john999

If you don't like your ratings then file a NOD. I agree that if you filed your claim within one year of discharge your effective date should be day after discharge. This is what I got many moons ago. Since you have been rated for PTSD by the VA you can now go out and get an IME to show you are worse off than 30%. The way the VA works is that they usually start a PTSD vet with a 30% rating and as years go by and you ask for increases they raise you to 50% and then 705-100%. This is a game they play. I started at 10% and ended up with Total plus 60% 30 years later. It took 30 years because I did not have help from an organization like Hadit. I had the VFW and DAV. Worse than useless they were.

If you had a suicide attempt in service and the VA denied you SC for MDD in 1991 you may have a CUE. If I was you I would take all this to a VA lawyer and get him to review it. I assume that you did not appeal the 1991 denial? Did the VA list all the evidence you submitted in your denial? You may be one of the lucky ones since before 1990 the VA did not even have to list or mention the evidence they used to make a rating. I found that out the hard way. If the VA denied your MDD what did they say was wrong with you? Let me guess.......a personality disorder? You know it could be that your 1991 claim is still open since you never got a true denial letter. Did you get an actual denial letter in 2002 , what was the reason you were denied? You should do everything our friend Justrluk says to get current SC, but I would run those old denials by a VA lawyer who knows what they are doing. Back in the day the VA did so many sleezy things it is a crime. I file for SC in 1972 and the VA took a big crap on my claim. I was too dumb to know that I should appeal. In fact I never even got the letter that said I was rated. John John

The VA said at first that my anxiety, depression and PTSD was congenital because I had a personality disorder. I did not have anxiety, depression, PTSD and psychotic symptoms before I went to Vietnam. When I got back I was in a military hospital for 2 months due to these problems. The VA said I had a PD. Somehow I got lucky because they said I had schizophrenia as well and granted a 10% disability. So I went into the army in 1969 with no mental health issues and I came out with schizophrenia and an anti-social personality. It was all my fault. I just could not fly right. Bad genes I guess. However, with treatment that I paid for I improved enough to get a college degree which the VA then used against me to say I was a fraud. They tried to take the 10%away from me, but 15 years had gone by so they could not get away with it. I did not know then that the VA disability system was a criminal fraud itself.

I lost a CUE that happened before 1990 because since the VA had no obligation to list evidence I could not prove they considered, or did not consider an IME I had in my records. They never mentioned it one time in the rating decision, and even admitted they did not consider it, and yet at CAVC I lost. My IME said I could not work and their evidence from a ward clerk said I seemed to be OK. I lost because they said my claim for a higher rating was not undebatable. These CUE's from the way back are hard to win. The scales of injustice are all on the side of the VA. John

I have TDIU and I got "S" for having an additional 60%. When did VA decide your TDIU had to be for a single disability? What the heck does it matter? The VA is always trying to cheat some vet out of something. Bradley v Peake did not mention a single disability to TDIU as far as I know. I have a lot more than 60%, actually since I have 60% for one condition and five 10% ratings. Lawyers at the VA must stay up at night thinking up ways to screw old disabled vets out of a few bucks. They screwed this old vet that is for sure.

They will probably ask her if you need help getting dressed, preparing food, driving and taking care of yourself in general. You want her to portray you as disabled as you are and spare nothing. Tell you to just let it all hang out as regards how the PTSD affects you and her. If she is afraid of you sometimes she needs to say so. If your relationship is rocky because of the PTSD she must say so. No positive spin.

I hope I am not dead by the time they expand stipends for caregivers for Vietnam Era vets. I am housebound so maybe I could qualify if I don't die first. None of the men in my family lived beyond 65 except my great, great GF who was a confederate civil war vet. He was too tough to die young. Maybe eating horse meat and dog led to a long life. Justrluk Does your spouse qualify for the caregiver stipend?

I would also consider getting an IME to say I can't work. I would not depend on the VA for anything. I applied for TDIU when I was 30% because I could not work. When I got TDIU that initial TDIU request date was the one they used. I would apply yesterday.

