broncovet

If you get a hearing, there is ONE significant question you need to ask: 1. May I review my cfile? Assuming a yes answer, review it and compare it with evidence YOU have on file. If there is a discrepency, then hand them your copy that you previously made ahead of time. (You have 2 copies to give VA one, if necessary). You want to make sure they have all your favorable evidence, favorable C and P exams, favorable medical exams, etc, etc. I can not begin to tell you how many Vets are denied because "x evidence" was not in their file.

I cannot answer questions on concurrent receipt, assuming you are getting disabiliity pay and also Navy retirement. I dont know how much retirement you get. Your VA compensation comes from VA, and I have mine, like most, direct deposited to my account. Do you have the same? You need to make sure this is up to date, and an old account you have closed is not the one listed. You should get additional compensation retro pay, yes, but its still unclear to me if you owe any of this for retriement or how much. You can ask VA to audit it, but that may or may not be good for you. There are some experts here on concurrent receipt, and I hope they chime in. Many Vets can collect both retirement and disability, but like everything else there are rules for this too and they are almost always complicated. You can read these rules yourself to see if you are eligible: https://www.dfas.mil/retiredmilitary/disability/crdp.html

If they did not give you the hearing you requested, then you can surely use that as leverage in the event of a denial without a hearing,,,down the road....

It sounds like you are "on track", tho it does seem a bit unusual to have the SOC prior to the DRO hearing. Likely, its gonna be a BVA hearing, but I can not say that for sure. It sounds like you submitted the I9 timely, so you should be good to go.

The VAOIG, to the best of my knowledge, does not investigate claims of "falsified reports" by VA. Case in point: Comer. In Comer, the court determined that the VA falsified the Veterans records and "nothing" was ever done about it. http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-federal-circuit/1075660.html

You appeal the effective date by filing a NOD on the proper form, AND THEN, within 60 days after the VA sends you a SOC, you must file an I9.

Effective dates are probably the most complex issue in Veterans law. Due to the length of time involved, (and thus retro money), you will likely wind up getting an attorney to straighten this out. Your effective date is the later of the "claim date" or facts found, that is, the date the doc said you were disabiled. There are multiple exceptions to this. Unfortunately, since VARO has complete control of your cfile, they can/ and do manipulate the date you applied. They can simply discard the documentation of your claim filing, and you have to prove they are wrong. Do you have documentation that: 1. You applied in 1990? 2. That the facts found support a diagnosis, in service event, and nexus were established at that time, AND that your disease did not get worse. SOmetimes you can get a Fenderson (staged) rating if your disabilites worsened. However, you cant change the "claim date" but you can appeal the "effective date", which is what your benefits are based on. There is much posted here on effective dates, and Im not repeating it all.

Two things: 1. You can not refute medical evidence with lay evidence, you must have medical evidence, such as an IMO or IME. 2, You can amend (change) errors in your records using the following regulation. 38 cfr 3.1.579 Amendment of records. (a) Any individual may request amendment of any Department of Veterans Affairs record pertaining to him or her. Not later than 10 days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal public holidays) after the date or receipt of such request, the Department of Veterans Affairs will acknowledge in writing such receipt. The Department of Veterans Affairs will complete the review to amend or correct a record as soon as reasonably possible, normally within 30 days from the receipt of the request (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal public holidays) unless unusual circumstances preclude completing action within that time. The Department of Veterans Affairs will promptly either: (1) Correct any part thereof which the individual believes is not accurate, relevant, timely or complete; or (2) Inform the individual of the Department of Veterans Affairs refusal to amend the record in accordance with his or her request, the reason for the refusal, the procedures by which the individual may request a review of that refusal by the Secretary or designee, and the name and address of such official. (Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552a(d)(2)) (b) The administration or staff office having jurisdiction over the records involved will establish procedures for reviewing a request from an individual concerning the amendment of any record or information pertaining to the individual, for making a determination on the request, for an appeal within the Department of Veterans Affairs of an initial adverse Department of Veterans Affairs determination, and for whatever additional means may be necessary for each individual to be able to exercise fully, his or her right under 5 U.S.C. 552a. (1) Headquarters officials designated as responsible for the amendment of records or information located in Central Office and under their jurisdiction include, but are not limited to: Secretary; Deputy Secretary, as well as other appropriate individuals responsible for the conduct of business within the various Department of Veterans Affairs administrations and staff offices. These officials will determine and advise the requesterof the identifying information required to relate the request to the appropriate record, evaluate and grant or deny requests to amend, review initial adverse determinations upon request, and assist requesters desiring to amend or appeal initial adverse determinations or learn further of the provisions for judicial review. (2) The following field officials are designated as responsible for the amendment of records or information located in facilities under their jurisdiction, as appropriate: The Director of each Center, Domiciliary, Medical Center, Outpatient Clinic, Regional Office, Supply Depot, and Regional Counsels. These officials will function in the same manner at field facilities as that specified in the preceding subparagraph for headquarters officials in Central Office. (Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552a(f)(4)) (c) Any individual who disagrees with the Department of Veterans Affairs refusal to amend his or her recordmay request a review of such refusal. The Department of Veterans Affairs will complete such review not later than 30 days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal public holidays) from the date on which the individualrequest such review and make a final determination unless, for good cause shown, the Secretary extends such 30-day period. If, after review, the Secretary or designee also refuses to amend the record in accordance with the request the individual will be advised of the right to file with the Department of Veterans Affairs a concise statement setting forth the reasons for his or her disagreement with the Department of Veterans Affairs refusal and also advise of the provisions for judicial review of the reviewing official's determination. ( 5 U.S.C. 552a(g)(1)(A)) (d) In any disclosure, containing information about which the individual has filed a statement of disagreement, occurring after the filing of the statement under paragraph (c) of this section, the Department of Veterans Affairs will clearly note any part of the record which is disputed and provide copies of the statement (and, if the Department of Veterans Affairs deems it appropriate, copies of a concise statement of the Department of Veterans Affairs reasons for not making the amendments requested) to persons or other agencies to whom the disputed record has been disclosed. ( 5 U.S.C. 552a(d)(4)) ( 38 U.S.C. 501) [ 47 FR 16324, Apr. 16, 1982]

