GBArmy

Hi Deagle, welcome to Hadit. You can submit disability claims 6 months before your discharge. You need to get your med records and personnel records so you can account for all your injuries/problems. Make a good list of your disabilities and start to put evidence to support together. If you have issues with little or no evidence, start getting them documented by seeing the VA doc. Get copies of the diagnosis. You will have a much easier time getting approval if you submit at 6 months. If you wait until the last 2 months you will have to wait for the process to play out before you get approvals. Educate yourself by understanding 38cfr part 4 and how the disabilities you have are rated by their symptoms. Do this and you will be in good shape. Good luck

Hi Deagle, welcome to Hadit. You can submit disability claims 6 months before your discharge. You need to get your med records and personnel records so you can account for all your injuries/problems. Make a good list of your disabilities and start to put evidence to support together. If you have issues with little or no evidence, start getting them documented by seeing the VA doc. Get copies of the diagnosis. You will have a much easier time getting approval if you submit at 6 months. If you wait until the last 2 months you will have to wait for the process to play out before you get approvals. Educate yourself by understanding 38cfr part 4 and how the disabilities you have are rated by their symptoms. Do this and you will be in good shape. Good luck

Lonniebrinson I'm not sure about multiple See https://www.va.gov/pension/aid-attendance-housebound/

Short answer; most probably. I'd count on it. They do that for original MH claims even if you have strong evidence, including VA diagnosis. But that said, I'm not sure that they really have to. A lot goes into evaluation for service-connection for MH claims, so I would expect that they are missing "something" that they have to do. If you have submit the recent MH notes, including diagnosis, you will be re-evaluated again for the claim and most of those will be rolled up together as one claim, not seperate. I encourage you to submit and also to continue to seek treatment.

Contact the BVA and ask https://www.bva.va.gov/CustomerService.asp

You definitely are a man of principal. What's right is right! Keep up the fight and you are setting an example here on what veterans can accomplish no matter what the road blocks. I also agree about paying a lawyer to continue on; this is a legal issue and you don't want to go this far and lose out because of legaleze stuff. And 80& of something is a whole lot better than 100% of $0. Good luck and let us know progress.

With what you have provided, I would think a 70% rating would likely be given IMHO. But that keep in mind we don't the rest of the file. SI is the driver. If it is that high and you can not work, consider putting in for TDIU if they don't do it themselves.

I agree that lay statements/buddy letters can be very probative to winning a favorable decision. It is evidence. For those few disabilities where the veteran is providing the objective evidence besides a C&P exam, like tinnitus, it is critical. Unfortunately, the Agency doesn't often give it much weight way too often. But if you run it up the pole to the BVA, they are more inclidnd to more carefully review it as important evidence, as the law provides. In fact, I believe a veteran should submit a lay statement on just about ANY disability claim they go after IMHO.

Also,ebenefits is going to be phased out. Veterans should use VA.gov as well as ebenefits so you can learn to navigate and find what you need going into the future.

It's really 6 of one and a half dozen of the other. If your doc will be back in 2 weeks, I'd probably jump on it as soon as he got back now that it is already submitted. Just make sure she gets it in right away and then check to make sure it has been entered into your claims file. You could just call 800-827-1000 and ask the rep if it has been entered yet, or ask your VSO.

Hello Artillerymadman, welcome to Hadit. I think your gut reaction is correct. It is almost always the right action to submit all of your evidence with your claim to avoid delays. While she may be correct, methinks I wouldn't have done it that way. The primary evidence is going to depend largely on what your doctor states on the form and when he signs it usually as the earliest, so how would she be "saving your place in line?" If you get the paperwork completed quickly and get her to submit ASAP, probably no harm done though. As for your second question, see https://www.va.gov/disability/compensation-rates/special-monthly-compensation-rates/#how-we-assign-smc-levels-l-thr

Get a copy of your code rating sheet. If you are P&T, then you should not have any s-c disabilities that are not static. Static is the VA doesn't expect your condition to improve so you are not scheduled for any future exams. Read this last sentence again. You are rated 100% and you are not scheduled for any future exams. So why would a veteran want to shake the tree because your hearing or whatever has worsened and should go from 10% to 20 or 30%??? No reason to. Now, if you are worried about smc's, there are financial advantages for getting increases. Sometimes. SMC's are not supposed to be awarded on a permanent basis if they are likely to improve. Once you have it, you have it. I'm not talking about SMC awarded on a temporary basis, like cancer. You can be awarded 100% on a temp basis and after a specific time, you are dropped down to a lower rate and re=evaluated based on the residuals.It is possible to lose the SMC in that situation.) 5, 10, 20 rules apply.

