broncovet

Another way is to apply for tdiu, that is, assuming you are not working. Or, if you are working, there may be other claims you overlooked.

Maybe. Review the criteria for IBS/Gerd. You need to look those up yourself. As an example, many Veterans have "dual" mental health disorders..PTSD and Bipolar, and or something else. For mental health disorders, once service connected, they are rated on SYMPTOMS. Generally, VA compensates you for your percentage of your loss of an ability to earn an income. IDK what your symptoms are for IBS/Gerd and I dont know which symptoms overlap. But I do know that you dont get paid for the same symptom twice. Let me cite a hypothetical example: Lets say you have bouts of painful diarrhea which last 2 or 3 days where you can not work with Gerd "and also" with IBS. You would get compensated for one, not the other. But the Gerd may have an additional symptom. With mental heatlh disorders you get paid for all they symptoms combined into one disorder. If that makes sense. Pyramiding prevents a Veteran from getting paid for the same symptom twice. But, if I was service connected for my Right knee issue and the main symptom was pain which hurt when I walked. However, lets assume I was also SC for my back "including" back pain. Well I could get paid for symptoms of my back pain and my knee pain especially if they dont occur at the same time and I could not work 2 days a month due to back pain, and 1 day a week due to knee pain.

Short answer: C and P exams are at VA's discrection and we dont know. However, its not that unusual the C and P exam is insufficient for rating. Many things can be omitted or inaccurate. Some examples: 1. "If" already service connected, then symptoms need to be documented. 2. A date needs to be given when symptoms began. The VARO often uses the date of the c and p exam, but that may not fly with the BVA or above. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out if you have been treated for a disorder since 2002, and they gave you a c and p exam in April, 2024, your symptoms did not begin in April 2024. They began Much earlier. How much earlier? That needs to be documented by a doctor for a real accurate effective date. 3.. Etiology. "If" the examiner opined that your condition was at least as likely as not due to an event in service, they often want a medical rational as to why the examiner said same. 4. There can be other things, too, such as it would be impossible to tell from the exam, which if any of the applicable criteria were met. 5. Finally, the exam may be incomplete, may not be signed or dated. Or, the exam may be ambigious, or may be in conflict with other exams.

According to the VA website, you can get one or the other, but you can not switch: https://www.va.gov/education/survivor-dependent-benefits/#:~:text=If you're a dependent,%2C you can't switch. This said, you can not always trust what the VA employees, or even VA websites tell you. Yes, I know its disappointing. IRS is the same way. You could call the IRS hotline for tax advice, then take their advice. If the advice is wrong, you could still have to pay the applicable tax penalties or interest. Neither the VA, nor the IRS permits a GS5, or whover, works on updating the website, to make "official" statements binding on the agency. In law enforcement, its actually worse. More than once, a sheriff or detective lies to the accused, for example, they may tell them that. "your brother already ratted you out", when that is not true. Tricks (aka lies) often lead to arrests and or convictions. While Im no expert on law, Im pretty sure that, even if you are convicted based on a lie the sheriff told you, you are still convicted. The sheriff is not on trial..the accused is. I can see how, in some peoples mind, at least, its okay to fight fire with fire, as many/most criminals will lie to prevent conviction. Sadly, sometimes, it may even work, at least for a while.

Finally, still another example is your VSO or representative. Most Veterans sign "stacks of paperwork" and dont read every word, ever. I did. Maybe your VSO was sharp and saw a medical report and said, "gee, that Vet has a diagnosis of tinnitus", I will include that also. He may or may not have explained that to you, and you may or may not have remembered his explanation that happened months or years ago. The same thing often happens when you buy insurance or a car, or whatever. You may get tired of listening to his talking. Insurance agents often include something called "waiver of premiiums". Do they always tell you? No. You may not want to hear it all! You may get a headache when they start talking about double indeminty comprehnesive, other than collision, and a bunch of other stuff you dont know or care what it means. So, you dont ask. So, you bought waiver of premiums. 3 years later, you get in a car accident and are disabled. Your agent calls, noticing you stopped paying the premiums. You respond that you cant, you are disabled. The agent informs you that he included "waiver of premiums" which means your premiums are paid by the insurance company when you become disabled! You are happy! You get to keep your insurance without paying! And you did not know what waiver of premiums meant, but your agent did, and he included it.

