GBArmy

Geeky I stand corrected. "Usually" the spouse is done, but you are right, divorce courts can make the veteran pay up out of disability comp.

Bronco is correct on all points. Once you are divorced she gets nothing. In fact, the increase when you marry is for you not her. It is supposed to compensate you for another dependent you need to support. Same with the kids; unless they are disabled or going to school/college, the additional money for that stops as well. Same story; the money is yours to help support the kids. And its is considered "fraudulent" if you continue to collect for dependents once they are no longer are. Once they find out, they take it out of your disability check. And they can be pretty nasty about how fast they want to take it back. In fact, there is pending bill in Congress to regulate that and other overpayment mistakes the VA makes that the veteran has to pay back.

Hi TBird Glad to see you are going to get that ortho finally; no fun waiting in any kind of pain. One word of caution for you and anyone who changes VAMC. 4 years ago I had a kidney stone attack and instead of going to my regular VA on a weekend, I went to one across the state line which actually was shorter and quicker. The next week I went in for a regular procedure and they needed to do a blood sample. I asked why not use what I just did and they said there wasn't anything in the system. Why??? Because two different VAMC are not connected; many records are not available. Wow! Can you imagine how dangerous that is? I asked a doctor about it and he confirmed. He did say that there is a round-about way for one system to get info from another, but most doctors/techs don't either know about it or don't use it. You have to be able to tell them all the facts and they can eventually get your data. Lesson learned: I only go to one VA if at all possible. That is one reason why the new VA IT system is going to cost a gazillion dollars. So really check it out if you move.

Best to take positive action than to just get p.o.'d., which sometimes is what they really want us to do. Keep us informed and good luck.

Vync Maybe I'm all wet but I would go to the RO and see if they can't get you an intelligent answer. That is, if it is fairly close to where you live. I would think that they would be responsive; after all, they are the ones that screwed up, not you.

Good advise from Bronco and Buck. You might do the ITF to lock in your date and go out and get some good medical opinions in the mean time. You might write a dynamite memo, but you are not a doctor, so your opinion on an increase in severity of a disability isn't going to be very convincing to a rater. He can easily refute your opinion by getting a medical opinion in house. Get a supporting medical opinion. JMO

Buck, You wouldn't need a little help in running your new estate would you? I could supervise the gardeners or something. It's negotiable!

If it doesn't have to go back to make it compatible with the House version, then it goes to the President for signature. I can't imagine he won't sign off. This is absolutely FANTASTIC!

I pretty much agree with all of you. There obviously can't be any penalty to the raters if denials are overturned at the BVA, or as Vetquest says they would do a better job. It is a lot harder because there is no logic in what they will deny. It sure seems though that if you do get rejected, you almost always will need an IMO/IME to win on the rebound. Just using logic isn't necessarily going to work without the expert's medical opinion. So we are forced to spend the extra bucks we shouldn't have to to get a jusr decision.Bad system!

Buck it really is important because these meds can really mess you up when combined with other meds you take. Sometimes, they know it will cause other problems later on for continuous use over long periods of time but it may be the best choice they can make. Just about all of us can lose some weight; sure is a lot easier to say it than to get anything done about it. Come to think of it, I'm a little hungry right now!

I wanted to start a new thread because I didn't want to mess up richard 1954's post. Does anyone know for real why the VA Benefit people bend over backwards to deny veteran's claims. I was told a while back by a VSO who should know that they certainly had a quota to disposition claims.; so many a week or a month.I also heard that the managers, but not the lower tier workers, got some kind of bonus for "cost savings." What are those"cost savings?"Do they actually get financially rewarded for denying or making lower rated decisions some how? There has to be some actual truth to this kind of thought because of some of the ways these claims get denied. They ignore facts, don't read the evidence we high light for them, apply wrong diagnostic codes, combine separate disabilities, etc.,etc. Anyone got any knowledge of where we can find any facts if it is indeed financial?

Buck, don't forget to do what every veteran that takes meds prescribed by the VA for a s-c; don't forget to check the prescribed med for cautions. On your GERD, you say it isn't related to your military service. Do you have hypertension and is it s-c? If so, certain calcium blockers can cause GERD. If so, you s-c back to the HPN. I take amlodipine and it is listed as a potential cause of GERD even though it is often prescribed by the VA. The data is easily available on the internet. Get a IMO and bingo! Veterans should always look up their meds and see the potential side-effects.

Even if you don't have a MOS that likely caused your hearing and/or tinnitus issue, as Sgt. Wilky said you need a IMO to show the connection. I had a pretty good personal narrative statement with my claim that said how and how often I was exposed to the noise. It is just a buddy letter written by you; if you write it well, it can work. I didn't need an IMO; won on the first shot. An IMO from your audiologist should work with a dbq.

