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Lorraine, This is great news! I'm thrilled for you and your VET!!!

Good News MikeR. Hopefully it won't take them long to assign your percentage & the effective date.

Good news! It's great news to hear that you found your fax transmittal sheet and got the debt erased.

Fantastic News! Congratulations! Waiting to hear some fine fishing stories!

E & Carolyn, This is such wonderful news! I'm truly thrilled for both of you.....Congratulations!

DeaconDukes What an amazing and well deserved success story! Thank you so much for sharing. Take care of yourself as you move forward.

Golfnut Just a quick not to welcome you to Hadit. Carlie has provided the links you need.

Don't worry, this letter has nothing to do with your disability claims. It is only related to your VA health care eligibility. Priority levels for VA medical care are set according to a veteran's disabilities, income, and assets. Since you are not service connected for any disabilities at this point, you were given a priority group 5 after they assessed your income & assets. The letter is essentially telling you that you are eligible to receive VA medical care. You may have to pay a co-payment for any medications that are ordered by the VA. If/when you are awarded a disability your priority group will change. The VA hospitals generally hand out new patient booklets that explain the priority levels and co-payments, etc. Did you get one? I found it very helpful. I agree. The VA medical system can be very confusing until you get used to it.

Congratulations Jason! It's so good to be reading so many success stories lately. As I've mentioned to others, if you haven't already done so, check for your state benefits too.

Kluender Congratulations! If you haven't already done so be sure to check into your available state benefits. Best wishes to you and your family.

Fantastic news Ruski!! I love hearing stories like yours!

Would I protest an injustice? Yes, there's no doubt about it. I lived with hate, anger and rage for over 30 years after returning from 'Nam. I was quickly given the nickname 'A-hole R----d' and watched my friends/family, more often than not, turn the other way when they saw me headed in their direction. I've achieved much more since I've worked to change my attitude. I still feel the anger/rage and I still want to fight when I'm cornered but I try hard to evaluate each situation and plan my response rather than reacting without thinking. All that being said - I don't/won't sit back and let others roll over me.

Well, THAT takes care of that!!

Thanks Pat, It's not a bad idea and it's easy to do. Like you, I don't know if it would actually prove anything. Has anybody ever put 'Attention: Claims - Refer to _____' info on outside of their envelope when they use fed-ex or USPS certified/return receipt to mail in paperwork? I know everything gets sorted in a mail room.

I'll do that...may need it! Thanks

Thank you Pete53 I opened this topic to get advice. I really didn't want to bash VSO's. In honesty, I wouldn't want their job since it's obvious from LarryJ's comments that they are up against the same problems as we are with every vet that they deal with. It sounds like most everybody is having problems of one sort or another. My goal with this topic was to talk about how to handle the issues at hand. Hadit support! I totally agree that we need responsible for our own claims but then there's the pestering factor. How do you tactfully check on things without becoming a pest/irritant in the VARO's eyes or getting 'red flagged'? It seems like such a fine line to me. I phoned my VSO 1 month ago and he advised that I wait 60 days before checking on the NOD. I pushed that back to 45 days because I didn't want time to get away from me and now I hear it was never received, just as my past paperwork was never received (yet found in my c-file). It makes me angry but more than anything I just want to find a way to correct the problem without making huge waves. I'm going to come up with a plan on how to do things from this point forward...don't know what it will be but all of suggestions given in this topic have been helpful. Thanks Guys and Gals!! LarryJ...I need to find one of those 'Congress person's VA liaison' people!

I only get receipts of the envelope..which doesn't give much proof.

Sharon, Thank you. I promise not to send things in without checking with my VSO first, especially since they helped me with the NOD in the first place. I need to talk to him anyway, since I've gotten an 'more likely than not' IMO since we last spoke and he may want to go in a different direction. I noticed that my IRIS request & reply was copied to the TN DVA but I doubt he'll notice it unless I contact him. I will most likely get some time off work tomorrow so I can run into the city and get this taken care of. I was concerned that we may doing something wrong which is causing the problem I've had twice now. My wife says it's more likely a TN DVA & VARO issue than our issue but either way, I'd like to know that the VARO is getting my paperwork. The medical files that were omitted from my decision may have made a difference in one of the decisions. I appreciate the advice I've received here, especially running things thru my VSO as usual but sending in the paperwork myself so I can get verification that it's been received. We'll see how it goes with my VSO...he's a pretty good guy and has been very helpful.

Vync, Sounds like you've been thru what I'm going thru. I believe I may need to do as you've done, present them to my VSO and let him do his thing, then fed ex or mail certified myself, instead of depending on somebody else. I'm beginning to think it's something between the DVA and the VARO. With my first claim, I disagreed on a minor item and did it myself without any issues at all. I also like the idea of faxing the NOD when it is mailed. Thanks again.

Thanks to everybody for all of the helpful comments. To this point, there are only 2 suggestions that I haven't tried. I haven't faxed copies or hand delivered my paperwork to the VARO. LarryJ, I've read your advice carefully and I've done quite well. Each and every page I submit has my full name, VA file # and 'refer to' information. I even stamped the back of each page of my IMO letter with my file number/name even though the information is stated on the cover page. All pages have been numbered and indexed. Everything I've mailed has been certified, return receipt BUT I've mailed everything to my VSO and not directly to the VARO, which was what I was instructed to do. When the April file was misplaced, I re-sent all of the paperwork directly to the VARO certified, return receipt. I feel like I've done everything that can be done but I'm still having problems. When I go see my VSO about this, I'm going to have him re-submit my NOD, then I will fax a copy directly to the VARO as soon as I get home. Hopefully that will make a difference. I don't know if I should also fax my new evidence along with the NOD or wait until I hear more from them. I'll see what my VSO advises on that and go from there. Then the waiting game will start again. I hope it goes thru the second time around. Thanks again....

First off, my VSO's are with the TN DVA and I believe they have done their jobs properly. I'm trying to figure out how to keep the following situations from happening again. Old issue: April 2010; submitted evidence thru my VSO in reply to a VARO request. The VARO said they never received it. I re-filed that evidence in August. A day or two afterwards, I received my c-file and found it contained the date stamped form VA-4138 and all records that my VSO had submitted for me in April. April's evidence was omitted from my July decision. Hopefully, the April evidence will be viewed as new evidence as I move forward in the process. New issue: August 13th; submitted a NOD thru my VSO. On September 30th, I made an IRIS inquiry to verify the VARO was in receipt of my NOD. I received 2 IRIS replies stating the August 13th NOD was not (1) in my electronic file and was not (2) in my VARO c-file. The last reply advised that my VSO re-file the NOD. I continue to lose time with all of this re-filing. Questions: Is this a common problem? If so, are there any recommendations to remedy this situation? After my VSO re-files the NOD would it help if I personally send or fax the VARO a copy of NOD? Thanks in advance for any advise you can give me.

Cool Breeze, I'm not sure what it's about but when I requested my c-file a few months back I noticed the same E-benefits "Freedom of information act/privacy act" after wards. Maybe there's a connection to a request for your c-file or other information? Personally, E-Benefits hasn't shown to be beneficial in my situation.

This is so exciting! It's awesome to hear that you will receive retro back to 2000! Spend wisely and more than anything else, relax and enjoy!

Congratulations. It's always good to hear stories like yours.

Carlie, Thanks. Great info. I can see why they prefer this one.