Maybe. There is such a thing as an "inferred claim". While those are mostly not allowed CURRENLTY, in the past inferred claims were common. A great example is: You apply for PTSD. You speak with the doctor, AND you tell him you are unable to work because of your PTSD. Your doctor docutments this. This could be considered an INFORMAL or inferred claim for INCREASE for TDIU. Many Veterans, especially those with PTSD or other mental health disorders dont know the difference between TDIU and an IOU. The VA is supposed to have a Liberal interepretation of his claim for benefits, and its highly likely telling his doctor this, could be construed as a claim for tdiu. In many instances, the VA would be required to send the Veteran a TDIU claim form. But, what if they dont? Chances are pretty good, the Veteran "eventually" runs into a competent VSO or someone else who may explain to him that he/she should apply for tdiu. So, lets say he does. He could well get an effective date much earlier, since his statment to the doctor could have been construed as a claim for tdiu. There are other examples, too. Many of those involve Veterans "not understanding" a diagnosis. A DRO "could" view a diagnosis on a medial report "you did not apply for" because, for one thing, you may not have known you had the disorder" and applied for you. The vA has a duty to maximize benefits, and its presumed the Veteran, when applying for benefits is seeking the max.

The VA can reduce your rating "regardless" (independent of) whether or not you apply for an increase. "If" the VA does not comply with the regulations, the Veteran can hold them to them by: A. Asking for a hearing in a proposed reduction. If there is no proposed reduction, then VA did not comply with their own regulations. B. Appealing a reduction "in the event" that you can not defeat it before it even happens with the proposed reduction. Source: I have had the VA do proposed reductions on me TWICE. NEITHER time had I applied for an increase. I easily beat the proposed reductions before they became final. The VA must give 60 days notice of proposed reduction, see below. I simply wrote a letter, with applicable evidence, explaining why a reduction was not warranted. The VA wrote back, and said that the proposed reduction would not take place, that my rating would remain unchanged times 2. Source: 38 CFR 3.105 e:

You should be getting paid at the 100 percent compensation rate, plus any dependents you have. I can check that for you if you let me know how many dependents. If you are married, with no children living with you at home, (who are not in college under age 26), then your compensation should be $3946 per month if married $3737 if you are single.

Let's assume they were not lying to you, and they grant the claim at the Board. If so, you could get a letter sometime in the next 2 to 5 months, perhaps earlier, if your attorney calls you as he may get some documents online earlier. Unfortunately, the procedure is that the award is sent to the VARO to "implement" the decision. The regiional office would then determine a disability percentage, if applicable, and an effective date. They would then send you and your attorney notice of this VARO implemntation of the board grant of benefits. This takes another 30 days to 6 months, sometimes more, sometimes less. In short my wild guess is that you have a 50 to 70 percent chance of seeing a deposit (money) to your account before Christmas in December. I would estimate that the chances of seeing money for this before July 4, are low, maybe 20 percent. And, the chances of you seeing money before memorial day (May 30) are about 5 percent. I would give an 80 percent chance you would have your money by VAlentines day, 2025. "ONE" of my Board decisions was implemented in less than 30 days. Most of the time they are in the 2 to 6 month range. You actually are waiting on 2 decisions, one from the board, another implementation decision from the regional office. On occassion, "the first notice" you get of a VARO implementation decision is a deposit of money, and the decision letter comes later. Its around 8 months or so to Christmas, so about 4 months for each would put it at christmast time. The board decision "could" move quickly now that you have had a hearing, but not always. They should have your complete package together. But, its often a different person who decides the claim than the judge who interviews you in person. It could be longer or shorter than 8 months. My guess is that its near equally likely for it to be longer or shorter than 8 months.

