john999

Pete I bet there is a relationship between homelessness and the VA claims process. If it takes you two years to get IU what happens to the Vet in the meantime? If they can't pay the rent and don't have someone to take them in they become homeless. Being homeless makes it harder to win a VA claim. People who are not disabled are becoming homeless by the thousands because they lose their jobs.

Stillhere Are you already SC'ed for heart disease? You say the VA put in a claim for an EED for heart disease? In order to get an EED you have to be SC'ed already. The idea that the VA is going to put in a claim for you over the phone would not make me feel all that secure. Do you have a DX for heart disease secondary to DMII? I got SC'ed for CAD secondary to DMII. It is not automatic by any means. The ischemic thing is presumptive now so I guess Nehmer would apply if you have already claimed heart disease caused by AO. If you have not claimed it then it won't apply. Just because you are SC'ed for hbp does not mean automatic SC for subsequent heart problems. You need a medical opinion for almost all secondary conditions. Do you even know if you have heart disease or are you just filing to protect yourself under Nehmer?

Stillhere Are you already SC'ed for heart disease? You say the VA put in a claim for an EED for heart disease? In order to get an EED you have to be SC'ed already. The idea that the VA is going to put in a claim for you over the phone would not make me feel all that secure. Do you have a DX for heart disease secondary to DMII? I got SC'ed for CAD secondary to DMII. It is not automatic by any means. The ischemic thing is presumptive now so I guess Nehmer would apply if you have already claimed heart disease caused by AO. If you have not claimed it then it won't apply.

SSD lawyers may know doctors who will write IMO's since they use them for their clients all the time. Are you going to apply for SSD? You could kill two birds with one stone.

If your SSD is for SC condition that is the very definition of IU and your SSD date should be the effective date for IU. The VA can go back at least one year from the time you submit your IU claim.

I would see a psychiatrist to try and advance a claim for depression and chronic pain. If you can bump up any of your claims to at least 40% and 60% overall the VA will have a hard time denying your IU claim. When you can't sit down and you can't stand up due to pain that would depress anyone. How is your sleep? Remember that these chronic pain conditions usually go hand in hand with some level of depression. You make that a secondary claim to your SC'ed back condition. You might get more for that than for the back.

It is really hard to count the homeless. In my county there is supposed to be about 10,000 homeless. It might be twice that many. They don't stand still for a census. The county next door put up a tent city. Many homeless are severely mentally ill and won't go to shelters. What is sad is that more and more homeless are children.

The head of the VA psychology program in Tampa was running a homeless shelter for vets. He was charging them for shelter and food and putting that money in his pocket. He was also running a scam with public housing. He is in prison now I think. He should have been hanged.

I think the VA has a stamp with wording "Vet's SMR's are silent on hearing loss, PTSD, Foot, back problems.....etc. That is a standard answer even when it makes no sense. They told Commander Bod he couldn't have PTSD because his SMR's did not show it. That is absurd and goes with hearing loss that does not show up right away.

If the war in Afghanistan heats up the list will get longer still. God only knows what kinds of germs and diseases the soldiers and marines are exposed to living in harsh conditions. What scandal that we don't know about yet like agent orange are they exposed to presently? I know they want to increase the size of the military and that means more disability claims. The government and military are eager to send people to war, but very reluctant to deal with the veteran and his problems years later. The vets life goes on after he gets home. 20 years after discharge he may find he has been injured by his own government' negligence.

No, it does not count for increases for the same disability. You have to have a new one if you are going to get the insurance. Broncovet is right about the amount needed. The thing is that if the vet has to actually pay for the policy for say 750,000 bucks it will cost a lot of money. Back in the day active duty survivor only got 10,000 if the soldier got KIA'ed. That part has changed but, as usual, vets are 60 years behind.

Pete If you can find something in your records that would justify a 10% rating for some new disability you would be eligible for the insurance. For instance, if you had an IMO that your panic disorder aggravated heart condition then you would be there. It is a long shot but you get the idea.

10,000 bucks for a 100% disabled vet is really an insult. Life insurance is supposed to help provide for the survivors and not be a burial policy.

