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bosun

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About bosun

  • Birthday 03/27/1964

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    bosun44@aol.com
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  • Location
    nc

Previous Fields

  • Service Connected Disability
    100
  • Branch of Service
    Navy

bosun's Achievements

  1. VA Disability Rating Criteria: A former 30 year employee of the Veterans Administration wrote the following after his retirement. He is also a disabled vet. It addresses the lack of knowledge many applicants have about what is involved in processing their disability claims. His statements are not to be interpreted in any way as being officially sanctioned by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The information is meant for general understanding only. There are always exceptions and the law is subject to change. We hope this helps alleviate some of the anger and frustration many experience due to the seemingly endless delay in processing their claim. When a veteran submits a claim to the VA, he/she should understand there are several prerequisites for a successful disability claim. Among them are: 1. The evidence of record must show the claimed condition was incurred in (first occurred or diagnosed) during military service. That means the medical evidence provided by the veteran and/or the service department (usually the Fed. Records Center in St. Louis) must show the claimed disability. If the disability pre-existed service, such as a knee condition, the evidence must show that the condition became worse during military service. That is one reason it is important to insist on a discharge physical examination. It is your last chance to make certain disabilities are in your record. REMEMBER, if the claimed disability is not shown in your service medical records it DIDN'T happen. Exceptions to this rule are conditions, which may not manifest until after military service is complete. For example PTSD. In such cases, the veteran's service record is requested to determine if his/her service was under such conditions, that the present diagnosis can clearly be associated with military service. The fact that your drill sergeant was mean to you would not qualify. 2. Assuming service medical records show the claimed disability exists, then it must be determined how disabling the condition is at the present time. Usually the claimant is scheduled for an examination at the nearest VA Medical Center. The examining physician completes a report showing his/her diagnoses and clinical findings. Keeping with the knee example. The doctor will check for range of motion, looseness of the joint, pain, etc. For sake of our discussion, we will assume the knee was initially injured during military service. 3. The report is sent to the Regional Office for review. The rating specialist reviews all the medical evidence, with special consideration to the examining physician's report. The rating specialist then consults a rating schedule. The diagnosis tells him/her under which disability to rate the knee. For example, chronic knee strain, torn ACL, traumatic arthritis, etc. The clinical findings will be compared to descriptions given to various percentages. The percentage, which closest agrees with the physician's findings, will be given as the evaluation of the disability. 4. If the veteran has more than one disability, each of which is considered at least 10% disabling, they will be applied to a combined rating schedule to yield a combined evaluation. The individual disabilities are not added to give a final percentage. For example. Assume our hypothetical veteran has 3 disabilities: knee, heart, and psychological. Each disability is considered 50% disabling. The veteran is not considered 150% disabled. What happens is Each % is applied to the remaining healthy person. With no disabilities the veteran is considered 100% healthy. When the knee condition is considered, the veteran is now 50% disabled and 50% healthy. The 50% evaluation of his heart is applied to the remaining healthy 50% and he/she is considered 75% disabled and 25% healthy. Since evaluations are only in even 10%, the evaluation is rounded off to 80% disabled and 20% healthy. The final 50% psychological condition is applied to the remaining 25% healthy person. Remember the actual combined evaluation was 75%. It was just rounded to 80%. He/she is now 88% disabled. The evaluation is rounded to 90% disabled and 10% healthy. 5. The veteran would automatically be considered for individual unemployability. The rating specialist would determine that if based on the veteran's education, skills, etc. are his/her disabilities so severe as to render him/her individually unemployable. If the answer is yes, he/she is paid at the 100% rate although his/her disabilities only warrant a 90% evaluation. Although the monetary benefit is the same, there is an important distinction between a combined scheduler 100% and 100% due to individual unemployability. If the 100% is by the schedule, the veteran may, if able, hold a regular job. If the 100% is due to being unemployable, he/she may not engage in anything other than marginal employment. The VA checks annually through the individual states for veterans, who are considered unemployable and are holding a regular job. It can become very ugly financially for the veteran, if he/she is caught. It could result in anything from a reduced evaluation, to full repayment, to jail time. Contrary to popular belief, the mind set in the VA is to resolve all doubt in favor of the veteran. Consider, if the claimed benefit can be granted, there is a happy veteran and one less file someone must review. Return To VFVC Home
  2. they did mine the same way and it was approved they told me it was to make sure everything was don right so good luck you will get a call from your local office i did and was told i was approved before i got the letter
  3. i was wondering i am getting social security disability for the same thing i have applied for sc with the va just got approved for ss it took a total of 45 days from start to finish should i tell the va im getting this will it help my sc claim our hurt it need some advice on this i have already been turned down one time by the va and have asked for a reconsederation with new medical evadence thanks for your help. bill
  4. i called to check on my claim today and was told it has been sent for a second signature is this a good thing our a bad they did not send me for a c&p exam said they had enought info started mt claim in dec of 08 any advice on this matter would help and thanks for this site i read it all the time
  5. i was told today my claim went to the rating board on the 29th of march how long does it take after they get it before you here some thing back and what is the next step thanks for any input i can get
  6. wow thanks for help should i file for sc on this and if i did what would be my chances of winning i am already 40% sc and these would secondary conditions
  7. can any body tell me what this means axis 1. ptsd axis 2. deferred axis 3. htn, djd, gerd, restless legs axis 4. social isoilation, occupational and financial stressors axis 5. 49 what does all this mean im 40% sc now
  8. yes he will say that in writting but i dont know what those terms mean and no im not working thanks foe help
  9. sorrt put this in the wong place
  10. i went to my dr for the second time and this is what he put down as a diagnoses i dont understand what all this means can anybody help me whith this axis 1. ptsd axis 2. defferrd axix 3. htn, djd, gerd, restless legs axis 4. social isolation, occupational and financial stressors he told me i should file a claim for this i am already 40% sc from my injury do you think i should file and what are my chances thanks for any help i can get just dont understand all this stuff
  11. ok thanks for info not sure how do do all puter stuff
  12. yes i got 40 % for the same accident and yes ptsd is the secondary to my 40 % got a small advance when i got out but had to repay it before i could get my monthly payments my accident is in my VA file so it wont be hard to fill out the form then
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