mssoup1

Thank you all for your replies. When I started helping him with his claim, I wasn't made aware of all of the facts of the case. After working with him and getting everything he had, I pretty much knew that it would be a wash, but we had gone that far and he had wanted to continue his claim. I stayed with him on it. I am sure that when he said he was hurt on the ship, that it actually happened. I have known him for quite a while and, to my knowledge, he would not have lied about this happening. But, as hard as I tried, we just couldn't find what he needed to make his claim solid. Again, I think the meat of the denial was more due to his getting hurt on the job. Had this not happened and he had continued seeing doctors about his back condition, he may have had a little bit better chance. But, I do feel confortable that we did all we could do. mssoup1

Don't want to sound negative as all claims are different, but I helped a veteran with a claim for a back injury he said he received while in the military. We got his SMR's. Nothing in there except for a few dates of going to sick bay for what was listed as back strain. Nothing was in his SMR's at all about him going to sick bay to be treated for the back injury, even though the veteran said the accident did happen and he did go to sick bay immediately after it happened. He said he started seeing doctors as soon as he was released from the miitary, but since he had waited so long in getting the very old records, the doctors were no longer practicing and he couldn't get the records. He even was able to get a buddy letter stating that he was aboard the ship when the accident occurred. Didn't seem to help his claim. I think the worse thing he had going against him was the fact that he hurt his back, during civilian employment, several times. He stated that this was due to the fact that he already had back problems, dating back to the accident in the military. Didn't help. He did have doctors records indicating that some of his problems appeared to be old in nature. He also did have some records of seeing doctors for back problems before he had any injury at work. I helped him a great deal trying to do all we could to try and get this claim approved, but again, he couldn't get the old records that the VARO stated they wanted showing treatment within one year of his separation, no actual accident showed up in his SMR's, even though he stated it did occur and he had a buddy letter to back it up, and then he had medical records showing that he was seen for back injuries that were work related. As hard as we tried, they kept denying the claim, even at the BVA level. At that point, he dropped it. I am only writing this story of this incident because of the importance of having specific evidence or it is so easy for them to deny your claim. Even with his testimony of what happened and his buddy letter, the VARO immediately denied the claim based a lot on the fact that no where did he have enough evidence to show the accident actually occurred and that there was any actual damage done to his back. Having the work related injuries did not help his claim either. Maybe some of the information here will help someone else when they are trying to start their claim or may be in the same situation as this veteran was. mssoup1

JMO, but when you received your letter stating you were 100%, were all the claims you had in to the VARO decided at that point or did you have anything outstanding? Even though you were given 100% based on what they had decided at that point, if you had anything outstanding, this claim would have to be resolved. Maybe that is the reason for the C & P exam. My husband was given his 100% rating I/U P&T. We were so happy. I knew there was a claim still sitting out there for cataracts that had not been decided, but I just assumed that since he was given the 100% rating that this claim would become moot. Not so. A few weeks after his decision letter came giving him his 100%, we receive another letter in the mail. Talk about being scared. When we opened it up, it was another decision letter granting him 10% s/c for his cataract. Again this was good news. No more money, but another claim approved. This is why I ask if you still have any claims outstanding. C & P could be for that. As an added note, when my husband got his 100% rating, they stated in his decision letter no more exams required. mssoup1

GWVET, I am not sure we know exactly where you live, so it would be hard to respond back knowing if there was anywhere closer to you. Is this the closest VAMC to you? My husband has always been sent to the closest VAMC for all of his C & P's. Not sure why they would want to send you that far away from home, unless they are so backed up at the closer one or this is the closest VAMC to you. My husband had an inadequate C & P exam and the initial response was they may have to send him to another VAMC to have another one done. In the end, they ask us if we would agree to have a physicians assistant do the exam and he could have the exam done again at the local VAMC. We agreed. In the Southeast part of the U.S., they have a person in charge of 7 of the VAMC's who oversees the C & P operation. I am not sure exactly what her exact responsibilities are, but we ended up speaking to her and she had everything set up for us. During the exam, we didn't get a good feeling that it would be going our way. We at first thought that it probably was due to the fact that this Physician Assistant knew this was a second exam being done due to the first one being incompetent. We later found out that she worked under the doctor who did the initial exam. We thought, not good. In the end, the results were in our favor. You are kinda vague on your post as to why you are being sent this far away, so it is kinda hard to know and respond back with much information to you. My husband has always had the local VARO send a request to our local VAMC requesting that they set up a C & P exam. We then get a letter from the VAMC telling us when it is being scheduled. I know your frustrations. When I thought my husband may have to go miles away just for an exam, I really got upset. That was the reason for so many phone calls, trying to find someone who could help us out on this. In our case, it worked out okay. Hope you can get this straightened out. mssoup1

