GuaymasJim

If there is a substantial amount of treatment records, a telephone C&P is common. Usually, it is a positive thing. wish you well!

No one has responded to your post, so I will give you the bad news. The VA doesn't take a veteran's financial needs into account when processing claims. There are exceptions-terminal illness, imminent foreclosure, imminent homelessness- but I doubt that Christmas needs would qualify. In fact, I am certain they won't. I doubt the rater would take offense to your calling him, but I also doubt he would do anything to speed up your claim based on Christmas. You didn't post the date of your claim, so we really have no way of knowing even a ball park decision date.

The quick answer is yes on the P&T, but without more information it's impossible to say. You list 90% on your bio, so are you 100% TDIU? There are additional benefits for having more ratings in addition to the conditions used for any type of 100%, but there are some straight forward qualifications for them. Do a search for SMC here on hadit or Google the universe. Semper Fi!

Do you have the actual rating decision in hand? We need to see "Reasons and Bases." How long were your rated for the conditions? Did you receive a "Proposal to reduce" letter?

Congratulations! It took me exactly 5 years to the day to get P&T awarded after the initial TDIU award. I did not apply; just got a letter in the mail one day.

You failed to provide any dates. These are important! The facility itself has retention, storage and disposable protocols which would give you some idea if they still have your records. They may ship them to another site for storage. I once actually got 40 year-old original Camp LeJuene sickbay records! You MUST contact the facility directly and ask. Try by phone first and follow up with written correspondence. REQUEST THEIR ASSISTANCE AND BE POLITE. This will work much better than "ordering" them to do something for you. (I say this out of experience! I am not always my cheerful friendly self and have paid a price for being an a-hole. Please, don't follow my example!) You should also start locating any buddies/peers, officers (CO, OIC) and NCOs (Platoon leader, squad leader, NCOIC) who were stationed there with you who might have memories of the incidents. Don't procrastinate! Be persistent, but nice. If they can't help you, ask for options, references, and advise. Good luck, Semper Fi and keep us informed.

Your "estate" has no bearing what so ever on SSDI or Service-Connected Disability compensation. None! Earned income can have effect both. You can win Powerball millions and it won't matter. If you are awarded a pension, then everything matters.

No to your question: Is the Schizophrenia a diagnosis? It is Scale 8 on the MMPI2. Depression is Scale 2. Neither one is a diagnosis. Your two highest standard deviations from normal (what ever the hell that is) give you a 8/2 Profile . Either way, your MMPI-2 RF results are the most common for veterans with PTSD. The MMPI-2 RF and PK Scale for PTSD are relatively new and there is some controversy attached to them. Your scores do indicate Severe PTSD (according to the people who accept the MMPI-2 RF and PK Scale for PTSD as valid assessors of PTSD-not everyone does including me). Do not freak out! The names of the 8 Scales have nothing to do with diagnosis! It was only one of the components of your C&P. I have uploaded a fairly good (but nerdy) explanation of the MMPI-2. Google " MMPI-2 RF PTSD 8/2 Profile" without the quotes. You will get a ton of results. "(X) Occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas, such as work, school, family relations, judgement, thinking and/or mood" That is the second highest DBQ severity level right below Total. I don't see it matching the test results, but there is now way of telling how a rater will look at it. I hope this helps. MMPI2.pdf

I call bs also. We used to regularly get hadit newbies trying to get information on how to game the system. They quickly learned no such information was available here; and left just as quickly. It cannot be stressed enough that veterans be completely honest with their claims! It is perfectly legitimate to describe your average, or even your worse day, as opposed to your best day when discussing your condition; but it isn't alright to make up or grossly exaggerate your condition(s). Once awarded, everyone should read the award letter very carefully! Cross reference your awarded rating with the rating schedule in order to clearly understand exactly what you were awarded and why. The degree of occupational and social impairment is critical! We are not being compensated for our diminished quality of life. We are being compensated for our diminished capacity to gain and maintain employment at the national poverty level or above. If you are in better medical and/or mental condition than your rating, the VA will get around the discovering that information through regular medical exams and C&P exams. Until a vet has his/her rating continuously for 20 years, no rating is permanent and total. This is especially true with TDIU and total ratings for mental health. In many cases, it does not matter if you are being paid for what you are doing-the fact that you are capable of doing what you are doing matters. History repeats itself. Several years after the end of our involvement in Vietnam, the American taxpayers became aware of the huge cost of treating and compensating damaged veterans. They didn't want to pay the bill, so they didn't. As a consequence, veterans suffered and died alone and silent. It is estimated that the cost of Iraq/Afghanistan veterans will exceed 5 trillion dollars over their lifetimes. The taxpayers will not want to pay that bill either; and they won't. So, once again, veterans will suffer and die, but hopefully not alone and with the internet-not silent. If the newer generations of vets make enough noise, maybe those taxpayers can be shamed into honoring their obligations, I wouldn't bet the farm on it.

