jtg1966

btw adjustment disorder is often used as an entry level diagnosis...so don't fret too much as someone else commented...the criteria are the same for ptsd and AD ...but ptsd is rated @ 100% and AD @ 60%

there is provided for in the dsmiv (tr) text revision...chronic adjustment disorder...prior to that ad had to resolve itself within 6 months of the tramatic event or it had to be something else... I myself spent the last 55 days of service in an army psych ward with an axis I diagnosis of ad with depressed mood which through the years has been whittled down to bipolar disorder... the dsmiv txt revision does provide for chronic ad...and has been proven to be compensatable at the bva and cavc levels...

can i submit unpaid medical bills to the va that are in some cases 5 years old to the present...if i have recently been adjudicated 100% p&t for a psych condition...and the medical bills stem from the same psych condition?

Got the retro payment today...$281,766.40...haven't gotten the paperwork yet though...how do i get the military recreation card? stick with it guys...i won after 15 years...ty for all the invaluable advice from all of you brillant, wonderful people...

UPDATE!!!!! The money 282,000.00 was given to finace yesterday...the atty says that i will receive it by no later than next wednesday via direct deposit... the reason for the award is that the RO CUE'd itself.... even my atty isn't sure what's going on...I think my harressing the VA to a nearly criminal level paid off... I'm going to appeal the 70,000.00 in fees as being unreasonable since the atty didn't assert CUE, but i did back in 03/09... the only thing the atty did was file the fee agreement, a NOD (40 days after i filed one myself)...and a request for my c-file (which he hasn't gotten yet)...

I've also read where they get state funding as well...in MI, CA, PA, AK, and a host of others.... the reason that i ask is that i'm wondering if i can sue the VSO's (amvets, dav, american legion, and the florida department of vet affairs) for ineffectual counsel to recoup my atty fees...which will amount to 70k (20% contingency fee), for 3 months representation.... but the VSO's had my case for 15 years without a proper rating decision...

do VSO's get any kind of funding for representing vet's with claims?

the atty said the money should arrive by 04/09/10 (sorry i assumed that that was understood)

Yeah thanks for the money management info...i've got to work on something...I think i'm a no go on check systems though...4 years ago while i was homeless, i overdrafted my checking account by something like $800(check card overdraft fees...i was buying soda refills and food at 7-11 and it was authorizing the charges, I thought i had the money, turns out the VA had shorted my check by 160 for unpaid copays, i had filled out a means test but it wasn't applied somehow so i got hit with the overdraft fees of 740, and actual charges of 60 dollars)....so i'll have to clear that up first...before opening new accounts...( i currently get my ssdi and va comp to a payee account, when i was first awarded ssdi they required a payee, and so i went and opened an account with my sister as the payee...i no longer require a payee, so i use the account for my benefits...but i don't have a debit card or checks for the account and sometimes have trouble getting the money out, because my sister is the only person that is supposed to be able to withdraw from the account, with that said, my sister has never taken out a dime...every few months a teller will realize that it's a payee account and refuse me money from the account) also while we're on the subject...my credit score is 491, mostly unpaid medical...a student loan, and a credit card that i opened in 2006, but I didn't realize or remember that they charged something like 160.00 to the card for enrollment fees and program fees...when i got my first bill, and realized that all of the charges amounted to almost the entire card limit...i cut up the card and called and cancelled the card...apparently they didn't cancel the card because now the debt is like 700.00...unpaid.... will the VA pay the unpaid medical bills now that they SC'd me back to 1995.... All of the medical bills are psych related, which i am now SC'd for.... also anyone got any ideas about how to clean up my credit? i plan to pay off the student loan and the credit card... and berta...yeah i am a little surprised that the US Marshall didn't come a knockin'... but it appears that i won... I'll believe it when the money hits my account and i get the award letter....

how would i go about trying to get the VBA to pay atty fees?

