broncovet

Nobody can say for sure. Thats kind of like asking, "how long does it take to get to grandma's house"..when we dont know where grandma lives. I have heard of some people get their retro check deposited, and then wonder where this money came from, only to get the VA decision letter later. In other cases, they get their letter and it takes a long time to get the money. I recommend checking your bank every day, or even twice a day, if you can do it online, especially if you have automatic deposit to your checking account. Im sure it would be great to get it before Christmas, but if you mentally think before March 1, then you probably wont be disappointed. If you dont get it by Christmas, then look at the bright side....look how much money it will save you...lol

Mike.. A word of caution. I have never had someone at the VA tell me on the phone they are "crunching numbers for your retro check". It could happen, but they would never tell me on the phone what a decision was. NEVER. They want you to READ it. One of the reasons is that big shots can change their mind anytime before the decision is sent out, and deny the whole thing. I have heard of some Vets kinda talking the person on the phone into telling them things like..."Gee..the computer shows you are rated at 60%..when I thought you told me you were only 30%...oh...yea...you must not have gotten that decision yet, now have you?" Pretty much, they rarely give those details on the phone and for good reason. Hypothetical example: Lets say you are ordering windows. You have 8 windows, and call the window company with the measurements and they build them right? No. They will almost always want something in writing as to the measurements, not a phone call. Because if they dont fit, then you have to know who made the mistake. If I have a work order that says these windows should be 38 by 47 inches, and they are 37 by 48 inches, then you will be able to figure out who made the error..the homeowner or the window company. But if its a phone call, then you wont really know. VA benefits is no different. The VA doesnt want you to write down the percentages wrong..they want you to read the decision, and I agree with that philosophy.

I would like to add that this is precisely why people complain of a "culture of denial" at the VA. It seems very interesting that a rater with practically no experience can deny claims by the dozens..this does not cost the VA any money. However, to get a big retro APPROVED, it requires big shot approval. It looks to me a denial should be given the same considerations as a quarter million award. Here is one reason. The VA put this "safeguard" in place, so that rating specialists cant commit fraud by awarding his brother in law a half million in benefits then split it with him. It seems to me to be one of the good intentions gone wrong. IMHO this fraud can still go on....the rating specialist simply awards an amount "just under" the wire. In other words if the VA checks and double checks retros over 250k, then why not award your brother in law 235k instead and then award his neighbor another 235k, and skip the accountability breezing through? This checks and balances wont prevent fraud, it will just make it easier for them to commit fraud. The problem is to the deserving Veteran. He finally gets his claim where its about to be approved, and it has to be gone over with a fine tooth comb by all the bigshots...searching for a reason to deny it after all. I can see that claims need to be audited, that is, checked by others for accuracy. But why only large retros? Should not denials also be audited to ensure their accuracy? The only way to scientifically or fairly determine accuracy would be to audit every tenth claim, whether its a quarter million retro or a denial.

Mike Actually, the special procedures apply to awards of $250,000 or 8 years or more retro. They have been changed, however, because of a fairly recent court case that said this was illegal. Refer to this fast letter: IMHO, however, this is pretty much a moot point, because most "lower level" rating specialists are rarely, if ever going to award huge retros, and will likely simply deny it if pushed. They are afraid to. Instead, they just deny them and let the BVA or DRO sort it out. I mean think about it. If you were just on the job a couple months, and you get a claim that involves say a third or half million dollars. What do you do? Approve it and get yelled at, or deny it and nothing will be said? They have a name for this among government employees: Its called "passing the buck". Pretty much nobody wants their signature on a decision of lots of money except for the most experienced and qualified DRO's and senior level raters. Carlie may be right, tho, as I seem to also recall reading that even claims with 25k retro require multiple signatures. It sounds like their are 3 tiers: Those with Retro 0-25k (anyone can sign them), those with 25-250k, (requiring two signatures), and those over 250k which requires it to be sent to VACO in Washington DC for BIG BIG shot approval.

I agree with Berta that a DRO review is supposed to be "De Novo", and I am also sure that a NEW person is supposed to handle it..that is what ever rating specialist who did your decision is NOT supposed to do the DRO Review...its supposed to be a new person. My RO used to have signatures of rating specialists, but now they all seem to generically use the RO manager, whomever that may be, so it is harder to tell who did your decision. However, each RO letter has a "Reference number", something like...233/lb/jr. This "reference number" is a code that identifies who did your decision. If your RO decision and the DRO review had the exact same "reference number" this would indicate that the same person did your decision and also did your DRO review..which should not happen. If that did happen, my guess would be that you could file a CUE as that would NOT be a "de novo" review. JMHO