Your attorney is correct. Here is almost everything you need to know: https://www.vawatchdog.org/divorce-alimony-child-support.html

You'll have to wait for the award letter to know for certain. Now, let's address TDIU! IU TDIU just two acronyms for EXACTLY the same thing. TDIU is the correct one. TDUI is an accounting gimmick to patch up the 1943 rating schedule. Sorry Buck, I am not being critical, but your use of: " to use the extra schedular to rate you IU" is inaccurate and confusing. There is nothing "extra schedular" about TDIU! It is a rating in and of itself! If you meet the either set of requirements: (1) a single SC condition rated at 60%(or higher) rating OR (2) multiple SC conditions adding up to 70% (or higher) and one of which is rated at least at 40%, the rater MUST at least consider (as opposed to MUST award) a TDIU award. The term "extra schedular" ONLY refers to a veteran who DOES NOT MEET one of the above sets of requirements; but still feels (s)he is unemployable because of his/her service connected condition(s). The claim must be sent to the Compensation and Pension Division at the Central Office in D.C. for adjudication. Theoretically (will never happen) a veteran could receive the TDIU rating with only a single condition rated at 10%. However, a veteran with a single SC condition rated at and limited to 50% (migraine headaches for instance) or a veteran with four SC conditions rated at 30% each (Equals 70% over-all but no single 40% SC condition) and great medical and vocational documentation has a very reasonable chance of being awarded TDIU especially it the veteran has combat injuries (not required but can often sway a rater using BOD). Since the VA is obligated to "maximize" a veteran's benefits, the VA may (and should) juggle the combinations to arrive at a combination that could qualify for TDIU. Once TDIU is awarded, P&T must be considered (but NOT automatically awarded) like any other award, and a veteran may also qualify for statutory SMC-S (Housebound) if that veteran has enough additional SC conditions, not related to those used for the TDIU award, to add up to an additional 60%. The juggling of combinations I spoke of can be really important here. I believe (and many disagree with me) that TDIU is a better rating than 100% schedular because I believe it makes easier to qualify for SMC-S. On the other hand, there are some rather strong restrictions on working with a TDIU rating. These restrictions include, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED, to earning less than poverty level income. The type and amount of work a veteran does can get TDIU reduced to the veteran's schedular rating. A TDIU veteran MUST read, study, and clearly understand the work limitations that his/her schedular rating indicates. Go volunteer for 40 hours a week at a VAMC with $0 earned income and you can expect a "Notice to Reduce" letter at any time. No amount of "Unearned Income"-including winning the lottery like I did-will jeopardize your TDIU. On the other hand, the rater must even consider you actual residence when considering TDIU. For instance, it your education, training, and work experience is in nuclear plant operations and you live in Big Piney, Wyoming. Not much call for that set of skills in Big Piney, and the rater cannot say, "but if the veteran moved to Oak Ridge, Tennessee (s)he would be employable." I accept and try to answer PM questions, if you have any. Semper Fi!

Go to this page. It is pretty much self-explanatory. Good Luck! Semper Fi! https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10565.pdf MAKE SURE YOU IDENTIFY YOURSELF AS A 100% P&T VETERAN. REPEAT IT AS MANY TIMES AS IS NEEDED FOR THE SSA TO ACKNOWLEDGE IT!

Fat, he is a "boots on ground" Vietnam Veteran! The difference between a veteran of the era and a Vietnam combat veteran is huge when dealing with the VA. That is not a put down for veterans who didn't see combat. There are benefits for combat veterans which aren't available to non-combat veterans. Agent Orange--has he had a cardiac evaluation? Is he on the VA's AO registry? PTSD - both depression and anxiety can cause ulcers any problems along those lines? Many others! Great hit asknod, I've used for several vets successfully over the years! If well documented, it is almost impossible for the VA to deny; and can go a long way with TDIU 70/40% and SMC-S 100+60 eligibility. Buck, when it comes to VA benefits, there is no difference whatsoever between officer and enlisted-good or bad! Clean DD-214 is all one needs. (I have 4 HD's 2 officer and 2 enlisted-all Honorable).

RA44, It might be your browser. I have Win 7, 8.1, and 10 computers and a Win 8.1 Windowsphone that all load hadit without a hitch. I'm getting a little tired of Firefox freezing on all versions, but not specific to hadit.