Buck, voiding technically is defined as emptying the bladde. But if you look at the dbq 21-0960j2 section 3b thru 3e it is talking about the whole thing; storage of urine, peeing, stop peeing, leakage or dribbling, etc. It is better defined at https://urology.ucsf.edu/patient-care/adult-non-cancer/endourology-nephrolithiasis/male-voiding-dysfunction So, as typical with just about any C&P, the definition defined by the VA is going to be a moving target, especially as it relates to the examiner.

Buck and all... I would agree that it makes sense almost every time to file for any new or additional disabilities. As you say the more you have the harder it will be for the VA to move the needle if they try to reduce. But I would not just go in for an increase if it wasn't a strong case just when you are getting close to 20. It might be the VA's policy to do a thorough review when you close in on 20, but they are also have been known not to do what they are supposed to do. It's possible the anniversary date could slip by and you get to 20 without any mandatory review. Why call attention when you are close to the end date? Yes, have the claim ready to submit if they do have a re-exam, but don't put it in without a notice first. And you still have a chance to rebut their reduction in benefits if they do. Those are my thoughts.

No, they have not yet made HTN a presumptive to A.O. However, an under secretary at the VA was quote that Wilkie will make a decision on 4 presumptives by July 1, 2019, and it is supposed to be one of the 4 to be decided. Keep your fingers crossed.

What was his rating for CAD: 30%? Who did the c&p? I would try to call and get a copy from that dept. If it is an outside vendor, they should be able to give you a copy. Do you use a VSO or somebody that can look it up for you. What is the reasoning to reduce his rating? If it was done by an outside vendor, they don't put the notes in the system, but I believe they can provide a copy to you, I mean, it's your exam!

If you already have gone thru this disability claim stuff, you know by now that the VA (Benefits) is NOT your friend. They are down right anti-veteran often. I was thinking that if it were me, I would type up a nice letter requesting what you need, make a copy for your self and keep that in a safe place, and then send it registered mail to your RO. The reason I say that is, if the remote possibility that you can't get a letter that supports what your employer needs and you should lose your job, it may help in applying in the future for TDIU. Sending the letter is just a confirmation you requested the VA to HELP you keep your job, and they refused to do so. Might be a nice piece of evidence for you. But it is a little thing that you can do now that can't hurt. And planning for the future, if you are rated 40% for at least one disability (you are), if you have others that can get you to 70% combined, you could possibly qualify for TDIU. So, do you have anything else that might be pursued as a disability? If so, start working on it.

Have you ever filed for PTSD, Etc.? If not, do it. If you are service connected for that specific disability, it is stated on your award letter. They have to make a ruling if you put in a disability claim but they won't before hand. So, if you are rated at say 30%, there has to be rationale why you are rated at that rate. You are are able to do certain things and not other things. If you are going for continuous treatments, you have a right to those records.Take that info and get your previous doc to write the letter based on that finding.

You are going to have to wait until you get your decision letter. The VA giveith, and the VA takeith away. Put the money in a safe place and don't spend it until you get confirmation. Seriously. They make mistakes all the time and if you end up getting more than you are supposed to, they start to take it back out of your monthly disability check.

There are a lot of guys that would never trust the VA to do anything proactive that would actually help Veterans. That said, if asked, I always say we should register, because facts are facts. Eventually, the VA has to see there is a connection with "X" disease and A.O. If they don't get those numbers, it just easier for them to deny. Same holds true for the Burn Pit Registry. My heart goes out to those veterans because I see it to be A.O. all over again. These guys are going to suffer from all kinds of maladies and illnesses before the VA starts to recognize the connection. I don't know the numbers, but it has to be a very high rejection rate on Burn Pit disability claims. The more numbers show a connection, the harder it will be for the VA to look the other way. JMO.

Buck, are you saying that if we have an A.O. disability the VA automatically puts us in the Registry?

I think Vetquest has the best advise, and Kanewnut confirms it. Not a big fan of higher level review. For it to work it has to be a hands down decision the the first decision was wrong. Most will just agree with the first decision and know that a majority of the veterans will not appeal AGAIN; they will just give up in frustration. Higher level review doesn't do anything for your claim except maybe allow the claim to continue while you gather more facts/evidence for a Supplemental. You hardly ever hear anyone commenting any success stories because of a Higher Level Review. Follow their advise.

Geeky, obviously if the results from your C&P are not favorable to you not only do you have a strong case to appeal or even CUE, but it is something you should do just to keep this insufficiently qualified doctor from doing inadequate exams on other veterans. Good luck on your results.

I could never figure the VA Benefits philosophy out. You would think that they would cherry pick a few claims that they could knock off easily and quickly do just to improve their turn a round numbers. They did it for Paulstrgn but for Verquest, nope, let him wait. But it would still be good to know what actual "testing" goes on during the ED exam so guys would know going in what to expect.