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Testvet

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  1. Veterans’ Mortgage Life Insurance Veterans’ Mortgage Life Insurance (VMLI) is Mortgage Life Insurance (VMLI) is mortgage protection insurance available to severely disabled veterans who have been approved by VA for a Specially Adapted Housing Grant (SAH). Maximum coverage is the amount of the existing mortgage up to $90,000, and is payable only to the mortgage company. Effective October 1, 2011, maximum coverage will be increased to $150,000. The maximum coverage amount will increase again on January 1, 2012, to $200,000. Protection is issued automatically following SAH approval, provided the veteran submits information required to establish a premium and does not decline coverage. Coverage automatically terminates when the mortgage is paid off. If a mortgage is disposed of through sale of the property, VMLI may be obtained on the mortgage of another home. I got the free 10,000 and bought the 20,000 back in 2006 when I got the PTSD 100% rating this is what I am talking about
  2. I filed the claim in Dec 2011 since they put the pacemaker/defib in Sep 2011 after that mess I had in April with the 2 heart attacks and the 2 bouts of heart failure in April and June, so the RO now has me at 100% CHF and 100% PTSD and 10% hypertension I am paid at SMC S level 100% and housebound I have been on oxygen and in a wheel chair since June so I thought they would have dealt with the auto allowance and SAH grant on this claim but they ignored it, do I have to file a new claim and ask for each issue including the mortgage insurance since my heart condition makes it so that I have to use oxygen and am not capable of walking much more than 20 feet the ILP coordinator was a great help last year and got a lot os stuff done for us, the wheel chair ramp was built on the 4th of July, hospital bed new desk and chair for the computer I don't want more money I want to be able to buy mortgage insurance since I am not able to get it from any private insurance company due to my SC medical problems, no one will sell me life insurance Has anyone else dealt with this and have any ideas how to proceed during the last C&P exam the doctor noted I was on oxygen and was wheel chair bound....it was a cardiac exam it took him over an hour to do that new sheet they used but 6 months from file to award seems fast to me
  3. working 80 hours a week you will never get a 100% rating let alone a 70% TDIU there is nothing that would validate a rating that high in anything you have posted here, I hate to say this but you have wasted a thousand dollars if you write the letter and ask the doctor to sign it that would border on fraud if he signed it he is risking his license, and you are risking being prosecuted for fraud. stay in treatment keep getting the meds refilled and as you progress to a more disabled stage ask for a re-evaluation down the road most of the vets that I know that got to the 100% rating had lost their homes, their families and vehicles and jobs there are few that get 100% schedular more get 70% TDIU but the majority of PTSD vets are rated at 30% and 50% and continue working stay in mental health clinic or the vet center you will need a treatment history to get rated higher just filing for higher ratings every few years with no new treatment records will see the claims denied, I would give them back their checks in a NY minute if I could get my health back but I can't and honestly being a 100% disabled is a hell of a lot of work and is not for lazy people and the ICU stays usually hurt like hell
  4. Have you filed a claim for PTSD? If you have and it is processing let the VA make a decision sometimes they can get the claim right the first time and other times you climb hills and I think the rules to hire a lawyer require that you be denied at the VARO level and then YES you can then get a lawyer, the lawyer will get 20% by law that is what they are allowed and expenses. Make sure the lawyer you retain is VA certified and they know the rules if you are having to appeal to BVA or have the lawyer do your VARO reconsideration or what ever they decide to do yes there are some very good lawyers that practice VA law, I used a very good ex JAG lawyer, that was also a law school professor teaching VA law like everything else VA Law is different
