broncovet

I agree with Larry, but still have serious doubts about Larrys hat. I recommend go ahead and apply for IU while undergoing voc rehab. Reason: 1. If Voc Rehab is successful, and you land a job, it may well be a couple years down the road, and you can always "drop" IU if you get employment, but it still may be possible to collect it while not employed. 2. If Voc rehab is unsuccessfu, that is, it does not lead to employment, then you will be way ahead of the game in two ways: First, it takes several years for the VA to "process" IU claims (dont believe their six month jargon..that is stuff they make up for congress), and you shouldnt have to starve forever. Second, applying now preserves your claim date, and entitles you to retro pay if/when you are successful. Note the VA math "hits you again". If rated at 90% you wont get 90% of $2673 (Single Veteran) but rather you will get 60% of $2673 or $1604. The VA math says that 90% =60%, because if it really WERE 90%, then you would get 90% of $2673 or $2405. Instead, you will get "VA mathed" (that is, cheated) out of $801 per month. Do the math, and look at 100% rate, and you will see what I mean.

Yes..according to the VA 40 plus 30 = 60. Even stranger is that "6 month processing time" = a minimum of 2 years, and more likely 4-6 years. The worst part is that 50% of $2823 = $1064. Or 50% = 37.6% I guess the Va thinks we Veterans are blind and stupid and cant count. What a disgrace...people should not do that to Veterans. I would like to "count" the Va employees checks they same measure by which they "count" our compensation checks. Our first grade teachers would give them an F in math. The incredible part is that Veterans put up with it, year after year, after year. And it gets worse each year. Pretty soon 100% disability will equal zero compensation if the VA gets their way.

As long as they are your records, I would not worry about it. In all likeliness, your records were either a) requested by you, and you forgot about it, or ;) requested by a VSO or others, (such as Champva when you had issues with them not paying your bills) You may have even signed something requesting them, and did not recall it.. In either case, it would appear to be not something to worry about, just keep the extra copy for yourself and forget it. JMHO

This is the way the VA's "dances" around the issues. This letter was meant to confuse and to delay. You see, it is in the Va's best interest to delay your claim as long as possible because: 1. Employees get paid bonusess for delaying your claim. Source: http://www.vawatchdog.org/09/nf09/nfmay09/nf052309-1.htm 2. The Va wont pay anything if they delay your claim long enough because when you die, so does your claim. 3. The VA hopes you "give up" (abandon) your claim and you get nothing. 4. Even if the Veteran does not give up, and does not die, and the Veteran "wins" the claim, the Veteran still looses because the VA gets an interest free loan from the Veteran for all the years the Veterans claim is in "processing", as no interest is ever paid on delayed Veterans claims. However, the Veteran must pay interest on unpaid copays or VA loans, however, during this same time. In other words, the VA borrows the Veterans money, then "lends" it back to him and charges him interest on VA loans, student loans, and medical co pays. Its a giant ripoff to Veterans. 5. End Result: The VA delays Veterans claims to save money at Veterans expense. So VA goes to great efforts to delay Veterans claims as long as possible as it is profitable for them to do so. As long as the above "financial incentives" remain in place to delay Veterans claims, the claims backlog will continue to grow, and it will take longer and longer to "process" Veterans claims, as there is simply no incentive for the Va to quickly process Veterans claims.

Carlie Clearly, there were 2 ways a Veteran could get a C and P exam: 1. Claim was determined to be "well grounded". 2. Service connected Veterans were always well grounded. Net effect: 1. SC'd Veterans get C and P exam. 2. NSC Veterans ONLY get C and P exam if the VA feels the case is well grounded, and they probably really dont know that unless they do a medical exam. Result: Many NSC Veterans are turned down for C and P exam because they cant afford a doctor to prove the claim is well grounded and the VA would not always provide the exam. Funny, I guess we agree on something because I thought you would apologize for insulting a Veteran. I think maybe some people do not realize that making a statement like, "That is never ever true" is insulting, especially when it CAN BE TRUE that NSC Veterans were turned down for C and P exams. I would agree that it is not ALWAYS true, just sometimes true. That being said, I am going to end this: I apologize for "attacking" you. Bronco

