Roly

Hi Carlie, About that SVGLI, since I did not pick up on that back in 2006, am I not qualified for it now? Thanks, Roly

Brown envelope this afternoon. PTSD 30% to 50% effective 6/2006; 50% to 70% with UI effective 10/2010; "No examination will be scheduled in the future." I posted before when I heard this was coming, but deleted the post because of disbelief, chickens hatching, etc. Now it is real. I thank the Hadit and will contribute. Claim actually started in 2004, been at it on and off since then. I did not even know about PTSD when I first put in for tinnitus and depression. Thanks, Roly

I substantiated a specific rocket / mortar attack near Danang, and a downed Navy helo in the delta by searching on line. Try a look at <http://www.mrfa.org> and lots of links there, maybe a reference to your stressor. There are other sites, too. I was able to include photos of results of the rocket destruction in my stressor letter, and was service connected for PTSD with the information I found. Good Luck, Roly

................................and, all those folks that are "on the inside", lookin' out and watchin' you comin' down the hall towards them..........they all thinkin' "damn, do we have to be in here with people like that?" just sayin'...............................................................................

I see what you are saying, but I really do not think I could be a psych inpatient for a month. It is hard enough to go to the Med Center, or the C&P. I have to do those things, so I can think of it as some sort of in and out mission, grit my teeth, and just do it, but hanging out there in my jammies, under observation all the time, is too much to contemplate. I think I would rather forgo the improved rating than be among people like that. Also, though it is a moot point, I heard that the 100% starts after being inpatient for 21 days. ????? Roly

Thanks, Wings and you others, I have been reassured that they won't grab me involuntarily. I think that the rest of the C&P report will support the rating improvement I was seeking. I will now just wait and see. Thanks again Roly

Background: Vietnam vet, '69-71. I was granted 30% for PTSD in 2008 , added to 10% tinnitus; and wrote a NOD to put the effective date back to where I started the process, and objected to the 30% as insufficient. I wrote in the NOD that the private C&P exam psychologist they hired was a dismissive and rude jerk, and further requested that if a new C&P exam was called for that they not send me to that individual. The effective date was put back to 6/2006, which I accepted. Before my year to assemble stuff was up, however, they wrote a denial for the 30% disagreement. I had just sent in supportive letters from my wife, my only long time friend, and the counselor I had been sent to by the local Vet Center, for a year, but they had not been reviewed before the denial was sent to me. Then I sent in a form 9 requesting a BVA review. I have been waiting for this to be scheduled, expecting a circuit BVA hearing in Seattle. So, I recently received a letter from Seattle Regional DRO saying that a private medical entity has been instructed to give me a new C&P exam, and that they hope to resolve my appeal in a fair and timely manner. I had been assembling a bit of a rambling letter to the VBA going into why I can't face going back to work, am getting by on a minimal pension, and addressing PTSD symptoms as they apply to me, including suicidal ideation. I went to this second C&P with a different psychologist, and gave him these notes, as well as the earlier C&P report, the rambling letter that I had never sent to the benefits people, and the denial letter from them. He said, "Let me read this and I will continue with a phone conversation within the week." He called this morning with just a couple of questions about the stressor, and a recommendation that I get my VA doctor to switch me from Prozac to something called Pristiq, and that the original C&P seemed flawed to him, and that he thinks I suffer from anxiety disorder as well as PTSD. I said OK, thanks. Then this afternoon he called back and said he will mail me the report that he is sending to the VBA via QTC, and that in it he is recommending that I would benefit from INPATIENT TREATMENT for a MONTH. Oh Shit. Can these guys grab me for incarceration in their looney bin? This examiner's friend is the head of the PTSD department, or whatever they call it, at a VA med center, and the C&P examiner thinks I ought to go see him. Does this man want to help me, or is this a new tactic to get veterans disappeared, or, even, "Cured" to 0% disability? WTF. Perhaps I should be afraid, very afraid, Roly

Pete, and all, Thanks for the responses I only accepted the amended effective date, my NOD also objected to the amount of 30%, which is still the issue for resolution. Could this be new C&P exam be to get more recent information for a BVA hearing, or is it feasible that the DRO could grant a % increase? If they deny a % increase, could I not still have a BVA hearing. since I requested that on the form 9? Thanks, Roly

Couple of questions, please excuse me if I use wrong terms. Background: I was granted 30% for PTSD in 2008 , added to 10% tinnitus; and wrote a NOD to put the effective date back to where I started the process, and objected to the 30% as insufficient. I wrote in the NOD that the private C&P exam psychologist they hired was a dismissive and rude jerk, and further requested that if a new C&P exam was called for that they not send me to that individual. The effective date was put back to 6/2006, which I accepted. Before my year to assemble stuff was up, however, they wrote a denial for the 30% disagreement. I had just sent in supportive letters from my wife, my only long time friend, and the counselor I had been sent to by the local Vet Center, for a year, but they had not been reviewed before the denial was sent to me. Then I sent in a form 9 requesting a BVA review. I have been waiting for this to be scheduled, expecting a circuit BVA hearing in Seattle. So, yesterday I received a letter from Seattle Regional DRO saying that a private medical entity has been instructed to give me a new C&P exam, and that they hope to resolve my appeal in a fair and timely manner. This is not what I have been expecting. In fact so much time has passed waiting for anything from them that I started to feel that my chances of anything positive were shrinking. Is the new C&P exam to be seen as a good thing, like I suspect? Have they short circuited the BVA hearing? Also, I have not seen anything in the TDIU information about age of the Vet. As I am 62, and retired from middling Civil Service. I got out of there at the first instant I could qualify, due to stress and anxiety, but did make it to minimum retirement. I would think that I could not go for TDIU since I did work for 30 years (including military time) until I could stand the BS no longer. Thanks Roly