Dont be suprised. About 80% of VARO claimants are denied. Of those where the Veteran appeals, about 2/3 of those are eventually awarded. Of course, if you dont appeal, your decision will become final in one year. There are 2 types of SMC S. A. Statuatory SMC S. That requires a single 100 percent rating (tdiu counts) and additional combined ratings of 60%. B. Housebound in fact. This usually means your doctor makes a statment to the effect that you are "substantially confined to the premisis". In short, I suggest you appeal. fill out a NOD form and send it in. If you like a Veterans service officer may be able to help you. "IF" the VSO has VBMS access you could even view the file and see if there was evifence "already in your file" which supports an award of benefits. (I have no idea what is in the file, you probably dont know either, until you look at it and review it. Most people are suprised at stuff in their file). ASK the VSO if he/she has VBMS access. If he/she does not, I recommend finding one who has jumped through the hoops to obtain VBMS access. WITH VBMS acccess, and the decision in hand, you can craft an intelligent NOD, disputing their findings. Example: While the VARO decision dated April 2, 2024 stated there was no evidence that you were substantially confined to the premisis, Doc. Jones, in an exam dated 11-18-2011 apparently disputed that finding, when he noted that the Veteran has agarphobia and almost never leaves the home except for doctors appointments. The VARO decision did not explain why this doctors finding was not considered in the decision. Then, include a copy of the 11-18-2011 exam with your NOD. You can argue that 38 cfr 3.156 supports an effective date of 11-18-2011 or earlier, for smc s.

Veterans have asked about "buddy letters" sometimes to document an in service event which may have happened to them in miiltary service. This could be very useful to locate someone you served with, but are unable to locate. Your military friend could well have been a witness, for example to exposure to burn pitts, toxic substances, sexual assault, or many other things, that, if documented, could result in VA benefits. Your buddy COULD testify as an eye witness of an event (in sevice) he or she observed. (in a buddy letter). Remember the Caluza elements? Diagnosis, IN service event, and nexus. There cant be a nexus linking an in service event to your current diagnosis, WITHOUT an in service event. https://news.va.gov/130141/buddy-finder-find-former-service-friends/?utm_source=feature&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=VetResources&utm_id=10APR2024

One defination of seperate and distinct: involve separate anatomical segments or body systems. You should read up as to what the CAVC says about it, by searching court cases. I dont think "primary" or secondary matters, but read CAVC/BVA cases to be sure. I dont have time to do that research for you today. Once a condition is service connected..it does not matter if its "primary", "secondary", presumptive, etc. They are treated the same. If you look at ebenefits "letters", there is no distinction between "Primary", "Secondary", or Presumptive. You are either SC for a condition or you are not. And, its good for you to learn to search case law anyway...it will benefit you. MY VBM (Veterans Benefit manual) is way old, or I would look it up for you. If you dont know, the VBM is often used as training for attorneys. The VBM doesnt make "opinions", they cite precedential case law. You can buy a VBM from Lexus Nexus, I think they are "about" $250, if they have not gone up. I have both a paper copy and digital. Its for year 2014, and Im not buying the new one.

Its not unusual, but yes, it can be disappointing when a law firm refuses to represent you. Remember there are many reasons they may decline, many of which have nothing to do with you. For example, their case load may be too high right now, they may have attorneys on leave/ vacation/sick, etc. Some other good Veterans law firms Im famiiar with are Hill and Ponton, Woods and Woods, Berry Law firm, and, Attig Steele that represented me. I can not say whether or not they will represent you, you will have to discuss that with them. However, after hiring 3 different law firms on 3 different issues each time I was turned down at least twice by other law firms, and each time, I won. So, being turned down by a law firm does not mean you do not have a case of merit. Try another firm. Persistence works when giving up rarely does.

Im sure you know how much you are getting paid. Is it 100 percent (from the chart) or 80%? Rattler is correct in that, if you are 80 %, you can talk till the cows come home and they wont bump you to 100 percent. But, as he also pointed out, if you are tdiu (paid at 100 percent rate, see above), then it should be reflected in your compensation and also in the benefit summary letter. It is possible, or even likely, VA made an error. Or, probably equally as likely, is that this is the result of "tdiu confusion". If you are single, at 80 percent your check should be 1995 per month If you are single, at 100 percent (or tdiu) your check should be 3737 per month. (Both of these will be more with dependents, spouse, etc.) So, you should be able to tell quickly if you are getting paid for tdiu 80 percent. Now, for things like your property taxes, you can print out a benefit letter, and some states may allow tdiu while others may not. We can not fix that. My state considers tdiu and 100 percent the same for property taxes and accepts a letter either tdiu or 100 percent P and T. All this said, as Rattler pointed out, if you are 80%, the VA wont bump you to 100 percent. Now, if you have a letter granting tdiu, (it sounds like you do) and VA is not paying you correct, then you need to file an "audit" of your payments. If your letters are wrong, but payments are right, you may be able to get va to fix this using the teenager method I described.