Hoppy Thanks for your input on this. I knew that the VA would not always schedule a C and P exam..it put Veterans in a catch 22, and, fortunately, this is no longer the case, after VCAA in 2000, Veterans have a right to a C and P exam. Your answer was very thorough and well documented. Bronco

This is from a 1998 CAse # 980559 available at: http://www.va.gov/vetapp98/files1/9805509.txt In it it states: " Initially, one who submits a claim for benefits under a law administered by VA has the burden of submitting evidence sufficient to justify a belief by a fair and impartial individual that the claim is well grounded. 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107(a). Only when that initial burden has been met does the duty of the Secretary to assist such a claimant in developing the facts pertinent to the claim attach. Id. The Court has defined a well grounded claim as a “plausible claim, one which is meritorious on its own or capable of substantiation.” Murphy v. Derwinski, 1 Vet.App. 78, 81 (1990). Moreover, where a determinative issue involves a medical diagnosis or medical causation, competent medical evidence to the effect that the claim is plausible is required. Grottveit v. Brown, 5 Vet.App. 91, 93 (1993)." In other words, THE VETERAN had to prove his claim was plausable before he could get the "Secretary to ASSIST THE CLAIMANT" noting that competent medical evidence is required, but not necessarily provided by the VA, UNLESS the VA considered it "plausable" they were they were not required to assist the Veteran. Many Veterans claims were denied, prior to 2000, because the Veterans claim was not "plausable" and the VA had no obligation to assist the Veteran, including but not limited to, a C &P exam. All the VA had to do was to say that the Veterans claim was "not plausable" and they had no duty to assist, and the burden of proof was on the claimant to supply medical proof. IN Summary, Veterans did NOT get a medical C&P exam UNLESS the Veteran was service connected or the VA thought it was plausable. Carlie, you were out of line calling me a liar on this one, Bronco Veterans already service connected could get an exam, because it was already established that his claim was well grounded. However, the Veteran was at the VA's mercy to get a C and P exam as the Secretary had no duty to assist, and the burden of a well grounded claim, including medical evidence, was strictly on the Veterans shoulders.

Ruby I recommend the "multiple" approach. Yes, they can/do deny them all, but they have to give reasons for denials. Then, you can "attack" their reasons for denials in the appeal. I have found they often give faulty reasons for denials, and sometimes overlook the REAL reason they could have denied your claim. However, when you go the "multiple" approach, I have found that they approved claims I did not think they would, and denied claims that I thought were a slam dunk. The "multiple" approach is sometimes called the spagetti method. Throw them all at the wall and see which ones stick. Even if you think you MIGHT be eligible for benefits for a certain condition, go ahead and apply. Remember, the DENIAL RATE is 100% for every condition you dont apply for, that is, you dont get a cent for any condition you have that you dont apply for. You just might learn something that will help you win benefits for one of your other conditions. The "VA way" is to do things the opposite of what 99% of people think is right. So, go ahead and apply even if you think there is only a 1% chance you will succeed, because that is probably going to be the benefit they award. JMHO.

Take the Wellbutrin's whenever you want. The Doc wont care. If you are good about remembering to take your pills, then space them out. The reason the docs dont want you to take a high dose at one time is because there is a risk of seizures when taking a high dose of Wellbutrin all at once. However, there is also a risk of the Veteran forgetting the second dose. The answer is something that VA wont do. They make an extended release Wellbutrin, but it is not available at the VA because it does not come in generic. (Its all about the money at the VA) The extended release release's the drug slowly through the day and gives you the dose you need without worrying about either forgetting or doubling up and getting a seizure. Wellbutrin is one of the best anti depressants, but, of course, it does not work for everyone.