Couple of questions, please excuse me if I use wrong terms. Background: I was granted 30% for PTSD in 2008 , added to 10% tinnitus; and wrote a NOD to put the effective date back to where I started the process, and objected to the 30% as insufficient. I wrote in the NOD that the private C&P exam psychologist they hired was a dismissive and rude jerk, and further requested that if a new C&P exam was called for that they not send me to that individual. The effective date was put back to 6/2006, which I accepted. Before my year to assemble stuff was up, however, they wrote a denial for the 30% disagreement. I had just sent in supportive letters from my wife, my only long time friend, and the counselor I had been sent to by the local Vet Center, for a year, but they had not been reviewed before the denial was sent to me. Then I sent in a form 9 requesting a BVA review. I have been waiting for this to be scheduled, expecting a circuit BVA hearing in Seattle. So, yesterday I received a letter from Seattle Regional DRO saying that a private medical entity has been instructed to give me a new C&P exam, and that they hope to resolve my appeal in a fair and timely manner. This is not what I have been expecting. In fact so much time has passed waiting for anything from them that I started to feel that my chances of anything positive were shrinking. Is the new C&P exam to be seen as a good thing, like I suspect? Have they short circuited the BVA hearing? Also, I have not seen anything in the TDIU information about age of the Vet. As I am 62, and retired from middling Civil Service. I got out of there at the first instant I could qualify, due to stress and anxiety, but did make it to minimum retirement. I would think that I could not go for TDIU since I did work for 30 years (including military time) until I could stand the BS no longer. Thanks Roly

What can I do? Following the usual amount of delay and steps, in 2008 I was awarded 30% PTSD disability effective 6/2006 for traumas experienced in Vietnam. This added to my earlier tinnitus 10% for presently 40%. I did not agree and submitted (through American Legion service officer) a NOD, somewhere around 3/08. They sent a letter of denial before my year was up, and before three letters of support that I provided were added to the file. I had provided a letter from my wife, one from the only friend I have kept in contact with from before Vietnam, and one from the therapist I had been seeing via Seattle Vet Center for a year. I sent in a Form 9 about a year ago. So, I checked with my service officer about status today, also asking if I ought to go to my Senator's office to appeal, and was informed the following: "They are preparing your case for a travel board hearing which is when a judge comes up from Washington DC. Now your Form 9 is dated 2/26/09 and right now the hearings we have are from the year 2005. Again, appeals can take a long time. Your file has to be shipped to Washington DC and put on their docket. They are worked on the order received; right now in the recession there is no way to expedite an appeal or even a claim. Again, if you contact Senator Murray or Cantwell, the whole entire process stops. Your file will essentially go back to the bottom of the pile once the Senator is finished reviewing your file and making any necessary actions. However, that is your decision to make." It seems like maybe I will get a hearing in about 5 years. It seems like my service officer is similarly as passive as many VA employees. In the vast experience of contributors to this forum is there any advice or helpful comment? Thanks a lot, Roly Washington State, previously Danang, Saigon, Westpac

J. Baser, and Two Petes, Thanks for the responses. I can hardly believe it, but I just opened a VA letter granting my spouse dependent benefit back to July 2006. Looks like I can expect about $1,600 back differential to show up soon. My NOD was June 4, and today is 13 days later. Never saw such a turn around from them before. Regards, Roly

Hello, Experts, I was awarded 30% PTSD as of June 15, 2006, as a single Veteran, bringing my total compensation to 40% disability, (10% tinnitus since 2004). That was after I disagreed with their original Feb, 2008 effective date. In the same NOD where I disputed the effective date, I disagreed with the 30%, and stated that I should receive compensation for my dependent spouse and custodial granddaughters. I got the PTSD effective date amended several months ago, but the dependence issue was still under review, as well as the % of PTSD. Three weeks ago I received a VA letter granting the spouse dependent, but denying the granddaughters because they were not adopted. OK, I understand this, but the spousal inclusion was effective as of Feb, 2008, which is when I sent in the NOD. I put in another NOD, via my Service Officer in the American Legion, saying that the spouse ought to be effective from June 2006, just like the PTSD, when I went above 10%. The 30% disagreement is still pending. I spoke to my American Legion person, and she said they will only give me the dependent as of the time I asked for it, that my NOD will likely be denied. Anybody have any information on this. Does not seem right. Thanks, Roly

Yes. Then they sent a letter asking for dates for her first long time ago marriage, and for adoption evidence for the granddaughters. I did this on a form 21-4138, as they specified, and mailed it to them the next day, in Nov. '08. I sent it directly to the VA rather than through the American Legion, which I should have done, and they still, "Haven't received it." I'll remail a copy and do it through my VSR this time. Since I did not adopt my ganddaughters, I'll get some retroactive at 30% for me and one dependent. Roly

Pete, thanks for the optimism, but; Sharon, thanks for the citations. It looks to me like my custody does not count for VA dependency, as it is not adoption. Maybe this is because there is usually no sort of child support from others if a kid is blood offspring or adopted, but in the case of a foster child, or non parental custody, some sort of child support is supposed to be given to the foster parents. Funny, they are dependents in the eyes of the IRS. Regards, Roly