Banchie, Congratulations on your win. My husband just recently got 100% I/U P & T, no future exams, and it was like a huge rock had been lifted off of me, since we had been at this for many years. Hope things go well for you now, as I am sure they will. Don't forget to apply for any extra beenies if you are P & T, no future exams. mssoup1

Rocky, It was and is my understanding that before you get a decision that your SO has to sign off on it. Therefore, the SO will know ahead of time what the decision is and can tell you, if he wants to. It is only a preliminary decision at this point and something could change, but at least you have an idea of what the decision will be. When my husband got his last decision, I called his SO and was told that they had not heard anything. A little over a week later, we received the decision in the mail. I feel that the SO did know the decision when I called him, but didn't say anything for what ever reason. I have heard that a lot of the SO's will call you when they sign off on the claim and tell you what the decision was, but I have never experienced this yet. We find out when we get the letter in the mail. mssoup1

How far are they expecting you to go and is there not a facility closer that you could have it done at? If I was not satisfied with the arrangements, I would at least call the Patient Advocate at the VAMC and ask them these questions. Maybe someone else has some other ideas. mssoup1

We also had problems in getting good responses from the 1-800#. I started e-mailing the VARO for the status of my husbands claims. Granted, they have 5 business days to respond back, but the answer you get this way is far better than calling. I'm not sure why there should be a difference, since they all are supposed to be looking at the same information, but e-mail is definitely the way to go as far as I am concerned. mssoup1

I thought this to be a very good and well written letter. As they say, better to do something than nothing. Unless you try, nothing will happen. Hope you at least get a response back. mssoup1

I have seen this and yes, I did try to use it in getting my husband an increase in his PTSD. Apparently they did not use it. His GAF score had been very low for the last 12+ months. Low enough to qualify him for 100%. His doctor also stated that due soley to his PTSD, he was unemployable. The C & P examiner agreed with his doctors findings. At the time, he was 30% for PTSD, plus other S/C problems. They moved him to 70% for PTSD. They based this on the fact that to be eligible for 100%, he must show signs of suicide, and several other things with the 100% verbage. So, even though he had a low GAF for months, because the verbage in the doctors and C & P examiners reports did not list exactly everything that was in the 100% rating, they gave him the 70%. They apparently did not use the GAF at all as this was not mentioned. This still worked out well for my husband, though, as this rating along with new ratings and his current ratings at the time, allowed him to receive 100% TDIU P & T. I also think what the doctor wrote as far as him being unemployable due solely to his PTSD helped get the I/U. The PTSD incease claim and several others were in the 6 year process and had gone all the way to the BVA. They remanded it back to the RO and they finally decided in our favor. I would definitely use this letter, regardless. Any evidence that you have should be sent in regardless of what happens in the end. You want to give them anything and everything you find which could show that the VARO should rule in your favor, expecially if it has to do with their rules. No two VARO's and no two rating specialists are the same, therefore, what one accepts in one case, may get denied in another. Therefore, use any and all evidence you can find. Definitely will not hurt you any. The most they can do is opt not to use what you sent in. Hoped this helped. mssoup1

This information may be of interest to read. It is not a recent document, but I think a lot of the information is still valid. http://www.opm.gov/FEDCLASS/gs0996.pdf mssoup1

