Prospector

Update. I sent the request for review of my file under 3.156 to my VSO in December. He told me it would be a few days before he could submit it to the RO. I have waited (left him numerous phone messages) for 2 1/2 months on him. I finally was able get him on the phone last Friday March 6. He has done nothing with my request. I told him if he was too busy to take care of my file I would handle it myself. He said go for it. I did. I sent Secretary Bob an email with the info on Monday March 9. I received a reply in less than an hour telling me it was forwarded to management. On Tuesday the 10th, I received a call from the RO. He seemed to have a bit of an attitude at first and claimed they were not guilty of a cue. I politely asked him to listen to me and let me explain why I thought they were. He listened. He reviewed my file and called about 3 hrs later and said he agreed with me, but he would send it to someone and have them review it and the decision would be up to them. Today at 3:45 pm he called and said they had found in my favor and I had been right. 5 yrs of retro would be forthcoming. Thank you Secretary Bob!!

That is correct if the disability matches the description SS will automatically approve disability. Mine was automatic. I am stage 4 Cancer which means it has spread and surgery is not an option and this type of cancer does not respond to chemo or normal radiation treatments (the same cancer Steve Jobs of Apple Computers had) I have been stage 4 since 2010 when it was found by the VA. They told me it could not be treated, and to go home and get my affairs in order but I found from specialists here they have been treating it in Europe for over 15yrs at every major medical center. I went to Germany 3 time for treatment and I am still here. I still have the cancer but it is stable.

I also use the Muskogee office. Their decision was on the 8th of Dec. My VSR found out and let me know on the 9th. Eagle flew December 23rd. However, my increase for Jan 1 was not on my deposit. I was told it should come within a week or call them back.

Broncovet I certainly agree with you. My original claim began 4/2007. They still only have part of it right. I was only referring to my last encounter as far as the timeline. I still have a CFR 3.156, an 1151 and a form 95 filed, which I know I will still be working on years from now.

Rootbeer 22 I filed the claim 7/2013. Denied 1/2014. I immediately filed an NOD. I had a second C&P 10/2014 followed by a DRO hearing a few days later. Ebenefits showed the paperwork was coming on the 9th of Dec. I received the paperwork 23rd of December. So it was about 2 weeks from the Ebenefit notice until I received the actual letter.

I just waited from the 8th of Dec and received the letter on 12/24. It showed on ebenefits from the 9th on.

The one for the 31st is most likely your regular monthly compensation for December.

Sorry, I had forgotten you were in Oklahoma also. Here is the state site. http://www.ok.gov/triton/search.php?cref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ok.gov%2Ftriton%2Fcse_search_xml.php?site=http://www.ok.gov/odva/*&sitesearch=http://www.ok.gov/odva/&q=muskogee&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_occt=any&sort=&num=10&cof=FORID%3A9%3BNB%3A1#947

To find out about your states benefits, search for Veterans benefits (your state) It should pull up what your state offers. I am in Oklahoma and it is different than other states. Congrats.

If the C&P was done at the VAMC it is likely, it is under the blue button (notes) in MyHealthyVet. I just had a gentleman I have been assisting, have a PTSD C&P and within a week it was posted on MyHealthyVet. I have seen several others in the past, but this was in December so some are still doing it. Of course if it is done at an outside contractor like QT, it will not be posted and you have to request it.

This site breaks it down for you. http://www.benefits.va.gov/compensation/rates-index.asp#combined

I would not be overly concerned with them showing solicited evidence never received from you. They seem to do this to everyone. If you look in the "unsolicited items" you usually see all of your items you submitted and the date they show received. Wrong? Yes! But it seems that is their standard of practice, I think just too lazy to put it in the right file. When I complained, they told me their contractors are who actually handle this. And if you are dealing with "Wacko, Waco" you never know what to expect.

I went through a similar issue with the VA. I spoke with the VARO manager and he explained they have to accept the date you mail it. Send it Certified mail and you will be covered.

Congrats. This shows what can be done when they just do their job.

You make a good point about your "discover" issue regarding withdrawal of claims or appeals. I went through a similar issue with the VA in March 2014. I had two separate appeals for different conditions, filed at different times. Mine had been shown in ebenefits as Appeal Pending for several months. I called the BVA to check the status and was told one of my appeals shows withdrawn & the other was still with the RO.I explained I had withdrawn nothing. I was advised to contact my RO. Upon further examination of that appeal, it showed I had 2 different BVA dispatches sent to me. One in October 2013 and another in February 2014. I had received neither. I called my VSR and asked since you have been my rep for 7yrs, did you receive either of these BVA dispatches? He confirmed they had not. I explained the situation to him and in April he sent the VARO notice of the occurrence. In August 2014 my appeal showed up again as pending but a new date of August 2014. After seeing your post, I cannot help but wonder is this a new tactic by VARO's to show they are clearing some of the backlog? By whatever means you found this withdrawal notice of your claim, all I can say is Good Job.

Ebenefits finally showed my new rating yesterday. This is to certify is an honorably discharged veteran of the Navy and is entitled to disability compensation at the 100 percent rate due to service-connected disability(ies). This total disability is considered permanent. You are not scheduled for future examinations. My wife asked exactly what does this mean. I told her "They expect me to die soon. I think I will stick around awhile just to prove them wrong again."

Thanks as always Berta. Every claim and NOD to date, I researched and filled out on my own. I only used the VSR to physically take the information to the VA. This VSR had actually looked at my file on the 9th and discovered the fact the VA did not have all of the pertinent files in the original case. In the last week he has danced around this subject when I spoke to him and never mentioned 38 CFR 3.156 . I thought I would give him exact direction and see how he uses it. I do not have the quick legal mind like yours and a few of the others, but I can read and I certainly listen to others. I have always said "Common Sense is only Common to people with Experience". I prefer making common sense decisions and actions, so I try to listen.

