john999

It would be good if you could send all your evidence in with your NOD, but not necessary. Just get the NOD in on time. Then you can submit new evidence. You are into appeals and nothing is going to move fast. I usually send in a NOD including a request for a DRO Hearing, so I can get another shot at a BVA hearing down the road. I don't believe you need to use the VA NOD form. I might just download it and use it. John

I am waiting for the VA to offer me a lump sum to opt out of VA health care. A local congressman did a survey of vets and found 40% of vets wanted to opt out of VA care and get their care from private sources and have VA pay like Fee Base. I also have medicare and a supplement for me and my wife. It costs me $435 a month. It is worth it because neither me nor my wife have copays or deductibles. My wife has ChampVA and Blue Cross and I have medicare and BC. If the VA would pay for our blue cross I would never darken their door again. I am officially housebound but I can't get Fee Base because the VA says I live too close. I see really old geezers (WW11) at the VAMC waiting for hours. Many can barely walk. John

Is this an original claim? The exam doctor did not review the vet's SMR's nor current medical records. He just looked you over and claims to have looked at your C-File.

Does a vet have to deal with that fine examination of symptoms with other mental disorders that might be SC?

You can get DIC if you are TDIU for ten years or if you die from SC condition. When you are TDIU you are considered to be totally disabled just like 100% scheduler except you cannot work above poverty line. I get TDIU for the last 12 years. I don't work at all since I also get SSDI. If you continue to work and get TDIU you give the VA a string to pull on. If you don't need the money do volunteer work. Learn about investing. That kind of income does not count against TDIU. John

That is great!

She needs a letter from a doctor saying her current disability is as likely as not caused by her injury to her shoulder in the service. This is called the Nexus.

If you could get one of your claims up to 40% you could claim TDIU if you can't work.

P&T is your next step if you did not get it.

I got the same message for a VCAA notice. The VA blamed it all on me. They said I never returned the part that tells them I have no more evidence. That was a lie. I wrote my congresswoman and she did get the ball rolling. I had a C&P scheduled within a month after waiting 11 months on what was supposed to be FDC. Now I have done my C&P and will get a decision soon I think. I waited a year for that exam when all the records were right there at the VA which is why I filed FDC. When Ebenefits repeated saying they were waiting on VCAA I wrote and called them half a dozen times to tell them I had no more evidence. It was not until I wrote the congresswoman that I got a result. I have to write her and tell her thanks.

I had a C&P for an increase in DMII. I think my exam doctor just said that since I am on oral meds for control of glucose levels I should get 20%. If he filed out a disability questionnaire I did not see it and he signed the exam while I was there. He did not ask me about the two secondary conditions I have due to DMII. I guess I have to file for increase on them separately? Has anyone heard of Sleep Apnea secondary to DMII? Really, I wonder what kind of exam you get for DMII when the doctor does not ask about the obvious secondary conditions? I did not think he was personally hostile to me but just negligent. He only asked if I had been hospitalized due to the DMII. This is the guy who believes many vets get fat just to get higher DMII ratings. John

Congress should be doing a survey of vets to see how they feel about the VA. Yes, we could do a survey of each issue and I would take the survey to my congresswoman and tell her that Hadit represents thousands of vets which it has over time. Our congressman for the district next door to mine did do a survey. Somehow he wound up with a 68% approval rating for the VA heath care system. I think the local VARO and VA hospitals sent there people to talk to the congressman, but they did find that 40% wanted referrals out of the VA for health care. Of the 68% who like the VA I wonder how many have no other options? John

How about C&P exams? I had a C&P doctor tell me that many Vietnam vets get fat on purpose so they can get DMII claims increased. What kind of mentality would assume that, or what kind of desperate person would make their DMII worse just to get a few bucks more? Nobody in their right mind would make a potentially fatal disease worse just for money. However, there is a county in Florida that is known for the number of accidental gunshot wounds to the hand or foot with assumed idea that they do it for SSD/SSI. I think they call the county "Nub County" and it is in the Florida Panhandle. Is the world insane? But to the subject of worst problem at the VA? There are so many problems the whole system needs to be abolished and most managers and doctors who have been infected with VA prejudice against vets fired. I have experienced this bigotry for 40 years. The people running the VA think of vets as freeloaders and bums. What can you expect from such a system? My VA dentist thought vets should not be entitled to VA dental care because it cost the taxpayers too much. No wonder he did such a crummy job on my tooth. John

I think there will have to be more dead soldiers and flyers if we intervene in Iraq for the VA to really be back in the hot seat. There have to be body bags coming home for people in the USA to care a little. 58,000 dead in Vietnam and the vets were treated like trash for 40 years. Maybe if all the middle east blows sky high and we have to get back in then attention will be focused on loses and vets. I waited forty years for the VA to get better. I had a C&P yesterday for DMII and the doctor tells me many vets get fat just to get an increase in their DMII rating. What can you say with that reasoning? Would somebody put on 50lbs just to get an increase in DMII rating and have to take insulin twice a day? John

Wait time for BVA appeals is a horror story. The thing is that many claims should never get to the BVA. They should be solved at the VARO level. Even if a BVA appeal "only" took a year that is a year too long.

