Thanks all.
Some further info:
I am aware of the various 5/10/20/55 policies (I am 65 and rated for all but one condition for 18+years). That said, some of the policies refer to loss of a service-connection vs. a rating. As I quickly approach a final retirement I worry about these things more than I did in the past. I consider it healthy caution.
I do have a hx of high cholesterol and triglycerides, both of which were claimed at the time of my retirement. At the time those were denied as they were not compensable conditions - the VA said at the time that should they later become an issue (cause a disease) I should send a claim at that time. But it made sense to me that rather than go back 20 years to that it would be best to go another route that was equally as valid - heart disease secondary to the hypertension. Clearly many factors go into the development of heart disease, but with a secondary claim my understanding is that I do not even need to link it back to service (although I did indeed claim chest pains at that time as well, there was just no diagnosis until years later).
NEW - yesterday evening I had a message about setting up a C&P exam for this claim.
@broncovet On my nexus - I believe that it is a good one. My wife is a healthcare professional and she has been helping me a lot with these claims from the start (researching, etc). She provided a basic template to my physician to ensure the wording was on point. I do not have that letter in front of me right now, but I know that the strength of the connection per the letter was that it was “highly likely” (steps above “more likely than not”) that the hypertension had a significant role in the development of my heart disease. The letter is from my personal physician (not someone hired for a nexus) and she discussed reviewing my records from my cardiologist (we now live 3+ hours from my cardiologist and so haven’t seen him in a bit over a year - my pcp has been handling that area since then).
** sorry to hear about your experience, and the loss of your house, that’s rotten!
@Rattler - the letter from the VA said “We are working on your claim. We need additional evidence from you.” And below that with a bullet, it says “Your authorization and consent to release information to the VA from X and Y did not contain an address or contained an incorrect address. Please tell us the address of X and Y so we can request medical information. You may want to obtain and send us the information yourself. “ Note that not far down it says if we do not hear from you we may make a decision on your claim after 30 days”
The thing is, I had specifically clicked, I believe, that I did not need their assistance getting the information from my physicians.. Maybe I mistakenly clicked that box, however it’s impossible to know at this point. I do have copies of all the records. I could send more of that, perhaps? I’m just not sure the best thing to do. I am trying to not shoot myself in the foot for sure. I don’t have anything to hide, but for my experience, and from all the reading, my wife and I have done it definitely seems like they take every opportunity to squish even valid claims.