carlie

VA Compensation and Pension Disability Exam Worksheets :

http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/21/Benefits/exams/index.htm

New Link to VA DBQ's.

http://www.benefits.va.gov/compensation/dbq_disabilityexams.asp

http://vetlawyers.co...nn+%26+Moore%29

"Bergmann & Moore Testify Before Congress: VA Disability Claim Error Rate Hits 26 percent in Oakland Regional Office

On April 24, 2012, in B&M News, Department of Veterans Affairs, Disabled Veterans, In the News, Politics, VA Disability Benefits, Veterans, Veterans Law, by VetLawyers


"The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) made a stunning admission at last week’s Congressional hearing about VA’s backlog inventory of 1.1 million claims.
For the first time, VA revealed more than one-in-four disability compensation claims processed by VA’s beleaguered Oakland office are riddled with errors. Almost all of VA mistakes are against Veterans, forcing them to appeal.

Paul Sullivan, managing director of public affairs & veterans outreach here at Bergmann & Moore, testified before the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee. Reporters from the Military Times, NextGov, and the Washington Post covered the hearing.

Sullivan told Congress that when VBA speeds up claim processing, VA makes mistakes. Then Veterans must appeal, often with the assistance of a private practitioner such as Bergmann & Moore.
Sullivan remains especially concerned about the impact of delays on veterans with psychological conditions. Being forced to wait months or years for healthcare and disability benefits for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injuries (TBI), and military sexual trauma (MST) can often worsen a Veteran’s health.

VBA’s Director of Compensation Service Tom Murphy confirmed VBA leaders had met with Veterans advocates, including Sullivan, and were willing to grant attorneys and agents access to their clients’ computer and paper VA files.

Murphy also pledged to lawmakers that staff at Oakland’s VBA Regional Office would receive additional training in coming months to improve productivity and quality.
U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas), a member of the Committee, admonished VA during his opening remarks: “VA should remember that ‘VA’ should stand for ‘Veteran Advocate’ and not ‘Veteran Adversary.’”

Wednesday’s hearing was titled, “From the Inside Out: A Look at Claims Representatives’ Role in the Disability Claims Process.” Bergmann & Moore testified on behalf of the National Organization of Veterans’ Advocates.

The hearing was held as investigative journalist Aaron Glantz of the Bay Citizen reported on very serious problems our Veterans face at VBA’s Oakland Regional Office:

April 15: “Veterans’ Disability Claims Buried Under Paperwork: The average wait for a decision in the Bay Area is now 313 days.”

April 16: “VA Pledges to Overhaul Disability Claims System: Promise comes after The Bay Citizen reveals Bay Area veterans wait an average of 313 days.”

April 19: “Send Immediate Help’ to Oakland’s VA, Say Bay Area Reps: Letter to veterans secretary cites ‘extreme disappointment’ over decision not to overhaul troubled office”

Best Practice Manual for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Compensation and Pension Examinations





http://www.avapl.org/pub/PTSD%20Manual%20final%206.pdf

Berta,
Is this what you're thinking of ?



DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS



Veterans Benefits Administration



Washington, D.C. 20420



January 6, 2010



Director (00/21) In Reply Refer To: 211B



All VA Regional Offices and Centers Fast Letter

10-02

SUBJ: Implementation of Board of Veterans’ Appeals Decisions



Purpose



This fast letter provides clarification of the existing procedural guidance for



implementation of Board of Veterans’ Appeals Decisions. The instructions



provided in this fast letter supersede all prior guidance on this issue.



Background



It has come to the attention of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (BVA) and the



Compensation and Pension Service that there is inconsistent processing of



claims involving implementation of BVA decisions with partial favorable findings.



It was determined that some regional offices (ROs) were delaying



implementation of these BVA partial grants until expiration of the 120-day period



within which a veteran may appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for



Veterans Claims (CAVC). Delayed implementation of favorable BVA decisions is



inconsistent with the Department’s long standing pro-veteran position and



unnecessarily delays payment of benefits to the claimant.