Poodles, there is a wealth of information on IHD here on hadit. Search the hadit website, start a new thread, or PM the posters. We are all here to help. Most VN veterans have long felt that we have had "demons" chasing us since we returned to the world Agent Orange, PTSD, a hostile public and an apathetic VA. We literally wrote the book on PTSD and contributed to the understanding of IHD. I, and many of my VN veteran friends feel that the IHD presumptive was a gift to VN veterans by former DVA Secretary Shinseki, a VN combat veteran with two Purple Hearts and the loss of part of one foot. Unfortunately, he allowed himself to be isolated by senior VA executives who kept information about VA scheduling (and other problems) form him. He finally forced to resign under a unfair and undeserved cloud. He got sandbagged by the people whom he should have been able to trust to be honest with him. I believe Sec. McDonald has a similar fate in store for him in the not so distant future which would also be extremely unfair.

I'm certain that others with respond shortly, but there is no way in hell I would respond to an emailed VA survey! If I'm not mistaken, you still have claims pending. If I am correct, then 10X no way in hell. That survey will be so cherry picked that you wouldn't recognize your own answers. You are being asked to rate the people who are going to rate your claim!!!!! Do you believe that they will not see your responses? I don't! Did the email come to your personal email account or through Secure Messaging on My Healthy Vet? Did you check the actual source of the email?

Rita, Welcome to hadit. You are at the right place. There are NO dumb questions other than questions about how to succeed with a false/fraudulent claim. PTSD due to MST is covered by several knowledgeable veterans here. They will chime in shortly. The evidence requirements are different than combat PTSD. I don't believe they are any easier or harder, but they are different. If you are suffering from PTSD resulting from events that occurred during your military service, file a claim for it. I have never even heard of SA or fibro being secondary to PTSD. I am not certain if either could be an adequate stressor for PTSD. Increased chronic pain from a SC condition can certainly be the basis for an increased rating. I did not claim PTSD until 40 years after I left active duty. I was "boots on the ground" in Vietnam with combat awards, so my claim was really a walk in the park for me. The 30% award did nothing to my monthly compensation, but I wanted all of my bases covered so that my wife will have no problems with DIC when I croak. C-File is your DVA claim folder. It would be wise to request a copy right away because it takes a while for the VA to provide c-file copies. Your military records may well contain evidence in the manner of behavioral changes after the event regardless of whether or not you reported it.

RF, your political attitude as evidenced by, " By the way, I am not liberal, I am a patriot and if you get offended, you are not a true countryman." is an insult to most, if not all hadit members. You have absolutely no standing to render judgement on anyone's patriotism or entitlement to benefits. If you don't like the way the laws are written, gather up a bunch of like minded assholes and get enough of them to vote others of their ilk into office and change the laws. Until then, STFU and take your bullshit to some other website. Semper Fi!

My DD-214 also had my SS# wrong. I was still on active duty when we changed from serial numbers to SS#s. I requested, and received, a corrected DD-215 with the correct SS# from the National Archives. I did this by phone a long time ago, but I remember how helpful the NA rep was and getting the DD-215 in a matter of days. I ended up with 4 Honorable Discharges and only the last one used SS# so the problems were resolved with the single DD-215. Hope this helps!

I had the same experience as broncovet. Take his advice. Set aside the extra money because the VA will certainly come after it later.

I read your DBQ (as opposed to studying it) and compared it to my own (2013). In many regards it was very similar, the biggest exception being multiple combat (VN) stressors and a host of other conditions. It gets a little confusing about what documentation was reviewed. I am assuming you provided most of it. The military personnel who were killed or injured at the Pentagon were awarded the Purple Heart as they should have been. That makes the attack an "enemy action." I believe that influences the need for a confirmed stressor, but you provided one anyway. Under "Occupational and social impairment" the level marked by the examiner is almost word for word the VBA criteria for 30% "Occupational and social impairment with occasional 30% decrease in work efficiency and intermittent periods of inability to perform occupational tasks (although generally functioning satisfactorily, with routine behavior, self-care, and conversation normal), due to such symptoms as: depressed mood, anxiety, suspiciousness, panic attacks (weekly or less often), chronic sleep impairment, mild memory loss (such as forgetting names, directions, recent events)." I agree completely with Berta. FYI, I was awarded 30% with the same level marked on my DBQ.