The VA Hospital just called me up to tell me my drug refill was running late, and, Oh, by the way, your doctor you have been seeing for the last 5 years retired today. Now I don't even know who my doctor is going to be next month. I have to send in a form every month to get my pain meds renewed. Now whoever I get for a new doctor may decide that they are going to take me off the pain meds I have been on for 10 years. I will just do what I always do and go around the VA to get what I want and need. I know their is a private pain doctor out there somewhere. Becoming dependent on the VA for anything is a mistake. I am sure I can live without VA pain meds, especially since I have a few months supply stashed away for such an problem. Anyone out there in Tampa know a good private pain doctor who does not want to do procedures? John

If you are getting SSDI solely for your SC conditions you should be able to get TDIU. When you get TDIU if the VA denies your Chapter 35 (permanent and total ) status be sure to appeal it. If you have been on SSDI since 2009 you should be P&T. Did you apply for TDIU as soon as you got SSD? If you really get upset check yourself into the VA rubber room. Not only is this safe but it will help with an appeal if they do try and reduce you. When I got fired from my job 12 years ago the first thing I did was check myself into the VA hospital. That was the date the VA used for my TDIU eventually. A word of advice: If you get TDIU don't take VA money to go back to school. Don't ever mention "work or school" to the VA again once you get TDIU. Don't ever say you feel better or have improved in any way.

Can you use your arm? If you have anything approaching normal ROM you won't get an increase I think. You should address your chronic pain with a VA shrink. The VA is good a low balling physical injuries. They are not so good at low balling mental anguish and pain due to disability. What kinds of pain meds do you take? This can be used to bump up a rating if the pills affect your mood or ability to concentrate. We are not doctors so giving a rating guess is hard.

Yeah, I think it you want significant increase you should consider how these painful conditions affect your mental/emotional health. Many vets who have these painful conditions become depressed. If you feel depressed about your condition you should see a VA shrink. You cannot separate the physical from the mental. The exam says you have "mild" changes. That means 10% usually, but it does not mean it does not hurt.

After filing a claim via FDC system on Ebenefits in June of 2013 I checked my status and it has changed from Gathering Evidence back to the Review stage. I call the VA and they tell me they are sending me for a C&P exam. My contention is that I should be getting 20% for my DMII due to the fact that I now have to take oral medications to control my glucose level. My PN is getting worse as well. All my records are at the VA Hospital in Tampa. Ebenefits showed that they claim to have asked me for a 5103 Waiver, and that I never supplied one. This is a damn lie since they never sent me a VCAA letter, but I made a sworn statement to the VA in December 2013 that I had no more evidence to submit, and that all my evidence was at the VA Hospital in Tampa, Fl. My VARO is St. Petersburg, Fl. 25 miles away. Now the VA blames me for the delay in my claim, the bastards. My claim was a FDC according to my understanding. A year to get a C&P exam which is probably not even necessary to grant my increase. Another chance for the VA to fail to notify me of the exam date and time so they can deny it. Is this stupidity or bad intent? I am not going away, so they can forget it. If the VA can manage to take almost a year to do a claim like mine I pity the poor vet who is trying to get TDIU because he can't work. I did write my congressman, and that may have got them off their AZZ'es to do something. I don't normally interact with congress critters about VA matters. However, when the VA manages to screw up such a simple claim I just get mad because my claim was gathering dust, and would have continued to gather dust. I don't contact congress critters because it usually does not help. Maybe this time it did help. The VA person said the C&P exam may want me to file out a disability questionnaire. I have never done that before. It has been about 5 years since I have had a C&P exam. The last exam took about ten minutes. Is there something new I need to know about? John

My wife who has ChampVa has better service from the VA than I do by far. I have a lot of benefits on paper except when I try to collect I find they vanish. I will let the VA treat those who want to die on clean sheets. I understand that if that is the only medical care you have then it must look good. People living in the jungle think their witch doctor is good.

It may take longer than 3-5 days to see your C&P exam depending on who is doing it. If the rating does not go your way then appeal. You do not to have legal errors to appeal. If you believe and the evidence shows that you should have gotten benefit of doubt you can appeal on that basis. I would appeal on any basis because you never know what the next rater might do. The same evidence can be a loser or winner. I think I would appeal if they made me King for a Day. Unless you get everything you are asking for then appeal.