I was in Vietnam during the Kent State shooting. It was just a line in the Stars and Stripes. We were so isolated from all that. I was not political. At that time you either went to college or you got drafted usually. Before the army I had never thought about Vietnam at all. I had never been confronted with the class system in suck stark terms as in the army. It opened my eyes.

For vets to have to "prove" a claim is a lot to ask from someone who may be unable to earn a living. I guess if you have some more minor problem that does not affect your ability to work it does not matter that much if your claim takes 6 months or a year to adjudicate. However, if you are not able to earn a living based on an unproven compensation every day seems like a year. I think IU or 100% disability claims should go to the top of the list. You can lose everything you have earned in a life time while you wait for an IU claim to be won.

I remember talking about Vietnam with some students at the student union. I got these sort of blank stares, and it was one of those learning moments when you realize you don't want to bring up this topic again. Every guy there was dodging the draft. I could not blame them for that. When I mentioned I had been in Vietnam it was like I had cut a fart in church. Nobody insulted me. They forgave me for being an idiot.

Darkhorse Just the State benefits like property tax exemption creates a great incentive to never work again if you are P&T. Also having your dependents on ChampVA and dependent educational benefits are worth thousands of tax free dollars. If you figure all that into a P&T rating I wonder what it is really worth in dollars? I bet it is worth much more than the average Joe could earn at a decent job. If the VA improves DIC and life insurance for disbled vets then the value of P&T rating gets even greater. We may be the only ones with a reliable income in the USA. I worked at the Post Office for 20 years, and I get more money now via SSD, IU, OPM and my disability insurance than I ever got working. I did not plan it that way, but they threw me into the briar patch.

Since everything the VBA does is based on numbers and meeting goals the VA could crank out twice as many decisions, but if the decisions all end up on appeal due to sloppy work who is the winner? The last decision I had was so poor I don't even understand their reasoning even though it was in my favor.

Was their a criminal investigation of the rape? Did the rape happen on a military base or installation? You need every scrap of evidence you can get to back this up. Your medical discharge did not mention depression or MST at all? I would push this claim with all my might and quickly. Time is important in these things because other things happen that can muddy the waters as Larry says.

Shark That sounds like you will get either 100% or IU. What was the Axis One on your GAF score? Was it for PTSD? Did they say the alcoholism was secondary to PTSD? Did the VA say you have a personality disorder? The favorite trick of the VA is to grant that you are unemployable, but to attribute it to PD or NSC issues.

You may be able to work on and off with SSD, but that is peanuts compared to what we get from IU or 100%. If you monkey around with those benefits it may not be so easy to get them started up again. The feds may encourage you to try working, and then they come down on you with an ax. If you are over 40 years old you better think long and hard about playing around with these disability benefits. You know even very qualified people over the age of 40 can't get jobs in this environment with 10-15% unemployment. I am almost 60 years old. If I recovered next week and was able to work where would I work? Could I get a job at the grocery store bagging groceries?

They reduced a lot of WWII vets after a few years. The VA just sort of stabbed these vets in the back. The poor Korean vets are completely forgotten even worse than us Nam vets. Vietnam is burned into the brains of the military while Korea is forgotten.

You should file a claim for PN secondary to DMII. You will get a C&P exam. They check for numbness, especially the glove and sock kind of sensational neuropathy. Even if the EMG is negative you may still get connected for PN with the pin prick test.

You might request a medical retirement although your time for this is running long. I don't believe you can get a medical retirement pension and VA compensation at the same time if you did not complete your 20 years. You might be able to get Tricare but you have to go before a Discharge Review Board. If you are going to do it you need to do it pretty quick. After 15 years from discharge it becomes almost impossible.

retired44 The VA is supposed to consider all conditions in a claim as well as all the evidence. The VA is also supposed to develope a claim to its optimum. However, they almost never do this unless prodded and pushed by the veteran. The VA goes as far as to give minimum consideration to the specific issues raised by the veteran. Then they shut down and shut up until the vet either raises the issues himself or appeal time runs out on the claim. Since their is no punishment to either the VA as an institution or the rater as an individual for leaving the job half done I think they may actually be rewarded for saving the government money. I think the motto is wrap up the claim and pay out as little as possible. If the vet is too ignorant or sick to pursue it then too bad. Many times I don't believe it is the merits of a claim, but the knowledge and persistence of the vet that wins the day.