GBArmy

We thank you, Ms Tbird for the foresight and dedication you have shown over all these years. I know that Hadit could use a little more consistency in members supporting the site financially. Hopefully, more people will realize that sharing just a little when they get their disability back pay will enable you to go on with helping others. I'm hoping to get a favorable decision in a month or two and that what I will do again. If everyone who is helped gave just a little, it wouldn't be such a struggle every month. Hope people are aware.

Good plan and we should realize that though it isn't the best option, we can always submit new evidence anytime during the claim decision process. It will undoubtedly result in more delays in your development, but if it is a game changer, sometimes it is the lesser of two evils. I only bring this up because veterans usually don't think of the claim process in that way. So, in your case for example, you go out and find a crackerjack VSO and he suggests a creative way to strengthen your case, you can still provide new evidence. Hopefully, this option isn't necessary most of the time.

Maybe it doesn't matter to you, but that isn't what I would want. I would ask around, get recommendations on a SPECIFIC VSO person, and actually talk to him/her and see if it makes sense to go with.Ask questions; why does he recommend a certain type of direction instead of another. What you have is one size fits all. I don't think so. All VSO's are not equal. But that's me.

toddt's advise is right on. If you check the letter generator, you often will see your ratings change before you receive your decision letter. You can also keep an eye on your direct deposirt. That can also show up befor your decision letter, but that usually happens on straight forward claims that don't have large back pay and complicated EDD.

Congrats! I'm sure it was a long haul, but you stuck with it and that is a lesson for all of us. I hope you are doing better with your health issues and come back and help others with your experience when you can.

MarineLCpl On VA.gov there is a listing of your personal info, like your address, dependents, etc. It also lists Who your VSO is. If it isn't there, then call Peggy and ask them the contact number ex. VFW 123 Main St; N.Y., N.Y. They have to hav a specific, because the have to send official copies to your POA.

Raceebp It means that ebenefits is screwed up. You have been a member for 4 months, so I guess this shouldn't be a surprize if you have been reading Hadit. I suppose they are telling you that a) they have cancelled your C&P exam and b) your pre-exam for covid was also cancelled. Expected completion date is now estimated to be December 2021 seems perfectly normal for ebenefits. They hope you go away for 18 months and not bother them. Ok; enough of that sarcasm. The VA is in process of pulling some C&P's back in house and re-shuffling others because they are opening up capacity. It's probably going to take a few weeks for them to reschedule your exam. It is very unlikely you will get any good intel from LHI; they are only looking at the paperwork the VA gave them. If you use a VSO, you could call and see if there is some clue as to what is happening specifically. Possible, but not likely. What I would do is try calling Peggy and hope you can get someone who actually will try to dig for you. Your point is 18 months out doesn't make sense for you or the VA estimated time line of 125 days target. It will get straightened out, the question is when. Oh, don't shoot the messenger at Peggy; I believe the have an unofficial means of taking care of abusive callers. Good luck.

MarineLCpl You have time now to get this straightened out. It is important to have a rep that you have confidence in, especially if you are not sure of the process. Call and set up an appointment with you VSO. Tell who ever you talk to the situation and you want an appointment with "your" rep. If you don't have a rep but you are assigned one as needed, time to get a new POA. You need someone who is exclusive to you and your case. Go to another VSO organization, claims agent or lawyer. But make sure you have someone you can trust when push gets to shove.

Ddsr Buck's advice is spot on; don't worry what others think. Just be respectful if you want to provide an alternate opinion. It does help, however, if you can develop a tough skin :>) Providing different views on what has been successful for you personally gives the veteran something more to consider and even may encourage others to offer their opinions. Keep on doing your best to help others.

JK I think you are doing what you think is best and most comfortable with. Dr Ellis is very good and if you want to beef-up your chances, go right ahead. If that means going with a lawyer, so be it. Others may disagree, but you are the best advocate for your claim. Last thing you want to do is 2nd guess yourself, not get the legal help, and be denied again. Getting 3/4ths of a pie is a lot better than no pie at all. Wish you well.

MR.B The estimated completion date is as accurate as the weatherman's 3 day forecast; doesn't mean anything more than a clerk's estimate. And that clerk doesn't have full access of your file and what's going on. Wait for your decision letter. You could ask your VSO to use VBMS if they have it and see if there is action taken, but hopefully your letter will come soon. You must wait and see what it says. Be mindful of your effective date.

Ykes!!!

Sleep Apnea Kinda hard to say. What did the remand ask the RO to do: determine if it was S-C, or to determine the extent of your symptoms/conditions? If it was to determine if it was s-c, caused while you were in the service, the examiner said less likely than not. You have other supporting evidence, including buddy letters talking to it occuring while in service. That MAY be enough to appeal. But, if you do, you might see if you can get an IMO from a specialist that opines that it goes back to your service time. Additional evidence. Of course, you may still get a favorable decision from the BVA. Buddy letters, more than one talking to first hand observations is pretty powerful. You got a good shot, but who knows.