I guess some VAMC's have a policy regarding giving the veteran a copy of their mental health records, but the VAMC my husband goes to doesn't seem to have that problem. Any time we have requested a copy of these records from recent visits he has had, we had no problem in getting them right on the spot. The lady there that handles the copies for the group of veterans that my husband is included in is a great person. She has been so nice to deal with and we seem to have a good relationship with her. I have heard elsewhere that some of the VAMC's are fairly strict in giving out these records. I don't know if there are any sample letters anywhere that would give you an idea of what you or your friends should write about your husbands condition. Our son and I both wrote letters about my husbands conditions. We started out with how things were in the past, then went on to the present and stated what we expected to happen in the future. Believe you me, we left nothing out. They wanted to know, so we told them straight up. Left nothing out. From some of the comments written in the decision letter, I feel that at least some of these letters were read. I did this on all of his claims that we had in. Each time I had to respond back to the VARO for some reason, I would write a cover letter, explaining the reason I was responding to them and then go into the same things all over again. I wanted to make sure at some point they had to read and comprehend what was being said. Each time he had a C & P exam, I would get a copy as soon as it was entered into the system. I would read the report and immediately respond to the VARO with what I felt was wrong with the C & P exam, and if I felt it was inadequate, I would request that he be given another exam by another examiner. I felt if I handled it this way, I caught the contents of the inadequate C & P exam early and could respond back to it before the VARO had a chance to deny his claim based on the inadquate exam given. This generally worked in our favor and saved us a lot of time in having to file a NOD until the VARO had all the infomation we could give them that we felt was good evidence. There have been times when my husband has been given a C & P exam and the contents was so off base it was unreal. By getting back to the VARO before they could deny his claim based on this C & P exam, my husband was rescheduled for another C & P exam. Some VARO's don't want you to get a copy of the C & P exam before they decide the claim because of what I just described. This gives them a reason for denying your claim and causing you to have to file a NOD based on the exam. When sending in medical records, I highlighted the areas that I felt was the pertinent information that I wanted to make sure was read. This kept the VARO from having to read through a lot of information in the record which was not relevant. I always sent a cover letter and in that letter I would repeat the information that I had highlighted in the report attached and make my comments based on lay evidence. Can't hurt to let them see and read it twice. The more you can do to direct them to exactly what you want them to see and read, I feel the better off you are. The VARO is not going to read through reams of medical records, so you have to help them along a little. Also, anything that you can send them without them having to request it will also help your claim move faster. I would send a copy to them of everything you feel is relevant to the claim, so they had all of the information right there in front of them. I feel that one of the most important pieces of evidence you can have on a claim is having a doctor (VA or IMO) state that the current condition is related to their military service. Getting this, for the most part, can be taxing. Doctors have a hard time wanting to put this in writing. But, if you can get that, it is harder for them to deny your claim. Getting this opinion, I felt, was the most important factor in getting some of my husbands claims approved. I know I added in a lot more information than you asked for, but I added this in the hopes that it may help you some. Sometimes keeping one step ahead of the VARO can save you time on you claim. Hope this information helps you some. Good luck. mssoup1

jangrin, When you fill out the application to get his DD-214 updated, list all the medal, ribbons, etc. that he received or should have received, but is not shown. Ask for all of the updates at one time. We did this for my husband, and again, they ended up listing medals and ribbons that we had not listed because we either didn't know to ask for or forgot about them. They also sent him those particular medals and ribbons. Again, in a box with no letter, nothing. Due to his records, they would know enough about his time served to know what he was eligible for. As far as how long it took, it has been a while since we did this, but it seemed like it took around 3 to 4 months, but I am only guessing on the time frame. I would try and get anything like this filled out ASAP and send it in, because it will take some time to get anything back. As far as his SMR records, I guess there are so many things that come into play that it would be hard to speculate on a time frame for these too. They have to get the request to someone, find the records, copy them and then return them to you. Also, th size of the file can make a difference, too. A lot also depends on how many other requests they have ahead of yours. Also, when you get them, you may be surprised at what you find. Some of the copies my husband received went into the copier crooked and we had duplicates of a lot of the sheets. It makes me wonder if we actually received his entire file and if there were sheets missing. In looking through his file, it sure looks like there were missing sheets. We also received copies of another veterans file in with my husbands. While I understand that they have thousands of requests for copies of veterans files, there is no excuse in sending any veteran copies this way, especially when it can make a difference in whether a veteran can produce the evidence he needs to get his claim approved. Don't want to sound negative on this as many veterans may have received exactly what they asked for, but I know in our case it didn't work that way. Maybe someone else on this site can add more to what you need to know. Good luck and I hope you get your information soon. mssoup1

Thanks, Berta, for the link. I was responding early this morning, as I couldn't sleep and I knew that I wouldn't be able to find the link needed at that time of the morning. To me, ensuring that your DD-214 is up-to-date is very important in your claims process. I don't remember how many times, for various reasons, we have had to produce my husbands DD-214 for some reason and it helps knowing that everything that should be on it, is on it. I just attached the DD-215 to the DD-214 and everytime it was needed I made sure that they understood that there was the amended DD-215 that needed to be referred to as well. I was very upset when he finally got his Purple Heart. It was sent to him in a box with no letter, no paper, no nothing. It's like, you wanted it, here it is. But, what else should we have expected. mssoup1

