Click To Ask Your VA Claims Question
Read Disability Claims Articles
View All Forums | Chats and Other Events | Donate | Blogs | New Users | Search | Rules
haparnold66
-
Posts
26 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
VA Disability and Benefits Information
VA Benefits News
Store
Posts posted by haparnold66
-
-
Congratulations! I'm happy to hear you achieved the 80% rating. However if you are not working due to your service-connected conditions, I really feel like you need to pursue the TDIU. 70% for PTSD is a pretty high rating and it's reasonable that it would prevent you from working. I suggest you gather any other medical evidence that would support the IU And submit it as a reconsideration. But most importantly you need to go to a vocational rehabilitation counselor and have them write you a letter stating that you are unable to work solely due to your service-connected conditions. You can find one in the phone book and pay out-of-pocket or another option is go to one at VA.
Thank you for your observations & suggestions, NavyWife. Good info. BTW, the BBE arrived in yesterday's mail and confirmed what eBennies already showed. The letter did not indicate any scheduled future re-evaluations. That's likely a function of my age (66).
-
K_C This is how we learn and why we post it here so the next veteran will avoid any pitfalls.
Thinking of the NEXT vet. I like that.
-
Like all those annoying Giants fans in my area are chanting: "Yes! Yes!! Yes!!!"
-
YOWWZA!! That's great new, Hollis. You earned the benefit. I'm glad to hear it will be making your life a little easier.
-
Hey haparnold66:
Congrats...I like your strategy and it seems to work...I should have thought about that strategy origially but I got bad VOS advice..because my FDC is still just "under review" and I'm heading into 5 months now? I listed 20 contections and I think now it would have been best to just list 10 or less at a time and should have filed two claims instead of one big one....? I've leanred that the big claims have a tendency to get tucked away at an RO and that they only work them when they are bouncing up against an internal deadline of why there's no movement..then they have a tendecy to move....you've email helps to support that conclusion.
rootbeer22:
I think my "strategy" was a bit of luck/happenstance. I was very naive about the VA disability claims process when I filed that 1st snail mail claim. However, I read a lot in a couple of forums before my C&P exams 7 mo. later. Then, after the 1st claim closed, I knew about FDC claims. Through it all and through the VA Health Care System the last 6 years, I have been treated fairly and with respect. It all began when I spoke to an intake interviewer @ the Phoenix VA Medical Center 6 years ago. When he saw "Vietnam" on my DD-214, he smiled and said, "Relax. We have LOTS of help for you." I have never felt so relieved in my life.
With that being said, I know there are many, many other vets whose experience has not been so positive. I have posted on this forum primarily to encourage those who are still waiting adjudication of their claims so that they do not give up. The very best advice I can give anyone beginning the journey is that you must be your own best advocate, you must have your evidence in clear and concise form and you must stay focused on the task at hand.
-
I don't have the BBE letter yet, but I can pretty much surmise that IU was denied because my last employer could not/would not provide detailed unpaid time off records. I never indicated my reason for missing work @ the time; I was still too stubborn and proud to admit what had been going on for decades. Too, the C&P examiner asked me a direct question, "Can you work." I replied, "I guess so."
In other words, my factual support for IU was weak. I knew it to be so. Again, I am grateful for my current ratings and compensation. When I started this whole claims process 14 months ago, I felt anything in the 20-30% range would be fine.
-
Original claim filed via snail mail with Oakland VARO Aug 21, 2013 and completed by Phoenix VARO; completed Jun 10, 2014 retroactive to Sep 1, 2013: PTSD 70% + DM II 10% = 70% total
2nd claim via FDC for IU & for DM II increase for meds - filed Jun 22, 2014; completed Oct 30, 2014; IU denied; DM II increased to 20% retroactive to Jun 01, 2014.
Now rated PTSD 70% + DM II 20% = 80% total.
Six years ago this date I was living in my car, then in a VA shelter in Dec. I will be eternally grateful for my VA disability compensation & free medical care/prescriptions. God bless the American taxpayers for taking care of me.
I thank all those on this forum who have shared their experiences/expertise. I benefitted a great deal from the combined knowledge. I intend to stay a member of this forum to help out when & where I can as a way to "pay it forward." Finally, I can shut off eBennies!! The BBE is on its way....again. -
-
Congratulations, Opiate73. Yes, it can be a little "disorienting" when you receive the (unexpected) good news. I agree with others here that 6 months sounds like an excessively long projected wait time for a retro payment. The actual time varies a good deal among claims. My own experience was quite positive. My claim closed 06/10/2014, the retro direct deposit hit the bank 06/13/2014 and my 1st regular monthly check (June benefit) deposited 07/01/2014. Also, my original claim was filed by mail 08/21/2013. I doubt that it can be done much more quickly than that!! The retro deposit actually came before the BBE. I hope yours follows a similar hurry-up path.