Procedures



Complete Grants and Partial Awards



ROs are required to review all files returning from BVA to determine the type of



action to be taken. ROs must expeditiously implement favorable decisions



rendered by BVA in all cases, including those decisions that may also contain



unfavorable findings subject to appeal with CAVC.



For processing purposes, a partial grant or an increased evaluation less than the



schedular maximum available is considered a “favorable decision.” Partial grants



rendered by BVA are subject to expedited processing.



Page 2



Director (00/21)



Although a claimant may elect to appeal the evaluation assigned by BVA and



continue to pursue an increased or total evaluation for the same disability before



CAVC, the partial grant should still be implemented immediately.



In many instances, the claims file will not be required to complete the grant or



partial grant of benefits ordered by BVA. If a decisionmaker needs the claims file



to accurately comply with the BVA mandate, he or she should follow the



instructions regarding locked CAVC files provided in M21-1MR, section



I.5.J.48.e.



Denials



Denials of entitlement to benefits rendered by BVA should continue to be



processed in accordance with the procedures outlined in M21-1MR, sections



I.5.G.33.c and d.



Questions



Questions concerning this fast letter should be e-mailed to



VAVBAWAS/CO/21FL

.

/S/



Bradley G. Mayes



Director

Compensation & Pension Service

"so i QUIT my job due to my illness in 1/11 and now I have to wait around for these NON-VETERANS and idiots to work on my claim. While working at the VA i noticed many patients that are 100% have never even deployed? I guess it's who you know not what you have done. Trust me I met many liars and crooks at the VA."


It will be good for your claim if your MH doc states that you are unemployable due to your PTSD and
supports the opinion with full medical rationale.
FWIW - there are many veterans employed by both, the VAMC's, VBA and the VARO's.

Being deployed is not a prerequisite to service connection or the percentage evaluation.
There are thousands and thousands of veterans that never left USA soil and / or served during
Peace time, yet experienced injury's on active duty, that leave them with life long residual disability.

A vet is a vet and we have no reason to try to penalize vets that were not deployed to a conflict or a war.

There ARE some very, very good people employed by VA, VBA and the VAMC's both veteran and civilian.

Somewhere during having your claim issues adjudicated - there were some thing done right or
you wouldn't even have the current 80 percent SC yet.

Difficulties are not limited to the NY VARO.

There was a court order last year that finally forced the VBA to re-adjudicate claims (Nehmer) for disabilities
due to herbicide exposure. Those vets have had to wait 10 - 20 - 30 and 40 years.
This alone took some of the VBA's work force off of general claims. It is clearing out now and more claims
will get adjudicated.

I see your frustrations and agree it's not a great system, but for now - it's what we have and other countries
sure don't offer any of these benefits to their veterans, so in that respect we are much more fortunate.

Hang in there.
JMHO

http://www.vba.va.gov/VBA/ptsd.asp

Q. How has VA changed the rules for PTSD?

A. We changed our rules on the evidence you might need if you apply for disability compensation for PTSD.

For years, we

http://www.bva.va.gov/docs/Pamphlets/010202A.pdf

Sniper,
You posted,
"Hello all, first time poster but I have browsed this site for a while now. I have a claim in for increase due to unemployability and the claim closed last Friday, March 2 on ebenefits. I already recieve Social Security Disabilty for my service connected disabilities. My current rating is 90%. I am really stressing out right now and was hoping someone could inform me of a couple things. I called the VA direct deposit center and they told me I had no pending retro payments as of today. I have not recieved my packet yet, but the suspense of not knowing is making both myself and my wife nervous wrecks. From everything I have heard, I should for sure get IU, but I am so worried that they will deny me. I guess I'm wanting to know how long it normally takes to receive both the letter and subsequent payment if approved for IU. I searched all over the forum and couldn't find an answer to my question, I hope it's not a dumb question but I am seriously stressed right now."
*** THIS does not mention anything regarding ebenefits showing you have a letter in the mail to you.

jhorak101,

1)
The very first thing your buddy needs to do is write a letter to VA
stating he disagrees with this proposal to reduce his benefits,
that he wants a personal hearing at his regional office and that
he requests no reduction take place prior to his hearing being held.
He needs to submit this to the RO and get a date stamped copy of it from them.
He needs to do this NOW not in a few days, NOW.
Please disregard the poster that stated your buddy can "cry CUE".
As no final Rating Decision has been promulgated on the issue, it doesn't
rise to the level required to even submit a claim for CUE.