Allen, This is great. Thanks. mssoup1

Frank, Thanks for your reply. I think we are currently through, at this time, working with the RO. My husband was given his 100% TDIU, P & T recently, so I will be leaving the system alone and not clogging it up so other veterans will have a chance of getting their claims through quicker. There are a few claims outstanding that I feel we would have a good chance at getting approved, but they would make no difference in what he is getting now and would do no good in clogging up the system. If the claim was for something that could essentially be life threatening, then I would then work on that, otherwise, I am through. I have been at this for so many years that it is like a huge burden has been lifted off of my shoulders and I can finally get some rest on this issue. I agree with you that faxing your infomation is another good way of getting it to the RO. The only problem I had with doing that was that I had a lot of information to give to them, therefore, it was just as easy for us to take it directly to the RO. We have a RO locally, so it was not an issue for us. I was also able to put it directly in the hands of someone and have it date stamped. If I had a question, I was also able to ask it while I was there. mssoup1

jangrin, If your husband received any medals, ribbons, citations, etc. that were not listed on his DD-214, you need to get this updated and they will send you a DD-215. This is an addendum to his DD-214. I don't remember the exact address to send it to, but I am sure there is a link somewhere here on Hadit, or someone can post that. My husband served 2 tours in Vietnam in the Navy around the time your husband did. There were a lot of medals, ribbons and citations which did not show up on his DD-214. I sent in for an updated copy and they sent me the DD-215. There were even things added that I didn't even know about. Every time I go with my husband to the VAMC, I remember what visits he had prior to the one he has that day. We go straight to the Release of Information Department and get those copies then. They have a couple of very nice people working there and it only takes them a couple of minutes to print what we need, since we only need the last few visits. It is amazing what is said in that visit with the doctor and what actually shows up in their report. You sometimes wonder if they didn't get someone else's report mixed up with my husbands. Once you get a copy of his initial medical file, you need to constantly keep it updated and it is easy to do if you get copies of each of his visits as he goes to the VAMC. If you don't agree with something written in his report, bring it up to the doctor. Some don't mind and will change what they put in the report, while others just ignore you. But, remember, when you are filing a claim, this is what the RO will be looking at, so you want the report to reflect what is accurate. My husband was very lucky with his PTSD claim. He has a nice psychiatrist who seems to really want to help, not only with his problems, but in helping him as much as she can when it came to his claim. I sat in on several of his visits to his psychiatrist. Some of her reports were not quite accurate, so I brought that up and she was willing to note those in the current report. When he had his last C & P, he also ended up with a very good psychiatrist, who also wrote a good report and backed up what my husbands regular psychiatrist stated in some of her reports. So, he did review her reports prior to my husbands visit. A lot of C & P examiners don't. I have found that my going with my husband on each of his visits and sitting in worked better for us. He wouldn't/didn't tell them much of anything, so that is when I would chime in and tell them exactly what was going on with him. This is not just his psychiatric exams, but all visits he has at the VAMC. I have found that this helps a lot as to what actually gets put into his record and the type of treatment given. I have been with my husband since Vietnam and have been working claims for him for the past 30+ years. Back during the early years, without computer access, veterans or their family didn't really know what to do, so a lot of claims that should have been worked better and possibly gotten further, were basically dropped. But as the years went by and computer access and Hadit came along, things got easier by at least knowing what to do and if you had problems there were always people around to ask. The only problem then was that so much information was lost, like medical records which you had a hard time getting, if you could get them at all. I only wish that I had known or been told a lot of what I know now earlier on in our years, but you cannot go back so that is water over the dam. I wish you the very best of luck with your husbands claim. There are so many helpful people on this site who are more than willing to help you and guide you in the right direction. Keep us posted on how things are going. mssoup1

Tthis does sound like it is at the stage of notifying you of the decision. Do you have a SO? If so, they could tell you exactly where it is at and if they have signed off on it, they will know the decision made, even though you will not be able to take their answer as the final one. You need to get that from the VA in the mail. Hope the outcome is a good one for you. Good luck. mssoup1

