GBArmy

Miken2c74 Not good news. Berta's advise is a good chance. You probably will just end up doing a do-over. But I would also send in an IRIS request right away and tell them what happened. Maybe, just maybe, they will just do the right thing and push it thru for you. So what if you try 3 or 4 things at the same time; YOU weren't the one that screwed up.

USAF K9 I would send an IRIS inquiry to the VA and ask for clarification in writing.

Hamslice In your situation, it could turn out favorably, maybe. The VA subcontractors, LHI, QRC, and VES in turn train and hire their own subcontractors to do the work all over the US and even world-wide, like the Philippines, etc. So by their very own lack of exposure to the VA mind set, you may actually end up with medical docs who make actual pro-veteran evals based on medical evidence, nothing else. Of course, it could also work the opposite way too. In any case, we don't have much choice, do we?

brokensoldier Never thought of that. I have a CPAP and also have GERD. I never thought about the CPAP actually helping my GERD symptoms, because it must. I don't have nearly as many acid reflux issues while lying down since I started on it about 3 years ago.

Richard1954. Yes, I believe you will get SMC(k) for loss of use of your eye. Should be automatic. https://www.hillandponton.com/additional-compensation-smc-k/ If you can't get a diagnosis from the VA on the loss of funtionallity (use), you may have to get an outside diagnosis. I am not so sure about a temp award of 100% though, as you already receive 100% now. You may want to double check M21-1 to be sure.

Hi albsalin73 You have posted on someone else's original post that is over a year old and that has nothing to do with your. In order to help you and not confuse others, please re-post your question with your own new post. It will make things a lot cleaner for you. Thanks.

Lamujerortiz Very good advice by deedub75 Go to the letters section on va.gov and print out your current benefits. Also go to ebenefits and see if you have any new payments made to your account.; there could be something there before you get your letter. But you must be patient and fully understand that there is this flu thing going on and many of the clerical things at the VA are slow to being carried out, such as generating and mailing correspondence. If after 10 days, you don't get it then you can call Peggy and ask for it again. You just have to wait to see what's under the "xmas tree" (in the decision letter). Nothing else matters if it isn't in writing. Hopefully your wait may be finally over. Or, there is "more to be done.

As suggested then, remove your personnel info from the decision letter and forward so we can see why you were denied. What is the date of that letter?

cwatson So where are you now on your disabilities? Do you use VAHC or civilian? How about secondary conditions like high bp or GERD?

JoJo This is totally my opinion and you may get others that will disagree, but when the VA makes errors and if you are correct, don't correct them when given the chance on appeal, I would strongly consider getting a good lawyer. They often don't dig very hard when it is already denied on appeal. If you submit a supplemental claim, it has to have NEW evidence, not what already has been reviewed. You might consider a lawyer and go to the BVA on appeal. Yes it will cost you 20%, but if you talk to a few, they will give you a good indication that you have a case just by saying they will take your case. Otherwise, you really have to dig in to 38CFR and know how to present your case.

florida2021 I to wish you the very best on whatever decision you make. But please consider this, if you tell the VA you want to be re-evaluated, and that is exactly what you are asking them to do, consider the possibility they they not only will take the P&T away, but quite possibly drop your combined rating to say 70%, or lower. Are you sure that you have considered that? Being P&T can mean you can receive possibly more $ and other benefits, but you can also go out and pay for your own private medical help as well. As I said, we all said, we wish you well.

I agree with brokensoldier. The reviewer at HLR agreed that the denial was incorrect, or at least premature. So it isn't a bad thing and your submittal date still is valid. That said, it isn't in the bag you are going to be granted. You'll get a letter saying they have found an error and it is being worked. Best of luck.

pacmanx1 You could be REALLY, REALLY, good! In theory, you could have most of your post "liked" by several different viewers, and therefore more "liked" than actual posts. Could be a computer gremlin, too. I have at least one of them myself. Screws me up an awful lot. I'm just sayin'.

scooter318 I would call Peggy, 800-827-1000. the Whitehouse Hotline, 855-948-2311 and then do an IRIS inquiry. Whatever you do, be sure to get a confirmation in writing. VA.gov and ebenefits are not very accurate or up to date quite often, so it may just be an oversite, but you are tight in getting it resolved right away.

Yes!!! Congrats for not giving up and pushing thru it. Long battle, but you got it. Take a little time off and come back to help others!