Find a VA lawyer and run this by him. I know the VA is supposed to infer a TDIU claim under circumstances where there is a record with the VA of the vet having a significant bar to employment. According to the VBM this can be as simple as having stinking feet due to SC skin condition. Winning such a claim is another matter. I filed for an EED on my TDIU because I was granted SSDI 6 months before the TDIU date. The VA granted the EED but said It was because I was in the VA hospital on the same date as my effective date for SSD.

If you have to move while your claim is under review then you must make every effort to make sure the VA knows where you are. I think voluntary move with a claim up in the air is a bad idea usually. Your forwarding order with the USPS is only good for a year. The VA is bound to screw it up at some point and send something to the old address. It gets returned "Forwarding Order Expired/Return to Sender". Then if it is important your claim dies.

You can send in the paperwork to your VARO to add your son. I think Ebenefits is a mess. I would never use it again. I will stick to certified mail or send my evidence by hand.

If you can't work due to our SC disabilities then file for TDIU. You may have to ask for extraschedular since your combined rating is less than 60% with 40% for a single rating. The VA's rules contradict themselves. I think 4.16 b says if you can't work due to SC then you are entitled to TDIU. Then 4.16 a says you must be at least 60-70% disabled rated. I may not have the regs correct but that is the meaning. You need to get that PTSD rating bumped up to 70% if you can by any means necessary.

I am guessing from my own experience they will try and address all your claims. Have you ever gotten an independent medical opinion on your PTSD. That is the claim that is going to get you TDIU. 10% here and 10% there won't do it. The VA has very specific markers for your back to rate it. TBI and PTSD are more open to subjective opinion.

You think we maybe committed a few war crimes in other people's countries? That was part of Nixon's secret plan to end the war. He took over in 1968 and the war ended for us in 1973. We got the same deal from the NLF that we could have gotten in 1968. I wonder why other people don't like us. Now they don't even fear us. Let's spray Ukraine with AO. Even the Russians won't want it.

I got DX'ed with DMII, cardiac problem, obesity and then OSA. I wonder if I could work it the other way. The DMII and cardiac are SC. The OSA is not at this time.

You find out what the VA had as evidence because they should have listed the evidence in the rating decision. If there is evidence in your rating decision file that is not listed you should assume they did not have it before them when they made the decision. That should be open and shut, but it isn't. If the claim became final you have to file a CUE to try and get an EED if you get SC'ed based on the same evidence. I would get a lawyer to look over the old denial in light of your new SC if you get it. If the evidence is the same and the rules for rating your disability were the same in 1995 as now you might have something. It is a long hard road with these things. First thing the VA will say is you want to reweigh evidence in light of new evidence. That kills a CUE. Even when you don't want to reweight evidence they will say you do. That is standard argument for many CUE's seeking EED's.

The VA hospital system needs to be abolished. Just give us cards equal to a medicare card with drug benefits. The government would save billons. Of course, there is more to it. It is about a system of graft and political favors. The very last in line on the money train are the vets. Because I don't want to subject myself to dangerous and piss poor treatment I use my own insurance to pay for the vast majority of my medical care. Not all are that fortunate. They want me to go elsewhere I think. They treat me with contempt when I visit the hospital. They don't treat my conditions due to expense and crazy rules. I just go to complain and document my disabilities. I am going to be paying $6000 for an tooth implant and crown. I will pay more because my VA has no sort of medical weight loss for a disabled person like me. I am going to go pay a medical doctor to help me lose some weight because the VA won't do it. They blame obesity for all older vets problems and, yet, they have no medical weight loss program at my hospital. Abolish the VA medical system. I will take money to promise never to go back. They can buy me out for $100,000.

You can only file a CUE on a claim that is final. If you discovered missing SMR's then what Berta discussed is the way to go. You don't want to have to deal with CUE regulations if you can avoid it. The burden of proof to win a claim is much higher, and not necessary if you have found missing SMR's. I know you are wanting earlier effective date. You can get to it via CFR 3.156. If the VSO you are working with seems not to understand this reg. just do it yourself or hire a lawyer.