paulstrgn

My PCM at Ft. Eustis (Hampton Roads area) told me that they don't write them for retirees because the VA has been given bilions of dollars to write them. I told my PCM that they really are not vet friendly (not all but the majority) and it can be hard to get them to write one. He did not seem to care. My PCM said they only write them for those who are retiring or getting out of the military. Now I thought that stinks but was at least glad they wrote them for the active duty military.

Cynthia...I live in the same area. Did you ask your podiatrist what caused your issues? For example did you ask the doctor is my foot problem because of the marching I did in the military or because of my ankle problem? I have had luck getting the doctors to add that to their medical notes and then submitting that with my claim. Have you had a C&P yet for your feet? I ask because I have found that the doctors/NP/PA have been sympathtic for my claim. Of all my claims I have only had two bad C&Ps with these civilian doctors. The links that Bronco, Ocean, and Vetquest provided are awesome, I did not know they exsited. I am looking at them to see if there is one I can use for a claim.

GB my experience has been that the military doctors won't write IMO for retirees. There are several Navy bases in the Hampton Roads area but they won't write them, I do believe they will write them for active duty who are about to get out of the military.

Request your C-File and yes be prepared to wait (mine took about 5 - 6 months). I am getting ready to request it again, I have had a new decision and will have that included. Plus I have a couple of pending claims that if completed will also be on my C-File.

I agree with everyone above. I am sure the person who wrote your buddy letter won't mind giving you that info. I know I wrote a buddy letter for a friend and I actually sent him a copy of my DD214 to go with it. But as mentioned above get it and submitted the requested information as soon as possible. To me it sounds like they believe the buddy letter, now they just need to make sure the timeframe they were in matches the dates mentioned in the buddy letter. Good luck

Buck don't worry about it you can show that you had a family emergency and that is why you could not make it. You have enough stress in your life without having to worry about missing this one appointment. If they won't clear the no show then I would email the director of the VA hospital or even the Chief of Staff of the VA. She has been really good about responding to my emails.

Opioids are addicted but I understand why people take them for pain. Personally I am scared to get addicted to them, my mother became addicted to them when she had cancer. I take tylenol 500mg which do not really help and I try not to take alieve very often since they are also bad for you. I have been going to pain management now for about 1 1/2 years and really only get a little relief. My doctor has tried performing "nerve oblations" which should last 1 - 2 years, the first one I had only lasted a little over 6 months. Like most here I am tired of hurting and nothing seems to help. I need to research this, for if it works and there are no side effects (at least none known of at this date), I might try and see if I can have this done. I also need something that does not make me drowsy during the day since I am still working, my work is so boring as it is.

I started shaving my head to stop from pulling my hair out...the VA will drive you crazy!!!

Congrats Sherk on the 100% I agree with GB it seems a little early to request an audit (obliviously you should get a nice check), I am assuming you have not received any payments. I received my back pay before I received my letter so I am sure it will be the same for you.. I know SA can be considered secondary to PTSD. I had the same problem a PA gave me a negative on SA even though I had two doctors state it was service connected. Unfortenately it took the BVA to agree with me instead of the RO.

I was grant an EED on 10/15/2019 and I had my money in the bank three days later. II would think you should receive it soon, I am assuming you have been checking your bank account to see it there has been a deposit. I have also received retro pay for other grants and they have always been in the bank a few days after the grant. Also if you have dependents make sure you have them listed for at the 30% rate and higher you get paid extra for them.

Thanks bronco I will. I need to check my dates on when percentages changed to input all the dates. Since the effective date is 9/18/2015 the start date would be 10/1/2015, is this correct or should it be 11/1/2015? Do you know does the VA or DFAS pay the back pay where I should have received my full retirement check?

Hamslice you are so correct. The doctors have tried to give me medications such as gabapentin, lyrica, etc to help with my nerve pain. I am not able to take them for they make me too drowsy during the day (can't sleep during working hours). Most people don't have that issue but I do. This rule has been in effect with the government for a very long time...

I was recently awarded an earlier effective date from 7/2/2019 back to 9/18/2015 for SA. I have already received one check but I do not believe it is enough, I believe it is a few thousand low. I got the check last week. I am also retired military, I should have been awarded some back pay because I went from 40% to 70% (40% is appx $700 per month). Will this come in a separate check or do I need to ask the VA for an audit on how they determined my retro pay? Or do I need to give it still more time for all the possible retro pay to come in? Also if I do ask for a audit for the retro pay which form do I request it on?

I have a legacey NOD filed on 8/1/2019 and it also states DRO reviewing 10 - 26 months. The new AMA goes much faster I had a HLR filed on 9/10/2019 and already received a partial decision (I don't have the BBE yet) but ebenfits changed the effective date to the SA. I will get a new C&P for my hypertension.

LOL from 2019 to 2015. I will take whatever they want to send. I was looking at the VA letters for the heck of it and discovered that I am now 100% P&T, this really surprises me. I am assuming the woman who decided my effective date made me P&T. Needless to say I am very thankful for this now. I have not received the offical BBE yet so I will assume there will be a letter there too.

So very true!!!!!

I agree with you, so far I think the AMA is moving very quickly. Hopefully they do grant both issues. My HLR is actually going quicker than a claim I uploaded in eBenefits. It was like that when I saw that the VA moved my effective date up.

Did yours say processing times was 4 - 5 months? Under the old system (which I have one pending) it say 23 - 24 months.

I stand corrected, mine only showed up in VA.gov...sorry for the mistake.

I checked eBenefits today and it shows that my HLR has been partially approved, they gave me my EED for SA. It went from 7/2/2019 to 9/11/205 (needless to say I am hoping for a good check). This half of my case was completed in 37 days which is pretty quick. They did not change the EED for my hypertension, when I spoke with the senior office she said if she could not approve my hypertension for 20% she would schedule me for a new C&P. Hopefully they will schedule this C&P soon, not sure what I will get I will find out soon enough.

Hamslice...If I understand correctly you were rated 10% for HTN from two older BP readings (I am sure your records have several more than that) in 11/5/2018. If you were given an EED for the 10% (I am not sure what date that would be), would it give you any extra back pay? If not you may want to think about filing the NOD, as GB stated above you will open yourself to be looked at for past disabilities (even though they claim they don't). I went in for a back increase and they are now trying to lower my rating (it has been nothing but a nightmare). As with anything you are your own best judge on what to do, make sure you will benefit from the NOD if not you might just want to let the sleeping dog lie.

Killemall...Follow Vync and Vetquest advice for you, you will be fine. You have plenty of time to make sure your rep to be thee and do their job. Good luck

There is a lot more to a writ of mandamus than what is listed above. Here is a link to one Ms. Berta wrote back in 2015. By looking at this one it will give you an idea of what to write. You may also want to write an email to the Chief of Staff for the VA. Her name is Pamela Powers, I have written twice to her and had a response back the same day. One of the responses came from the Chairman of the Board for the BVA and the other one was from someone on her staff. If you write her tell her what the facts are and ask for some assistance. If you have had a claim pending 6 years for a review then I would write her.

I will assume then that being 100% VA disabled doesn't cover the Part B? I was wondering for when I turn 65 I am required to signup for Tricare for Life (which is basically Medicare Part B). I was hoping that I would not need to since I am also covered by the VA. I am thinking I am wrong, like you Bronco I wanted to save the $135 per month.

I submitted a HLR on 9/10/2019 (faxed it in) and was called last week for the conference call. She told me she will be making a decision this week. The new AMA seems to be going faster. I filed a CUE in August that is still pending and have not heard anything at all on it, it is under the old system.