john999

I think the "new disability" is PTSD. The thing is I already have 70% for depression and anxiety. I am a Vietnam vet as well. Maybe they think my DX should be PTSD. I did not ask for it and I don't think it is going to affect my compensation since I already have TDIU P&T for almost 20 years. Way back I went to one of those vet centers and went to group therapy. When I was working my claim back in 2001 I asked the vet center to submit my records to the VA. They put a DX of PTSD but I got my award for depression and anxiety. So maybe this it. I don't think I will get any more money since they lump mental claims together and come up with a rating. I have an overall rating of 90%. I don't care about getting 100% schedular since I am 71 years old and retired. It is just an amazing turn of events. I never got a break from the VA since I filed my first claim in 1972. I asked for an increase in my DMII so maybe they looked at everything. My DMII claims is simple with all records at the VA hospital. I thought this would be a slam dunk with no complications. Wrong.

Pacmanx1 I will try doing the ebenefits thing as you suggest. I think I got an increase on the DMII because I have to use insulin now.

The S-1 housebound award is about $300 a month. If the VA goes back 4 years that is a nice pile of money. Did you have another disability of 60% or more? The VA adds the S-1 award to your 100% compensation. All those award types are worth the effort since that is tax free money. $300 tax free is about $400-$450 taxable. If you have service connected DMII or heart disease, or blood pressure there are other conditions related to these conditions you can claim. A lot of vets get SC'ed for a physical condition and never realize that they probably have grounds to claim a new mental/emotional condition. Mental conditions also mean a vet can sometimes claim related physical conditions, but nobody is going to tell you this at the VA.

I was recently sent a letter by LHI for an exam . This was for a disability I did not actually claim. I know this is nuts. On the letter from LHI it stated that if I was over 65 years old I did not have to attend the exam if I feared possible infection by covid-19. I told them I was afraid of covid and that since I did not actually claim this new disability I did not want to attend the pension exam. Today I got a letter telling me I was eligible for Disabled Vet Life Insurance. I interpret this as the VA having ignored my letters and made a decision on a new disability I did not claim. Wow.....this is goofy especially since I think they granted a rating on this unclaimed disability. I had written them twice telling them I did not claim the new disability and that it was a mistake. Never the less, it looks like they may have granted it anyway. I did go for a DMII exam for an increase. I was told a decision was made on all my claims and that I would be getting a letter in the next ten days. This is a bit nerve wracking wondering what the hell the VA is up to now. The so-called new disability claim I did not make has nothing to do with DMII. Once the VA wheels get rolling they are hard to stop even if they are wrong.

I accidently listed a disability I did not want considered for an increase. I was wanting just increase for DMII. I wrote letter to VA saying to cancel my claim for the other condition because I actually can't get more for it. I sort of regret it but I have maximum compensation right now and I don't really want to mess with it except to document my getting worse.

Snakes.....I see you are young. If you could go for 100% rather than TDIU you would be able to work a little bit if you were able. I have had TDIU for almost 20 years. I often wished I could work at some job, but I knew I would never be able to earn a living again. However, I would at least get permanent TDIU if nothing else. You get many benefits if you are P&T. In Florida I pay no property tax. My auto tags are almost free. I get the free life insurance. My wife is eligible for DIC. Don't worry too much about having things taken away if you go for TDIU or 100%. I heard all that crap from DAV about losing what I had if I appealed ratings. Go for it.

By not appealing my rating in 1973 I lost possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation over the years. Always file all your appeals starting with initial notice of disagreement even on routine type claims.

If the vet is housebound and 100% for PTSD he probably should have designated Caregiver. So the Caregiver should have money from the VA as well. 100% for any mental disorder means the person is probably psychotic and needs much help. Now we know this is not always the case since not many here with 100% are psychotic and totally out of their minds. If you are 70% for a mental issue the regs reveal a person with major, major malfunction and we know most of those guys just can't work a job. They are not basket cases.

There are a lot of people at the VA and VSO's who have wrong information. Always check it out here just like you did. VA doctor told me I would never get more than 30% and now have P&T plus SMC-S.

I had 70% TDIU for a couple of years and then got another rating for 60%. I had to remind the VA that they owed me housebound. I got it and retro to the time I first got the 60% rating. I have five other ratings of 20% and four 10% ratings. I have a 90% rating overall now. VA math? I think the main thing to get after 100%, or TDIU rating is P&T no new exams.

We should be thanking you and not you thanking us. You provided the website for years for free. Least we can do is to help out for what you have done.

You deserve it Tbird. When I got to this website I did not know what TDIU meant. A year later I had it plus retro. This is a good place.

I am 90% TDIU as well. I need a new 50% disability to get to 100%. I will have 20 years at 70% TDIU in August 2021. The other 20% I got from DMII and Heart Disease due to AO. I think I was one of the first vets to get HB as a TDIU vet when I got an extra 60%. I had to file a CUE to get it. To get my extra 50% I have to rely on getting a lot sicker. I will have TDIU 90% engraved on my tomestone plus FTA.