Has anyone heard of EPAT therapy for plantar fasciitis? I assume that is too advanced for the VA health care system, but who knows? I have had soft tissue foot pain for years. This EPAT therapy is a non-invasive treatment. I just wonder if anyone has had it done or heard much about it. I understand insurance does not pay for it. I took chances on "new" foot pain treatments before with awful results. I am going to look before I leap. My foot pain has really taken a toll on my quality of life. I would be willing to pay for it if it worked. I read that it can cost between $300-500 bucks per foot. That would be cheap to me to relieve my painful feet. Most exercise I can't do because of my foot pain. John

I went out to eat with relatives. After sitting in a booth for about 90 minutes my back got so stiff I needed help to stand up. My lower back hurts, and is stiff as a board in the mornings or when I sit on hard surface for over 30 minutes. The only thing that gives me relief is oxycodone or some other opiate. Now if VA would authorize massage therapy some place close to my house that would help but they won't do that. I really need permanent PT not 6 weeks of it. I have chronic issues with back and neck pain. I just cannot get the help I need anywhere without letting somebody cut into my back. This is not going to happen unless I lose control of my bladder or something.

You should appeal the denial of Chapter 35 benefits (P&T). By the time you NOD the denial of P&T it will probably be a year and that is long enough to show your disability is static. You can get IME in the meantime to show your condition is static. If your spouse was your caregiver she might be able to have loans discharged since she can't work if she must take care of you. I am guessing on this, but otherwise I don't see how it would work to get loans discharged if they are in her name only. John

I think you can get TDIU, but you will probably need a medical opinion that explains how C&P doctor made a mistake in saying you work full time. If you are only able to work at poverty level then I think you can get TDIU. You are 90% SC. I was 70% SC and I got SSDI and TDIU, so I bet you can do it. What I was saying is that if you want TDIU you should lay low on the part time work until you actually get TDIU. After that you will have to report your earnings to the VA each year. If you only are able to work at poverty level you should be OK. I have had earned income a few times in the last ten years, but it was well below poverty level and was actually just earned income in name only due to union settlements over wages I should have received before I retired. My TDIU claim was denied at first and I used an IME to get it fixed. If a doctor says it the VA will often believe it. If you as a vet say it they will give it no credence. I would not give up on TDIU and then if you do get scheduler you can forget TDIU. John

I also think it is about the statistics. The VA wants to show they are doing something when, in fact, they are doing nothing.

A claim that went to BVA in 2008 sure as heck should have been decided by now. That is almost 6 years for the BVA to make a decision. That is not reasonable.

You contacted VA about his heart attack emergency. Did the VA get back to you? Usually, they want to transfer the vet to a VA hospital as soon as it is safe to do it. You need to talk to someone at the VA about this situation. I know you say you tried, but unless you want to get a bill from this hospital that the VA won't pay you need to get something from they to authorize continued treatment at this Non VA hospital. Do you have a congressman near you can talk to about this situation. With all the hubbub about wait times and poor care from the VA you should be able to get this covered by the VA. You just need to CYA because knowing Bill Haley VA they can be deaf, dumb and blind. I live in Tampa and I was denied Fee Base even though I am housebound and 100%. You cannot assume the VA is going to cover bills from Non VA providers. If he is out of ICU then I think the VA will want him at their hospital if it is safe to move him by ambulance. John

I think if there was criminal fraud going on at the VA then FBI could investigate. I think the Attorney General would have to let the FBI loose on the VA. Somehow I don't think that will happen. The FBI is pretty good at catching bank robbers and framing retarded terror suspects like in Tampa recently.

Lawyer!

Maybe the raters at VARO will be able to understand what you were saying, but I doubt it. They will just take the word of the exam doctor and write in your decision that you are working full time. Now if they deny TDIU then you must NOD, and explain that you do not work full time. You probably need an IME to say you are "unemployable solely due to SC condition". If this is not true then don't say it. Do you pay SSA tax on your earnings? Do you file taxes each year? This is what they use to do matching with your statements. I am not judging you, but trying to think like VA. If I wanted TDIU I would stop working at all at least until I get the rating. If you want to risk it after with part time work that is your decision. TDIU is really for those who don't quite reach 100% scheduler, but in most important regards are 100%. Working is the most important feature in VA disability in MH conditions and in many others as well. There are double amputees who work full time and those in wheelchairs who work full time, but they are exceptions. If you worked for VFW, AL or DAV then you could get away with it. Maybe if you were a US Senator you could do it since they just blow hot air.