GBArmy

JoseM1964 The correct answer is: maybe! What was the MOS that he put down and what was your actual MOS? If they both were rated highly probable to cause hearing problems, my guess would be they will just look the other way if you tell them. If your actual is not as probable, then you're going to have a problem. But, you should win on appeal, so why rock the boat now. Let it ride. Did you have a tinnitus claim also?

HLR does go into the National work Queue, in theory, to get to the next available person to jump on. Used to be worked on in house. That is an with a improvement over the previous procedure where the new decision maker is not likely to know the last one. I believe if the decision was found to be in error, it does go back to the RO however. Again, partly to be a teaching procedure to improve the process.

Fat The first thing that jumps out to me is how many in the group have medical degrees? None, right. The veteran has to get a IMO/nexus from a neurologist and find out what causes what symptoms. Also, watch out for pyramiding.

Thanks Shrek. There is a lot of value here and veterans would be wise to make a copy in case they need for an appeal themselves. Several key points of law! Great Post

Joey You said at the HLR there were some errors made. If you knew exactly what they found, then you would know what additional info they must eval to adjudicate your claim. You don't know exactly. And, the VA isn't going to make a decision now until they feel they have all the POSSIBLE evidence necessary. So, they request records. On top of that, the absence of records may now require an additional C&P to fill-in the gaps. The COVID 19 thing is going on and records are really impacted, as well as exams, although I just got one scheduled out of state by the VA. Expects several months with the backlog and everything. Not the kind of answer you wanted, but expect 2-3 months at the minimum, If it takes less, you are lucky IMHO.

Berta The VA just announced the completio of all the Navy and C.G. deck/ships logs that show where the ships were in Vietnam waters. https://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=5529

ShuMan I agree pretty much with all you said. A good friend that has been in the system for a long time told me not long ago that asking for a conference will delay your claim a little. But the real reason you don't ask for the conference is what are you going to say that isn't already in the file? Remember you can't add any new evidence. That DRO's that she has asked told her they have yet to have a conference call that made any decision in the appeal. The info was already there.The nature of HLR is to get the decision correct based on evidence already submitted. If you have a "iffy" claim, add more evidence and resubmit in Supplemental claim. Or maybe BVA, if you think it is a 50/50 deal. Unless there is an obvious omission error which would be a CUE on the VA, I usually don't recommend HLR for most appeals.

Sounds like you have a lot on your plate. You probably are aware getting to 95+% is a tough row to hoe if your at 80%. Try to work on the higher value claims if they come back denied. For example, if you don't have any MH disabilities, or, if they are rated low value, maybe pain is a secondary disability to go after. It is considered a MH condition. Sleep apnea is another common high value if it applies to you. Can be secondary to MH, prescribed meds, etc. Post on Hadit and maybe we can offer some advice especially after your decisions come in. It's a long battle, but it can be won.

Clack1962 Short answer, yes. If you win others that were in the cycle and your TDIU comes thru first, you still get the others. In fact, if your additional grants put you at a combined disability rating of 95%, you can get 100 scheduler, which in some respects is even better.

OK. Hurry up and wait. From what I understand, the VA doesn't release info on the exam to the veteran for 30 days; maybe that's not accurate. If you used a VSO or someone else that has VBMS, they might be able to say what was in the exam.

MMtotz There is no requirement that you see the same doc on a second go round. The best way to look at it is like this: after talking to the first doc, he agreed. If your evidence is correct and adequate, shouldn't it happen a second time as well? You could attempt to call the manager at QTC and see if it is a possibility to be re-scheduled with the first doc, but I have doubts it would be successful. Be sure you understand the DBQ so you are familiar with it before you go, along with your symptoms compared to the requirement in the diagnostic code.

I hope that deedub75 is correct, but I would get a copy of that doc's notes that confirm what he told you. If it isn't in the record, contact him and see if he will confirm that to you. Maybe it would be obvious to the rater, maybe not. Why not try to get it in writing for evidence. If you have to have a value on a range of motion and there isn't one, or, there is no reason why, it could present a problem.

