and I don't see how it could be worse. Are there better RO's and worse RO's? Maybe. The get orders from Washington D.C.

You have to call them and the VA will tell you who your SW'er is. Mine helped me get some home care. I was disappointed with the care. They tried to charge my medicare first. Then I told them I am 100% HB vet so get it right. The VA oursourced my home care to some private outfit that was just awful.