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vetquest
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Posts posted by vetquest
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That is good news. Keep us posted.
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That is normal for the VA, I am glad they finally admitted it.
In all seriousness you can call peggy or call the 1-800 number for the Whitehouse hotline.
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Buck52 is right on there. It may seem silly but you must stay in treatment for PTSD or they look for a reduction. PTSD is something that is very hard to quantify sometimes and I do not know any vet that was cured successfully. I would like to find out how someone is cured but that is above my paygrade. My psychiatrist prescribes medicine and I undergo maintenance with a psychologist and have been since I got out. I do not have as many problems in that now I am not working but the problem is still there.
If they do offer a reduction you have appeal rights the same as if you were appealing any other claim. You have the supplemental, HLR, and the BVA.
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@blahsaysme2u, I mean that if you hire a lawyer they take 20% of your award, make sure you hire a NOVA approved lawyer. If you lose you can take it to the Court of Veterans Appeals and you need a lawyer there but getting one should not be hard as they pay the lawyer at the CVA and it is nothing out of pocket to you. @broncovet, has much more information about the CVA than I do, he has been there.
Good luck and keep us posted.
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It appears to cover all of the bases. Being that you did apply within the one year time frame it should be presumed as your VSO's lawyer states. I cannot say that I would be uncomfortable going with this to the BVA as it hits all of the points needed. The question I have, is the lawyer going to follow your case at the BVA? If not, then I would most assuredly contact a lawyer and see what they might do for you. The greatest advantage of having a lawyer is that they take time to intercede for you. If this lawyer is not going to personally handle your case or handle your case and a thousand others I would feel more comfortable with my own lawyer, especially if you are so close to 100& scheduler. You lose 20% of your award but this is a milestone for you.
- blahsaysme2u, ShrekTheTank and Vync
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I was rated for headaches ten years after discharge. It is possible if it is in his service records as headaches can wax and wane over the years. He needs to start keeping a headache diary, which can be found on the internet, if he wants to show his headaches are chronic and to what level.
- ShrekTheTank and Vync
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If you have 2PHD's and a VA psychiatrist that should be great. Only the VA can diagnosis PTSD, not civilian doctors but you appear to have that locked up even though the C&P did not recognize your stressors. As far as your DRO hearing we do not know what they might ask. I went to mine with a prepared statement, at least know what you want to say beforehand. They might or might not want the whole thing but they will probably want to know your stressors. At my hearing they asked me why I wanted an increase and where I thought that the VA had erred. Bring your VA doctor's statement with you and the other two and offer them to the DRO. Your most important evidence in this case is the VA doctors. In mine they sent me for a new C&P.
What you are trying to do is establish reasonable doubt. In the basis of a positive and negative they are supposed to award in favor of the veteran.
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Bronco gives you the advice you need. It is hard to get SC for an injury 20 years later but it is possible. You may be denied the first time around. Do not stop there, appeal your decision and take it to the BVA is necessary. The VA will deny, delay and drag your case out, just do not give up.
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They should not disallow her from the hearing. If they try explain why she is there. My wife has been to a DRO hearing with me.
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You posted before I submitted, I would like to ask if they say you do not have all the stressors for PTSD do you still have anxiety and depression? PTSD is sometimes hard to get but you can be rated for anxiety and depression. It falls all under the same umbrella and is rated the same. A PTSD rating is rated the same as anxiety or depression and you cannot be rated for multiple disorders on top of each other.
As far as I know the DRO officer and hearing officer is the same.
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Yes, I have had a hearing in a room that was not normally what one would expect. My service officer was there so I knew it was legit. Do you have a service officer there to go with you? Sometimes they help at a hearing. They have a relationship with the "opposition" so you are not going in without knowing what to expect. I know that VSO's are not always the best but use them when they can help. I file my own appeals now but still use my VSO as a pass through.
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Buck, do you belong to the DAV or another service organization? Once when I had a serious problem with my case the NCOA gave me a contact number with a VA official who was unnamed who did a search for my case as my entire Cfile was missing. He was a high level employee and I got a one time shot, he found my case for me, it was sent to Alaska and I was marked as deceased. Service organizations meet with the VA at least once a month and they can discuss cases that are a problem. The trick is getting the service organization to take your case to this level. I had an advantage in that I belonged to the NCOA and I was active in this organization. Even if you are not an active member if you call then national office they might be able to do something for you as in setting up an appointment to straighten out your mess. It is a long shot but might work.