2)
A vet can be rated as 100 percent service connected for decades and
still not be rated as P&T.
The claims issue of P&T must be adjudicated in a Rating Decision
just as all other claims issues are required to be.

3) Even if a vet has been rated at 100 percent SC for 20 or more years
the issue of P&T does not automatically kick in.
P&T must be granted in a Rating Decision.

Here are the 10/20 year rules of protection for you.

Hope this helps a vet.
carlie

Borrowed from elsewhere,

"10/20 Year Service Connection/Ratings Protection

The 10 year mark for is for service connection.
A condition that has been service connected for 10 years can not be severed unless fraud is involved.
The clock starts ticking for conditions based on the effective date(s). This does not mean compensation can't be reduced.

The 20 year mark protects ratings.
Absent fraud, disability ratings can not be reduced after they have been going 20 years.
See your award letter for effective dates on each disability. Combined ratings are also protected after a 20 year period.

Example: You have been rated 50% for Condition A since 1990. You apply for SC for 4 more conditions and VA grants them in 2007. Because of VA granting them your new combined rating is 100% as of 2007. Condition A is protected from severance in the year 2000 and protected from reduction in the year 2010. The new service connected conditions would be protected from severance in 2017 and reduction in 2027. The clock started ticking on your combined 100% in the year 2007 so it would be protected from reduction in the year 2027.

If you apply for an increase for Condition A and are bumped from 50% to 70%, the 50% number is still protected from 1990 but the new 70% would start a new clock ticking (using the dates above). Meaning until you have held that 70% rating for 20 years, the lowest they can reduce you is back to 50% based on the fact that it was in effect for 20 years.

Even if a rater plugged the wrong numbers and wrongly awarded a combined 100%, they still can't reduce. Again, this is all assuming no fraud is involved. You can do the math by using the effective dates on your award letters.

"P&T" can be established at any time regardless of how long ratings have been held (via 100% scheduler or TDIU). If VA plugs all of your conditions and there are no future exams scheduled, then entitlement to Ch. 35 and ChampVA will be granted. If VA determines that there is a chance of improvement, there will be a future exam scheduled and "P&T" will not be established."

Personal satisfaction - doesn't figure anywhere in regards to receiving veteran's disability benefits.
It does not matter whether you loath working or enjoy working - it matters if you are ABLE to work or not,
due solely to service connected medical issues.

There are no specific "buzz words" I can refer you to.
jmho

National VA Claims Assistant Office / Office Of Case Management. 202-273-7453

Source: 2014
Functional Organization Manual - v2.0a Description of Organization Structure, Missions, Functions, Tasks, and Authorities

OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS AND CASE MANAGEMENT (20A3)
Overview The Office of Communications and Case Management has overall responsibility for all activities related to resolving and responding to inquiries from Veterans that have reached the level of the SECVA and the USB. Functions and Activities • Provides expertise on special issues and problems requiring in-depth technical analysis. • Develops pertinent facts and communicates with senior officials to resolve issues

82nd,
This just sounds absolutely great !

Sounds like perhaps a visit to the ER is in order - especially with wanting to burn yourself
and smash the rats to bits. Not good.
JMHO

Until you reach a therapeutic level there's really no way to know if
what you are feeling is actually a side effect of the meds - -
or if that's just something you are feeling at that particular moment
on that particular day.
Many things can be side effects of meds,
not all things are side effects of meds.

All I know is if you want to give the meds a TRUE try -
then ya just have to ride it all out.

We do not HAVE to take ANY meds -
it is our CHOICE when we do so.

