Testvet

it's not that they have to prove they are not SC rather you have to prove how they are SC if you can't prove service caused it then it will be denied

you have to seriously look at the issues you are thinking about filing on could they cause your death? are they 10% issues or 60-100 % issues by themselves I was rated at 100% P&T for PTSD I still appealed my CAD and hypertension it went to BVA and I was finally awarded 60% CAD and 10% hypertension so now if I die from a heart attack or my heart just quitting for other reasons or a stroke my wife will get DIC plus since I have the issue rated at 60% it qualified me for SMC S which like they said took me from 2763 to 3200 a month I hope I live at least 10 more years if not longer every month I get that deposit I see where I benefit from keeping that fight going if you are talking about Tinnitus though or hemmeroids then let it go

the VA and the military share all sorts of information like all of it I know nothing about the new system I left the Army after the first gulf war I am sure the office that handles the claims on your military base should be able to answer the question though since they are the ones who are going to be processing it don't try playing games with them they will only make your life miserable they are good at it

back in 92 or 93 I got it at the end of summer it took forever to shake it even with the meds but then I started having cardiac issues and haven't had it since then

since the Judge didn't grant a percentage and it was sent back to the VARO I get this mental image of an award letter that granted him either 0% or 10% I imagine he is still appealing the low ball award but this is the new standard for fearing for your life in a hazardous duty area the "fear of death" if you think this award was bad I would quit reading future BVA appeals the reads will probably just make you even madder the Judge made the decision what if this was YOUR claim would you want it granted or denied? Like Carlie said we should not be judging we are here to help other vets our opinions just show the bias to veterans reading it and it may prevent them from asking for our help because they might be afraid to be ridiculed I have seen some wild stuff and I will send private e mails to get the attitude out of me denigrating other vets though does not help anyone does it?

flu shots no thanks the last time I got one about 5 years ago laid me low I last got the pneumonia shot in 1995 I think never again I just had my PC visit my next appt is Jun 2011 I think they will be finished giving flu shots by then so I won't have to argue with that nurse again

TEAC not trying to jump Dolphins problem but you stated that to get L 1/2 a veteran needs one issue rated at 100% and then one other rated at 50% but it is my understanding that a vet needs one 100% and then at least 60% just to get SMC S or be declared housebound so I am confused about the special ratings I am 100% PTSD 60% CAD and 10% hypertension and I am SMC S they also issued me a power chair due to not being able to walk more than 100 feet due to loss of breath and exertion it causes on my heart this was back in Sep 2003 I have to hire all work done around the house as I am not capable of doing it even the yard work my wife lets me carry in the bread when we get groceries and thats it so should I be appealing my rate level?

a fight it is what they do best as far as all of your mental issues they will only grant a claim for the most severe and ignore the others basically by the CFR they can only pay one to pay more would be called pyramiding and they don't allow it most of us with PTSD have multiple mental health diagnosis me I am PTSD and OCD I am rated 100% PTSD your PTSD rating will either be 0, 10, 30, 50, 70 or 100% they do not rate mental health issues using the even number 20, 40 or 60.......tinnitus is a 10% award if they grant it.....acid reflux I don't know do you have to take any prescription meds for it daily? The VA sends me prevacid 2 times a day they have tried me on every generic type in the formulary and they don't work only prevacid does how many of them are listed in your military service medical records? If you get 50% or more they will take care of all of your medical issues regardless if they are SC or not your main concern is getting the issues you can SC and then see where you fit into the grand scheme of things if you get rated at 10 or 20% they will usually only treat the SC medical problems unless you are a low income veterans and meet the guidelines for the means test which basically means if you earn less than 25,000 a year and have the time in service to be entitled to VA healthcare and have a honorable discharge the eligibility rules get into the weeds it used to be 90 days of service during a war before 1980 and then they changed it to 24 months etc it gets hard to explain but they have it in black or white for the eligibility part of it for the PTSD you are going to have to show how it is SC date time place and names that you can remember some medals make it easier for the claim CIB, purple heart CAR etc they have relaxed the standards as of 13 July 2010 but they didn't throw them out you still pretty much have to prove something happened to you while in service more than a drill sergeant scared you in basic or AIT