As I said, you need an independent medical opinion that says not only it is service-connected and your symptoms and treatments including topicals meet the criteria for the next level. You could waste your time and go for a higher level review but it isn't likely going to change your rating. If you want to skip that, you want the independent opinion in the file prior to appeal to BVA.

Hi Coastie, welcome to Hadit. You're right on rating criteria; diagnostic code is 7806 for rating purposes. https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/38/4.118 You need to get a copy of the C&P exam. Then, most likely, you are going to get a new exam by your doc that agrees with the criteria for the higher rating. You need medical opinion that supports the claim, not your own evaluation. I'm not saying that you don't have the symptoms, but now you have to have a dermatologist say so.

Where is that statement coming from? Just the statement means legal assistance at the Board of Veterans Appeals, like a lawyer , Veterans Claims Agent or possibly a VSO. If you go to the BVA on a claim appeal, you may chose to get someone to help you present you case depending on which lane you take and the details of your particular case.

I suggest just drop this subject; getting a little warm.

Later...see https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/38/5110

Kim Welcome to Hadit. You have tagged on to a old message stream, so I'm not sure if you will find this. I suggest that if you need to ask additional questions, you start a brand new entry. To answer your question, here is a good calculator from Hiill & Ponton. There are several others on the internet. You might also contact them and simply ask them to verify your results. https://www.hillandponton.com/va-disability-calculator/

Hi Maryk welcome to Hadit. If you have been diagnosed and have a VA disability for 5 years or more you have some protections. The VA can't reduce your benefits/disability rating based on one exam. Hopefully you have med records that document your continued symptoms. There are several lawyers you can contact and don't be discouraged if you don't connect at first; keep trying. Some noriable (in no particular order) are CC&K, Perkins Studdard, Hill & Ponton,Veterans Law group, Walsh and Woods and Woods. You also may want to document, in detail, what happend and sent a copy to the director of your VA Health center to be on record of their poor subcontractor.

Hadit has helped THOUSANDS of veterans over the years. If you want to see it continue to do so, and if you can afford it, please consider making a donation! Well, you might say, somebody else can do it. Actually, that isn't true. You see, if Ms. Tbird has to shut it down because she just can't afford the out of pocket costs any longer, Hadit won't be around for "somebody else" to donate to. Please consider a donation.

Hi BDingster, welcome to Hadit. I don't have any literature to reference you but if you are going for secondary, you must get a nexus letter and a diagnosis to your knee. There should be plenty of cases to refer to. Try looking up the BVA decisions for prior award-https://www.index.va.gov/search/va/bva.jsp

Vync You were s-c for dental??? That is unbelievable! I'd send a detailed letter to the VA Secretary and ask him what kind of zoo did he manage, with a c.c. copy to the director of that VAMC. I could see some issues but not if you are s-c. What is the advantage of being service-connected if they don't take care of the disability. Seriously Vync, I'd send it to the Secretary.

This is a sad state of affairs. I hope examples cited are really the exception than the rule. As for me, I'd get on the whitehouse hot line and my Congressman ASAP if I were experiencing this BS.

This is a sad state of affairs. I hope examples cited are really the exception than the rule. As for me, I'd get on the whitehouse hot line and my Congressman ASAP if I were experiencing this BS.

Hi bobbygreen49, weicome to Hadit. OSA secondary to GERD is a tough one, as it can be a high value disability at 50% if you are diagnosed and use a cpap machine. The problem partly is that the VA usually sees the claim the other way around, that is, GERD secondary to OSA. But it is winable! Search BVA decisions. If you have been denied, keep at it. I'd consider a law firm such as CC&K or Hill and Ponton. see https://cck-law.com/blog/va-secondary-conditions-to-gerd-ratings/#sleep-apnea-secondary-to-gerd Keep us informed and best of luck.