Its unrealistic to expect VA to process a claim, even dependents, you added yesterday. You need to repeat this over and over, because understanding this may help you with VA claims: I will give 3 examples, all of which PROFIT VA (at your expense) to delay you. All of these have happened. 1. VA suceeds in delaying you "until you die", and your widow neglects to file a "substitution of claimanant" fast enough. Your family looses the benefits, VA wins. 2. VA delays you so long that your health declines and you get so frustrated you finally give up. VA wins, YOU lose. 3. VA delays your benefits through multiple, multiple denials, and delays, like they did me. I finally "won", but lost all of the interest and was paid at 2002 VA rates in 2020, with no interest, even tho, the stuff I bought in 2020 cost 2020 inflation prices, not 2002 prices when I applied. I estimated I still lost tens of thousands of dollars in interest INCLUDING THE FACT I lost my home because I could not afford the house payments. As long as it remains profitable for VA to delay your beneifts, expect it to continue. I mean, gee, I would. If you could pay your electric bill in 10 years, with no interest, why would you pay it today?

Lemeul: I think one question the OP was suggesting is are you represented by CCK or similar law firm, or PRO SE, or maybe a VSO?

You can search the NOVA lawyers by state. https://www.vetadvocates.org/cpages/sustaining-members-directory Its not unusual to have to contact a half dozen or mor attorneys to find one to work with. I did. There are about 28 million Veterans, and maybe less than 1000 attorneys to represent them. Even worse, Veterans law cases often take years, sometimes 5 to 10 years or more. Who wants to wait a decade to get paid?

I will restate what you posted, in my words, to make sure I understand what you are saying. Please correct me if I am wrong. You applied for benefits in 2020, but did not sign the application, as you had intended to file an ITF after you got more information which you did not timely receive. You said you received a decision which was "favorable" on some condition and unfavorable for others, and have yet to receive your cfile. DO I have it about right? Welcome to the Department of Veterans Affairs! If this were mine, I would NOT hire an attorney at this time. Instead, I would file a NOD disputing the issues which were unfavorable, AND disputing disability percentages you felt were LOW And, if you thought the effective dates were OFF, dispute those also. But I would just leave the favorably awarded portion alone. (When you file a notice of disagreement, you can dispute, any or all portions of a decision, and leave in place portions you agree with which are favorable, which is what most Vets do) That is, if denied conditon A, you can disagree with denial of condition A, but if awarded condition B, but you think it should be 80 percent, not 30 percent, you can dispute the percentage. Finally, if you were denied condition A, awarded condition B, and granted the percentate you wanted, but you felt you deserved a 2020 effective date, and VA said granted it from 2023 instead, you can dispute JUST the effective date, and the denial of condition A, if you so choose. You will need to make a choice "how" to appeal. There are options. A. Higher Level Review. Probably not for you, because this assumes you nave no new evidence. And, you probably have evidence that the VA did not consider, so dont use HLR. B. SCL. Supplemental Claim lane. Similar to above, stays at regional office, but you can submit new evidence. or, my favorite: NOTE: While my opinion is not shared by all, I think if you choose one of the 2 above you mostly will be wasting time and you will wind up going to the BVA, below, anyway. Sometimes, however, you can win with A and B above. C. Appeal to the Board of Veterans Appeals. While this takes a long time, the win percentages are in your favor. Big time. Yes, it will take years to resolve UNLESS you have a compelling reason for an "advance on the docket". Probably the most expiditious method of getting a look see at your file is to sign a POA with a local Veterans Service officer WHO HAS VBMS ACCESS. ASK them first, not all VSOS have VBMS access. There are hoops the VSO must jump through to be granted VBMS access, and not all are willing/able to do them. ASK before you grant your POA. You may be able to view your file online immediately and reivew it, perhaps print off necessary documents. AS far as you not signing it, my "opinion is" that you should be happy you are receiving compensation (I assume you are, from your post). VA benefits are "supposed" to be "pro claimant" and "liberally interpreted" IN YOUR FAVOR. It would appear they did that, at least somewhat. While I am suprised your claim was not returned for your signature I do know much stuff is done electronically, and I even did some insurance (private company) stuff online without a paper signature, all online. Indeed, lots of stuff is done online, without paper signatures. One of the first thing VA does is make an electronic record of your claim.