I am sure if you can get the AO exposure granted no matter where you were exposed I am thinking of the Korean DMZ vets, the guy that was at Fort Gordon that got his claim approved etc once AO exposure has been conceded then all of the presumptive conditions would have to come into play regardless of where the veteran was exposed if I remember right the guy at Fort Gordon had heart problems as well this might entitle him to SMC S now if I had a claim going for AO exposure anywhere in the world I would be claiming all of the conditions I have that are on the presumptive list the hardest part is getting them to concede the exposure outside of Nam but it has been done good luck

An Internal medical doc does not usually diagnose PTSD normally mental health types do that did he refer you to mental health? If you have PTSD you should be under the care of a psychiatrist for medications that might help with your symptoms at the VA I have a shrink and regular Primary care doc and a cardiologist they all have to write prescriptions in their own field the pharmacists reject them from docs not authorized to write I expect to have problems soon as cardiology told me no more appts since I won't let them do the ICD implant they said my PCP would do my heart med refills from now on after almost a decade I am in new territory here good luck on your board do not let them put you out on less than 20% you should get a chapter 61 discharge retirement so you keep your military benefits like a regular retiree they will most likely put you on TDRL and re evaluate you in 18 months to a year before they make it permanent

|I won't be holding my breath on seeing my check going from 3000 a month to 5000 a month in the next year all this post is going to do is upset a lot of veterans if this was true all of the vet groups would be claiming credit for it and it is not out there anywhere this is the type of adjustment that the VDBC recommended 2-3 years ago and was shelved Congress would never approve this after the recent senate fight over the new 3 presumptive AO issues that Shinseki and Obama approved the Senate stated they were not going to stop them from being made presumptive but the VA is on notice that the money will be watched closely in the future so I don't see how this gets put thru we will get what SSA gets which this year is again a big fat zero

the VA can evaluate a SC veteran pretty much anytime they want to, a new claim allows them to re-evaluate all your issues to see if any have gotten "better" seldom have I ever heard about any vets being found to have gotten worse on this type of review usually the only issues that are found to be worse are the ones that you are asking for a higher percentage for and have the medical records to back up the higher percentage they say after 20 years or age 55 they are not supposed to mess with you any more I hope I live long enough to test this theory I have been 100% P&T since Dec 2003 I just turned 55 last month SSD just did a 7 year review and said see you again in 7 more years there is not much hope for cardiac issues to fix themselves and the VA docs won't touch me I am a medicate only patient I have never heard of any veterans getting a P&T award on any issue less than 100% award like PTSD, cardiac etc I have seen TDIU P&T which is where the veterans has an issue that does not meet the 1005 level but due to their SC issue they can't work so they are declared Totally Disabled Individual Unemployable I would not worry you just got rated you have 3 years maybe even more before they call you in for a new C&P

you should not be mad because the other vet got 50% and you only got 30% jealousy gets you nowhere I watched it with my ex wife's Uncle he was mad about a neighbor who was TDIU and living a good life off his VA and SSD check and "Uncle" didn't think it was fair after all all the neighbor did was ride around on a helicopter as a door gunner, it wasn't like he was a combat engineer like Uncle was so Uncle spent the next 5 years going to group filing a PTSD claim and getting mad because his claim was denied over and over again due to a lack of a verifiable stressor he went to group religiously every time he heard a new symptom he developed it and worse than the 1st vet he made life hell for everyone I would have hated to see his reaction when he was told I was rated 100% P&T for PTSD since we and ex #3 are divorced I haven't seen the Uncle in a long time. base your appeal on how bad your symptoms affect your life not on the fact another vet is getting more than you are you need to substantiate your loss income, your loss of quality of life, the things you no longer can do because of how your PTSD affects you you can't claim you can't stand to be in crowds due to insecurity then tell the C&P examiner you had a great time at Disney world last week if you are unable to work or go to school because of your PTSD then you should be higher than 30% then again if you have no problems or have no problems going to school maybe you do fit the criteria for the 30% rating only you can decide that does your symptoms meet the scale for the higher percentages or did they rate you correctly? forget what anyone else got put your symptoms into the scale and see what you would have rated yourself at

even if you get the pain meds the pain is never really gone it just goes to a dull ache I can't remember the last pain free day I had I think it was in 1998 I have been on percocets since Dec 2002 I quit driving in 2000 so I am not under the influence behind a wheel my wife does all the driving

