oldvet65

Chief, Its good to see I am not the only one with those 4. Get a letter from your hepc doc stating you have hep c and it is likely as not service connected and let him describe your symptoms. It might get it bumped up a bit. As far as the DBII if you were not brown water navy you need to prove you stopped in RVN and set foot on the ground. If you do not have orders if you can provide a buddy letter from someone who was with you that would be a big help. I am curious how were they able to grant 20% on the hepc and service connect it if you were not in combat? I had a burger of a time getting hep c connected at all. Good luck

The answer I believe would be Yes if you were not reated at 100% at that time. If you were already rated 100% then the answer would be no. Somebody correct me if I am wrong. Good Luck

Peach, I think you should be receiving your husbands Social Security as well as DIC. I may be wrong, If Dic is your only income you shoulc qualify for State benefits such as medicaid and perhaps food Stamps. I believe you should have acess to military base health care which should be able to provide vision and dental on a limited basis. Along with PX and commisary privileges. Check with your local folks there is no reason why you should not have good dental and vision there should be a way. The VA is not the only help you should be receiving.

I am also a non responder for peg intron. they finally pulled me off when i became depressed. The Va does not understand Viral Hep C. To Increase from 20% is next to impossible. Good Luck in your attempt. I have a Civilian Doctor who writes textbooks on Hep C. He wrote the letter that got me service connected. I feel better knowing if I were to Die of Hep C at least my wife could collect DIC. I realize this doesn't answer your question, but to let you know that others are going through the same. welcome home tom

Enmak, Through all of this you have not stated why you should get a higher rating other than you feel you should have one. If you could tell us then you should be able to tell the Varo. Do you know what the VA uses for their rating scale if so how do your symptoms match up? Even with 50% If you are getting SSDI you should be able to apply for IU. If you haven't worked for a year or more apply for SSDI and IU. Welcome Home