john999

I would go to my shrink and get an opinion that my depression is chronic and permanent since this is what you got IU for orginally.

If you get TDIU without P&T you can appeal the denial of Chapter 35 within the one year time frame. That is what I did. Why wait years for the VA to make you P&T.

Check yourself into the VA hospital if you have to lay down on the floor. I mean it. Let the SOB's arrest you. Tell them if they do not admit you then you are going to kill yourself, or them.....now!

I would rather hire someone who has something to gain if I win my claim. The good old profit motive at work. You get, he gets. If you have ten years of retro your hired gunfighter has a good reason to try hard to win your claim...No brag, just fact.

Navydoc You don't have to reprove SC but you need a doctor to review your medical records and to say, as Carlie says, that you are not going to improve and your disabilties are permanent. What is your main SC for that got you to IU? That is the doctor you probably want to see.

I talked to a vet today who was a RVN vet and I could not get it through his head that his heart attack might be presumptive for AO.

The elbows will require some explanation and medical rational to show how they are related to your knee.

Hmmm......then there are going to be a lot of claims for HB when this becomes common knowledge. HB is like 295 bucks but it is money and I wouldn't mind collecting since I fit that description twice in the court decision. This should be plaster over the internet because their are many IU vets out there who might qualify.

No, I don't think SSDI back dates to anything except from the time you claim it. Maybe IU could be backdated to the time you got SSDI if the VA knew about it. For SSDI you have to be disabled 6 months before you can claim it. If you were disabled for ten years I still think it is still 6 months from the time you claim it. I don't think you can get an EED for SSDI.

If you have DMII it is a sure shot. They take your word for it. If you are taking anti-depressants or pain meds this can cause it.

Your decision letter should list all the mental health disabilites, but you only get a rating for one. Say you have 70% for PTSD, and you also have depression, sleep problems, chronic pain disorder. The VA rates all the conditions and puts it under PTSD. The VA rated me for five different MH issues and put them under the one I don't have for 70%. It does not matter since you only get one rating %.

I don't read it that way with TDIU+60% as being inferred HB. I read 100% for one disability and 60% for another as inferred HB. I think if you are 100% schedular the VA is "supposed" to consider you for HB. They never seem to do that, however. If you have a disability that makes you housebound then that is a different case. For instance, say you have agoraphobia. That is by definition HB. Please post the regulation that says TDIU+60% is inferred HB. I don't think there is such a thing as TDIU plus 60%.

I would try and get the HB award and then worry about going back to get retro HB. You might need a stronger statement about being HB.

Teac You have a great record on CUE. I have one going to the BVA. I had a lawyer and we both thought the error was obvious. Not to the DRO! It is almost 2 years old now. My CUE goes back to my original rating in 1973. You know they think that is poison due to possible large retro. If am TDIU back to 2001. I have an additional 60%. The VA never mentioned HG or A&A.

Teac I would not start spending my CUE money yet. If you are talking 15K in retro expect a denial initially. In your 2001 rating does is there evidence that you are housebound? I don't think it is going to be that easy. All the VA has to do is to just say they did not make an error. Then you have to appeal it. You are going to have to shove it up their ^^%$$#. My opinion. The burden is on you to prove CUE. No benefit of doubt. No VCAA. No judgement call.

If you use SSD records be sure that the reason he got SSD is for a SC issue. You don't want to give the VA ammunition to say he is IU because of NSC stuff. They will do that for sure.

Personality changes from TBI can be severe. Who knows how many vets with TBI are in jail today for injuries to area of the brain that controls impluse? My father-in-law had severe TBI. He did not even know his name for six months. He seemed to recover, but his ability to control his impulses was gone. He ended up in prison. This was WWII so they knew nothing about this injury. The main things are treatment and rehabilitatin.

That's a good c&p and like Larry says the actual percentage rating is a crap shoot. If Rental guy was here he could probably tell you a better guess on percentage based on your ROM. The main thing is to get SC'ed. Once you are SC'ed you could file for chronic pain disorder, depression due to a general medical condition and a few other things that come to mind. Even a 10% rating blows open the doors of the vault. You never get true compensation for what you have lost, but SC is the route to more money.

If it were me I would file an NOD and ask for a DRO Hearing. This way to protect your right to go on to the BVA. You also protect the earliest effective date. I don't really think that a reconsideration will always faster and better than a regular NOD and DRO Appeal. As soon as you get your decision the one year clock starts to tick. If you ask for reconsideration you need new evidence and the clock does not stop. I just don't think their is any magic way to win claims faster. When you get reconsideration the same people that screwed you the first time are the ones who will reconsider your claim. You must have new evidence, or you will get the same decision. You got your 100% rating. Now you can go for the EED. Ask for housebound as well while you are at it. I think you should get the EED to the date after discharge. How the hell did the military discharge a guy with obvious severe PTSD with no rating, or did they medically discharge you? I don't see how you can go from being OK one day and 100% disabled one day later. I am blaming the military for this not you. If you got anything but a medical discharge I would appeal that discharge and ask for a pension. You can get Tricare out of it even if the VA money offsets the pension money.

If you were hopitalized for SC condition you can sometimes use that as an EED for an IU claim. I did that. I was in the nuthouse for a few days long enough to get a GAF of 40. I used that to get an EED on my TDIU. It got me about 6 months extra IU pay. I lost my job dating back to the time I went to the funny farm for a visit.

If you are unemployed due to your SC disabilies your chances are very good for IU. I don't think you will get it back dated because you did not ask for it and they did not infer it. Did the VA have information in 4/09 that you were not working? If they knew you were not working due to sc conditions they should have considered IU then.

How do you apply for housebound? Do you just do a letter to the VA and ask for it. Due to my damn feet I am pretty HB. I have PN in all four limbs so that should help with the HB I guess, plus chronic pain disorder all SC. I hate to have another C&P exam since I got my IU P&T, but I am pretty much housebound.

Alone You are making the mistake of not demanding care for your condition from the VA. If you let years go by it will make getting compensation harder. You must establish the fact that you are getting continual care from the VA or another mental health care professional. If you have not filed a claim for your mental health problem you have let three years of potential compensation slip through your fingers. You need to get in treatment and document that you have a condition related to your service. I went to the VA one time and did not go back again for 25 years. I did pay for my own care, but it was much cheaper then, and almost impossible to afford now. Vet center is a good idea if they can advocate for you and get you back to see a psychiatrist at the VA. I went to a vet center. The VA ignored the Vet Center's written diagnosis of "chronic and severe PTSD" because the counselor was not a psychiatrist. If you have a dx of PTSD or any other mental health problem file a claim right away.

See, when you get a cola it is rolled into your base amount of benefit so that next time you get cola that is based on new cola enhanced amount you got last time. When you get a $250 one time payment it is not rolled into your base annuity. I learned this being a postals employee. That is how the corrupt union and management conspired to encourage employees to beleive that their union was working for them.

Good idea, Larry, I will do that.