Congrats, SHef! Most of us are in the same boat-seems like forever. Glad you succeeded!

georgia126532 I'm no expert but I assume that you haven't provided adequate evidence that your symptom at 70% rating, show that you should be granted TDIU. Yes, you're correct. The VA will take into account all of your service-connected disabilities, although non s-c also has negative weight. You need to get an independent eval from someone who makes these evals; it is a specialized field. His or her assessment of your conditions, if favorable, will result in a much better chance of your request being approved. It will cost you some $, but if you win, your 70% rate of $1400/month more than doubles. Worth the investment. Several others on the forum are more familiar with the process and hopefully will chime in.

William I'm not sure what your conditions are but...How long ago did you receive your service connections. Date. It kinda depends on how long you have had your grant. If you applied and won back in 1989, yes that's a long time. But I'm guessing you received the disability award from the VA much later. If it has been a long time, the next time you go for a C&P, you can ask them to make it permanent. Static. If I understand you, you had a separate disability for concussions. Was it from the same event? Did you apply for that disability also? Or, did you submit recently? You don't get separate disability for the same symptoms. For example, if you have headaches from a TBI , you don't get another disability for migraines. That would be considered pyramiding.

Carlos I don't know what type of appeal you submitted, but you're not done unless you want to be defeated. If you submitted a HLR, you can submit a new supplemental appeal if you have new evidence. Or go to the BVA. You have a year, 365 days, to appeal. If you don't within that time period, it still isn't over, but you lose your eed. If your appeal was for BVA, and you could have or did submit the paperwork, but late, send a IRIS request for consideration because they didn't allow sufficient time for you to respond because of being overseas. Maybe they would do something if they sent it to the wrong address, I don't know. Or, learn from what has happened, like we all do and appeal. Get a representative, like a lawyer or agent, who can work with the limited time frame. Truely, it isn't over unless you give up whatever the denial is.

Agree with Shrek 100%. To say once you get TDIU you have to stay at that rating makes no sense at all. What id the veteran had 2 or 3 major new disabilities that would put him over 100% for scheduler. Does that VSO say he should file for those? We all see these so called "professionals", some are good and, unfortunately, some are bad. The sad part is, like Buck said, the veteran often will go withe the "professional's advise and who can blame him. He doesn't know and that's why he is asking for advise. Never ending story. Sad, really sad.

Shrek's is correct. It's being worked on. Or was being worked on. But those individual "request" are not anything the veteran should be concerned about. It may be someone "requests" a C&P exam. Then , it is closed because there is enough info that it it isn't necessary. Or, closed because the C&P request was issued. It is just internal points in the VBA process. Like Shrek said, its being worked on. You shouldn't read anything into that posting.

Ken July would be the EED for all, IMHO.

Glenn You were "given a 50% rating for having served in Vietnam"; not very accurate on your part. If the VA has given you a combined disability rating, it is for injuries or diseases you have that may be attributed to being in Vietnam? Your new disability has nothing to do with serving in Vietnam; it was ain-service accident that caused an injury.Do you use the VA for health care, or just use Medicare? If you use the VA Health Care system, call and see if they will mail you a copy of your rated disabilities and their rate sheets. 800-827-1000. You want to know specifically what your disabilities are. If that doesn't work, you can try getting a VSO from VFW, DAV, or possibly a county VSO. They can look that up for you. If you don't have your medical records, you have to take steps on getting them. You want to see if there is any record relating to your accident. Submit a VA form SF180 for that, or see a VSO. Next, the question is have you had treatment for your PAD over the years; you have to show that the injury is related to your current condition and you have been receiving care for some time. Get the records and then see your doc and ask if your current conditions are "at least as likely as not because of your original injury." If you get all that you have a shot at getting a new VA disability rating, but from what I described there is a lot of work involved in getting the nexus or connection that may need some professional help from a doc who specializes in that sort of thing. Ask questions.

It hasn't happened to me but, occasionally an examiner also mentions another potential disability that the veteran should look into. Has that happened to your knowledge, and do you think it more likely to happen thru a VA or from a contract examiner? Any thoughts?

Hang onto to your hats, boys and girls. I just read on Stars & Stripes that the VA is terminating all in-house C&P exams. Going forward they are going to contact them all out. Apparently, no exceptions for MH exams, MST, etc. Yet they haven't implemented corrective actions based on an audit they had 2 years ago. Anybody think this 100% re-sourcing may be a bad idea? "WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs is eliminating its in-house compensation and pension exam program and will outsource all of the exams, which are crucial to determining whether veterans are eligible for VA benefits." see the article https://www.stripes.com/news/us/va-plans-to-outsource-all-compensation-and-pension-exams-1.649356