This morning we received a huuuuge, thick envelope in the mail. This envelope contained ALL of my husbands military and medical records, along with handwritten notes from the VA and the rating decision. To be honest, I don't think these documents were intended for us and I am afraid that they were mailed to us in error. Has anybody ever experienced this? Oh, and the decision letter says "Draft" on it.
Anyways, according to the letter, his PTSD war increased from 50% to 70% effective April 2010.
He is getting 10% for degenerative disc disease, which surprises me, because his back is really hurting and he got all kinds of gadgets from the VA to ease the pain. I thought the rating for that would be higher.
The found a CUE dating back to 12/06 for his knees, which is only rated at 10% each, however he will get the back pay for that.
IU was granted!!! dating back April 2010, and it says in the letter it is permanent and total. They state in the letter that we qualify for depended educational benefits, which would be great, if this is true.
We are both still shaking from excitement, however, I am really worried that all this is too good to be true. Especially, since the letter says "Draft" on top. That means, they could still change their minds, right?
Since his total rating will only be 80%, does that mean it does not qualify me for Health Care benefits? That's what I was hoping for, mostly, since I have been without health insurance for a while.
Like I said, this does not seem to be THE official letter, I really think we received this in error and it will probably take a while until we get the official one. Also, since I calculated a substantial back pay, I suppose it will take a while for it to reach our account.
Thank you all for being here and letting me write this all down to sort my thoughts.