Holllie Greene

I call it also.

It is my understanding that Pre  911 veterans are not yet able to get caregiver benefits. While it was approved, the va is required to go thru some kind of study before it will finally be open to all veterans. Also, you do not have to be a combat veteran for caregiver benefits, you will just have to show that you need a caregiver, if you already have Aid & attendance that is proof you need a caregiver. 

About a year ago my wife tried to get caregiver through va but they said not eligible because only post 9/11 vets. My doctor filled out the aid and assistance form 21 something for me at the time.

OldSoldier.
Broncovet is dead on.  The process has gotten easier, especially if you have all of your ducks in a row.  You should look at the SMC and see which area first your circumstances the best.  From what has recently happened to me, it is dropping the 5 star evidence and then a C&P is done.  Took about 20 minutes.
As for the fight it does not get easier, and it does suck to have to fight them so much.  It feel like a handout, for whatever reason we went in healthy and did not leave the same way.  There is a reason that soldiers have such a high disability rate.  There is a reason GULF WAR VETS have 5 presumptive conditions which one or two of them can cover hundreds of conditions.  
Also remember you part of the 1% of those in our country that will see war have probably see some awful things, which other Americans will never see.  So fight for what was taken from you!  We are all here to help our sisters and brothers!

I’ve been pretty messed up for a lot of years and physically mentally unable to do anything with my va benefits until a few years ago when I got help, so I was 50% for 20 years. With ptsd since Iraq and chronic fatigue / fibromyalgia since 2010, i just finally got rated 100% p&t effective 2 years ago. My wife my caregiver all these years but I lost all other financial benefits except va so I am trying to find out how to get caregiver for my wife. I am 90s vet. I did read about smc l but my experience with c p exams has left me in a place where I’d rather eat a bullet.

I think it depends on VAMC you are working with. My wife gets paid monthly for my bowel and bladder care. If your VAMC has a separate program like ours you could get help then, good luck!

For those of us waiting on the enactment of  the caregivers program for pre 911 veterans read the attached.
 
https://www.veterans.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/FINAL Veterans First Act Caregivers Provisions.pdf
 
To be sure it looks like the program has been delayed due to tech problems in the new va software.....

Isn't it ironic how a "tech" problem has delayed implementing a program for so many disabled veterans yet they can find ways to implement other things??  I call BS..........

I agree fully with broncovet and paulstrgn.  If you are a citizen you have rights.  If you are not a citizen and get into trouble it could turn out bad for you, like deportation.

Yes.
For one of my three original injuries, I had to be prescribe meds, and the nurse practitioner created a secondary 100% that was far worst then the original 40%. This is why I tell everyone to get out of the VA system because they are the bottom of the barrel, who can lie (I just graduated from med school and the private sector knows how bad of a screw up I am and better apply to the VA because they're hiring--hey facebook i got hired even though I was at the bottom of my class from a 4th tier medical school), poison you to you're a vegetable, and get away with it because they don't have to be insured like private medical professionals. 
VA is the idiot mechanic that put diesel motor oil in your car's transmission, oil is oil right.
This is why I got that IMO from Dr. Anaise and one from a local orthopedic surgeon (currently pending to receive in two weeks and will post in the IMO section.)

We can only hope the VA doc will actually double-check the meds or allergy list. A while back, I was at the VA ER and my doc was the same one who saw me earlier that morning. The doc came in with a syringe loaded with a med that was on my allergy list. I stopped the doc, who checked the list, and came back with different meds and a sincere apology.

Prednisone is a very special drug.  It can be a miracle drug if used in low doses for short periods of time.  I was on it for a non service connected issue for a year.  I got grumpy and mean and developed a hump on the back of my neck.  I did not know about the cataracts part though.  I now have small cataracts forming in my eyes.  Such is life.

I have seen this happen before and the person cannot even come back to visit family.

So if one were taking a medication for a service connected disability...and this medication caused further problems or new symptoms...would this need to be considered as secondary?
Thanks
Draggin'

I was prescribed NSAIDS for over 24 years for several SC injuries. I then had a severe stomach bleed caused by an ulcer that attacked a blood vessel.  If it were not for my wife finding me on the bathroom floor semi conscious,i would have died from loss of blood. This happened 5 years ago. I am now going forward with a secondary claim. We will see what happens. I am doing this because my wife my be eligible to receive some SC funding if i die from a SC injury. 

With medical evidence that the med for SC caused the additional disability ,at a ratable level, the VA would SC the level of disability it caused.

A good example is prescribed NSAIDs.

They are know to cause,in some cases, GERD.

While this affect of NSAIDS is well known in the standard medical community, I have seen these claims denied by the VA unless there was a medical statement in the record that supported the GERD as caused or aggravated by the VA prescribed NSAIDs.

Sometimes I read stuff on here that I just find hard to believe.... 
I have first hand experience concerning drugs causing secondary medical issues... I lost most of the sight in my left eye because of steroid use for my lung condition. The VA doctors owned up to the problem as being a know issue, steroids cause cataracts, cataract surgery went terrible and I was left with almost no sight...  
Now I am having problems with my vocal cords again due to steroid use... VA doctor indicated in medical examination that the steroids caused the problem and this is a know secondary issue..
I am also looking at diabetes as a side effect to the steroids...The VA and the entire medical community know about these side effects... the va will not deny a claim if you have your medical records to back you up.. just like any other claim....