Buck, You wont like it if they hack you and take away your VA compensation pay.... Yes, Tbird I also like Mac...its much more secure than Windows. I actually have both Mac (laptop) and Linux (desktop). I no longer get online with Windows computers for security reasons. I can not afford to be hacked, I dont want to mess with viruses or anti virus software (which slows down your computer). I just got tired of it. By the way, I have disinfected hundreds of computers infected with Virii. The best way is to reformat the hard drive and reload the operating system, because, only then can you be certain there is no key logger or back doors installed. Oh, and yes, I have a MCP certificate (Microsoft Certified Professional). Yes, I know there are millions of Windows users. And millions get hacked, too. Windows is, by far, the most popular system, followed by Mac, and Linux is less popular than either. This is because Windows has powerful marketing and strong arms computer companies to install ONLY Windows. Most customers like Windows, probably because that is what they have always used, and they simply do not know better. Did you know you can try Linux Mint on DVD without even installing it on your hard drive? You can not do that with Windows, you must use it installed, it cant be run from your optical drive like Linux Mint. I LOVE that my computers run faster, as they are not encumbered with resource hogging Windows and anti virus software, and I dont even have to try to uninstall a bunch of "advertising" software that is always installed when you get a Windows box. Some examples are trial versions of anti virus software, that expire in a few months, trial versions of Office that expire, and many, many more. These advertisements on your computer take up hard drive space, are sometimes difficult to uninstall, and lure you into buying still more software, such as antivirus, or Office software. Linux has no antivirus, but they do have free "open Office" where you get it free forever, not a free trial. The default being admin, is just one of hundreds of security holes that windows has that Mac and Linux do not. The main thing Windows has going for them is that Windows has excellent marketing, while Linux does not. Have you ever seen a Linux commercial? You probably wont, any time soon. Viruses are virtually exclusive to Windows. Linux does not have anti virus software, because we do not need any "band aid" security that anti virus offers. Apple Operating systems dont need antivirus either, the security is built in not band aided on. You can keep on using Windows operating system, if you like being hacked. Of course, many people are hacked and do not know it. They dont know if they have a virus infection, and dont know if there is a back door on their computer, and they dont know if there is a "key logger" either..until its too late. HBO begged hackers for "more time" to pay ransom to hacker theives. http://www.investopedia.com/news/game-throne-hackers-demand-bitcoin-ransom-hbo/ If you get hacked with Windows, dont say I did not warn you.

You can not just use a single month and multiply it by the number of months, unfortunately. You can use the calculator in the link above, they usually work well or try to do it yourself. Remember, your back pay is at the "old" rate, you can not use the current rate and multipy it by the number of months, because VA doesnt pay us interest. So, to figure it out, look on the chart and add on the number of dependents, if applicable. Then subtract the monies already received. Do that over for each month. Often you can do a year and sometime several years because we got "zero" percent cola for 3 years during the Obama administration. That is, it did not change at all from the previous year.

Im happy to tell you I have used hadit on all 3 operating systems with "virtually no" glitches. There is almost "no" differences in using hadit on Windows, Linux Mint, or Mac OS, but I do recommend you keep any operating sytstm you have "up to date". Windows calls them "updates" but they are often better referred to as "bug fixes". When a problem with windows occurs, and if Microsoft thinks its important enough, they fix it and call the fix an "update". That sounds better than a bug fix for Windows marketing. I have been on hadit with most versions of Windows, as I have been on hadit since 2007. Recently, because of security issues, I no longer use Windows as its like putting a sign on your yard, "Haack ME". Here is a big reason (only one of many): When you log on to Windows, the default is an "administrative preveledges". This is bad, because many times people dont even understand what administrative priveleges even are. When you are an administrator (as almost all Windows users are, unless you have a big company account where its been setup for you to have an non admin account, such as if you ge on at the library). So, your 13 year old daugheter gets on your computer, with admin priveledges, and she sees a cute popup for little emoji on her computer. She downloads it. Oh oh. She probably just installed a back door for hackers to steal your infor. Now lets change that to, say Linux mint. Each time I log on, I am not logging on as and administratior, but as a regular account without admin priveledges. So, my daughter goes on my machine and sees the little emoji and tries to download it. The computer will require MY admin password, which I have not given to my daughter, because, by default, I only get admin priveledges with the admi n password. My daughter says, "Gee daddy, I need something called the admin password to download this emoji program. No, I dont think so, honey. That . is a hacker trying to install a backdoor and you are not giving him permission to do so. This is one of may reasons both apple and linux are more secure than windows...administrative priveledges are NOT by default. If you wish to try Linux, you can download it for free, or order a dvd for nominal cost. (usually around $5). Linux is free, because the original author Linus Torvalds, gave it to the world as he felt that operating systems should be free and not a source of corporate profits.