I have heard about Shinseki "speeding up" claims, but, so far, its all talk and no action and pretty much Business as Usual for the VA. Shinseki is claiming to have reduced the backlog from one million to 250.000 and I find that unbeleivable, if not a down right lie. One person said that it was a manipulation of numbers explaining that Shinseki moved the goal posts to the 30 yard line making it look like he was scoring a lot more points. Unfortunately, the referees havent heard of touchdowns declared on the 30 yard line, so there is still a million man backlog...its just that 750,000 of them have been somehow "relocated"...maybe they were denied and moved to appeals, and there has been some "combining" of claims also. That is, if you used to have 3 claims in appeals, now you have one and they can be all denied at once. Electronics claims processing is not up to speed yet, nor is ebenefits. Shinseki's promise to "break the back" of the backlog this YEAR, is now that he hopes to have it done by 2015...thats called moving the goal posts.

No, I wouldnt say a SOC is particulary good news. It means that your appeal "cant be granted", that is, you have been denied on at least part of it. It does mean your claim "is moving" which is where I wish mine was, but it instead seems to be stuck in la la land.

Gee, if it happens in Pittsburg, then I wonder if it could happen in Denver, or Chicago, or LA? One thing I learned with the VA is that they tend to make mistakes on a national scale. Of course, we can expect them to say this was a "local incident" and not widespread, sort of like they did when it was first discovered the VAMC's were not sterilizing Vets equipment properly.

I dont know why the VA tells you that your claim will be done in xxx days, but they did that to me in an IRIS as well. It took about 18months LONGER than what they promised in the IRIS email. After that, I never again asked the VA how long it would take. The VA tends to give Veterans, and the public "false hope" by indicating the "average" claim time is about six months. The Average time for a Veteran to recieve his benefits is closer to 4 years. The reason for this is because MOST Veterans do not get their claim fully approved upon the initial Regional Office decision. MOST Veteran receiving benefits have to go through one or more appeals to get their benefits...getting the whole enchilada on the first initial decision is truly rare. I know of only one Veteran to ever accomplish that, and she is no longer on this board. The rest of us have had to appeal, and many have appealed mulitple times. I really think that rating specialists DO NOT want the responsibility of approving a claim worth a quarter million dollars. So, they deny it and it is decided by a judge at the BVA or even CAVC. JMHO.

Berta I meant no disrespect to you and certainly no disrespect to your late husband, and I am very happy for anything that gives you peace and comfort in your loss. I wasnt pleased with my "first impression" answer to you either, and I had intended to change it but got interrupted and accidently sent it before I could fully process it in my mind. Then I was working on some changes to your answer and got interrupted again so I deleted the newest revision. What I meant was that I didnt think the VA "putting both your claims under Nehmer" would benefit you. You have obviously corrected me, and I do not have a problem with that. I certainly think you should persue SMC S and deserve it. And I am glad that it apparently "advanced" your claim, getting 99% of what you wanted. It sounds like it worked out well for you. My brother in law has AO from Nam and has had a very long battle which he has given up on, and I still have a bad taste in my mouth not really beleiving the VA will really grant AO claims. My skepticism of the VA has to do with the VA's history, and they have earned every bit of the poor reputation that I give them, IMHO. In my own "class of claims", that is, Veterans with evidence shredded, the VA has not kept Dr. Peake's promise to give the Veterans affected by shredding the "benefit of the doubt" nor has the VA required accountability for those employees responsible. See fast letter 08-41 for his promise. I do think there may be some benefit to you to the VA combining the 2004 Cue claim and the the 2010 claim. There seems to be some doubt in your mind, tho if they will do this. The benefit to you of them being combined is that it would seem to get the 2004 claim off the hampster wheel...Six years is a long time, even by VA standards, so anything to get that one going is a good thing. The other reason that combining the two would be good, is that it sounds like the VA plans to resolve them maybe with a DRO decision. IMHO it makes sense to have your claim at the lowest level possible because the CAVC, for example, wont revise the BVA's factual determinations. The lower you are on the "appeal ladder", the more future chances you have at getting approved. One good part of VA benefits is that you only need ONE decision maker decide your claim favorably...even if three previous decision makers all ruled against you. No hard feelings, I am really just trying to help.