I agree with Pacman. The issue of whether or not the Veteran is unemplloyable, and/or whether or not its due to SC disabilities or not, or WHICH SC disabilities is a medical, or often a voc rehab counselor's opinion. Indeed, I won my EXTRA schedular TDIU claim (that is, I did not meet the percentage requirement in 4.16a) based on the opinion of a well written voc rehab counselors opinion. Extra schedular tdiu, in this instance, I mean a 4.16 B claim of less than the percentage requirments in 4.16a. If I recall, I paid 5 or 6 hundred for the voc rehab opinion and the counselor was recommended by my attorney, who won a remand at the cavc level. (This means I did not pay for the attorney, as the attorney fees were paid by EAJA). And, the attorney further suggested WITH THIS VOC REHAB IMO, HE FELT IT WAS SUFFICIENT TO WIN AT THE BOARD. It was. A 500 IMO saved me around 10 times that in attorney fees at the BVA. I got a VSO for the BOARD "only because" I know its hard to remove a POA, without putting in a new one, thus, I signed up with a VSO which removed the attorney, which is what he suggested. The attorney was spot on, and I got the best possible result at the lowest possible cost.

I will give this one a shot. First, I will provide a link to the so called "5-10-20 year rule". https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/38/3.344 If you notice, there is no "10" year rule in the above. That is because the "10" year rule is for serverance of Service connection, the above are for Reduction. One of the best sources for reductions/severance was published by NVLSP: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/veteranservices/learning/powerpoints/annual-training-2019/Tue 2 - Rating Reductions & Severance.pdf If you take the time to read over the link, above, you will see that its very difficult for VA to reduce your rating unless you "actually improve under ordinary conditions of life" or, of course, if you committed fraud in obtaining beneefits. Its my opinion that VA "probably wont" contact your private providers for the purpose of trying to reduce your benefits, "unless" they had a compelling reason to do so. When you signed up for VA benefits, to apply, you signed a release form to release information. (You may not remember it, because you probably signed a bunch of papers, but you would not have gotten your benefits without sufficient medical documentation of a disability). For most Veterans, "fears of reduction of benefits" is unfounded. This is generally true, espeically if you have not returned to work full time. IF you have returned to work full time, then, remember, VA benefits are designed to compensate you for your loss of earnings capacity and, if you are earning a living, well, maybe you did improve. The regulation states something to the effect that "it renders the average person unable to maintain SGE (substantial full time employment)." Note the word average. THATS because SOME exceptional people CAN overcome their disabilities and earn a full time income. Tammy Duckworth is a notable example of a 100 percent disabled Veteran who overcame disabiities to earn a full time income. She used to work at VA, now she is a Senator : https://www.duckworth.senate.gov/ My advice: Dont worry about a reduction. "If you do get a proposed reduction letter" contact hadit right away for help. I got 2 of them and beat them right away.

Who, hoss! While you COULD (possibly) crawl across America on your hands and knees, flying in an Airplane would be much faster and easier. In a similar way, you COULD file CUE on SMC S, but when you understand that filing CUE is "all about the effective date" AND, the filing date does not matter with SMC, simply file for it again. If awarded, your effective date for SMC S, should be the date you first became eligible for it. Its well known that CUE is harder to prove than a simple claim for ONE major reason: CUE must be undebatable While regular claims a tie goes to the Veteran, that is, the doctrine of equipose. (The benefit of the doubt goes to the Veteran) Why give up the benefit of the doubt (BOD) when you dont need to? Dont make your claim harder than it needs to be. Make it easier. File for SMC S again. No need to file CUE, it wont change your effective date. Reason: SMC is "inferred" whenever the Veteran meets the criteria. That is, he should not have to apply for it. Yes, the VA misses it and the Vet has to apply anyway. But, if awarded, the Veteran should still get the same effective date. In a regular claim, the effective date is the later of the date of claim or the facts found (the date the doc said you became disabled to the extent of the criteria) However, in SMC, you need not worry anout the "claim date"..its always the facts found, when you first meet the applicable criteria. Therefore, my advice: File for SMC S (regular claim, supplemental claim form) and dont file CUE for SMC S, for reasons above.

