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MRRRR5

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Posts posted by MRRRR5

    Interesting read from a DRO

    in Appealing Your Veterans Compensation Disability Claims NOD, DRO, BVA, USCAVC

    Posted

    Interesting information from this DRO's perspective.  He makes valid points on numerous cause and effect of the delays as far as the lack of "trained" personnel are concerned.

    The two parts of his statement that caught my particular attention are:

    1)  where he mentioned appeals could get "loss" in the VBMS / VBMS-R system due to "who" is inputting and the office (or person) who is authorized to input them having no knowledge an appeal is in that system until the Veteran Representative inquire of the status or they go in the system about a different claim.

    2) where management pulled all DROs to assist with initial claims backlog and for 6 months no appeals were worked in his office except on a "case by case" basis if it met the criteria of what they considered "priority" (homeless Vet, Wounded, financial difficulty, etc).

    Requesting Some Guidance

    in Entitlement - Veterans Compensation Benefits Claims

    Posted

    ArmyVet

    1. With sleep apnea, there are 3 issues.

    The first is "Is it service connected"?

    Then, there is the issue of percentage. If you are service connected for OSA AND your are on a CPAP, its 50 percent.

    Finally, there is the issue of effective date. Right now, you are looking for the 2 above, then you can work on the effective date if you dont like the effective date the of the decision.

    2. It sounds like you are appealing sleep apnea, and adding new claims. You can move forward on both at the same time.

    3. Yes, the appeal is lengthy. If you elect a DRO review, this could happen in as soon as 1 year to 18 months. Mostly tho, my 2008 BVA Appeal was decided in August 2012 (4 years later), and I am still trying to get VA to implement the 2012 Board decision. Expect your appeal to take 5-10 years and you probably wont be disappointed. Yea, I know that is crazy, but it is what it is.

    4. There are advantages to VA and advantages of private care. Personally, I would take private care, if available. However, I dont have a choice unless I pay out of pocket..I have to go to VA. Its somewhat rare where private care is better than VA care, but stranger things have happened.

    5. You dont need to worry about reevaluations at this time. Let the VA worry about that. Generally, after you have been rated 5 years or more, your condition is considered "stabalized".

    After the 5 year period, you can consider requesting "permanent and total"..which means your kids will be eligible for DEA Chapter 35 benefits, and there are many more benefits for a 100 percent permanent and total Vet.

    I would have to disagree about the Veterans Service Officer, and here is why (tho I do think they can be a help if you are a "new" claimant unfamiliar with VA):

    In your service officer (DAV, VFW, etc) charter, they agree to "cooperate with VA", And are paid by VA.

    Whenever you use your opponents lawyer, and your opponent is paying him, who do you think he is "representing", VA or you? If you guessed VA, you probably understand you owe loyalty to the guy who signs your checks.

    As long as you remember your service officer represents VA and not you, then feel free to have one. Dont be suprised, tho, if you find out they are representing VA's interests, and not yours.

    Broncovet,

    great points on the VSO rationale you provided as well as the other detailed explanations.

    Requesting Some Guidance

    in Entitlement - Veterans Compensation Benefits Claims

    Posted

    Hello,

    A few weeks back my claim was completed and went from 0- 90 % rating. I am still relatively unsure to the whole process of appealing and if I should .. I am grateful to be awarded the 90%. I have quite a few conditions also rated at 10% and not sure if I should appeal a few of them.

    A few questions:

    1.) I was denied sleep apnea, I did sleep study Sep last year but was not fitted for CPAP and I have moderate OSA. I could not get fitted as I was in the process of moving at the time. I am getting CPAP next week at VA. Also I had a nasal fracture in 1995, and I have 70 % PTSD. would I have some grounds to appeal?

    2.) There are a few claims I needed to add that I did not add initially like migraines and knee pain, if I did add those now would it affect my appeal for SA? Another wards could I appeal my SA decision and still file a new claim or would something get bumped?

    3.) Is the appeal process very lengthy?

    4.) Is going to the VA better for treatment and records wise than a private provider?

    5.) Some of the decisions say a reevaluated in 5 years? can anyone elaborate on this..

    Congrats on your award and thank you for your service to the nation; my assessment to your questions:

    1. Yes, you should appeal the denied OSA decision now that you have been provided your CPAP.

    2. No, the added claims would not affect the sleep apnea appeal as they would most likely be considered "new, initial claims"; however, the SA appeal decision make take longer; you could ask for a "reconsideration" on the SA denial as well which may get you a quicker decision back, however, just keep in mind the reconsideration does not toll your appeal clock.

    3. Yes, it can take anywhere from 24 to 60 months or longer in some cases to get a decision.

    4. The VA have many great providers treating Veterans and this would probably get varying opinions from Veterans so this would be an individual decision on what's best for you.

    5. My understanding of the reevaluation in 5 years is those specific SC conditions will be checked again by a VA provider to see what the current level of severity is; i.e., has there been any improvement, have the conditions gotten worse, etc.

    The above responses are my opinion only on the questions you ask; other more experienced Vets may also chime in to give you more advice.

    P.S. I would recommend you get a Service Organization Representative to assist you if you don't already have one; if you do have one, get their recommendations on your next step as well.

    Prostate Cancer Residuals

    in VA Disability Claims Research

    Posted

    Hello Boomer2 and thank you for your service.

    While you are awaiting a response from fellow members, I would also recommend you may search the Board of Veterans Appeals (BVA) site to get some answers on those that were granted on appeal and there ratings; just an idea and hope you get an answer soonest.

    Retro Payment

    in Success Stories

    Posted

    Hello Allenwilliams42 and thank you for your service.

    Since your retro is back to 2006 and some back to 2010, the calculations will have to be done for each year based on the authorized disability rate as well as effective dates.

    Reference the clothing allowance, I would submit an appeal and let it go to BVA for a decision.

    As far as submitting the NOD, you can submit them now if you have already received the written decision letter explaining the increase; however, if I was in your position, I would not submit my NOD just yet and let them my retro paid to me first, keeping in mind that you have 1 year from the decision to submit the NOD; so if they (VA) says the retro will take 4-6 months to process, that leaves you with about 6 months to submit the NOD. The reason I would do it this way is if the NOD is submitted before the retro is complete, it may just hold up the retro until the NOD is finally adjudicated (just my opinion), so if you feel as though you can wait another 12, 24, or even 36 months to get the retro, you should file it promptly.

    Again, the above is just my opinions based on the information you provided and what I would do in a similar situation.

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