The member deleted his posts because he was called a liar: Carlie said, "bronco - this has never, ever, ever been true." The above quote is false. Broncovet pointed out that the VCAA in year 2000 made amendments to regulations which required the VA provide medical exams. That means there were at least some VARO's which were NOT providing medical exams for NSC Vetrans prior to the law. No, there may not have been a regulation prohibiting C&P exams, however, the VA then took the liberty of interpreting the non regulation in a manner they saw fit. The result was that SOME Veterans were denied a C and P exam because they were not SC'd. However, Carlie called the Veteran a liar without ANY EVIDENCE. The VCAA was legislation to correct this, among other things. Carlie made a blanket statement, calling a Veteran a liar, with absolutely NO information backing up her statement, while Bronco backed up his statement.

Tbird.. I dont know if this will help or not, but maybe. If they do keep sending you bills, write on the bill that you are a disabled Vet, that you went into the hospital on a fee basis, and that you are not paying this bill. Then dont pay it. Be firm with bill collectors, tell them you are only going to tell them this ONE TIME, you dont owe the bill, and it is illegal for them to harass you, so they need to stop calling immediately. More importantly, dont worry about it. Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, only today of its happiness. If the hospital turns you into collection, tell the collection agencey the same thing. The collection agencey can NOT garnish your money for bills, at a minimum, until a judge orders it. You can explain it to a judge if it ever gets that far, and you should be safe. People can send you bills all day long..bills for covering the moon with green cheese. However, you have a right to say No, I am not paying that bill. Then it is their burden to prove to a judge that you do owe the money, not your burden to prove that you dont owe it. Probably the worst that could happen is that the medical company or collection agency try to put bad marks on your credit. However, you have a right to put a letter in your file explaining that this bill is disputed, that you are a disabled Veteran, etc. Creditors use FEAR to manipulate you. F.E.A.R is "False Expectations Appearing Real". Dont let em scare you, you have the law on your side. This is America, and We Veterans fought for the right of "innocent until proven guilty". I am NOT going to let some collection agency use fear to manipulate me to pay bills I dont owe.

Pilgrim Some years ago you could not get an exam unless you were already service connected. Many people felt that put an undue burden on the disabled Vet..he was disabled and could not afford a doctor to prove he was disabled. It was catch 22. So, it was changed for the better so that it is up to the government to provide this exam. Insurance companies, and the military, do the same thing. If you buy a life insurance policy, and if the life insurance company decides that an exam is necessary, then THEY pay for the exam and they choose the doctor. Ditto for entrance into the military. You dont pay a doctor for an exam to get into the military, it is provided for you by the military. It could lead to a conflict of interest. In other words, someone could find a doctor who would sign a statement saying you are fit for military duty, when the military may not see it that way. However, now there is a conflict of interest the other way. You see, a former Secretary of Veterans Affairs, also owned controlling interest in QTC, a company that did C&P exams for Veterans. The bottom line is, when you are signing someones paycheck, you have some rights to tell them what to do. Your boss tells you what to do, and you better do it, or you may well not get paid. So, when the Secretary owns the company who does the Veterans C and P exam, there is an inherit conflict of interest.

Apparently, last year the VA paid Veterans about $40 billion in benefits. Their budget was about $100billion. That means that only 40cents on the dollar of the VA's budget actually goes to the Veteran. The rest goes to administrative costs. If the VA were a non profit 401 C and only paid out 40cents on the dollar to the people they were supposed to benefit, that would raise a big red flag and they would be audited...probably way too much going out on executive salaries, employee bonuses for shafting Veterans, lavish parties, etc. So, how does the VA get away with this while non profits would, at a minimum, be exposed and anger the people donating money to it. Is this not a gross waste of taxpayer funds? The VA needs to stop wasting taxpayer money and "GET MORE TO THE VET" This VA budget is supposed to be for the benefit of Veterans, and not to bonuses to employees for delaying Veterans claims. Why is this "confusing" to the VA?