There is a somewhat strikingly similar story in Dayton Ohio VAMC. The Veteran sought mental health treatment at VAMC and then shot himself to death near the front steps of the VA a short time later. http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/veteran-commits-suicide-in-front-of-dayton-va-center-656012.html

There is a somewhat strikingly similar story in Dayton Ohio VAMC. The Veteran sought mental health treatment at VAMC and then shot himself to death near the front steps of the VA a short time later. http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/veteran-commits-suicide-in-front-of-dayton-va-center-656012.html

Berta My first impression is that it is "not good" for your claims to be put under Nehmer. The reason is that whenever there is a "class" of claims such as Nehmer, AO, etc. the VA works especially hard to delay them as much as possible. Of course there is always the political foot ball going on where one or more congressmen try to block it as being too expensive that taxpayers cant afford it. Next there are many regulations and complications even if Congress does not do any blocking of Nehmer, AO etc..reminding you that there are lots of people out there wanting cuts...espicially now, that it would look like both the tax cuts to the rich and unemployment extensions will be approved pretty much in full on the US government credit card..that is, there isnt any money to pay for these. At a very minimum, you can expect your claims to be "spinning on a very large hampster wheel", subject to the whims of congress. We can pretty much rest assured that the VA will oppose anything that means the Veteran/widow will get more benefits in court....there is a lot at stake when you have an equilivant of a class action suit. Consider the bit about "bilateral" tinnitus...that is, that the Veteran would be eligible for TWO 10% ratings for tinnitis if each ear was affected by tinnitus. The VA has held that one up for years, and it does not appear that Vets with "two ear tinnitus" are going to be rated at 20% any time soon. I think there is some sort of "Nehmer like" class maneuvering going on with this. Best case scenario would be that Vets get their benefits in ten years, and worst case is they dont get them at all. Most of us are familiar with AO, basically being delayed, as a class for decades. Many of those AO Vets have passed and they wont be getting anything. ON the outside chance that an AO widow is sharp enough to substitite the party so she can continue to claim his benefits, there is still a good chance she could pass before all the smoke clears also. The amount of money at stake in Nehmer is huge, so you can bet the VA has put a lot of its resources on paying out as few claims as possible..preferably none. Expect a significant part of the 400 or so VA employee attorneys to be working on figuring out how not to pay you Nehmer. I am not sure we can completely count on Shinseki's "new" (AO, etc) presumptions...for one thing, I think it is still possible that they will be blocked by congress as to expensive. I tried, but I cant think of a single senario where this would benefit you, since even if there are no delays and no congress blocking, the VA is still gonna do their best to weasel out of claims on an indivindual basis. Sometimes I wish we could "opt out" of VA programs such as this.

Gator Your dilema is fairly common: You want to apply for additional benefits, but dont want to delay a claim you already have going. Berta is right, they will only pay you for ONE mental health issue, so PTSD and Depression are somewhat redundant. Since RO's often "lowball" the depression rating, it makes it extra tough to get IU. A caveat: Make sure that you dont make the mistake of filing for "reconsideration" but then fail to file a NOD if your MFR is not granted. A motion for reconsideration wont count as a NOD. I recommend writing on your calendar your RO decision date, and make sure you file a NOD 11 months later. JMHO

Yep. "The squeaky wheel gets the grease" my Dad used to say. If you want benefits, you have got to squeak and keep squeaking, over and over until the VA gets tired of listening to your squeaking until they finally do something about it. Patience is a virtue and is required of the VA, but if you dont keep up on your claim, the VA will assume you abandoned it. Its crazy. On one hand they tell people not to call and check on your claim too often...to be patient and let the VA take their sweet time, which they will. On the other hand, if you dont check on your claim often enough the VA will assume you abandoned it and shred it. What seems to work is to check on your claim about once every one to 3 months.

I have gotten several of these. One was for copayments. When I got 100 percent, copayments no longer apply and I was refunded the ones that I paid. There is auditing done at the Va and if they encounter an underpayment error, they send it to you. My advice: Dont worry about it and spend the money.

I know this is not what you want to hear but it took me two years to get dependents benefits, and even then I was shafted on the effective date for dependents benefits, requiring appeal review. Its not settled yet from years 2002-2006. Remember, the way things are there is financial incentive for the VA to delay your benefits as long as possible, because no interest is ever paid to a Veteran. Every one else in the world, it seems, deserves interest, except Veterans who do not. When I complained about the delays on dependents benefits they said they would be included in a new RO decison which was forthcoming. There is a "culture of denial" in the VA, which is even present on some of the other websites, where past and present VA raters offer comments on Veterans cases.

Teac is right. I once saw a sign that says, "I must be a mushroom...they keep me in the dark and feed me Bullsh**" The VA thinks we are mushrooms. About the only thing that e benefits cite is used for is for the Secretary to award huge contracts to friends and family for developing a website that is useless to Veterans. I also tried to get hearing aid batteries ordered at ebenefits website, and wound up ordering them by phone when they never showed up. The Ebenefits site is a "no show" DOA. More political promises, and less about helping Vets.

