NavyWife

I would also print the schedule page from ebenefits showing the appointment and the notation that you kept the appointment. The VA may delete the notation or change it to cover their rear end. Good to have a copy of anything the VA puts in writing in case it is needed for future reference.

Make a note of what, when and how you found out about the appointment, while it's fresh in your mind, and also note that "you allegedly attended the appointment." Sign & date it - and then file it away, just in case. jmo

pr

Think, VA Vocational Rehabilitation Program!! One of the best irrefutable pieces of evidence, that a Vet can provide to substantiate his IU claim, is a VA Vocational Rehabilitation Program "Denial Letter." My denial letter stated something to the effect, "The veteran is ineligible at this time to participate in the VA Voc Rehab due to my SC disabilities." The Vocational Rehab Councilor took 3 days to review my file and issue the "Denial Letter." The DRO said that letter seals the deal. Irregardless of your level of education and experience, the VA Professional Vocational Rehabilitation Councilor has determined that you are unable to be retrained due to your SC conditions, for any type of "Gainful Employment." Gainful employment is currently based on the US Poverty Level for 1 person, aprox $14,000.00. In addition to the Denial Letter, you will be eligible for the VA Independent Living Program. If your truly unable to work, you can get a denial in as little as a day. A Very Important Piece of IU Evidence.

Some of my Vet friends, that allowed me to push them into applying for Voc Rehab, have really benefited from the "Denial Letter." 1 that has a TDIU NOD pending, used his Denial Letter to Get all of his Michigan Primary Residence property tax refunded for both 2013 and 2014. The State Of Michigan accepted his "Denial Letter" as proof that he is UNEMPLOYABLE! 1 that has been 100% SC for twenty years finally applied and was placed in the Independent Living Program the same day. So far received the following: Computer, all in one printer, air bed, $6500 bathroom update pending. The take away is, the VA wants to help all disabled Vets, but we have to ask, in the form of filing a claim via your E-Ben site.

Good luck
Semper Fi
Gastone

I wish Social Security could take over for the VA in processing claims!

Social Security doesn't seem to have the major problems that VA has.

The VA has to rate you on the criteria listed in the regulations. This is established precedence. Many BVA decisions use the phrase

, "The criteria for xxx condition have(or have not) been met".

The statement means the BVA made a factual determination as to whether you met the criteria, and, if you do indeed meet the criteria, the benefits will be awarded.

You should argue that "the ability to form a sentence" or "organize your claim" is NOT one of the criteria for IU, and, that you meet the criteria because (your doc says you meet the criteria). That is your nexus. No docs nexus, no benefits. Neither YOUR opinion, nor the rating specialist, can make a medical determination, only the doc can do that. If your doc says you are unemployable, then you should pound them with the criteria, pointing out they do not have medical expertise to make a valid opinion of your suitablity for employment, only the doc can do that, and he has done so they must award benefits.

The VA does this on purpose..rates you on "non criteria". The VA can not say, "We are denying your claim because you wore a red shirt, and have long hair, and we dont like people who wear red shirts and have long hair." because red shirts and long hair are not part of the rating criteria. They still rate on non criteria, but we need to call them on that legal error.

Remember, of course, if you do NOT have a doctor's statement saying you are unemployable, you will need to get another docs opinion, such as an IME/IMO or you wont be getting benefits. Your decision turns on the nexus.

The Va is going to elimate Veteran homelessness, eliminate the backlog, no one will lose their insurance,every Veteran will get a doctors appointment in 30 days...and Santa Claus will bring every Veteran a new Lamborghini, as long as you vote for ..... Do you see the pattern here?

Deny, and hope they don't appeal?

Iris is peggy's sister.

My mom might be my fiduciary. Effective date August 01 2013. SSDI is next along with state benefits, commissary, etc.

Thanks NavyWife...your awesome! Your knowledge is greatly appreciated

Unless there are issues like concurrent retirement pay or other issues, usually the retro pay is direct deposited within a couple days to a couple weeks of the decision.

Then the regular monthly payments are typically paid on the first of each month.

Congratulations. I hope you get your retro soon. You have waited too long already. I know it will never happen but congress should pass a bill requiring the government to pay penalties and interest in cases like yours.

Good luck to you.