I just faxed the following message to my VSR. I am curious what he will reply. My claim for PTSD, dated June 25, 2007 was denied due to lack of proving a stressor. I filed a form 21-4138 (your office filed it) in June 2012, and resubmitted the same medical evidence as was in the 2007 claim along with the complete military logs confirming one of the stressors, and requesting they re-open that claim due to New and Material Evidence.. Instead of reviewing the June 25, 2007 claim, the VA opened a new claim. It is my understanding from New and Material Evidence under 38 CFR 3.156 this request for review should have been addressed. A review of the original claim from June 25, 2007 under 38 CFR 3.156 was not mentioned in the SOC received on the case granted in 2012. They just started a new claim which found me 50% for SC PTSD. I feel if they had reviewed the case as is required under 38 CFR 3.156, it would have produced the same results as the new case shown in 2012 as it included the same medical evidence as was shown in 2007 with the added New and Material Evidence (ships logs). I contend based on this information, a retroactive date should have been designated to the first filing June 25, 2007. 38 CFR 3.156 (a) General. A claimant may reopen a finally adjudicated claim by submitting new and material evidence. New evidence means existing evidence not previously submitted to agency decisionmakers. Material evidence means existing evidence that, by itself or when considered with previous evidence of record, relates to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate the claim. New and material evidence can be neither cumulative nor redundant of the evidence of record at the time of the last prior final denial of the claim sought to be reopened, and must raise a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claim. I only learned recently from examination of my C-file they did not have the complete military logs of the incidents at the time of my first denial. They had sent for them as at that time I was unaware of where to get them.

Welcome to the Muskogee RO. If your VSR is with the State of Okla Vet Affairs, they can possibly enlighten you on the status of your claim. (918-781-7766) They are in the office next door to RO. When I was there, I even noticed some from each office go to lunch together. One of the VSR's just retired last year from the VARO and his wife is still a DRO in that office. While you cannot help but be concerned about some of your info being addressed between some of them without your knowledge, sometimes it can prove beneficial as your VSR may be able to tell you the exact status of your claims. Good luck.

I cannot help but to reply to this topic. This is not to alarm anyone but merely a suggestion from personal experience. IBS, Crohns disease are often the same symptoms of Carcinoid Cancer which is rare and most VAMC's never check for it. In my own case the VA took almost a year to properly diagnose. Fact 18% of Carcinoid Cancer is diagnosed post-mortem. Most often the symptoms are misdiagnosed as IBS or Crohns disease. There are a few simple tests the Doctor can run to check for it and most VAMC's do not. 1) CgA (chromogranin A) a simple blood test. 2) 5HIAA - 24hr urine test If either or both of these show excess serotonin in the bloodstream, immediate investigation (scans, and other blood tests) should be performed. This is the same cancer Steve Jobs of Apple computers died from. https://carcinoid.wordpress.com/tag/missouri-national-guard/ In this soldiers experience from his original story, he was diagnosed with IBS. I hope none of the VA IBS diagnosed patients have this, but do not depend on the VA doctors to recognize or test for it on their own.

No one can attach your VA Compensation. Not even the IRS even though in recent years they have tried. They lost every time in court. I know a man who the IRS seized his bank account. The judge made the IRS return the money as his VA compensation check was deposited and comingled with his money. The IRS was pissed!

My wife works for a hospital in claims. Her advice: If a vet comes into the ER the hospital is supposed to notify the VA within 24 hrs. If their is an admission to the hospital from the ER, they are supposed to call the VA immediately. If the hospital fails to do this, they are denied payment from the VA and have to eat it. Consequently if a VET states he has any other insurance including medicare, they will automatically bill these entity's. This is due to the fact they do not like to deal with the VA. Her advice if you plan on using the VA to go to another ER, don't tell the hospital you have any other coverage. This will force them to deal with the VA and you will not be charged.

I did not realize how important it can be to review your C-file until yesterday. My VSO called to tell me of my approval for my current claim and while on the phone he was reading my file and noticed that I had been denied in 2007 on the same claim. He discovered the VARO had made that decision for denial without all of the logs. They only had reviewed part of them. When I had re-filed in 2012 I had submitted all of the logs as I had only then found where to get them. I had assumed the VA in 2007 had reviewed all of the logs and accepted their denial. The VSO is asking them to cue themselves on this evidence and retro back to 2007. I would advise anyone to not assume anything about your c-file. Get a copy and go over it.

Thank you Berta, Mikemmlj and Navy Wife. Navy Wife this is the gentleman who emailed my needed decklogs within 48 hrs. He has helped several others I sent to him. Mike Constandy Westmoreland Research PO Box 320488 Alexandria, VA 22320 202.421.5151 mobile mjc@westmorelandresearch.org

At 14:00 today received a phone call from my VSO telling me the DRO had notified him they had granted 100% IU P&T retro to 6/2013. This is the same VSO whom I have complained about. The only time I had actually go to meet him was the day of the DRO hearing 10/30/2014 and he was not even familiar with my case. He intro'd us to the DRO officer and then went mute. My wife presented my case. However, at the phone call today he had actually went through my file and saw where I had been denied in 2007 for PTSD because I had not proven my stressor. At the time I did not know how to get copies of our deck logs and assumed the VA would send and get them. It appears they did send for them but what was in my file was only a few days of logs, not the entire month which had the stressors listed. I refiled in 2012 when I found the logs and included in that filing the same medical evidence I had presented in 2007. (granted 50% 2012, upped to 70% 2013) When the VSO found this he said he believed we could file for retro back to the 2007 filing. I thought since I did not file a NOD on that claim it was a moot point. He says its not. I appreciate all of the help I have had on this site. Thank you all.