That is good news! Congrats!

Rudy PN is one of 14 presumptive diseases acknowledged by the VAQ as being caused by Agent Orange. When you say Vietnam-era, do you mean the veteran was in the service during the period recognized, or do you mean a veteran who service "boots on the ground", brown water or blue water. If the veteran didn't serve there it would not be a presumptive. He/she may get covered if they were at certain posts that did have some recognized evidence of exposure to personnel.

The jobis an administrative position, reviewing requirements against what is avail in evidence provided. Not all VA employees have a medical degree or are remotely qualified to make medical decisions. The eval has to start someplace. Think of it as a first step in the process. As it moves along, more qualified people will be involved. Maxim provides medical services and personnel nationwide.

Hey everyone, I hope you celebrate our nation's birthday today. Wish everyone a safe and happy day. Be well and be safe.

Willy there is some error on one or both of them. I'd like to be positive, but ebenefits makes a lot of errors and the letter generator usually is fairly accurate. It is best to get your decision letter first to make sure. The VA isn't going to do much of anything until enough time has passed for you to have received your letter. You may have to appeal your EED though. In any case, congrats on your win.

Toddt advise seems to be reasonable. If the dependents status has been correct for a considerable period of time, in other words you did not recently update it, they should be able to make the correction in a timely manner. Of course, "timely' is an oxymoron with the VA. 7 years on the hamster whell though might mean a higher level of signiture on the retro, so it could add some time to the delay. But go after it and you will get it eventually. Congrats.

Viernamvetfam If your bronze star or other medals don't show on your DD214, you must submit a request by way of form SF 180. If it is an omission that is verified, then they issue an addendum to the dd214, a DD215. You can then submit that as evidence Of course, if the NPRC can't verify, then there is an appeals process, I think SF149 (?). In anycase, they provide further instructions to proceed.You have to submit evidence, say a letter commendation, copy of the General Orders which lists your award, a buddy letter from your CO, etc. It can be a hard thing to prove if it isn't readily shown.

Ocean If I were you I'd submit the 10-10EZ form and get into the system anyway. There are things that are valuable to you that come with being in the system. You basically sign up, get an appointment with a gp that will be your doc, and go. If you need new prescriptions for a new medical problem, since you are rated 100%, you could get them free, for example. The VA does a very good job on lab work; they run a lot of tests, at least initially, to est. a baseline.Something shows up, you can chose to use the VA or go private. You don't have to do much more than do an annual physical. You just explain to the gp that the VA will be your back-up health care. You don't have to use them for any kind of surgery or procedure unless you want to. And since you are over 50%, there are no co-pays which can really add up. You should reconsider, IMHO.

Aron Your condition, symptoms and ratings should be identified here http://www.militarydisabilitymadeeasy.com/theeyes.html#system . If you feel that your final rating is less than what you deserve, take your exam to a specialist and see if he would rate/diagnose more severe conditions. That is an IMO; then you appeal again.

MarineLCpl Are you married? You can try to have your wife there with you.; they might allow.If the do, that could help settle things a little for you. Be honest and polite. Be sure you tell them how stressed out you are about the interview. Don't blow it off, or the probably wii reduce you. You can do this. Good luck.

Vync, I'll have to try that myself. But it really is little or no usable info you get from Peggy. Once in a while you get some rep who usually is a veteran or at least understands where we are coming from and offers some good intel, but really that hasn't happened to me very often. I called on a supplemental claim last week and got a really green rep. She told me that the claim moved to BVA and asked if I wanted to be transferred to someone in the group. Now you and I know that can't happen; the VA can't send it directly to the VBA; the Veteran has to decide on that path. So I played along and said sure, transfer me. The next rep was really put out that is what I was told. After dancing around for a while she said that it was "just about" at "decision;" no letter cut yet. I called my VSO and had her check thru VBMS. Nothing happening and no indication of any decision coming in what she could read. My point is, we tell people on this site all the time that calling Peggy may make you feel like you are getting info, but it is limited, inaccurate, out of date or just plain wrong most of the time. But I admit, sometimes is fun.

Thank you Broken for watching out for your brothers and sisters where you can. The VA needs more like you. To be objective, in my personal experience, over the last 10 years I have notice a big improvement in the way the VA treats me. The VA Health side has certainly improved; I have had several surgeries and have nothing to say bad about that side of the house. Had a great advocate in my GP. VA Benefits; not so great, but I do think they are getting better in some areas. The patients' surveys confirm that we are mostly satisfied with their performance in health care, and you find fewer and fewer jerks to deal with on the benefits side. But, there are still some you run into, here and there. So it's up to the veteran to put the effort into doing their claims thoroughly and completely. That's why Hadit is so important in helping get it right. I bet the veteran you contacted about IU couldn't believe you went out of your way to offer advise; must have been special. Doesn't fit the old VA model.Anyway, keep up the good work.