GBArmy

Shrek I came out with a value of 89.498, or rounded to 90%. Make sure you go highest value to lowest, not by when you got the disability. I used http://www.vvaarizona.org/combined_disability.php

The quickest thing you could do is call Peggy (800- 827-1000) and see what they can tell you. The C&P examiner may be telling you that although they haven'y informed you, your claim for your back is (or should be) denied as you don't have a medical diagnosis. Do you actually have a medical diagnosis for it? If not, get one. You would want to be sure that it has rationale for the cause of the pain, and that the Dr. connects it as in "more likely as not" been caused by an in service event. You may be able to submit the new evidence even now since they haven't dispositioned your claim. You need to s-c the back to your service. If you already have, start making some noise.

If your STR's showed you have the condition going in, and they show they are even worse getting out, seems like you would be looking for "aggravation ". Your active duty, MOS, you would think would be a slam dunk. Of course you need to look up the diagnostic code and see if your current condition would result in a net value for disability. You get the difference. Example your conditions would be rated at 10%, your discharge conditions would get you 30%. 30-10=20% rating. Maybe; this is the VA! Good luck.

It doesn't really matter. What matters is what the PA writes up. If it is favorable and it supports your claim great. It it isn't favorable because he/she doesn't do what they should., not so much. It really depends upon how competent the examiner is. If you appeal, and your dr.'s notes are in conflict with the results, the tie is supposed to go to the veteran. That doesn't mean it always comes out that way, and you end up appealing again. In theory, anyone the VA has to conduct the exam is supposed to be competent enough to do the exam. That doesn't necessarily mean that the PA doing your exam is or is not competent to examine your particular disability. This all assumes that your dr.'s IMO meets the criteria of saying he has reviewed all your medical record, in his professional opinion your disability was S-C and the reasons why. As Shrek just said, it is best to bring your dr.'s opinion/notes/dbq's with you and ask if they had a chance to review them. That may very well help the examiner formulate a favorable opinion. Of course if they say no they haven't seen the paperwork and it turns out that your C&P is unfavorable, you then have an avenue for appeal .

Hi Ram03111 Your C&P says you have sleep disturbance i.e. sleeping disorder. If you have not ever had a sleep study, I would recommend it and ask your doc to put you in for it. Three reasons: first, it isn't possible for you to get a disability for OSA without taking it to confirm you have it. A sleeping disturbance doesn't necessarily mean you have OSA. Second, and most important for your health, you need to find out. If you stop breathing in the middle of the night, you aren't going to be much good help for you sick wife. Third, your rating is based on a MH condition that the VA feels is capable of improving; that is to say you could be down grated or even lose your disability rating. If you could get another rating, maybe 50% for OSA, it could provide some insurance for you and your family.There are several comments regarding OSA posted here. Research it. But get the sleep study done brother.

I will let someone else with experience talk to the MH issues specifically, but dollars to donuts what is happening is they are low-balling you. It's easy. Vietnam veteran; got to be late 60's or older, right? Tag you with Dementia, not s-c, just an old age condition people get. Then, I think unless you can s-c to a TBI incident back in the day, you lose. And that's really a hard sell, because there won't be anything in your records because hey didn't invent TBI in the 60's. There are a lot of veterans on this blog that can help you in this fight. Don't give up!

Sure, make sure all your personal info is redacted. I don't get it either. Did you look up what your disabilities are posted in ebenees and see if they changed. Is it by chance rated as 0%? The VA just can't disregard what your IMO said; they have to talk to his points. Tie is supposed to go to the veteran.

Sure, make sure all your personal info is redacted. I don't get it either. Did you look up what your disabilities are posted in ebenees and see if they changed. Is it by chance rated as 0%? The just can't disregard what your IMO said; they have to talk to his points. Tie is supposed to go to the veteran.

This is a little off-topic but I really recommend Cranberry juice. I have had issues with kidney stones and drink at least 1 glass a day. I stopped for some dumb reason for a couple years, and you guessed it, I had another attack. The docs have been recommending cranberry juice to ward off kidney stones for many years. Nice to know something that simple, with no chemicals, works. I highly recommend it.