I do not think Veterans should be expected to give up a well deserved bonus either because of a bad economy or bad money management by Ohio legislators, as Veterans did not cause these economic maladies. The Veterans of Ohio, already receive about $4000 per year per Veteran less than Veterans in Maine.Source: Ohio Veterans get less Haven't Ohio Veterans given up enough for a bad economy that they did not create? I say Veterans should get their bonus, but Regional Office Employees, who get bonuses for delaying Veterans claims, should have to pay back their bonus. VA employees paid bonuses for delaying Veterans claims: Source : VA employees get bonus for delays

I agree with Berta but add they always do those dumb things in their favor but rarely in the Veterans favor. CBS News, several years ago, did a report on stores scanning errors. The store argued that it was impossible to keep track of hundreds of thousands of items, and that a small percentage of errors was expected and permissible. However, they kept track of how often the scanning errors were less than the actual price and how often they were more, because, statistically, the scanned error should be less half the time and more half the time, as you are just as likely to enter a lower price than a higher price. They found out the overpriced scans outnumbered the under priced scans by 95%. In other words, only 5% of the scanner errors were lower, 95% of the time the customer was overcharged. Some groups are considering class action lawsuits over this.. In a similar way, the VA makes errors, of course, but the vast majority of the errors go against the Veteran, leading us to believe the errors, at least part of the time, were deliberate.

I think the VA limits benefits because they cant possibly pay all the claims applied for..they just dont have the money. If 100 Vets apply, and they have enough money for only 10, then they approve 5, delay 60, deny 35, knowing that of the 35 denied, only 8%, or about 3 Veterans, will appeal. They dont have to worry about the 60 they delay until next years budget, and then they keep doing that over and over again. Insurance companies do the same thing. If every one of their policy holders had a claim, they know they would go broke. But, they know that only a certain percentage will ever file a claim.

Neither the BVA, nor the CAVC can use a lay opinion to over ride a qualified medical opinion, including the opinion of a rating specialist, or even the opinion of a judge, on medical matters. That is, if your doctor opines that YOUR condition "is at least as likely as not due to military service" then ONLY other doctors can "trump" than opinion, and, even then the "other doctors" would not necessarily trump that opinion if they just saw you one time, while your doctor has seen you over the years. If your regular doctor has seen you for years, and offers the opinion that "your condition is at least as likely as not due to military service", then you can argue at appeal that the C&P "doctor", who has only seen you 20 minutes, is not as qualified to make that opinion as is your regular doctor who has a much longer history with you. Do not overlook the possibility of shredding. If you can find evidence that may have been mishandled (not considered in the decision), then you can also argue at appeal that the C and P doctor did not view the COMPLETE File, because some key evidence was missing which led the C and P doc to an inappropriate conclusion.

Yog... Another good point! If the VA employees pay back their bonus money for delaying claims, then we should probably forgive them. So far, none have offered to pay any of it back! It sounds like even the corporate executives are more credible than those people in the VA who take bonuses for delaying Veterans claims with the excuse they were confused. I remember when VA employees were also "confused" on whether or not to shred Veterans evidence. What is the difference between yesterday's Burger King wrapper and Veterans claim evidence? Answer: According to the VA, who is confused about the issue and needs further training, there is no difference. Management Bonuses should be awarded for shredding both.

Pete is right. People were inflamed after corporate executives awarded themselves large bonuses with funds taxpayers paid to bail them out. Now that VA is awarding bonuses to employees for failure, is it any wonder these employees keep on failing?

Eric The problem is that if this can happen in the Pittsburg Regional Office, it can happen in other RO's. AND If employess are paid a bonus for delaying a claim a month, how much bonus money do they get for delaying a Veterans claim for years? 12times as much for each year? The VA said it was because of "confusion"..I can see it now: VA EMPLOYEE: I am confused with this Veterans claim and dont know what to do??? VA Management: Delay the claim and collect a bonus. I dont think that Veteran will complain..after all, we collected a bonus from delaying his claim last year, and the year before, and the year before... Please note that it was also "bad training and confusion" when Detroit RO "forgot" 16,000 Veterans claims, and when 40 of 57 VARO's "accidently" shredded Vetrans evidence. Did it ever occur to anyone that Shredding Veterans Evidence = Delay for Veteran = more bonus money for VA management?

