john999

The VA raising co-pays while denying a COLA is almost criminal. They commit fraud on a grand scale by billing private insurance for SC conditions. Try fixing that problem and you run into a brick wall of denial and BS from the VA. I have my congress critter working on it, but who knows. They only work on individual case and not the whole fradulent process. They hail recent vets as heros, but they too are getting screwed.

What is your total rating?

Is this vet going to take you out to lunch?

Ham Get a lawyer for the SSDI. You might even consider hiring a lawyer for the VA. You can do it now once you get a decision and file a NOD.

Rockman You have enough for a PTSD claim as long as you have the DX since you have the stressors. File for it. The PH is enough and the Brone Star with the V is also enough for the VA to accept your stressor.

I don't think you could get 100% for High Blood unless you had a couple of strokes. You have to have a very serious case of uncontrolled high blood to get a high rating. You need to be almost dead. You know very high blood results usually in a stroke. You could probably get 100% for the stroke as a result of HBP. This is my opinion from talks with my doctor at the VA. Is your HBP controlled by meds?

You will have to get a doctor to say your drugs have caused the DMII. The VA won't admit that. I have taken some of those drugs myself. The mirtizapine put me to sleep for days. I threw it out. The neuronton is anti-seizure medication. Do you have nerve pain?

You want to speak to your doctor about the meds that are causing the DMII. The thing is to stop the process if possible. If the drugs have damaged you that is a different matter. That would be horrible and you should claim everything as Berta says. Is this a condition that will stop if you stop taking the drugs or is it a permanent damage to your organs?

You could be 100% for one issue and the military can discharge you for some other issue at 20%. Then the VA rates you at 100% back to the day of discharge. The military has successfully dumped you, and handed you off to the loving arms of the VA.

That does not sound right to me. They are handing you off to the VA with no exit physical? When did this start? If it is not in your SMR's the VA is going to say your records are silent on this matter. Berta is giving good advice about your SMR's. Check them carefully. I would demand a exit physical if there is any way to do that. I can see a bunch of vets falling through the cracks. The one year after discharge is very important to many claims.

Can you afford to spend 6 weeks in a in-patient program? It would be good for your claim. What you need for your claim is a DX of PTSD from the VA. It might be easier to go to see her one hour a week. I don't know your situation.

There is really no such thing as tipping your hand. You win claims with evidence. The sooner you get it to the VA the sooner you win. The VA presents their case and you use that information to gather evidence to rebutt it. That is the logical way to do it, but even logic does not work all the time. Persistence is what works.

The thing is your rating does not depend totally on a C&P exam. You might try and get an independent medical opinion to bolster your rating. The VA is not going to put you in the hospital based on a C&P exam. It sure would help your claim if you could stand it. Just don't tell them you feel better.

When you send in the NOD the VA is supposed to send you a statement of the case. This is the VA's case regarding how and why they have reached their decision. Now you shape your appeal on the SOC. They have to tell you why they did not give you the maximum benefit requested. You can then go out and get more evidence to rebutt the SOC. The VA gives you the path to overcome their decision.

You have one year from original decision to file a NOD. In your NOD you can ask for a DRO Hearing or Review. As soon as you get the decision the NOD clock starts to tick. The NOD is the first step in traditional appeal process. Your reconsideration request is inside the time limit for a NOD. If you don't get a decision on your reconsideration before the year is over you have lost your appeal rights. They don't tell you that. Sept 22, 2011 is a big date for you.

The thing is you have to keep your claim alive to get the big retro usually.

The only problem you will have is if you are "retired" on workers compesation. If you just took a disability retirement there is no offset for TDIU. I got OMP disability, SSDI and TDIU. At one point I was getting WC and then I had to make a choice between VA and WC.

VA ignoring evidence of all kinds is sort of SOP. Where else do you see disabled people with claims strung out over the last ten years trying to work their way through a system of trap doors and IED's set by the organization that is supposed to "Care for those who have borne the battle".

Like all large organizations the CYA syndrome is predominant. VA can't stand the heat. They would rather cover up anytime.

I think the idea is to kill a few people. It cuts down on cost. Making a disable person wait two years for medicare is the congressional hope you will die very soon before you get medicare. Always about the money. Disabled and old farts are considered liabilites by our government IMO.

SSI is not the same as SSD. When you get SSD you have a two year wait to get medicare. Really, SSD, medicare and VA have little to do with each other. You get SSI if you are at poverty level and are disabled. You then get medicade. Don't count on a 100% schedular rating unless the IHD is rated at 100% by itself.

I would say that if you claim is not going to be for 100% it is just not worth it financially for the lawyers to represent you. If you have a shot at 100% or IU then they will represent you. One of the lawyers who posted here said that would be how it would work out for us. When a lawyer represents someone for SSD they know about how much they are going to get since if they win they get a certain amount from the retro. With the VA if the vet is awarded 10% they get almost nothing for services. What this means is find a way to get 100%. It is possible to expand some of these claims. For instance, anyone who has a disability may be able to get either chronic pain or depression as secondary. That can add up!

I am afraid that it is going to come down to that situation. If you had a shot at getting 10 years of retro the lawyer would probably take your claim. It is about money. A doctor hurt me recently and lawyers told me unless the doctor cut off the wrong foot I was out of luck. I did not like that one bit.

Rob One thing for sure is that if you don't file a claim you will never get anything. What you need is evidence. I would not trust numb nuts at the VFW. You can hire a lawyer from any state to represent you. You should be ready for a fight when you file. I would file for every condition I have within the first year after retirement. It gets much harder after that because of time factor. I think getting a lawyer is a good idea if you don't want to work the claim yourself. Their is something called the profit motive which works better than some VSO that has hundreds of claims and gets paid by the hour to sip coffee.

I have the ratings and I applied for "S", so let's see. The lawyers at NVLSP said it is law. I sent in my claim about two weeks ago.