Rivet62

Your occupation in service can help toward a nexus, maybe. I have read others here who have said that it is possible to get a nexus letter from an Independent Medical Opinion (IMO), someone who can look at the facts of your occupation in service and your current diagnosis and give you a "likely as not" statement, even though you lack in-service treatment. As long as you know, or you think you know, how your current back condition occurred in service then an IMO will probably help a lot. It's not just pain, but limited range of motion and or a diagnosis of 'favorable' ankylosing spondylitis or kyphosis or lordosis can get you rated. I didn't have DDD in the service, but my occupation in the service greatly increased the probability of DDD. For me to put in a claim for pelvic tilt would require an IMO I think, because I had "no complaints of symptoms from pelvic tilt in service," and so I was denied.

Yep. I've been scheduled for a C&P for my Major Depressive Disorder. Oh goody.

Nope. They scheduled me, for back issues.

I never did. But still, an over eager therapist can assume something, between the lines, and say bla bla bla. I never did answer anything about childhood except that I was happy. I will certainly say that, because it's true. I have been as careful as I can not to fall into those leading questions that try to point the blame on childhood. Very good advice. Thank you.

Yep. And here it is, for back issues. It looks to me as though they are re-evaluating my back ratings, as if the new examination could wipe out my service-connect. I mean I understand it could go both ways and maybe an increase. I requested TDIU on top of my existing 80% service-connected disabilities (mainly my back issues, and my MDD). Look at this guy's medical background and what he does for the VA. Yeah he's fully positioned to eliminate my service-connection for my back.

Now the VA shows Request 5 as closed. Feb. 9, 2022 We closed the notice for Request 5

I was very sure to never give details about my childhood, but the therapists have tricky ways to draw their own conclusions.

I will use this to complete the claim.

Wow thank you

So let me get this straight. I filed an NOD and stated "did not consider TDIU as they should". One of the issues on my NOD is back issues. I received an SOC concerning back issues. If I filed the TDIU 1 month after the date of the SOC then basically my back issues are still alive and on appeal and so the TDIU effective date would go back to the original decision because the back issues appeal is still alive?? And at what level would the effective date be applied, based on what you're saying? Should it occur at the RO level? Or, would I have to appeal it after the RO uses the date of the TDIU application as the effective date?

I am in the same status as you. I have SSDI for service-connected issues. I am waiting on my TDIU decision.

Mr. Cue, have you ever used the OIG hotline? If so, have you ever found it effective? "Report suspected wrongdoing in VA programs and operations to the VA OIG Hotline: www.va.gov/oig/hotline 1-800-488-8244" https://www.va.gov/oig/pubs/VAOIG-17-04966-201.pdf

This is gold. THANK YOU.

I could have done an internet search. I did, using this keyword phrase "VA exam request processing no longer needed" and from that I found dozens of hits, some old ones on Hadit too. It's been answered a hundred times over. I think what best describes this status is that it is an internal marker in the claims process. I'll quote the comment I found on the PEB forum: "I don't know if you can see this in eBenefits, but "Request for Examination" is used as an internal tracking device at the RO where I work. We use this when it is necessary for an RVSR to review a claim to see if any exams need to be ordered." So, it seems this internal tracker is a consequence of VA trying to reduce excessive costs of unnecessary C&P exams (2018). It's like a page in the claim that logs the pre-exam review that is required prior to ordering a C&P exam. See this link for context: https://www.va.gov/oig/pubs/VAOIG-17-04966-201.pdf If the status says "Exam request processing, no longer needed" it is just an indication of who has the claim in the claims process. To quote another comment on another forum: "When we look at ebenefits we see those nice status boxes going from left to right and expect it to be like a production line...Its not like that. The status is determined by who has it and how they have checked it in... The status has more to do with WHO HAS IT and not HOW CLOSE AM I TO BEING DONE." And with these quotes it helps to understand the tasks of a VSR and a RVSR. A screenshot of VA's "Careers at VBA": As always, the proof of having to go to a C&P exam is in a physical letter or phone call you receive stating the need for a C&P exam. You can't rely on VA.gov or eBenefits to be up to speed on this. This appears to be the consensus, and after exploring all of the above I have to agree. So, am I being scheduled for a C&P exam? I don't know yet.