One year back pay only works if not excluded from FDC. If that is what you're asking.

http://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=2464

Georgia Papa--I agree with you completely.

I have only the highest respect and admiration for any veteran, no matter whether they served in combat or non-combat; whether they served for 20 years or 20 days. Each and every one, signed a piece of paper saying that they were willing to sacrifice everything they have -including their life and health --for their country. I take that as a very serious thing.

Unfortunately, now we all have to fight a paper battle against a bureaucracy that doesn't care and is definitely not fair.

All vets sticking together and sharing information is the only Chance we have!

NavyWife,

I understand your frustration and appreciate your comments about the Vietnam vets, Korean vets and gulf war vets. Regardless of when or where we served we must stand together and try to do everything possible to make sure our fellow veterans are not denied the benefits they earned.

VA be FAIR! Ha ha that is funny! Come on Sierra you've been around VA enough to know the last thing they are is fair!

Like georgiapapa said, the Caregiver program is a great example of how unfair VA is. And so is the BDD program! And so is the fact that vets getting out now sit down with someone who helps them file their claims immediately, And they actually have a copy of all their service medical records so they are likely to receive a good rating because the evidence is all there. Compare that to the Vietnam vets Who had no one recommending that they file for their health issues much less give them a copy of their service medical records. And mysteriously many of those medical records have "gone missing". Same with Korea and even Gulf War vets.

Is it fair that they set up the Gulf War presumptive's yet 85% of Gulf War presumptive claims get denied anyway?

Sorry, but I'm kind of overwhelmed today with how far VA is willing to go to wrongfully deny vets their valid disability claims.

I like the FDC concept but it does seem to be unfair to the veterans with older claims filed before the FDC program was implemented. As with other VA initiatives, fairness is not always a priority. Look at the VA family caregiver program. It is a great program but it is only available to post 9/11 vets. Nothing fair about that but it sounded great in the news media and the costs were kept lower by not offering the program to the pre 9/11 vets as well.

Agree with NavyWife all the way. Good luck and keep us posted.

Great advice given by NavyWife.

A couple months ago VA semi-automated the process for dependency claims. If they meet certain criteria they can now be processed in a day or so using Ebenefits. Try filing again using Ebenefits and see if it works for you this time. DO NOT cancel your paper filed dependency claim. They will use that to give you the correct retro date.

If your dependency claim is considered "complicated", then it won't process quickly through Ebenefits.

But it can't hurt to try!

You can get a copy of the C & P exam results ,if it was done at a VAMC, by writing to them or stopping in to see the Privacy Act officer,at the VAMC who should be able to provide you with a form to get a copy of it.

The QTCs exams are nor released until a decision has been made by the RO (which is not fair and I don't understand why vets have not griped more about this practice)

A C & P result is critical for an IMO doctor to have, and often even without getting an IMO, the veteran can appeal by pointing out deficiencies in the exam.

I was a victim of VA's ability to manipulate what a C & P exam contains years ago.

The actual exam (I mentioned this here before) was far different from how the SOC.characterized it....and the last words of the examiner ,in the actual C & P report, would have won that claim, but of course the RO never put those words into the SOC.

Also I was able to knock down a C & P report on my deceased husband,a few years ago, which the BVA had ordered .

The remand called for a cardio doc but I got a PA. I pointed out to the BVA that his opinion was too speculative and he didn't not have the qualifications of a cardiologist. BVA agreed and they disregarded the exam.

Since many negative C & P exams are overcome by strong IMOs, I think that fact indicates just how incompetent some C & P examiners are. Or they aren't really incompetent ,but VA signs their pay check so they already know what type of C & P result the VA wants.

My experience with IRIS has been mixed. If I sent a general question regarding VA polices or procedures which did not require a response from my regional office, I usually received a response within ten days. If I sent a question that required a response from my regional office (e.g.- current status of my claim, etc.), I never received an actual answer to my question in a timely manner and/or the response I received really did not answer my question.

I agree with marine0816, I don't think you will have a problem. Let's be real, they might not even read either document. And if they do, you explained what happened. The medical evidence is really what holds the most weight when they rate the claims, not the vet statements. The vet statements are good for providing them a reason to order a c&p exam, that's about it.

Thanks for all the congrats and great info. My effective date is October 2013 so 10mths of retro whooohoo