  5. John I have only one question? When you went on guard duty did they give you a weapon with the right ammo for it? if the answer is YES however if they gave you and M14 with shot gun shells as the ammo for it then I would probably die laughing from even reading the claim myself I loved that M79 grenade launcher the one they made into M16/203 now that could make some big holes in all the right places and a variety of canisters smoke, CS flechette and HE I went to Dorn the day before Fathers Day and sadly they had no more room at the inn so the VA started calling around to all of the city hospitals looking for a CPAP machine in the SICU they wanted to put me into a downtown hospital while my wife and I preferred Lexington Medical which is 3 miles from our house and it just makes things easier for my wife and I spent almost 2 months in ICU there last year when I had the two seperate issues of CHF the only time I went downtown last year was in September when the VA agreed to let my cardiology groups doctor install the pacemaker (they did do a echo on my heart with some type of contrast which shows my ejection fraction is 20-25, last year in April I was down to 10-15) but since the VA sent me to Lexington from the VAMC emergency in an ambulance I know they will now pay all of the bills without arguing about my COPD not being SC, I hate the fighting over who is going to pay what and I don't want to leave a big stack of medical bills to pay I know it's not much but it leaves just one less fight for Dori she arranged today to have someone replace the pool liner and fix the hot tub next week, I told her to make sure she finds someone to come clean it at least once a week keep the chem levels right etc I make her life hard enough if she wants to get the pool fixed to make me get some excercise I will let her she has been good to me for the past 12 years she deserves ALL of the benefits she will get when I pass, I am glad to see that my heart EF is up to 20/25 I plan on living a few more years and keep spending along with Dori, I am not ready for that long dirt nap yet besides if I die what else would the VARO do for amusement :)
  6. Steve if you are going to Columbia VA in South Carolina or rather Dorn VA, I give them high marks for healthcare but the VARO for compensation claims gets an F it doesn't matter if you have one or 20 stressors for PTSD you only need one verifiable the rest is up to your medical condition and how your doctors notes detail it in 2005 they tried granting me 50% I filed the NOD the very next day it was a year later when they gave me anopther C&P exam that lasted about 5 minutes and granted 100% P&T my GAF scores were always 30-40 since I started treatment in Jan 2003 they did grant retro to Dec 2003 when I filed the PTSD claim my cardiac claim took until June 2009 to be granted and paid after all the appeals and BVA hearing they are not your friends at the VARO learn patience
  7. I don't think your problem will be going to school as much as the fact that the VA will object to paying for it since you are rated TDIU which means you are not employable, and educational benefits are usually meant to learn so the veteran will be able to get a job based on that education, since you will not become employable they will view it as a waste of resources. Myu ex son in laws father was going to school to become a teacher when he had a heart attack and bypass surgery and was granted TDIU, and they forced him to drop his chapter 31 benefits thru Voc Rehab, he was mad about it, but they told him they weren't paying for it when it would never benefit him. Good luck maybe in your case they will look at it as a hobby
  8. The only IMO they are ignoring are PTSD diagnosis you HAVE to be diagnosed with PTSD by a VA physician if the VA says you have n other mental health issue and your IMO states you have PTSD and not what the VA doctors have diagnosed it is pretty much a waste of time and money to get pyschiatric IMOs for PTSD right now, until they get that rule changed there are a couple of lawsuits about it in the works already, but all other medical issues are able to use IMOs and IMEs that diagnose medical issues it is best to have a specialist that has a CV that shows their experience and education and training and publications etc cardiac doctors for cardiac issues, Oncology for cancer, etc and get doctors that know how to write opinions in VA language in the past I have gotten IMOs from a retired Army Colonel, psychiatrist and he taught at UCLA after retiring from the Army, the Chief of Cardiology at Providence Medical Center here in Columbia, they are one of the largest most successful heart centers in the south, the VA was using C&P exams done by a Nurse practioner, a cardiac exam done by a radiologist etc, I couldn't catch a break at the VARO level but the BVA Judge saw right thru the BS and granted my cardiac claims secondary to PTSD you just have to keep appealing and don't let a year go by without any type of correspondence from the VARO it took me from Dec 2002 until June 2009 but I got the backpay I always got date stamped evidence from the VARO at least once a year so they couldn't say I abandoned the claim and they closed it. Keep copies of everything