So i got an award for bipolar disorder in Jan of this year, rated at 50%. So i hired a lawyer, and started writing to everyone i could think of. My congressmen (because the VA lied to them in feb 09 regarding the status of my appeal), the Secretary of VA, the office of General Counsel, The office of the inspector general. I have been calling/faxing the Sec VA DAILY asking why I haven't heard of arrests regarding the criminal activity purpetrated by the VA? I also went the the US attorney's ofice and the FBI requesting that they arrest the criminals that lied to congress... So today i get a call from my lawyer, stating that he has been notified by the RO that they are granting me 100%sc P&T back to 1995, ...which is when i actually filed my first claim (but they'd never pulled in my clinical records from the service until oct 09)... that i was going to receive 352,000.00 in retro by 04/09.... Now we didn't file the NOD until last week... anyone ever heard of a situation like this?

its not exactly like winning the lottery...because people don't get as emotionally involved in playing the lottery as i did in asserting my claim...I mean to say that i've made myself a wreak worrying...often homeless and delusional...alone...hospitalized over 30 times...sleeping in my car, being rousted by the police...not always having enough to eat...all because of some low level beauacrat couldn't or wouldn't do the right thing...i can't begin to explain how crazy i've been since the lastest decision which granted me 50% SC...because the VA lied to congress...a crime...and the fact that there is no accountability for the VA's bad behavior... anyway...i've still got half of the retro i rec'd in feburary...so there won't be any wild spending spree's...aside from the house, car, bike... I'm bright, and did an awesome amount of research of the CFR's, BVA, and CAVC decisons...but with all due respect i got my start on this board...I'd like to hellp other veterans...in their journey navigating the VA...i'd appreciate some ideas as to how i can help? thank you all for your support and advice....

got a call from my atty today...he said that i won 100%sc p&t back to 1995 with retro of 352,000.00... i just got 50% back in janurary for bipolar....but the DRO lied about the effective date i.e...the director of the st pete varo sent 2 letters to my congressmen rep and senator stating that i was inappeal...the dro ignored that and just gave me back to the date of those letters....also my 50% award was based on inpatient clinical records spanning the last 55 days of service which i spent in a psych ward..... with that said...i've been calling and writing everyone i could think of....the Secretary, the Congressmen, the VAOIG, the VAOGC...the press....i've called the Secretary everyday since the janurary award complaining about the VA lying to congress and how that is a crime under title 18, chapter 47, sec. 1001....i'd gone to the US attorney and the FBI, requesting that charges be filed...and then out of the blue....they called my atty...and I won back to my original claim in 1995 under 38 cfr 3.156© ... haven't rec'd the money yet...but the atty assures me that it should be forthcoming by 04/09/ I won I won I won....dancing around nakedly... after the atty's 30 pieces of silver i'll get in the neighborhood of 290,000.00 (that oughtta cover a house, a new motorcycle, several "escorts", and a new car) that's a joke mostly....i am planning on buying a house because as a 100%sc p&t vet i'm tax exempt as far as property taxes go, and i've been homeless on and off since service...i want a motorcyle, I plan on buying a used one...and i need a new car, because my current one is a jalopy... I haven't rec'd the money yet...but the atty assures me that it should be forthcoming by 04/09 I'm still kind of in shock...I WON a 15 year battle with them SOB's...I won...holy cow batman...

well i called everyday, sometimes more than once....was making inquiries via IRIS monthly....wrote numerous letters to congress and the secretary of the va....was on this board often, reading posts...and finally i was on the bva and cavc web sites reading opinions, and then hitting the VA with arguements based on those decsions....

the first thing i bought was car insurance...as i've been without for two years...paid my rent, i was behind a month...bought a plane ticket to NJ in april, cause my nephew/godson is having his first communion....and repaid my sister and parents 500.00 dollars each that i owed them...and i bought a 250.00 laptop...its a little faster than the one i have...but it is the same basic model and the parts are compatible.... i spent 300 on groceries so i guess i'll eat this month...i still have 6700 in the bank....which is better than my .12 that i usually have after the first... so i spent 2300 in grand total...with the 8041 plus the 974 monthly...