It appears that you had a very positive C&P exam. If your rater interprets the results correctly, you should do fine. What I find concerning in this thread and some others (as well as a personal experience with an IHD telephone C&P), is the fact that some C&P examiners are giving their opinions on disability compensation amounts, service-connection (other than direct service connection with the use of SMRs), effective dates, appeals, and CUEs. These issues are not within the purview of C&P examiners! If an examiner even mentions or discusses any of these things during a C&P exam, then it could be reasonably inferred that the examiner used, has used, or will use, that information in his/her evaluation of the veteran. That information is irrelevant to the veteran's claimed condition(s); and the examiner is prohibited from using it in any way whatsoever in determining the medical status of the veteran. If I, or some one I was assisting, were ever to have a less than a completely positive and accurate C&P exam and any of these issues were discussed, I would immediately challenge the exam as inadequate and improper! I would be especially concerned with a mental health C&P because of that devious little devil called, "secondary gain." The tort defense bar uses it in almost every medical malpractice case in the attempt to discredit the plaintiff by convincing the trier of fact that the claimant is exaggerating the severity of the symptoms or even malingering to increase any monetary award. I know the VA disability adjudication process is "non-adversarial." I also know that the moon is made of Swiss cheese.

Asknod, time and time waits for no one! Sorry to hear about the ticker. Current medical consensus is that your odds of having IHD (as improperly defined by VHA/VBA) is directly proportional to your age: age 60=60% chance; age 70=70% and so on. Here is some unsolicited advice. Have an angiogram as soon as possible. It is the diagnostic gold standard. Refuse to have catheter access through your groin! 95% of post-procedure catheter problems occur at the groin. 95%! Have the procedure(s) done using your radial artery at your wrist. At the end of the procedure, they will place a inflatable bracelet over the access point to allow it to seal. If that bracelet causes you any pain, ask that the pressure be reduced as much as possible. An over-inflated bracelet can/will occlude the radial artery and it can never be used again nor can the ulnar artery on the same arm. You will be up and about and possibly home in a few hours. During the informed consent appointment ask how many of these procedures (r-PCI) the operator has successfully completed. They are required to tell you if you ask, but won't tell you if you don't ask. If it is in single digits or even low double digits, ask for a more experienced operator! Medical consensus is it takes at the very least 50 successful procedures to be qualified to perform the procedure(s) without strict supervision. If you are refused another operator, raise hell and seek to have the procedure(s) done elsewhere. In fact, if you have access to non-VA healthcare, this is absolutely the right time to use it. Done properly, even multiple (staged) procedures can be painless "non events." Done improperly and both the adverse event and mortality rates increase dramatically. PM me with questions!

First, the compensation for 21 day admission is completely different from TDIU. TDIU stands for Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability. If you are admitted and stay in the hospital for 21+ days for a service-connected condition you will indeed be eligible for temporary compensation at the 100% rate. The cashier at the facility can provide you with the proper forms and help you fill them out correctly. A larger question is your 70% rating! You should have been automatically considered for TDIU with that 70% award. Did your award package include the form to apply for TDIU or even mention TDIU? Have you received any form of communication from the VA concerning TDIU, Voc Rehab, etc.? You need to do some research on TDIU (sometimes referred to as IU) The is a goldmine of information on TDIU both here on hadit and here: https://www.vawatchdog.org/tdiu-unemployability.html Navy04's post is right on the money, especially the first and last sentences! You need you and your family needs you--Do what it takes to get better for all of you! Good luck!

lotz, I have always been able to get my C&P exam reports from my VAMC ROI Office as part of my medical records; but keep in mind that all my C&Ps were conducted there. I believe that being part of an "investigation" of your claim as opposed to being actual medical care, a C&P exam and report would not be covered by HIPAA in the same manner as say a scheduled appointment with your PCP. Accidental or intentional disclosure of your information to someone not entitled to possess it would certainly still be a violation, but refusing to disclose it to you may not be. Like you, I always want to make certain that the law (U.S.C.) is on my side rather than just take some VA employee's word. (iceturkey this is for you too!) I believe the larger question is the supposedly "non-adversarial" claims process. Withholding vital information for the veteran claimants seems to be a flagrant in-your-face violation of the VA's duty to assist the veteran in perfecting his/her claim. The same is true with the inordinate amount of time it takes for veterans to receive a copy of their c-file which is the functional equivalent of denying a veteran a copy. ALL VA claims succeed or fail on one or both of those two documents in combination with the veterans' medical records, therefore being denied this information until a decision has already been made is a violation of Constitutionally guaranteed due process. The problem is that veterans have no real venue to redress their grievances. The claims process is broken, the appeals process is broken, and it often takes decades to be heard by CAVC. We sacrificed a hell of a lot more than just health and prosperity by serving our fellow citizens; we also surrendered a significant number of civil rights. Think about that the next time someone says, "Thank you for your service." I don't use one, but possibly your VSO or service organization POA can get a copy for you. Good luck to you!