deltaj

Berta, you have been a huge help for many years to veterans, their survivors, and dependents. Please do not throw in the towel.

I think that you need to request that the 2004 claim be reopened under the provisions of 38 CFR 3.156 (c) because of newly discovered service records showing your asthma was diagnosed in service.

Is this Eastern Time, Central Time, Mountain Time or Pacific Time?

SMC (s) stands for Special Monthly Compensation Schedule S which is available when a veteran has a 100 percent service-connected rating and additional service-connected disabilities equal to 60 percent or greater. V.A. could fight this tooth and nail so get help on this.

There used to be regulations found at title 38 code of federal regulations 3.343 and 3.344 concerning illegal reduction. Get some help from the veteran's POA. If the veteran doesn't have an appointed POA, see if a representative from DAV can help determine if this was an illegal reduction.

While it may seem prudent to ignore the tentatively scheduled upcoming date of an exam, you need to be aware that V.A. could have sent you a notice of an upcoming exam and if you didn't receive it, your benefits could be discontinued due to that missed V.A. exam.

CHAMPVA has an annual $3,000 catastrophic cap for out of pocket covered amounts which can be very handy considering that surgeries can often cost more than $10,000. Call CHAMPVA for more details at 1 800 733-8387.

Berta, Length of eligibility for chapter 35 for students enrolled in an educational program prior to August 1, 2018 was 45 months. What I'm trying to understand from your post is does the length of military service change the length of eligibility or the amount of time the dependent has to use their benefits? Normally if a dependent was enrolled in an educational program prior to August 1, 2018 that dependent had 45 months to use benefits before age 26. Did your daughter have to use her 45 months prior to age 33 or did she have seven years of benefit entitlement as a result of seven years of military service? Need to know this because our son was in the Navy as a nuclear technician and now works in the computer field in Dallas, Texas.

Your award letter would not mention permanent and total. If you have dependents, it could allude to chapter 35 eligibility which is an indication of a permanent and total rating. If you want to know if you are permanent and total call the V.A. and ask them if you have any future rating exams scheduled; if you don't that is an indication that you are permanent and total. It means you can have Chapter 35 educational benefits for your dependents, CHAMPVA medical insurance for your dependents, reduced property taxes in some states, and reduced license plate fees in some states.

Berta, Interestingly enough, you do not need this form to file your taxes. A copy of this form was sent by CHAMPVA to the IRS. Simply check the box on one line of your income tax return indicating that you and your dependents had health insurance the entire year. Earlier this year when I called 1-800-733-8387, CHAMPVA's phone number, I got a recording stating that mailing of the form had been delayed and that I did not need the form to file my taxes. Accordingly, I was looking at the instructions for my 1040 very carefully tried to figure out how to indicate that I had health insurance on my income taxes.

I would like to add one additional error that V.A. makes. There is a regulation that is NOW FOUND at 38 CFR 3.160 (e) which mentions reopened claims and explains those are claims reopened after a final disallowance. (The regulation was found at a different regulation number in earlier years.) There is another regulation found at 38 CFR 3.103 which states that a veteran must be notified of a decision at the latest address of record. V.A. occasionally fails to notify a veteran of a decision at the latest address of record and then determines that a subsequent claim is a reopened claim despite the fact that the earlier decision never became final because of V.A.'s failure to notify the veteran of the earlier decision at the latest address of record. V.A. also has a nasty habit of shredding or destroying some of the evidence in support of that earlier claim which could be used to establish an earlier effective date for a higher rating that the ones given in the earlier decision and the subsequent decision concerning the so called reopened claim.

I know that you have made an election to receive pension but I can't help but wonder whether you are unemployable because of your service connected disability and whether you should file an application for unemployability with V.A. in an attempt to get your 70% rating increased to 100%. If you could get 100% you would have entitlement to more benefits like property tax exemptions in some states, reduced cost license plates in some states, and medical insurance for your dependents.

Did V.A. notify you of the denial at the latest address of record? I am asking this because perhaps your first claim may still be pending.

I know a veteran who got a 0% rating for service connected varicose veins. V.A. said in their decision that his service medical records did not show varicose veins. He appealed by filing a notice of disagreement and submitted service records he had obtained from the National Personnel Records Center showing he developed varicose veins in service. One month before the two years from the date the first decision was made V.A. granted him a 30% rating for varicose veins and acknowledged error in the prior rating decision. Later he learned a veteran with a new service connected disability only has two years to apply for service disabled veterans life insurance and that totally disabled veterans can get a waiver of premium on a $10,000 life insurance policy. Consider that your 0% rating may just be a sneaky tactic to prevent you from learning about a benefit you are entitled to apply for.