Broke Soldier I wish I could work. I wonder if the VA will one day say I am too old to work so I no longer have valid case for TDIU? My brother works and he is almost as old as I am. When we lose our ability to work we lose a lot. I lost many contributions to my pension and my 401-K. I don't think people really know what it means to lose ability to work in the USA. I knew people who were 80 years old who worked with me at the USPS. One old guy was in a nursing home and came back to work at the USPS. That's dedication I guess.

The VBM does describe situations where a vet's rating is protected. That does not mean the VA might try and reduce you anyway thinking you might be ignorant of their own laws. Essentially, the VA will try anything legal or illegal to reduce their costs. This is my opinion.

My question is how the VA looks and keeps track to TDIU vets who are over 70 years of age? I am P&T for the last 18 years. I am officially housebound. Is VA still checking up on any earnings I might have via SSA or IRS? No chance of me getting 100% schedular unless I get a lot sicker. I am 90% with TDIU now. Not that I intend to try to work. I have only passive earnings from investments. Very lucky in that regard, but it took almost 40 years to get there. Don't let people tell you how to get rich quick with hot tips and fantastic business deals.

I remember being shorted on my IU effective date. I knew that I had been in the VA hospital five months before I was awarded IU. I wrote to the VA on a claim for asking my my retro. I got about 6 months of retro for my IU. I was also granted SSDI back to the hospital date. Later on I got Housebound, but they shorted me by eight months. I filed a CUE claim. I got my cue within a few weeks. They knew they were wrong. When you get any award check it six ways to Sunday. The VA does not care if you get your money.

In Florida when you collect unemployment insurance you sign a statement saying you are ready and willing to go to work. That is not TDIU. I think it would help if you got your doctor to say you are totally disabled due to a service connected disability. He should specify the disability and how if makes you unable to work. What is your current VA disability rating? You need to build a case that your SC disability has worsened to the point that it and it alone makes you unable to gain or hold any sort of employment. This letter should make you eligible for SSDI as well. You need to crush them with evidence. I feel for you since I went through a similar situation. Are you eligible for Worker's Compensation.

IMO it is just a given that you usually have to hire a lawyer to win a SSDI case. I was lucky with mine since my doctor had written many SSDI letters and knew just what to say and how to say it.

I got SSDI when I was 52 years old. I had a doctor who knew how to write a report for SSDI that they had a hard time denying. Mental conditions are easier to win I think because they are hard to measure. If your shrink says you can't work will they get a shrink who says you can if you are TDIU or 100% from the VA?

All I want to know is "Where is my money?" My brother got his on the 15th of April. I wants my money! I finally got a phone appointment with my doctor so I can get my pain pills. I called the VA for days before someone woke up and made my appointment. Lucky I hoard pills so I don't run out before the month is over.

You know with CUE's you have to deal with the law as it was at the time of the CUE. So the 1973 CUE I filed had to be a CUE under 1973 law. This was a joke. The law in 1973 was "VA is always right". It did not matter that VA obviously did not review my most important evidence. The assumption was that they did review it. I had a very able attorney pled my case. The CUE rule about the CUE having to be so obvious that no judgement can enter into it makes it a clerical error. I do think that most CUE claims result in disappointment since the game is rigged. However, sometimes we prevail. I did one time when I just filed on an obvious issue that was almost clerical. Such as a misspelled name of being in the wrong war.

I need my doctor to review my pain med prescription every month because if is an opiate. I can't seem to get an appointment and I am sent on wild goose chase. I will be calling all day today to try and get a Phone or Video appointment with my doc so I can get meds. The system has been completely stalled with my emergency plan for us vets. What about vets who need life saving meds like insulin? When I try to call my doctor I get phone call from some nurse who is working from home and promises me she will call back but never does call back.

One problem I experienced with ancient Cue claims is the frequent changes to VA laws and regulations. A Cue I had filed was first denied under one law that existed in 1972 and then stalled for a year and denied under a newer law that existed in 1973. I believe a vet should file a Cue if justified. I filed a CUE going back to 1973. What is obvious today was a foreign language then. Such as not needed written acknowledgement of evidence received and the VA assuming that everything that could be seen as evidence was reviewed. Administrative law is such BS. Common sense is thrown out the window to protect vested interests. However, you don't know if your CUE will prevail unless you file it as a last resort usually.

I would advise keeping your claim as close to home as possible. The higher you go the more complicated it gets especially if you have a CUE. I pursued a CUE all the way even through the court system. It took six years to lose but lose I did. Evidence is all. If you can get it reviewed at the VARO level they can give you all you need. IMO BVA...COVA means years of waiting and they shoot you down over technical matters.