Another case might be to see if your senator is willing to help you figure this out. They appear to be more proactive for veterans right now and they can reach inside the VA and get you the appointment you need at the RO. This was also done for me at one time. As @GBArmy has noted he has a contact in the VA organization that he has used before.
We sometimes need to think out of the box (I hate that phrase) and seek help where it is not usually found.
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@Kelly Severance First off, since it appears that you have received his CFile I would take this as a gift, even though you have not requested it, it is a good thing.
The exams you have listed look good for TDIU so that is good.
I would call your VSO or lawyer if you have one and ask them where the case is as they would have access to VBMS. If you do not have a lawyer or VSO call the VA 1-800 number and explain that your case has closed and you have received no notification. Then nicely ask them if they can look at VBMS for you. If they do not call again and nicely ask again as sometimes if you get a good rep on the phone they will look at VBMS for you and tell you what is there. I have done this multiple times as my VSO does not have access to VBMS in that my case is locked out.
At this point you have done all that you can without requesting your senator or congressperson to look at your case.
Good luck with this and keep us posted.
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@HavokDiv, I have experience with it bouncing, especially if your case is at the BVA. They have clerks that assemble data for a decision. When the clerk thinks they have all of the information they submit it to the BVA lawyer. If he has questions or wants more information it goes back to the clerk and then back to the BVA lawyer. This can go on for many weeks.
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17 hours ago, awgv001 said:
Admit nothing, Deny everything, make counter-accusations.
Sounds like you know the VA well now.
- lawbro, awgv001 and ShrekTheTank
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You never know until you try. I was rated at 0% at discharge, my rating went to 30%, 10%, 30% and ten years later to 50% all as to the date of discharge. I also was rated for a disability with ten years of back pay another time. The most important thing is that you keep an active case going. What I mean is that you keep your case open by appealing the decision when you think that the VA is incorrect. The VA has many ways to deny you a rating but as long as you do not give up you can prevail. Sometimes the VA will claim the facts were determined as of the last C&P they sent you to. If you quit there you are done, appeal for an EED. On our side we have lawyers and the BVA and CVA.
Good luck. A VA head staffer one time told me the VA does not award persistence. He was right but that was before we had the option to use lawyers and the CVA. Some things have changed for the better.
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I am glad to hear that. I have outside mental health through Tricare so the VA does not want to see me in their mental health department. I have only one appointment a year to evaluate my condition. It is not so bad because with Tricare I can get all of the help I need on the outside and I have a good former military doctor that takes care of me.
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Broncovet is right on here. I had a case that was eight years old and the VA started doing things that were in violation of the laws. I went to a lawyer and all of the bad stuff went away and after two years I was awarded TDIU and 100% scheduler. I cannot say enough about using a lawyer.
I wish it was not that way but when I started my VA claim you were not able to be represented by a lawyer. A vet had sued the VA and won and the VA unearthed a civil war regulation that said your lawyer could not be paid more than $100 or so and struck the case down. I do not remember the year but that went away and we are able to use lawyers. Try to get a NOVA approved lawyer and most will charge 20% of your backpay, any more than that look somewhere else.
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Same here. You did nothing wrong. This just reminds me how much we need to support this site.
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As Shrekthetank1 stated the VA can and will reduce you if they see fit. They will do this sometimes in result to your submitting a new or upgraded claim but they usually get caught doing this. The VA is not your friend. They attempted to do reduce me me when I filed for IU.
I am also requesting an EED on my SMC. I am not sure under the AMA but I do know the VA cannot reduce you on an old style NOD.
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Yes, Broncovet is correct about develop to deny. The VA cannot reduce you on the basis of one exam also, so they sent me to three exams within a month with VA doctors. Just keep an eye out for the exam. You should be able to request it and your previous exam at your hospital release of information office thirty days after your exam. Check the two exams and see what they have to say.
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Yes, the VA very much dislikes to give awards in excess of $100,000 but if they would not take so long they would not have to give out these awards.
Less Than 2 Years Re-Evaluation
in Veterans Compensation & Pension Exams
Posted
Usually the VA is required to see the disabled veteran every year for a checkup. At this time they will ask about your appointments and treatment. If you do not go to the checkup they will assume you are not getting treatment.