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...

yes i got the retro...8041.00...not what i was expecting...but i'll take it for now... :D

military nurse.... "Is it even legally possible to "reopen" an existing claim already on appeal with new evidence? Can the VA just ignore a remand pursuant to an appeal due to the "reopening" and ignore the earlier effective date of the filing of the original claim this way?" I never actually got my bva hearing nor was my claim sent to the board (so there was never a remand)...because new and material evidence was submitted...the RO had to consider the new evidence and issue an SSOC or a grant of the claim...however, as you correctly noted....the dro went wild with the effective date BECAUSE the claim was on appeal...stating that the substanitive appeal was not perfected because the information submitted in jan 09, was 60 some days past the 1 year appeal limit...however the secretary at his discretion can toll the 1 year limit in certain circumstances...one of them being that i didn't receive the soc and the va form 9...i've got the three letters and several IRIS dialogues that all refer to my claim as being in appeal...also the RO brokered my claim to the ARC (appeals resource center) in waco, texas...and the fast letter fl09-06 states that claims can only be brokered when they are in appeal ...so for the last year, all of the correspondence that i received from the VA all state that i was in appeal... the dro just went rouge... even if he did reopen the claim that was on appeal...he should have applied the initial effective date back to 1995 when i orginally filed for service connection for an acquired psych disorder because the claim was later granted based wholly or in part on service records not before the original adjudicator...( now before everyone jumps on me....search the bva and cavc decsions for vigil...there are hundreds of decsions addressing claims reopened due to service records associated with a claims file after initial adjudication....and they all state that the effective date is the date of the original claim) regardless...the dro should have automatically assigned an effective date of the claim that was currently on appeal...not some arbitrary date... at least that's my veiw of the cfr's....

berta, i do not have documentation for them saying that the only way i can get a proper award date is through appeal...the american legion is playing cya too...the poa verbally told me that nod and appeal was the only way to get the proper award date... at times over the years i've had different poa's and frankly...they haven't done much for me...i can quote the cfr's nearly by rote and bva and cavc case law...and they don't get it...amvets, dav, american legion...seems like i know more than them...i beat the VA to death over getting this initial rating... i just got a lawyer like 3 days before the dro decided the case...the lawyer isn't on record as my representative yet...it takes the st pete ro up to 6 weeks to switch the poa...

i've had a place now for the last year through the hud-vash program...

carlie as of last week i was 20% sc...with the 50% bipolar it's now 60%...i updated it...i've gotten the back pay 8041.00...and this month's 60% @ $974.00...but i haven't gotten the award letter yet...i got the back pay on thursday... and the monthly friday actually....but it was split...243 and 731... berta, my VARO is St. petersburg, fl...

berta.... the letter from the VA is attached to this post....

seriously....anyone got any ideas....

alright so i won my appeal...but the dro only sc'd me back to 1/09...back in may of 08 after i put in my nod...they sent me a SOC and VA form 9...well i've been homeless on and off for the last 20 years...and the SOC and VA form were returned as undeliverable... however, i submitted information in jan 09 stating among other things that the VA had not acquired my clinical records from the service... I wrote a letter to the secretary of the va in jan 09, and a letter to my senator and congressmen one in 0ct of 08 and one in jan 09...i got three letters (one answering the senate inquiry, one answering the congresstional inquiry, and one answering the letter to sec va) back from the director of the st petersburg VARO on feb 20 09 stating that the information that i submitted in jan 09 would be accepted as my va form 9 if i was in agreement...and that a representative from the RO had spoken to me on jan 26 and that i agreed to continue with the appeal and that i elected a bva travel board hearing... the dro has interpreted the information filed in jan 09 as a request to reopen my case...what about the three letters from the director of the RO stating that i was in appeal? I spoke with my POA and they agree that the dro is wrong with his effective date...and that they tried to get him to assign an appropriate effective date...but that he won't budge...they say that the only way to get an appropriate effective date is to nod the decsion and appeal again....WTF? the three letters are identical execept for the salutation... I attached one of the letters... thanks in advance for the wisdom of this forum---john appeals3.pdf

vync... no the pension is out of the question....for two reasons....the NSC pension is need based and my 1600/ month income would disqualify me from receiving the pension...also i was having problems while in service b/c of the bipolar...and they chaptered me out for unsatisfactory performance...so i did not complete 24 continuous months or my complete enlistment, which also would preclude me from receiving the NSC pension... the roth IRA is not really an option for me at this point...after i get my toys...i will have to budget out the back pay each month to live on...because 1600/month is not enough to survive on....as it goes now....quite often i'm broke three weeks into the month... I do expect to get 70-100% on reconsideration....my gaf scores are all in the 40's for at least the last two years and i definately satisfy the 70% criteria...i've been hospitalized dozens of times since seperation from service... ---berta... "that is if they denied a claim in the past for same disability ,which was at some point unappealed then re-opened-and the claim has now been awarded due to newly discovered service records." those are my circumstances exactly... i fully expect vigil v. peake (38 cfr 3.156) to apply in my case although it may be awhile before they see the errors of their ways... for now...i've won a 15 year battle to get SC'd for an acquired psych disorder...

38 cfr 3.156 (c ) ^edit