seejeremy

Good evening everyone. My psych doctor has recommended that I go from a full time status at my job to a part time status. This is due to my inability to handle the stress and people aspects of the job for long periods of time. She has suggested that I use FMLA as it allows for a reduction in hours due to medical conditions for up to 90 days. At that time, if my job doesn't allow me to transition to a part time job, I will be looking for something that does allow it. My questions are about how this will affect my rating with the VA. I am 100% (not P&T), which includes 70% for MDD, 50% SA, 40% for sciatica, 30% for throat scar, 20% sciatica and a few 10s that I am forgetting. If I remember right, the 70% for MDD was the only disability that mentioned a future exam. So, if I follow through and go part time, will this help my rating become permanent. I know that a rater will have to look at it again, but since I am losing income due to my inability to cope with external stressors, do you think that would help move me to a P&T status? If so, should I file for P&T status when I go part time? Will the FMLA paperwork prepared by a VA psych doctor help me? I'm sure I will think of other questions and I thank you all for your input.

Hello again everyone. I still haven't received any tax documentation for the discharged loans. I've checked the servicer's website and nothing is there either. Will they eventually show up or should I count my blessings here and think it won't be counted as taxable income? Thank you all.

Sure. The website is https://www.disabilitydischarge.com/home/ All I did was fill out the application on this site and then mailed it, plus my letter from E-Benefits indicating 100% to the address provided. It took about 6 weeks for me to get approved. I'm still waiting on all of the loans to reflect this, but I received written notification from Nelnet today indicating approval. It was a painless process applying and getting approved.

Hi everyone. I checked the status on my student loan discharge application on Friday and saw that they were approved for permanent discharge. I checked one lender's website today and it already reflects a zero balance! I'm just waiting on the other lender to process the discharge, but me and the wife are really happy about this news. Thanks for the information, because I thought I had to be P&T to get this approved. That was not the case at all! Thanks everyone.

Not sure what state you are in, but here in Alabama the state will pay for dependents to attend a state college or university for up to 5 years. I just applied for this for my son and received the approval yesterday. He will start UAB in January with tuition, books and fees paid for by the state. Maybe your state has a similar plan?

I'm glad you were able to get it approved. My psych doc tried and it was denied. I had already been taking it from before my VA benefits started, but the VA still shot it down.

What is the process for doing that? I recently quit my job because the stress was unbearable and my wife was worried about my well being. With a teenage daughter in school, we could really use the extra money. Since I am not P&T, am I eligible? Thanks.

No, I don't. The only benefit I receive is VA disability. Thanks for the reply.

Hi everyone. I was rated at 100% (not P&T) in June for MDD, OSA, and several other things. Based on the decision letter suggesting the possibility of other contentions, I filled a new claim for a scar, rhinitis, sinusitis and tinnitus. (I agree with these contentions.). My claim is still in the under review status, but in the "needed from others" area it says "Requested confirmation of benefit". What does that mean? I did a search, but the information I found was several years old and didn't seem to provide much information. Thank you all for your help!

Sorry, just seeing your question. My first claim had around 10 contentions that the VA had rated 2 years earlier while I was active duty. It was an FDC claim. My new claim is 4 contentions that are all new and based on the VA recommendations from my first claim. It is not an FDC claim.

My first claim stayed like that for 18 months, until it was decided. My second claim has said that since I filed it last month. Just par for the course.

Tbird, Are you still looking into a gofundme page? I'd love to be able to put that on my Facebook. Thanks.

Thank you both. I'll get copies of my medical records and take them to my first appointment then. Thanks again!

Are all VA PCPs willing to scan private medical records into VA medical records like that? I haven't had my first VA appointment yet, but it would be nice to know that I can see my private doc if the VA takes forever to schedule something.

Thanks Detel. I did find out yesterday that I was automatically enrolled in the VA healthcare system. Looks like I'll be taking some time next week to get that VA id card. Hopefully it won't take forever for me to get some doctors appointments scheduled too. Thanks again.

