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go to your ebenefits account...check the letters, the benefits summary will tell you what you have, dates that they approved it and everything...the section telling you what your disabilities are will let you know what they approved... If you think they goofed dont spend the $$. If they catch it, it comes out of your monthly deposits till its paid back. Just let the dust settle before getting all happy joy joy and new car kinda stuff.

it is P&T, looked up the letters in the EB site, it shows under benefit summary. Got to do analysis on the rest when the BBE gets in. This just turned today.

Post lumbar fusion, the nerves were damaged. I dribble. Nothing can be done, its a forever thing.

good info on ilp here

Your VR counselor must provide you with a direction to take this. Bump it to a supervisor. Nice way to do it is to ask the Counselor if s/he can please guide you toward the right contact for help on the ILP because you are eligible.

It will be a week before the BBE shows. Hope it is P&T, spouse gets CHAMPVA then. Summary of benefit information Include? Information Value Include the information in this row You have one or more service-connected disabilities: Yes Include the information in this row Your combined service-connected evaluation is: 100% Include the information in this row and the one below it Your current monthly award amount is: The effective date of the last change to your current award was: $3139.67 June 01, 2018 Include the information in this row You are considered to be totally and permanently disabled due solely to your service-connected disabilities: The effective date of when you became totally and permanently disabled due to your service-connected disabilities: Yes May 16, 201

Submiitted my last claim via EBenefits 31 Aug 2018, closed today on 10 Oct 2018. They even backdated my conditions back to when I submitted notification on EBenefits in May 2018. The Right shoulder will be appealed and new evidence added due to a new MRI that they did last month. Shows labral tear due to when I fell last Jan, should be approved quickly because the C&P examiner should have asked for the MRI before ever giving any opinion. This will cost me but will not increase my rating. Everything here was based on pre-filing prep done by the VA. Make yourself the squeaky wheel so your PCP will get your conditions checked out. They can get xrays and have them read and it goes straight into your medical file at the VA. Nobody can argue with them at that point. Just dont tell the world you are working on claims, if you have legitimate conditions that you need care for just get the care and then when its in process and ongoing you can file a claim without saying a word to anyone. As they verify the conditions your lay statements are the groundwork to a successful claim. Lay statements are second only to IMO's. Disability Rating Decision Related To Effective Date right lower extremity radiculopathy (claimed as sciatic pain right leg) 10% Service Connected 03/03/2014 left lower extremity radiculopathy with left foot drop 60% Service Connected 01/19/2017 right shoulder tendonitis(claimed as right shoulder condition) Not Service Connected left shoulder labral tear 20% Service Connected 09/16/2016 lumbosacral strain with intervertebral disc syndrome and degenerative disc disease (also claimed as spinal stenosis, low back strain, lumbar strain (chronic), mild thoracolumbar scoliosis, spinal instability) 40% Service Connected 01/20/2017 degenerative arthritis, right knee (claimed as bilateral knee condition) 10% Service Connected 05/16/2018 prostate hypertrophy 40% Service Connected 11/23/2015 limitation of flexion, right hip 0% Service Connected 05/16/2018 limitation of flexion, left hip 0% Service Connected 05/16/2018 patellofemoral pain syndrome, left knee (claimed as bilateral knee condition) 30% Service Connected 05/16/2018 degenerative arthritis, right hip (claimed as bilateral hip condition) 0% Service Connected 05/16/2018 degenerative arthritis, left hip (claimed as bilateral hip condition) 0% Service Connected 05/16/2018 limitation of adduction of the thigh, left hip 10% Service Connected 05/16/2018 limitation of adduction of the thigh, right hip 10% Service Connected 05/16/2018

I always take my conditions face value to the VA Doc. I make my complaint about the condition, and they respond with treatment options (if the dont ignore it). This creates a record you can monitor in your Health-EVets account and you can download it in the "blue button" reports. Results from tests, xrays and examinations are all included in the reports. This is a huge help for an IMO. The more you get your VA Doc to do for you to document your condition, the less the IMO Doc has to do to give you a valid opinion based on clinical evidence provided by the VA. They also allow you do download the actual xray and MRI's images now which can be copied to a CD or a thumb drive and taken where ever you want to take them (Non-VA Doc's giving IMO will use that too). The Blue Button Report is an invaluable tool you can use to document your condition.

Never said that the VA actually gets a PA that is properly qualified to do the job. Thats why they have a 74% error rate according to American Legion... Sons Mother-in law is a PA in musculoskeletal specialty. She is as good as any MD they have after she has done this for 30+ years. I got lots of valuable advice from this lady related to spine and radiculopathy etc... If the VA recognizes the PA, its called ACE, acceptable clinical evidence. Thats what counts when all the marbles are laid out. Clinical evidence is the basis for everything we do to establish a claim. Current medical literature trumps undocumented guesses. A PA can cite current medical literature. Think about Dr. Bash, and what he does. While he is limited to his specialty in practice, he uses current medical literature and attention to detail to prove his nexus. A PA can accomplish the same thing. If you have a competent non-VA PA, you can push a decision past equipoise for a win.

I have had 2 good experiences with LHI this year.

If there is an obvious issue with the decision, you may be able to clear it up by submitting a reconsideration for the date.

VA recognizes that the PA is competent to do C&P exams, that is why they use them. PA's are not exclusive to the VA however, and any PA can do the job. Costs for PA's should be less than MD's, and they can provide sufficient explanation based on existing medical literature for a nexus.