Hang in there.
JMHO

HAPPY BIRTHDAY !

It's not just the mental health (MH) meds that are making you tired -
it much more likely that the pain meds of hydrocodone and muscle relaver, methocarbamol
is what's making you sleepy.

Meds for MH usually take several months to get adjusted to the best level
for each individual patient.
They ARE NOT the type of meds you can just take a few times or weeks
and be able to know if they are helpful or not.
They have to get to what called a therapeutic level.
JMHO

82nd,
Therapy teaches us and provides us with tools to get thru the rigors, angers, emotional
pains, etc . . . of daily life - but therapy is for life.

I would sure watch myself with the weed.

You go into the food stamp office smelling like weed or SSA
or VA - or get busted and go to jail . . .
your benefits are GONE !

At least air yourself out good - use some mouth wash and body spray if nothing else.

If your going to do it - at least take precautions and use your head.

Thanks for posting this so we know a bit more about your current claim issues.

82nd,
How long were you on active duty ?
What type of separation discharge did you receive ?
Did you receive any separation pay ?
Have you ever received a Rating Decision as of yet ?
If yes, what exactly was denied ?

82nd,

Members are being really supportive being here for you and others
but please keep in mind this does not provide the professional support that therapy does.

If you become very agitated, angry, suicidal or homicidal - seek professional help immediately.

Just check out the web site - see if there is one close to you.
Show up as a walk in and say - I need help.
It's that simple.

82nd,
Have you contacted the vet center.

www.vetcenter.va.gov

Glad to read you had a good day.

It isn't really a fair chance for the meds to just try them for such a short period of time
because most of them take several weeks and a couple of dosage adjustments to
reach true therapeutic levels.
Most mental health drugs dry out your mouth kind of like most drugs for pain
may cause constipation.They have night time wetting solutions to help with dry mouth.
I have this same problem.

Also, when people post in UPPER CASE CAPITOL LETTERS - it screaming in computer
(cyber) language.

Your rating decision that granted 100 percent should have some
narrative in it addressing P&T or scheduling of future exams.
Read it over again thoroughly and scan in exactly what it states
on this issue.

jhorak101,

1)
The very first thing your buddy needs to do is write a letter to VA
stating he disagrees with this proposal to reduce his benefits,
that he wants a personal hearing at his regional office and that
he requests no reduction take place prior to his hearing being held.
He needs to submit this to the RO and get a date stamped copy of it from them.
He needs to do this NOW not in a few days, NOW.
Please disregard the poster that stated your buddy can "cry CUE".
As no final Rating Decision has been promulgated on the issue, it doesn't
rise to the level required to even submit a claim for CUE.

2)
A vet can be rated as 100 percent service connected for decades and
still not be rated as P&T.
The claims issue of P&T must be adjudicated in a Rating Decision
just as all other claims issues are required to be.

3) Even if a vet has been rated at 100 percent SC for 20 or more years
the issue of P&T does not automatically kick in.
P&T must be granted in a Rating Decision.

Here are the 10/20 year rules of protection for you.

Hope this helps a vet.
carlie

Borrowed from elsewhere,

"10/20 Year Service Connection/Ratings Protection

The 10 year mark for is for service connection.
A condition that has been service connected for 10 years can not be severed unless fraud is involved.
The clock starts ticking for conditions based on the effective date(s). This does not mean compensation can't be reduced.

The 20 year mark protects ratings.
Absent fraud, disability ratings can not be reduced after they have been going 20 years.
See your award letter for effective dates on each disability. Combined ratings are also protected after a 20 year period.

Example: You have been rated 50% for Condition A since 1990. You apply for SC for 4 more conditions and VA grants them in 2007. Because of VA granting them your new combined rating is 100% as of 2007. Condition A is protected from severance in the year 2000 and protected from reduction in the year 2010. The new service connected conditions would be protected from severance in 2017 and reduction in 2027. The clock started ticking on your combined 100% in the year 2007 so it would be protected from reduction in the year 2027.