Possibly not everyone in the VA follows that requirement, and it causes denials that are incorrect, and an appeal that shouldn't be necessary. I mean, there are some cases, hopefully not many, where a veteran is denied for not attending a C&P during the Covid 19 ongoing problem. Some at the VA didn't get that memo either. I guess it is an attempt by Congress to correct a VA procedure that many of their constituents feel is inappropriate and places a new burden on a veteran submitting a disability claim. In any case, it is a bill that passed in the House and is going to the Senate.

A new bill HR 7795 would direct the VA to restore public access on its website to DBQ forms. It would require the VBA to accept a DBQ form for one year after is it completed, even if the VBA updates or changes the DBQ form. This is great if it can pass. Keep an eye on that one if it comes up for vote.

I'm not sure if you guys are right or not. I certainly hope not, but I too have a negative feeling that this change will not be a positive for veterans disabilities claims. Hope I'm wrong too. The VA changed from "New and Material Evidence" to "New and Relevant Evidence" the last couple years. By and large that seems to have been a positive development. Maybe this will be too.??? Hope so!

Scottishere99 If your claim is still within the 1 year of denial, I'd submit on a Supplemental claim the new evidence. A new letter from your doc, plus new buddy letters should be the easiest path to take. Others may chime in but on trying CUE on failure to assist or something, but you could always have that in your back pocket. Getting the additional documents makes your case stronger, so you would have to leave them out if you went the HLR route. So, Supplemental is my recommendation.

Hamslice First of all, it sure sounds like you are recovering. I believe your wife was affected also, and we hope she is feeling better also. I don't see why it would be a bad thing for them to send your records to the VA. The VA does do a lot of background research for medical stuff for the gov't. I read that they have been involved with this nasty virus testing research early on also. I guess the best answer I could give is, if I were you, I'd do it.

Disabled Veteran I won't recommend anyone, but here is a source that you can check for doctors in the US. http://www.independentmedicalexaminer.com/

Congrats, man. Long hard fight, but you got it! You still gonna talk to us non-100%-types?!!!

Congress just passed the 2021 bill for COLA for the president to sign off on today (Thursday). So far it is unclear exactly how much the increase might be, but early estimates suggest anywhere from 1.1% to 1.3%. The increase is set to into effect 12-1-20. Sould know sometime late this month or early next. I'll take it!

Hamslice I hate those cats!

Flyboy7991 The 4-5 is as accurate as the Presidential polls. I have already gotten a new C&P scheduled in less than 30 days. My gut feeling is it will go pretty quickly after my exam. $-5 months is just to cover IMHO.

Wes I agree with Paxmanx1 but the problem is his experience is somewhat unique. Most of us aren't going to have a long established relationship with our doctors. But you just have to have a IMO and if you don't get it from your own VA doc, and 99 times out of a hundred you can't, then you have to pay a doc for it. They all don't charge an up front fee; some will even work out a payment schedule. But you HAVE to have it. You have to have a current diagnosis, and for direct service connection, you have to have an event in service. The IMO creates a nexus, or connection between the two. Some docs you could check on are Carpenter, Ellis, Arnese, Bash. But there are more. You don't work for free, and neither do they. Research here on Hadit; there are plenty of request just like yours. Good Luck.

Freedom101 It is in queue and it really is going to depend on how long it get before some one picks it up. The virus still has severely messed up the VA in a lot of areas. That said, I think it should be within a couple more weeks, but no one really can predict. Depending on the amount of back pay, that also slows down big dollar settlements. Check your "letters" section on VA.gov. Sometimes there is a change in your ratings or other hints on the grant.

Vync It is what it is. We also call it the hamster wheel. Now, if there was some ADDITIONAL monetary considerations that the VA had to pay out to the veteran for sloppy work (or sloppy work from outside examiners), it think maybe we wouldn't have to go round-and-round. Unfortunately, it is the opposite. There are enough veterans that accept the denial to make it worth while for the VA to put up for the poor quality sometimes. More cost effective. Why else would they put up with it?