Thank you for your service from one of the "old guys" - a Vietnam vet.
-
Finding a good VSO is like finding a needle in a haystack. Most are mediocre at best. Georgiapapa gave you excellent advice. There is a great wealth of advice to be obtained here from brother and sister vets who are experts in the VA claims jungle. Ask and learn. And just so you know, the only dumb or stupid question is the one that isn't asked.
I don't have personal experience with a VSO, but I learned early on in the VA disability claim process that YOU will always be your own best advocate. Acquire knowledge on forums such as this, be prepared, be on time (appointments), be succint and accurate in answering questions (i.e., don't ramble), be polite and last but certainly not least: BE PATIENT. VA staffers are facing a "Mt Everest of claims" and are just as human as we claimants. I don't think any of them seeks to delay claims.
-
It's working now.
-
Fan-TASTIC!!!
-
Yup....it's conked out this morning, raising blood pressure readings all across the land.
-
I had C&P exams on Mar 13, 19 & 20 this year. My claim closed Jun 10.
-
Update- I cant thank you all enough for the help you have been to me and so many other veterans that are not experts regarding the claim for benefits process and the off the wall actions and messages the VA sometimes throws our way. This site has helped me more than anyone will know. That being said, I guess I got approved for IU yesterday 6/21/14 I have not received my BBE yet but my Ebenefits has my AB8 stating that I am now paid at 100% rate with my new payment amount W/dependents posted. So I guess sometimes it is a good thing when you are not scheduled for a C&P exam. One last question, where do I find a list or document stating what my "new privledges or benefits" are exactly now that I am IU? Once again thank you everyone for all of your support and info.
Good on ya, haasume, and thank you for your service. Someone more knowledgable than I should be along soon to give give you the Reader's Digest version of what additional benefits the 100% IU payment rate will provide you.
-
Yeah, the eBennies website was "glitchy" this afternoon right when I was tring to upload an FDC, of course. I was able to log on to it just now (9:06 pm PDST). Not sure about the password troubles, though.
-
Congratulations!
Thanks for sharing the details of your story. It helps others to know a little bit what to expect.
I'm curious of two things.
At what point did they send your claim to a different regional office?
Did you get the ratings that you were expecting?
PS --if you're not working, be sure to file for TDIU & Social Security disability.
Well. I finally got my "sierra" together and filed an FDC for TDIU today. eBennies was constipated for a while, but the claim finally uploaded. Now the clock starts running again. Thanks to you NavyWife & others who recommended the TDIU, especially @ age 65. I haven't been able to work for 4 years.
-
Out-STANDING
....and thank you for your service. -
I am seen at the VA in Palo Alto CA and I must say that my care has been A+++.
Rich
Rich -
I currently receive medical care via the VAHS clinic/hospital in Mather, CA (near Sacramento). I've been going there since Jun 2012, and the care and respect from staff have been first-rate. I thank my lucky stars that this is the case.
-
Every time I feel like giving up I come here and read. Congrats and thanks for inproving my morale this morning.
As NC State basketball coach Jim Valvano famously said while dying of cancer back in the '90s, "Don't give up....don't ever give up." His team had won the '83 NCAA title against very long odds. Anyway, I also like to come to this Hadit forum topic because it provides hope to those who could use some and who deserve it.
-
Got news that I should have my back pay within 14 days.
That would be nice but not counting on it since it has been on hold up for so long and every time I get my hopes up it doesn't reach the bank.....lol.
Archer:
Each claim timeline is unique, of course, and your retro payment is about 5x what mine was this month, but I will give you my timeline: claim closed 06/10/2014; retro payment deposited in bank 06/13; BBE received 06/14. That might be "warp speed" for the VA system, but I am proof that it can happen. After reading MANY posts on this and other forums, I think the consensus of opinion is that the larger retro payments take a little longer.
-
This post is interesting as I have a claim pending in Phoenix since last August and I live in AZ. So this means they are working outside claims before working on my claim when as been pending in decision since May 30.
Well, My claim for SSD is just about ready for decision so maybe i will have both done about the same time.
Congratulations. Back to my book!
Yeah,Cool Breeze, you can get dizzy at times trying to figure out the processing timetable and where the paperwork is located @ any given moment. What is the status of your claim shown on eBenefits?
-
-
2 Consecutive Claims Completed In 14 Months
in Success Stories
Posted
The REST of the story:
The retro check deposited in my bank account this morning, Nov 6th, 1 week to the day after the claim closed & 3 days after the BBE arrived.