The VA OIG now says that Pittsburg RO employees delay Veterans claims to get bonus money. Are we supposed to believe that this does not happen in other Regional Offices? You can bet the VA will do one of two things: 1. Say this is an "isolated incident" and that corrective action has been taken. Or 2. Remain silent on the issue, covering it up all together and not responding to it at all. The story is here: watchdog: VA delays claims for bonuses My claim took 7 years and I lost my home during that time. I wonder how much of a bonus VA employees got by causing me to loose my home?

In case you missed it, it is posted at Youtube: This Veteran fought for our country, and now he has a new enemy: The VA www.vawatchdog.org should hear about this!

Tyler I agree with Carlie..give it another day. But, then "hit em back where it hurts". Here is ONE possibility: Carefully go through the evidence list on the decision. Then, carefully go through your evidence. If your evidence differs from the evidence list on the decision, then there is a good chance you are another victim of shredding. Then, file a special handling request, pointing out the document you think was not considered as evidence. Check your medical exam history and see if you told a doc, which he wrote down, that your episodes were MORE than once per day. If one of the docs said that in your c file, then you can complain they did not consider this critical evidence. The VA regurarly shreds evidence so they can deny the claim. Remember that if your C and P doc said, "once per day" but your REGULAR doc whom you have seen for years says "multiple times per day" you can appeal on the basis that your regular doc who has seen you for years can better judge your condition than a C&P quack who saw you for 20 minutes. Also, look for a second or third doc that also stated you had multiple episodes per day, because 2 or 3 medical opinions trump the single C&P opinion, upon appeal. Many, many Veterans are victims of VA shredding, but dont even know it. The VA isnt sending out letters to Veterans to find out if they were a victim. They keep it quiet and only respond if there is a complaint, and even then, may also shred your complaint document.

Yoggie2 Thank you for the compliment. I know I have ticked a lot of people here off, because my opinions about the VA are often very negative. However, I think most people who have lost their home while waiting 7 years for the VA to "process" his comp claim would be mad also. My "hardship" request to prevent the loss of my home was shredded, and the VA RO issued at LEAST 3 decisions which denied my benefits AFTER the BVA had already awarded me full benefits. The VA did everything in their power to make me homeless, and have indeed suceeded at making millions of other Veterans homeless by endlessly delaying and denying their comp claims. I lost my home, my truck, and even treasured possessions as a direct result of the VA's failure to follow its own regulations. I am considering going back and deleting every single post I made tho. Reason: I am convinced the VA can/will/does retaliate on Veterans by reducing, delaying or denying their benefits. Berta is at risk of this, too. It is one method the VA uses to keep it "business as usual" at the VA, so the VA can just ignore the VEt. Veterans who would dare speak out about or complain about the VA can no doubt be punished through retaliation by reducing, delaying, shredding, or denial of benefits. It is a tool the VA uses to manipulate us: FEAR of benefit reduction by complaing or speaking out. If they do retaliate on Berta by reducing her benefits, I personally will do everything in my power to stop the VA from crushing one of our own.

Personally, I recommend a lawyer for your Social Security appeal, but probably not for VA, unless your claim is particulary long and complex and you have already tried and failed. Reasons: Soc. Sec. and VA have some similarities. You can use some things you learn from your Soc. Sec. lawyer to help you win your VA case. It has been my experience that if you appeal both now, your SS will be decided way before your VA..and if you win SS, you can even use that as evidence to help you win your VA! You see, SS is processed faster than VA, because, frankly, politicians shaft Veterans because they can. Politicians pretty much always promise Veterans faster claim service, and then when they get elected fail to deliver. They cant shaft SS because it is headed up by an extremely powerfull and organized AARP lobby who will DESTROY any politician who even thinks of reducing social security. Politicians, however, know they can get away with empty promises to Veterans...all they have to do is look at the history of failed promises to Veterans. Politicians get away with shafting Veterans by pitting one generation of Vets against another. United we stand, divided we fall. By giving benefits to one generation, such as the "priority status" new Vets get over Vietnam Vets, they divide us, and we are so busy quabbling about that, the politicians know they can shaft all of us. This does not happen at Soc. Sec with AARP.