Buck posted, Buck if you are 90 percent, plus another 70 percent, this combines to 100 percent, thus TDIU is not applicable. Even if you have gotten TDIU in the past, TDIU is a rating given to Vets with "less than" 100 percent ratings. While I did get TDIU when I was already 100 percent, my effective dates for IU are well before I became 100 percent. If you are 90 percent, plus another 70 percent, you need not worry about a rediction for your TDIU, as you would still be 100 percent. Did your rating decision state you are TDIU?

I agree with John999. A layperson, such as yourself (assuming you are not an MD) can not rebut medical evidence, only medical evidence can be used to rebut medical evidence, that is, an IMO/IME. You can, however, request a correction of errors in your medical records with 38 cfr 3.179. If the VA refuses to correct errors in your medical records, you can appeal that issue. Absent your appeal, the medical evidence is presumed valid. https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/38/1.579 You are "not competent" to make diagnosis, treat your own illnesses, nor prescirbe your own meds. You are also not comepetent to enter medical records on your . behalf, only under the supervision of a doctor can you enter stuff into your medical records. That is, you can say, "hey doc, will you put that in my records", and he can choose whether or not to comply with your request. I dont recommend you try to alter your medical records other than have a doctor do same, the use of thee reg above, or another IMO/IME. The VA wont award benefts based on your statements made in conflict with the medcial evidence. If you accept that, and use the tools I mentioned, you can change your records, but your statements alone wont suffice.

It all goes with my philosophy: Tell VA the truth, and then you can sleep well if they send you money, that they wont be able to take it back. But if you lie, even once, they discredit your entire testimony. I have seen that in BVA decisions. Once the BVA catches you in a lie, you are done. I have trouble sometimes remembering dates. "When" did something happen? Gee, I dotn know maybe it was 2 years ago, or was it 3? If I was forced to give a date that I was unsure of, I gave a range: It was 3-10 years ago, kind of a thing. Whenever I could, I looked up the date. Such as Dr. P, on an exam dated 11-13-98, stated, "The Veteran.....:" Another thing I do, is I generally do NOT offer VA my opinion. Instead, I cite a regulation or doctors statement that supports my position. The reason I do not offer my opinion is because, first of all, my opinion is obvious: I want the award, and I think I deserve it. However, you see, VA always thinks they know more than I do. That is fine by me. I love it when my opponent underestimates me. So, I dont offer my opinion. I state their decision is in conflict with the facts. For example, if Im disputing the effective date, I will cite the general effective date rule, and then go to show how the evidence supports my postion that I deserve an earlier effective date, like this: "The RO decision dated 07-13-2017 stated that the "facts found" demonstrated I first applied in March, 2004. However, in a docement dated "06-07-2002" . in the RBA, the Veteran made reference to "I am unable to work". Then I would explain the VA is required to send the Veteran a TDIU form, or, if the VA does not send this form, the effective date will be the date of the filing of the informal claim (then I cite a bva decision saying same). By not offering my opininon but by citing evidence in my cfile, and case law, the VA can not just tell me Im worng..they have to give a reasons and bases as to why what I stated is not correct. Lawyers often appeal a Board decision on a failure to give adequate reasons and bases. If I ask for a lollipop, they should tell me why I cant have a lolipop. Then, someone else says, "Gee, the regulations and evidence the Veteran cited are spot on". We have to give him this. This has happened to me multiple times. My VARO denies first, then looks later.

By the way, I sent in a request for a waiver in the overpayment, arguing that the backlos was not my fault, and that the VA recovering this money would be a financial hardship on me. Basically, I did my part, by telling VA I was now married and my household income went up, so the burden is off my shoulders. I report it, they process my report. My waiver was approved, and they explained that was because it was not due to the Veteran. The VA went ahead and paid me pension, and I can safely assume when VA sends me money its mine to keep, that VA is not making me a loan. That is, of course, when I properly reported a change of househould income and dependent status. They made it clear if I had not reported this change of income, that I would owe VA money...because Vets are required to report promplty a change in dependency/income in the case of pension. But, since I did so, as requred, I was not required to pay them back money they continued to pay me because of a long processing time.