Hey everybody. I have a few more questions. I received my retro on Tuesday (nice!) and the BBE yesterday. I thought that would have instructions on how to get the VA id card and how to register for VA healthcare, but it didn't. Do I just take the BBE to the local VA hospital and register somewhere? Do I need to take anything else with me? I need to get the MH care that I have been waiting on because it worries my wife sometimes and I hate doing that to her. Thank you all again for the help.

Mine took about 5 days as well. Saw the results in eBenefits last Friday, got retro on Tuesday, and received BBE on Thursday. It happened pretty quickly once the ball started rolling.

Ah, ok. I don't have that letter yet. But I did notice a few "healthcare" type letters pop up in there today, so maybe that just takes some time to show up? Thanks for dealing with all of my questions.

Quick question for you all, will the "commissary letter" be visible in eBenefits or will it just show up in the BBE? Or maybe I'm misunderstanding and there isn't a letter that clearly states anything about a base ID card for the commissary? Thanks!

To be honest, I am happiest that they got my mental health rating right. I hate those exams, but they were worth it in the long run! I had 2 mental health c&ps and my wife was waiting for me afterwards, wondering how bad I would be feeling. So, at this point do I wait for the BBE to show up and then go to the VA to "get in the system?" Will the BBE explain what all I need to do to get a VA id card, medical appointments, and commissary access? I apologize for all of the questions, we just never expected this to work out for us the way it has. My son actually said that it was nice for us to finally catch a break after all this time.

I was rated for the following: 70% mdd concurrent 50% sleep apnea 40% sciatica right 30% tracheotomy scar 20% sciatica left 10% deviated septum 10% nerve damage right shoulder (forget medical name for it) 0% hypertension This is all from memory because e-Benefits is down. How do these ratings work with reevaluations and future appointments? After reading some of the stories here, I'm a little afraid that the docs at the VA will take anything I say at appointments and turn it around in a way to reduce my rating. Thank you all again for your help and insight.

Thank you all for the information that you have provided. We didn't think the VA would rate me at 100%, so we had little knowledge on 100% and how it worked. Thank you all again.

Hey everyone. I received some really good, and unexpected news today. I am rated at 100%! I'm hoping the retro hits my account in the next week or so. Information from my letter in e-Benefits indicates: You have one or more service-connected disabilities: Yes Your combined service-connected evaluation is: 100% Your current monthly award amount is: $3187.6 The effective date of the last change to your current award was: December 01, 2014 You are not considered to be permanently disabled due to your service-connected disabilities at this time because your case is scheduled for review on: June 01, 2020 You are not considered to be permanently disabled due to your service-connected disabilities at this time because you are scheduled for a future reduction in rating on: June 01, 2020 We were not expecting a rating of 100%, so now we have questions. Since it clearly says that I am not permanent, will I become permanent in 5 years? Will I have to undergo C&P exams sometime in the future before I can become P&T? We are mainly asking because we have a daughter that will graduate high school in 3 years and Chapter 35 benefits would be really nice! We are also interested in having my student loans discharged, which I understand also requires P&T. Thank you all for your help in keeping me sane during this long process. Jeremy

I know I don't post much, but I want to say that threads like this keep me going. It kind of reminds me of all those group therapy sessions the military puts you in when you are getting treatment of PTSD or other mental disorders. In those groups, it was nice to feel that I am not alone in dealing with things. That is what Hadit and posts like this remind me of, that I am not alone and that there are many of us that are just "along for the ride" with the VA. Thank you rootbeer, broncovet and the many others that share your experiences. Reading that helps keep me (somewhat) sane!

Good afternoon everyone. E-benefits still lists my claim as Gathering of Evidence. However, via the webchat last week with a random VA person, they stated that the claim was in the Preparation for Decision phase. So I guess my question is, which one is correct, E-Benefits or the chat person? Is there a lengthy time gap between when a claim changes status and when that change is reflected in E-Benefits. This is an FDC disability claim that was filed in November 2013. C&P exams were completed in late March/early April this year, moving the claim from Preparation for Decision to GOE. Thank you all for your help. This board helps keep the sanity in check!