Paul, you know its a real challenge when you have to type 5 number and several letters in the proper order.! Geeze, ya gotta give me i was close!

OK so the first thing is we need to know is what disabilities are you s-c for already, and what ones have gotten worse. If they are listed as presumptive to A.O., you need to compare your condition symptoms to diagnostic codes and see if they warrant compensation or in some cases, an increase. Look them up on find my disability rating .com You will probably want to file for EVERY disability you should be compensated for. Why would you not? I assume you are a Vietnam veteran as you mention A.O., and that you have a VA disability. What are you already rated for and how much for each and total combined rating?Do you use the VA for Health services, a private doctor, or both? Do some research and come back.

Talking about what law prevents the VA from abusing the overuse of C&P exams see C.F.R. 3.337 Reexaminations (b)(2) (2) No periodic future examinations will be requested. In service-connected cases, no periodic reexamination will be scheduled: (i) When the disability is established as static; (ii) When the findings and symptoms are shown by examinations scheduled in paragraph (b)(2)(i)of this section or other examinations and hospital reports to have persisted without material improvement for a period of 5 years or more; (iii) Where the disability from disease is permanent in character and of such nature that there is no likelihood of improvement; (iv) In cases of veterans over 55 years of age, except under unusual circumstances; (v) When the rating is a prescribed scheduled minimum rating; or (vi) Where a combined disability evaluation would not be affected if the future examination should result in reduced evaluation for one or more conditions. So, if the s-c conditions are static (Read P&T), the veteran is 55+, and the combined disability exam should result in a reduction for one or more conditions, re-exam is not required. Does the VA pull rank and require an additional C&P? Sure, on a rare occasion. It's the VA; they do or say whatever. But, if these "protected conditions apply, the veteran has every right to challenge it. This C.F.R. authorizes it.

Yes they are correct. Once you get P&T, that is it. You don't have anymore C&P exams, which could be used to decrease your rating.You are talking about a very rare instance where the VA call's you for a new C&P when the law says it is not legally required. But the practical matter is that if it did happen, you would want to get it resolved right away. You would contact them and state the facts and say it isn't a requirement. You would want a confirmation that that agree a mistake had been made and you are no longer required to attend. If you signed up for written notices, you should get it confirmed. If you can't get a written confirmation, ask for a name of the person you talked to. I would call again in a day or so and request confirmation again. The whole point is you wouldn't want to let the mistake last. But, this is important: it just isn't going to happen to you and would be easily corrected by you. Don't worry. Shrek The way I read it is you are rated P&T. It doesn't say you are rated P&T for..(name one disability) but indicate that other disabilities that make your Combined rating have a different designation. How could that work? I haven't been able to find anything that leads you to believe it is P&T just for some of your disabilities but not all of them. And I haven't seen anybody having that problem either. So, if the real question is how do you know if you are P&T (for all your listed conditions) when the decision letter didn't say so exactly, you have to look to see if other clues are there. The comment about ed bennies for your family for example is only for 100 P&T. Commisary prevledges are another, maybe the new flight bennies for free flights might now be included. Check ebenefits again for letters to you. You also might want to check out the "protected rating rules. The big one is 5 years. After that they can't reduce without major evidence your condition has substancially improved. I think you're good.

Yes they are correct. Once you get P&T, that is it. You don't have anymore C&P exams, which could be used to decrease your rating.You are talking about a very rare instance where the VA call's you for a new C&P when the law says it is not legally required. But the practical matter is that if it did happen, you would want to get it resolved right away. You would contact them and state the facts and say it isn't a requirement. You would want a confirmation that that agree a mistake had been made and you are no longer required to attend. If you signed up for written notices, you should get it confirmed. If you can't get a written confirmation, ask for a name of the person you talked to. I would call again in a day or so and request confirmation again. The whole point is you wouldn't want to let the mistake last. But, this is important: it just isn't going to happen to you and would be easily corrected by you. Don't worry.