10 months is not a long time in VA time actually it's pretty good

I was 47 when I filed for SSD in Oct 2002 and was approved in 4 months for cardiac reasons it took the VA until June 2009 to finally SC my cardiac problems although in 2003 they diagnosed me with PTSD and SCD me for that in 2005 and 2006 50% then after the NOD they granted the 100% P&T back to Dec 2003 age isn't the factor it's the severity of your medical issues

congrats don't regret the lawyer their fee without them you might still be 90% and not cashing any check and we all know how much that little 10% from 90 to 100 is more like 50% of your entire compensation I am sorry you are totally disabled I am glad that you are getting all the benefits that you and your family are due now make sure you check out ALL of the state benefits free car tags, fishing licenses, property taxes, college scholarships for the kids etc some states have great benies and some not so great also you can use most base facilities MWR etc they have some great vacation places that the ID cards let you use at Disney World, Hawaii world wide really I use my ID card at Lowes and K Mart all the time for a 10% discount they use them year round not just on Veterans day I saved a lot when my wife bought all new appliances when she remodeled the house at Lowes you earned them use them the benefits

maybe I am reading it wrong but I see where it says the dependents issue was closed on 22 Sep so you should be getting your deposit any day now but above it also shows a open compensation claim any idea what that is about?

I just walked in with my walker and my shopping bag of meds including the percs the clerk asked me a few health questions the Judge then asked me to if I could stand up and safely walk out of the courthouse or did I need someone to get me a wheel chair and my wife and I would never be called for jury duty again dang took all the fun out of that day the last time a cop tried arresting me the Chief of Police asked him if he was ignorant or something did he have any idea how expensive cardiac care was at the local hospital and I am a walking heart attack unless he had video of me killing someone I was not to be arrested and just issued a citation on when and where to appear in court the county can't afford my medical bills for misdemeanor offenses works for me it also helps that I quit drinking too rofl

since July 2007 veterans have been allowed to hire lawyers to handle their claims once they are denied and the veteran decides to enter the appeals process even at the VARO level they are by law allowed to collect 20% of back pay they secure for their clients the veterans, SSA limits the lawyers in SSD claims to 25% or a maximum of 5300 dollars plus reasonable expenses there are a lot of lawyers that handle VA appeals and more are being trained all the time I have dealt with a NOVA lawyer myself they took my cardiac condition as a pro bono case in July 2007 and within 18 months I had my CAD and hypertension SC as secondary to my PTSD I would much rather pay a lawyer 20% of whatever back pay there is than keep 100% of nothing from another loss and if they do not see any way for you to win your claim then they will probably decline to represent you they like to be paid for their work just like anyone else they have to see a path to victory not every claim a veterans thinks is a winner is some just can't be proven beyond a reasonable doubt not all claims are legitimate it's just a fact of life

do not contact an elected official that only delays it the RO's have no time limits they do it when they get "a roun to it" only veterans have time limits when they have to file appeals......

part of my service is the lawsuit against the DOD, CIA and the VA but I was an idiot for volunteering for the program to test equipment for the battlefield of the future man was that one big tall tale the Army told us when they lie to us it's for national security when we lie about what we did we are lower than dirt "who wrote those rules"? I have had officers lie about me to Senators and Congressman but I never lied about it I never claimed I was used in "secret tests" I stated they were classified and the Department of Justice is still trying to assert "national security" to keep from having to go to court on the Cold War tests WTF the last human test ended in 1975 most of the scientists doctors and enlisted test subjects are already dead sorry one more guy lying about being a SEAL or a Green beret is hardly a shocking story anymore I am more curious about all of the POWs they are paying from Nam and GW1 the numbers don't add up

congrats I know the wait seems absurd but there are places i this nation where some people would be really happy about an 18 month wait sone palces wait from 2-3 years before winning their claims and in some cases to be told NO again I am glad you won I also have a bad back but that is not why I am disabled mine is shot from L3-S1

congrats I know the wait seems absurd but there are places i this nation where some people would be really happy about an 18 month wait sone palces wait from 2-3 years before winning their claims and in some cases to be told NO again I am glad you won I also have a bad back but that is not why I am disabled mine is shot from L3-S1

most of us here were denied before we finally became successful this is just a starting point now you know why they said no now you know where to start to refute their decisions when you feel up to it share their "basis and reasons" then we can advise on how to rebut them just do NOT quit