I cannot understand why they make the most vulnerable wait two years for care. In many ways, I found the SSDI application process gruesome. Reading through the legal thought processes of my claim decision it's a wonder I was granted SSDI on the last page. In the decision package (I'll call it that because it rambled for nearly twenty pages front and back) the ALJ gave little weight to any of my VA doctors, but the greatest weight to the opinion of an SSA doctor(?), whom I've never met. I believe that doctor formed an opinion in favor of my claim after looking through the entire record. In the end they have to adhere to the rules and for me it was the SSA's Grid Rules together with the underlying records supported by the SSA vocational expert and the SSA doctor's opinion that won my SSDI appeal. For everyone out there, it's not a fun process so get an attorney. Then you won't have to feel the anguish of your disabilities so much, as you scrap it out with SSA.

I was careful about the issues for TDIU, I think. Here's a screenshot (not that you need it, but you might see something in it (compared to my current ratings in my signature below).

Yes the SSDI was for service-connected issues and nothing more, but the SSA's ALJ used age to factor in an effective date and also to avoid a denial that would occur if he moved the date earlier because I was working prior to. The SSDI effective date is literally days after my last date of employment (medical resignation). The SSDI decision also says I have no transferable skills, according to SSA's vocational expert who was present at the hearing.

Hey pacman I have an idea. We should create a VA claims board game, styled after Monopoly maybe. I can already imagine the Chance and Community Chest cards.

Oh yuck. For TDIU? I wonder what kind of C&P exam that would be? I wonder what I can expect?

Does anyone know what this means? I took a screenshot of VA.gov > Check your claims and appeals> Status details> Documents filed. Request 5 (request for document) now shows this: Request 5 Exam Request - Processing No longer needed Here's a screenshot. Does anyone know what this means? What does it mean when they say "Exam request Processing -- no longer needed"?

I got my 80% service connect before I got my SSDI. My effective date for SSDI was June 2018. My ex-attorney messed up my TDIU, but recently I was able to detach myself from him and whatever he hopes to make off of me (long story). So basically, I'm at square one having filed for TDIU just a couple weeks ago. So far the TDIU seems to be processing pretty quickly. We'll see what trouble I run into getting granted TDIU. My experience is that SSDI is a lot harder to get. It took longer to get SSDI than it did for me to get my 80% service connect. My case for SSDI was a challenge but I did win it.

Thank you. It helps to know what it's called.

Wow. Good to know. I might have overlooked that aspect. Thank you. I've had a few scares myself. I ask the pharmacist at CVS, that's how worrisome they are to me. This is an extremely useful article. Thank you so much.

I paid it off already. I just posted my experience in case someone else is facing the same. I was looking to buy a house and so I really focused on paying everything off.

I had an over payment from a veteran's education program called VRAP (not to be confused with the newer VRRAP). The VRAP allowed for one year of training, and I found I couldn't go beyond the first semester. I had to withdraw from the training in the first few weeks of the second semester which resulted in a VA over payment of about $1,500+. It was the only money I was living on at the time, so... hard choices. Anyway... It took a while for the Debt Management Center to send me a notice. It showed up about 11 months later. The first clue was the IRS that garnished my puny tax return, and that lopped off about $30 something dollars off the VA over payment. I called the IRS because I was unsure of the total amount outstanding and of whom, and learned that the US Treasury was involved. The US Treasury was notified by VA of the outstanding debt and in turn notified the IRS and that manifested into my puny tax return being garnished. My point here is that, from my experience, is that over payment debts to the federal government grind slowly, going here there and yonder, before you are properly notified. Can you get a waiver from having to pay it back, because you have records trying to stop the money that resulted in an over payment? I don't know. Your situation is different than mine. I could just go to the school straight away and tell them to reverse payment maybe, in effect refuse the VA's education aid. Or, return the amount not consumed as of the date of my official withdrawal (which in my case had little impact on the overall debt). Your case is different. In any case, the gears of the federal government grind slowly, and it's nearly impossible to intercept their processes imho. I do know, from my experience, that the federal government is very generous in allowing a debt re-payment plan. Hardship claims are allowed, as far as I know, and a payment of $5 per month forever might suffice. They don't add interest but they do add fees. You could probably successfully argue the fees? End of my story: When I was accepted for employment at my area VAMC the application asked for any outstanding debts I owed to the government, and what was my plan to pay it back? I used my meager wages from my part-time food service job to pay it back. I let them garnish my tax returns too (as if I had a choice. Ha!). Finally, it was paid off.