Wait for your rating decision letter. Ebenefits can often be wrong, inaccurate, and change frequently. You truly can't make decisions until you get a confirming. See it in your letter. A week or 10 days in the mail. Good luck.

Bingo! Winner winner chicken dinner. They gave you a CPAP; rated it as "severe" Their words? You go 10%. Get another private sleep study and an IMO. You should be able to get to 50%. IMO!

Just to add, if you never had a sleep study by the VA, or, if it was not severe enough to diagnose OSA, you might consider getting an outside study done, especially if time has passed. If that showed you need a CPAP and had OSA, you have strong evidence for a disability claim.

Garrett, that could be a very elusive but FAT rabbit your chasing. No sleep apnea but sleep disturbance is s-c; it take that to mean you haven't been diagnosed for OSA? Did you have a sleep study.? If not, request one. If you do get s-c, it can be 50%. OSA and GERD are or can be connected; again, need sleep study, or at the very least be diligent. It could turn into OSA later if not now. You need a good medical opinion and refile.

Vetquest is of course right; no way of knowing how long this can take. Maybe I missed something here but you are talking about back pay. Have you seen a copy of the C&P and was it favorable? You still have to be rated after that and sometimes, as you know, the VA doesn't act or do what it should. And then you have the additional hurdle of EED; be prepared to have to appeal what they give you for the effective date. Basically, I am saying don't get overly optimistic; wait to see what your decision letter says.

Hi Sheila: This correspondence is from Lynne is from 2014? If it is still the law that they are now enforcing there isn't much you can do. Again, the recommendations to consult your congressman is a long shot along with contacting VFW, A L, etc. for changes in legislation is something that may work. But it takes time. As an alternative to your current situation, there are two things you might look into. First, the Veteran organizations have assistance for medical financial situations, I would contact them for help and at the same time ask them to sponsor changes in the law as well. And I might add that you have at least 3 congressmen you can ask for help. Do a little research and see who is more likely to help a veteran; they certainly are not equal in that regard. Secondly, the reason I asked how old you were is if you were awarded IU is you can consider increase to 100% as Richard suggested. You are young but if you have been rated at 80% combined for 15 years and not had a reval, it would appear that they agree you aren't really on the path for improvement. So yes, I think it might be worth the risk to ask for TDIU for 100%. They might not get you P&T up front, especially because of your age, but bump it up.

On your original question, your right. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense that you yourself have to enroll. I would call my Congressman. A lot of times the people that do the insurance sign ups don't understand the VA health system. Now if your wife has CHAMPVA, maybe she has to for the kids. Congressman's office certainly will have the answers for you. On P&T, you haven't given any details on your disability. If you have been rated at 80%, how stable have been your conditions (have they gotten any worse, or others you should apply for?) And how old are you now?

It is what it is. VA delay and delay. Not a lot you can do. You could call the White House, but unfortunately, I doubt if it would help. But if you need to do something...855-948-2311. Good luck

If the "only thing" you consider to add only as an after thought are your back and knees, IMO you probably will be better off and filing after you get this one straightened out. Not knowing what you have for records/evidence, you would be better served taking your time to build a case on those. Get dbq's or IMO's if don't have s-c in your str's and build a strong case. You have time, check out BVA decisions that match up to your situations; it never hurts to have one or two that you can submit with your dbq's. Again, there is more than one way of doing things, but that is what I would recommend at this stage. IMO.

Navyvet If you look up the diagnostic codes Shrek gave you the site for, and you have some of the symptoms for the different ratings, then you have an idea what you may be entitled to. That said, do you have anything in your service records that diagnoses a thyroid condition? If not exact, does it progresses to thyroid cancer, etc. (or one of the conditions called out under the diagnostic code? ) If not, you are in need of a nexus that connects the illness you have with the service. That would be a IMO (Independent medical opinion). You must have a connection, a in-service condition and a dignosis now.

You will be fine. Don't overstress, but you should look over your list that you have just in case the examiner wants you to elaborate on them a little. Don't have any coffee before you go either; you can have a donut but no coffee. You don't need extra stimulus!