Good answer Broncovet. I would add that PA's have a solid basic education in medical field and if you do chose to use the PA, make sure that they include a full and comprehensive etiology based on current medical literature. If the IMO quotes current recommendations and studies and documents your condition by date and symptoms and goes into detailed reasoning how the nexus is accomplished, the VA will probably roll over without a second thought. Bonus here: have the PA do your C&P exam, find the DBQ form and take it to your appointment. If you provide everything for a claim, the IMO and the DBQ, the RO should consider it acceptable clinical evidence (ACE) and move the case quickly. (M21-1 III.iv.5.A.3.d. DBQs and ACE) This would be best turned over to a VSO and submitted because then it would process in 30 days (without unforeseen issues popping up).

On my first claim for SC I sat down and started calling every specialist in the phone book. I found one who would give me an IMO for 250. I provided info about how the IMO must be worded and he did a bang up job for me. Claim was approved rapidly because my file was hardship at that time. 250 was a great price in 2014, if they wanted 500 it was a great price. The IMO needs to describe the "etiology" of the condition that links your active duty issue with the current issue. That is a term used to describe the technical reasons of how your service connected injury is related to or a result of a condition you are dealing with now. As long as your IMO contains an etiology, its almost a sure thing that you will be approved. Remember none of the MD's giving IMO's will lie for you. If they say no, its probably no. If you want a second opinion go for it, but if you hire an MD on the outside they usually dont have an axe to grind with anyone. Be ready because there is a possibility that the IMO rejects an etiology that you are seeking.

If you have a smart phone they usually can record on the sly. Take your phone in with the audio recorder on and set in next to your stuff on the table. You can take notes from the recording and delete it (or not). Your notes on what that MD did are just as valid as his are. If he lies, you can call them on it and challenge the exam with your own. If you have an MD validate a condition that the C&P examiner screwed up, with your lay testimony combined you can beat the bogus examiner. "An 11th Circuit of Appeals panel ruled 2-1 this week that the Florida law "does not apply to the recording of all oral communications," and is "expressly limited to communications 'uttered by a person exhibiting an expectation that such communication is not subject to interception." (from 2017)(Rarely is the secret recording law invoked. Between 2001 and 2011 only 10 people were formally charged with violating the law. )

Get the appeal in pronto. They are putting RAMP appeals in front from what I understand.

You can get an ID card (and family) if you live near a commissary and shop there. Free Life insurance. Premiums are waived. You can also get into the Independent Living program (ILP) with the VR&E. Asknod is fighting for a brand new, fully functional green house . Check your state tax code, in Florida 100% P&T are exempt from property taxes.

The reason you take notes when you cannot record is because then you have them to submit as support in your lay statement. If they do not have the correct tools to measure ROM, put it in your notes. If they dont test Range of Motion (ROM) according to the DBQ, put it in your notes. If they dont ask you to do repetitive stressing, put it in your notes. In the end, what you have in your notes are far better and more accurate than what you remember in a week, or two, or twenty. The lay statement attesting that the examiner failed to perform according to the requirements in the DBQ that comes from an eye witness is enough to get a new C&P exam. Or you can go get one on your own and prove that the original examiner screwed up. Then you destroy his credibility and its a sure fire win. In Florida, both parties must agree to allow the recording. If you ask and the examiner agrees then go for it. Most of them will not allow it. I have been told by the examiners at my past exams that my spouse cannot go in. That means no witnesses. That leaves you and your notebook and pencil with the guy that does not want accountability. They can not stop you from taking notes during the exam. Edit I would go so far as to say taking a copy of the DBQ form into the exam with you to use for note taking would be a very good idea.

You cant record the exam. You can take handwritten notes though. If they screw up and make false entries into the record, report them to the medical board and the IG. Falsifying medical records is a felony. The more people who report this, the more they will have to look into it.

Yes. Tell them they have all the info supporting it in your IMO and claim history. Ask for a reconsideration under the RAMP program if nothing else. Should get you closed out by Dec/Jan. The claim will reopen in EBenefits, so you can also submit new info there when it does.z If you didnt already do it, submit medical records showing the progression of the knee condition over years if you can. Seal the deal that way. I dont think you must do that, but if you overwhelm them with evidence, they will not try to argue the point.

I would still appeal this denial. As a direct cause, your arthritis caused your knee instability. Thats what the Dr said. The VA has no other opinion to the contrary. Make your own lay statement asking why they would deny the knee instability when they acknolwedged that your Dr stated that it was caused by the existing condition (arthritis). Your right knee is service connected for arthritis, right? As part of your 90% rating?

Your instability developed due to a degenerative condition. Arthritis is a degenerative condition. It went from simple arthritis to a more difficult problem. The main thing is that it is your right knee, and it is already SC. Secondary connection would be if you fell and broke your arm because of your right knee giving out. Then the broken arm would be secondary to the right knee. Same thing goes with your left knee. If it becomes arthritic because of the incresed stress caused by the right knee problem, then the left knee can be secondary to the right knee. Both hips follow this same trajectory. Knee joint is a major joint, it can be rated in addition to nerves. Nerves are way different than the joints.

If the knee is already SC, and it got worse, you need an increase.

If you remove an identifying info from your SOC, and post it, you will get much more help because it tells us everything about the claim and why they denied it all.