Im with you. The decision makes no sense. They granted "loss of use" of buttocks (but denied any higher levels of SMC). Those statements conflict each other. Thats like saying we decided to give you a pay raise, but we arent giving you any more money. SMC R2 is a massive amount of money (around 10k per month) and VA wont give that to you, until they beat you half to death with paper first. Here is what VA wont tell you: I think you are gonna need a pro to help you. Probably someone who knows SMC inside and out, like CCK law. You could appeal it yourself to the BVA (they likely would). Then, get CCK law to represent you at the CAVC tor represent you (for the eaja fees) and try to fix it again yourself at the board remand. But, the faster way is to call CCK law now, and let them handle it. That decision is so messed up I cant imagine them not taking on this case. They probably got the effective dates wrong, too. They probably used the date of the c and p exams. I dont think a HLR will fix this because there is probably missing evidence..you indicated her medical record indicated inocontinence 30 times, yet it was not mentioned. That probably means missing evidence under 38 cfr 3.156. I have at least 20 years practice with the VA, and have answered thousands of questions on this forum since 2007. I would not do an "R2" without professional help because its "above my pay grade". In other words, I would turn it over to cck law, or a similar firm, myself, and did so, 3 times..all resulted in remands at the cavc and 90 percent of my fees were paid by EAJA so I paid almost nothing for attorney fees. (But I did the BVA myself, but I would not do the BVA in regard to R2). I think it was Lemeul who made it to R2, and he is the only one I have ever known to get er done. Maybe he will chime in.

Its time for the "teenager method" that rarely fails me. Always remember: If you dont know what the teenager method is, here it is: If you want someting ask dad. If he says No, Ask Mom. If Mom and Dad, say NO, Ask Grandma. If Mom, Dad, and Grandma say no, ask your teacher, then tell Mom and Dad, "the teacher says we have to _________" Teens have used this for a very long time. Eventually, you get to someone who says yes. If employee A says NO, call on another day, another time and ask employee B. Remember, PEOPLE are DIFFERENT, and their views, including opinions about Veterans vary widely. Just because "they all work at VA" does not mean they all treat Vets the same way. Persistence works when giving up and quitting almost never does. This should work for VA, and it should work for your local government also. REMEMBER< THO: EXTRA CREDIT: Instead of being revengeful, be THANKFUL. People will remember you when you "show appreciation" and they will want to help you next time, too. Thank them, and show appreciation. Do something nice for them, such as tell their boss they are doing a good job (if they are, dont lie, it messes everything up).

When you filled out your tdiu form, "which" disabilitie(s) did you say caused tdiu? That is, look on your tdiu form, the one you filled out, in your VBMS records before moving forward on this. If YOU said it (your tdiu was due to all disabilities) you will have egg on your face in this appeal. BUT wait!!!! You may consider appealing the effective date! Check to see if you had any record of showing the VA that you were unemployed/unemployable when you first applied. (Assuming you were not working). Go for extra schedular, if necessary. What ever you do, file that NOD on time. Grab that decision, and as much of your cfile as you can..and see if you can refute the effective date/and or SMC S. Dig deep.

They usually dont take but 60 to 90 days, but with Mr. Haskel passing, all bets are off. The widow has a reasonable period to file substitution of claimant. (That may be a year). Then, the widow needs additional time to obtain consul. Then, the records need transferred to the new attorney and, the attorney has to have a reasonable time to review them, plus time to file documents. Remember the court will be sympathetic toward widows, as they should be, and also to attorneys, who just took over the new case. WILD card: Probate. That is even worse. The will may have some say regarding assets and some of those could well be related to future VA earnings, such as pending claims..and that may well need to be probated, because those future earnings could well have monetary value. Yes, the logical place is for those to go to the spouse, but people have a right to decide "who" to leave their property to, and that would include pending VA benefits. I have not read Mr. Haskel's will, and I have no idea if the will is disputed or not. That could make it a long drawn out affair. There could be a fight to decide "who" gets to be substitution of claimant, especially if its a complicated family with divorces, multiple marriages, blended famalies, etc.