This is sad but true.  Maybe the AMA will process your claim sooner.  I know under the legacy system NOD's are ten to twenty-six months out at the RO.

This is part of the research I am doing now. I saw berta say that in a old post.
I cannot yet find anywhere in the MR21 or the law that allows that determination.
SC, once granted is a Property Right and even at 0% has a value as property.
The VA pays on different 0% claims, think SMC (k). Think that having multiple 0;s can be paid at 10%
I have not found anything yet to contradict that in the law or the MR 21 or in a Board case or a Court case. I don't see anything in the Federal Register that says "cue must have a 10% or greater value to be granted".
It will be interesting if they do deny on that basis and open the door to further appeal.
This is still at the RO so they might not want another fight. who knows?
 

This is still at the RO level and the CUE is on a long finalized claim.
As far as I know Reconsideration is not yet an option.
As for the CUE, it is a specific legal error that is clear and unmistakable under 4.2 and 4.6
The VA raters and the C&P examiner both stated they reviewed the entire record. They did not.
The VA rater stated they used my entire service period.
The claim had 3 parts, PTSD, Tinnitus, and HL.
The PTSD C&P did use my entire service period and I was granted.
I was granted Tinnitus.
The Hearing Loss C&P stated they only looked at my first enlistment and I was denied.
The HL C&P stated they did not find specific records in my STR's but they only looked at the first enlistment.
The rater did not catch that error. This is a legal failure under 4.6 and 4.2
The decision letter omitted the information that the decision was based on only half my record.
4.6 and 4.2 apply and that is the CUE. They failed to thoroughly review my records.
It is clear and unmistakable that had they looked at all the evidence in my file they would have granted SC.
A subsequent C&P granted SC based on the same evidence in the file that the first one did not look at. This is not a difference in diagnosis. It is a difference in how thorough the file was reviewed.
SC is a property right under the Due Process Clause of the 5th Amendment. The correcting grant of SC vested me with that property right via ruling of First Circuit Court of Appeals in Cushman as modified by Gimbrill(sp?)
I will put up a draft of the cue when it is done and tag you on it.

I read that the C & P s used to cost VA $400 each but that figure is now up to $900 per C & P exam.
“QTC Medical Services, Inc, a Leidos company (NYSE: LDOS), was awarded four prime contracts by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to continue to provide medical disability examinations for the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA). The multiple award, fixed-unit-price, indefinite delivery/ indefinite quantity contracts have a one-year base period of performance and nine option years with a total aggregate estimated ceiling value of approximately $7 billion, if all options are exercised. These awards are in addition to the previous award of VBA’s only nationwide contract supporting disability examinations for separating and retiring Department of Defense Servicemembers.”
https://www.fedhealthit.com/2019/01/qtc-medical-services-a-leidos-company-awarded-7b-in-prime-contracts-at-va-to-support-disability-examinations/
$ 900 Bucks from the VA ,for a potential lousy C & P exam, that might cost the veteran thousands with a strong IMO/IME to overcome a $900 exam.
What is wrong with that picture-EVERTHING
 
 
 

@jon15805, do as broncovet has advised.  I would advise getting a hobby because this is a long and difficult road and you need something to occupy your time or you will go nuts dealing with the VA.  I have had two ten year battles with the powers to be and it is not easy on any of us.  Just remember that the VA is difficult to deal with and worrying only makes matters worse.  If you draw a tough examiner do your best to remain level headed and not let your anxiety get the worst of you.  I had one shrink that I let him push my buttons and it did not go well.  Keep calm and try to be honest at all times.  If the examiner asks you how you are doing, tell him about your anxiety and why you have it.  

Thanks everyone, for the answers. I appreciate your input.
This is a complicated world of VA law and I'm quite ignorant of how (and why) things work. AskNod, yes -- the first atty does have a lot of time invested and I'm really not ready to jump ship. I was ignorant of the process when I signed the original agreement, but as time goes by I'm learning. It's expensive -- hopefully I will end up with a good education.
All that said, I have no real beef with my atty, other than he appears to ignore me. Perhaps that is the way of the VA foodchain... As I said before -- it's a whole different landscape than anything I've experienced. 

The VA also deducts $100 from our settlement for "dealer prep and destination fees". If you sign for 33%, that's your responsibility to pay the atty. directly. If your appeal was won before you signed w/ atty., ask for you money back. With that said, if atty. did win it and you jump ship and try to get another atty. to take it, you won't find one. Attys. hate claim jumpers. Worse, the first atty. may have a large amount of time invested and s/he would never sign off on waiving the fees s/he feel they legitimately earned. Succeeding attys won't touch it if they think the fee will be contested by atty. #1. If it were me, I'd be ironing out what's up legally with the win rather than asking for advice from us. We cannot see your case file. Going back to 1978 for an EED implies a CUE or §3.156(c) law. Both require extensive legal knowledge of contemporary VA law at that time.

Hi Kelly,
Wonderful news!!!  😀