If you apply for an increase for Condition A and are bumped from 50% to 70%, the 50% number is still protected from 1990 but the new 70% would start a new clock ticking (using the dates above). Meaning until you have held that 70% rating for 20 years, the lowest they can reduce you is back to 50% based on the fact that it was in effect for 20 years.

Even if a rater plugged the wrong numbers and wrongly awarded a combined 100%, they still can't reduce. Again, this is all assuming no fraud is involved. You can do the math by using the effective dates on your award letters.

"P&T" can be established at any time regardless of how long ratings have been held (via 100% scheduler or TDIU). If VA plugs all of your conditions and there are no future exams scheduled, then entitlement to Ch. 35 and ChampVA will be granted. If VA determines that there is a chance of improvement, there will be a future exam scheduled and "P&T" will not be established."

I borrowed this from elsewhere.
Keep checking around as there maybe more.
carlie

What benefits does my state provide Disabled Vets?
Click here and find out.

ADDITIONAL BENEFITS AVAILABLE FOR SERVICE CONNECTED DISABLED VETERANS
EVALUATION BENEFITS
0% To 20%
•Certification of Eligibility for home loan guaranty.
•Home loan guaranty fee exemption.
VA Priority medical treatment card.
•Vocational Rehabilitation and Counseling under title
38 USC Chapter 31 (must be at least 10%)
•Service Disabled Veterans insurance (Maximum of $10,000 coverage) must file within 2 years from date of new
service connection.
10 point Civil Service Preference (10 points added to Civil Service test score).
Clothing allowances for veterans who use or wear a prosthetic or orthopedic appliance (artificial limb, braces, or wheelchair) or use prescribed medications for skin condition, which tend to wear, tear or soil clothing.
•Temporary total evaluation (100%) based on hospitalization for a service connected disability in excess of
21 days; or surgical treatment for a service connected disability necessitating at least 1 month of convalescence or immobilization by cast, without surgery of more major joints.

30% In addition to the above:
•Additional allowances for dependent(s) [spouse, child(ren), step child(ren), helpless child(ren), full-time students between the ages 18 to 23, and parent(s)]
•Additional allowances for a spouse who is a patient in a nursing home or helpless or blind or so nearly helpless or blind as to require the aid and attendance of another person.

40% In addition to the above:
•Automobile grant and/or special adaptive equipment for an automobile provided there is loss or permanent loss of use of one or both feet, loss or permanent loss of one or both hands or permanent impaired vision of both eyes with central visual acuity of 20/200 or less in better eye.
•Special adaptive equipment may also be applied for if there is ankylosis of one or both knees or one or both hips.

50% In addition to the above:
•VA Medical outpatient treatment for any condition except dental.
•Preventive health care services.
•Hospital care and medical services in non-VA facilities under an authorized fee basis agreement.

60% In addition to the above:
•Increased compensation (100%) based on individual Unemployability (applies to veterans who are unable to obtain or maintain substantially gainful employment due to service connected disability)

100% In addition to the above:
•Dental treatment.
•Department of Defense Commissary privileges.
•Veteran’s employment preference for spouse.
•Waiver of National Service Life Insurance premiums.
•National Service Life insurance total disability income provisions.
•Specially adapted housing for veterans who have loss or permanent loss of use of both lower extremities or the loss or blindness in both eyes having light perception only plus loss or permanent loss of one lower extremity or the loss or permanent loss of use of one lower extremity with loss or permanent loss of use of one upper extremity or the loss or permanent loss of use of one extremity together with an organic disease which affects the function of balance and propulsion as to preclude locomotion without the aid of braces, crutches, canes or wheelchair.
•Special home adaptation Grant (for veterans who don’t qualify for Specially Adapted Housing) may be applied for if the veteran is permanently and totally disabled due to blindness in both eyes with visual acuity or 5/200 or less or loss of or permanent loss of use of both hands.

100% (Permanent and Total) in addition to the above:
•Civilian Health and Medical Program for dependents and survivors (ChampVA)
•Survivors and dependents education assistance