Sometimes the VA is like a 4 year old and has to be told something over and over before they "get it". Remember, when you learned the alphabet, you probably had to repeat it several times before you "got it". 1. You tell the VA to not ignore your evidence. 2. After they ignore it anyway, you file a MFR reminding them they ignored your evidence. 3. After they ignore it again, you ask a judge to remind them in appealate review, that the VA is not free to ignore evidence. Welcome to the VA hampster wheel..here you run for a while as I have been running on this hampster wheel and Im tired.

In answer to your question, I think the Veteran can work all three sides: 1. Try to get all your evidence considered before the RO decision is made. You can send in a 21-4138 and point out evidence you think the RO may overlook. You can also send in an IRIS email, asking, "Did the RO consider my evidence dated June 24, 2010 where the doc stated, ".........". 2. If you received your decision, you can ask for a Motion for Reconsideration (which could be faster than an appeal) if you think your evidence was not considered. 3. Finally, if the other two methods are unsuccessful, you can appeal the effective date, alleging that the RO failed to consider your evidence.

Again, Berta has given you good advice. Broken Soldier, tho also has a point. The VA is required to give a "reasons and bases" for a denial, AND my RO decision lists the evidence considered. If the evidence you consider compelling is not on the VA's list of evidence considered for your decision, then IMHO when you do resubmit this evidence, the VA would be required to give you an earlier effective date. Under the constructive notice rule of Bell vs Derwinski, the VA is assumed to have the evidence before them, even if they do not (that is, if they shredded it). If the VA fails to consider material evidence, that is a basis for CUE. However, I do not recommend you take my advice. Instead read Attorney Katrina Eagle's advice and follow that, and you are likely to have a better result. Her advice on CUE, appeals, etc, is here: http://knol.google.c...1#The_CUE_Claim Correction: The link above about CUE is attorney John Forristal's and is not Katrina Eagle's, but Katrina was also a contributing author on this page.

mymansavet It sounds like you are doing a good job considering your options, and Im guessing that by you doing this thorogh of a job planning, you will make the right choice for you. My brother used to call it the 5 P's....Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance. Most agents and those knowledgeable about insurance recommend that insurance be saved for the "catastrophe" and not used for the "fender bender". Remember that insurance companies purpose is to make money...so if you expect them to pay every 5$ copay, be prepared to pay for that service. I dont think its worth it, reminding you that it is not free for the insurance company to process a claim and send you a check for $5, so you are likely to pay $10 in premiums so that you wont have to pay that last five bucks. However, you do want to analyze if their are any "huge holes" in your coverage. An example might be something like coverage for a heart transplant. If your insurance excudes this along the lines of this being experimental surgery, then you may well want to think about a supplement that would include it. Bottom Line: REad and analyze both policies and then decide. Most, if not all states, have a 30 day money back guarntee required from every insurance policy. That is, it is the customers right to read over the policy and not just listen to the salesman touting the benefits of his company, because the policy defines the limitations of the policy. This means you can buy the policy look it over for thirty days and get your premiums back. I recommend reading the policy. In Champva's case, read over the booklet they send you thoroughly.

I got dependents benefits and was "shafted" on the effective date because I waited. If you adopted children, I dont think you will get anything prior to the date of adoption..not the childs birth date. Its a good question, but I think dependents are like anything else..your effective date is the later of the "facts found" or the date you applied.

Ok, Baser...just curious. What you posted said nothing about a Vets SPOUSe's parents. Also, Do your parents have to live with you to get benefits?

Of course, you know much more about your situation than we do, so you will need to decide if additional insurance is necessary. Years ago, I was in the insurance business. We agents LOVED people who just "couldnt get enough insurance", and bought supplements on top of supplements. I am pretty sure that Champva has a $50 annual deductable. If you bought other insurance, it would only pay copays and the deductable. Insurance is designed NOT to make money on it. In other words, if you had 2 health insurance policies, and had a 10,000 claim, insurance co A and B are not going to both pay it..it will be divided and you wont get more than your medical bills. (There used to be an exception with a company that did not pay your hospital bill, they just sent you something like $1000 per month when you are in the hospital..I am unsure if this coverage is still legal or being sold at present) You really need to analyze your health conditions, your finances, and your insurance, along with a proposed supplement to come up with an answer. However, for me, I am quite unwilling to spend $30 per month to pay my $50 annual deductable..this makes absolutely no sense to pay $360 per year to prevent a $50 deductable. People often do this with car insurance. They pay $1000 per year for Comp an Collision with a deductable (sometimes known by non insurance people as "full coverage" insurance, which is a misnomer..."full coverage" means no deductable) on a car worth $500. Its a waste of money. ON the other hand, if your supplement insurance covers something you desire that Champva does not (oh, I dont know..maybe dental, or other things Champva does not cover) then the supplemental insurance may be worth it. Read your champ va book. Many times your agent will go over it with you..have your champva handbook ready when he comes.