  9. How do they handle DIC and SS payments? is there any offsest or can widows collect both?
  10. if your claim has been to the BVA board in DC and they have either granted or denied the claim, your C File is then sent back to the VARO that is handling your file not to your VSO, then depending on what the BVA Judge decided the rater has to assign the rating to the issues granted or if needed get new C&P exams if they need an up to date assessment my lawyer told me it can take anywhere from 3 months to a year to get the award letter and or backpay after the BVA decision
  11. mental health diagnoses get 0%, 30% 50% 70% and 100% and in many cases 70%TDIU which pays at the same level as the 100% rate I know nothing about bi-polar but the severity of your symptoms and how it affects your life, family, professional life ability to work
  12. I don't know if "quack in the boxes" will go very far with Emergency care
  13. I know you are sick of hearing to "wait" but really there is nothing else you can do, from experience getting elected officials involved is usually more trouble than it is worth, it will just delay the process and does not make the VARO people any happier with you, when your claim is approved it will come with back pay to the date you filled but until you get the check all you can do is dream about spending it It took me from Dec 2002 until June 2009 to get my CAD abd Hypertension claim resolved thru the VARO amid many NODs, Congressional inquiries, the White House Presidential and VP level inquisitions on my behalf (all that did was pizz off the DRO) it finally took a BVA Judge to grant the claim the Regional office was not going to grant my CAD claim regardless of any evidence I submitted do not pizz off the people at the regional office it will NOT help your claim, being angry and yelling at them does not make them hurry to finish your claim, if nothing else it just makes them mad, in reality once your claim folder actually hits a raters desk you will get the award letter and deposit within two weeks after the action is taken but in the meantime your claim file is laying in a pile waiting for that rater to pick it up
  14. many of us have multiple mental health issues PTSD, depression, OCD etc but the VA does not allow pyramiding so the most prevalent SC issue is the percentage they rate you at if you feel that your symptoms should be rated at a higher percentage you should file for an increase if you have worsened or if you feel the original rating is to low file a NOD and explain why you feel you should be rated higher
  15. some states require a letter from the VA for home exemptions for property taxes etc, ID cards from the nearest base etc, but yes that is how they tell a vet that they are now P&T
  16. you can have CHF without it being chronic, there are varous stages of it, I was diagnosed last April after a major heart attack with end stage heart failure I have been hospitalized 3 times in the past year for congestive heart failure two of them for 28 days and once for a week all ICU time they implanted a biventricular pacemaker/defib and I use a wheel chari all the time now and my EF is 10, I have been on O2 since June due to CHF I am trying to get the housing grant and mortgage insurance now I had the C&P in Jan and the doctor noted I am wheel chair bound I will see how hard they fight on this one they fought my heart disease for 9 years lol
  17. PTSD diagnosis only requires ONE verifiable stressor, many of us have multiple stressors but the amount of them does not have any effect on your rating 1 or 50 you still get rated on how YOUR symptoms affect your life I would not add something to your claim if it leaves them open to say it didn't happen go with stuff that can be proven it will make it easier...just my 2 cents
  18. congrats getting your heart SC is a big win security for your wife if she has to file a DIC claim if you pass from heart disease....
  19. Another concern is I was NOT sent to one of their doctors throughout this process as you say you were NOT sent for a C&P exam? The VA has done all of my cardiac stuff since 1997 and they still send me for C&amp&P exams over my SC Cardiac issues yes they can grant a claim without a C & P exam based on your records but it is not the normal way they do it because IHD can be rated from 30% 60% and 100% it depends on your METS or your Ejection fraction do you have a pacemaker or defib installed? your claim is only about 6 months old that is not very LONG in VA time normal is about a year for an initial claim the VA doesn't hold to time lines very well "patience" is required for dealing with the VARO and BVA my claims took almost 9 and half years before it was finished and that isn't normal either
  20. wow talk about flashbacks I read the whole thing before I figured out the subject was 2 YEARS OLD rofl
  21. only spend 75% of your incoming at the most every month, when you get 6 months of bill money in CDs or money market account then you can use the extra 25% for stuff like vacations, new computers etc if you need more advice than that find a professional with my health as bad as it is I don't "plan" anything I have my wife covered financially up until the point she is eligible for SS, now if I could only get the mortgage insurance for the house she would really be set for life
  22. they have gone both routes on me depending on VA doctor access at the time of the referral by my Primary Care doc, they need a reason to send you to a cardiac doc, and or colonoscopy the rules on housebound is normally where a veteran has one SC issue at 100% and one or more issues rated 60% or more and they pay at the SMC S rate how the other rates come into play I don't know and I am just grateful I ain't that messed up to find out, I have been hospitalized a lot last year due to heart attacks and Congestive heart failure and the VA has paid all of the bills, they even sent me to Providence to have the biventricular pacemaker installed in Sep my wife has dealt with most of this stuff, I get to frustrated dealing with financial issues and pretty much anything dealing with the VARO........
  23. Berta it specifically leaves the SHAD/112 veterans out of this lawsuit, it claims they are already getting medical care that the other potential survivors are being denied personally I think they should include all exposed veterans and not seperate the SHAD/112 veterans I know my file is full of denied issues related to the chemical exposures at Edgewood. I wonder how many of us will still be alive by the time this case actually goes to trial
  24. it used to be an average 3 month wait for me but I am seeing a lot of people wait 6 months and more after their C&P exams before they get a decision there is no time limits for them to do anything it gets done when it gets done this is the hardest part of the claim process waiting.... we have all had to do it thats why we always tell everyone to take up fishing because you need good way to pass the time
  25. There are a lot more factors involved in the actual rating but a GAF of 60 usually sees the veterans in a 10% or 30% rating level, how is your life affected by your PTSD symptoms? Does it affect your work, your relationships, any legal problems caused by your PTSD etc? I never had a GAF score over 40 and it was normally 30 or lower I was originally rated at 50% before I appealed and they granted me 100% P&T on the PTSD just a wild azz guess on yours with that little bit of info you posted I would have to guess 10 or 30% anything higher would surprise me.
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