Someone else may have more information than me, but with the experience with my husbands claims, they decided all of them before issuing him their decision. The only exception to this was when he had new claims in and remands from the BVA. In this instance, they sent him the decisions on his new claims and then later sent him their decision on the BVA remanded claims. From what I have read in other postings, I am not sure that there is a hard and fast rule on this. It may depend on the RO handling your claim, then again, it could depend on the person deciding your claims. I've heard that if a decision can be made on any outstanding claim, regardless of the number that you have filed, then they can decide on just that one and send you the decision. This is only our experience. Someone else may be of more help to you on this. As far as the C & P exams go, again I think that depends on the backlog of the VAMC in doing C & P exams. At our local VAMC, a C & P gets scheduled fairly quick, but I have read other postings from veterans where they have waited a long time in getting their's scheduled. Not all claims require a C & P. If the evidence is enough for the RO to make a decision, without the C & P, then you will not necessarily be scheduled for one. My husband has always had a C & P exam for all of his claims, even though we felt the evidence we presented was enough to decide his claim favorably to him. Again, this is only from our experience. mssoup1

From the experience we had with my husbands claim, hypertension is a very hard claim to get approved. According to my husband, when you are in the middle of a war and you get hurt or are sick, you go to sick bay and they only do whatever is necessary to treat you and get you back to your assigned duty to fight. Taking your blood pressure seemed non-existent. Not once in my husbands records did a record of his blood pressure ever show up and being taken. I looked at his entrance exam. His blood pressure was taken and it was normal. On his separation exam, it showed his blood pressure was elevated, but the word "hypertension" was not shown. He even told me that they held him for a while and took his blood pressure 3 or 4 times to get a reading they felt was acceptable to discharge him. He started seeing a doctor shortly after being released from the military and was started on medication for his blood pressure and has been on it ever since. He did have early medical records showing treatment of hypertension. We were denied several times at the RO. Even though they stated the separation papers did show an elevated level, the diagnosis of hypertension was not listed. We ended up at the BVA level and this was remanded back to the RO. Another C & P was done and we finally got a statement from the examiner that it was at least likely as not that his hypertension was due to his military service. I think this is what it took in order to him to get his hypertension S/C, but at 0%. Due to the fact that he is being treated with medication and his HBP is for the most part under control, this resulted in the 0%. But, it is at least S/C in the event, God forbid, he passes away due to a health problem related to his HBP. Not sure if our experience will help anyone else, but it doesn't hurt to know what others go through in working their individual claim. mssoup1

Testvet, Where did you find this information? Do you have a link to it? mssoup1

Well, it seems you have gotten over one big hurdle. A BVA hearing is rough enough without ending up with a law judge who appears as though he would rather be somewhere else and doesn't seem the least bit interested in anything you have to say. Glad yours seemed to work out for you. Now comes the waiting period. Hope everything goes in your favor. Good luck and keep us posted on the outcome. mssoup1

In my husbands BVA hearing, he had, in my opinion, an excellent law judge hearing his case. When we brought up issues that they seemed to know nothing about or couldn't find the info in his records, I had the information and they asked if they could see what we had. I had additional copies of things which I took to the hearing so I was able to give them a copy of it. They seemed concerned that I was able to give them this information, while it did not appear that the RO had even looked at it. Two issues were granted instant approvals. The others were remanded back due to the fact that they stated that the RO had not requested a new C & P exam since these claims were so old and also it appeared that they had also not requested his latest med records to review. In the end, my husband was finally given a 90% rating, but was being rated at the 100% rate due to their grant of I/U P&T with no future exams. I think it is very important to be as prepared as possible when you go to any hearing. I had copies of the pertinent information which I felt to be the most important to his claim which the RO used in their denial. I wanted to be sure that I could back up what I was saying to them with hard evidence, even though this should have already been in my husbands file. I also didn't want the law judge trying to rummage through his file to try and find the evidence that I was pointing to. I wrote a letter for my use in the meeting. I had everything documented with what I wanted to bring up and say. I read the letter and as I came to an area I wanted to expand on, I stopped reading the letter at that point and went on to further discuss the issue at hand. I handled the entire hearing for my husband. While we did have a SO who was in attendance, he knew nothing about my husbands claim and I felt that I could handle dicussing the issues better. You have as much control over the hearing as your SO. Never feel that you cannot speak up at the hearing if you feel there is an issue which should be brought up or discussed. As they always say, it is your claim and no one can handle it better than you yourself. A BVA hearing is a very important process within the VA claims process. Go into the hearing knowing that a lot of the information which you have already given to the RO will be brought up again in the BVA hearing as though it was never submitted. While you hate to feel like you are starting the claims process all over again in the hearing, it can feel that way. You want to be able to get the whole side of your story out to these people who will have your claim in their hands and could be making a final decision themselves on the outcome. Don't know how I got so far off on the BVA process, but this is written only from experiences that I have had and the outcome was completely approved in my husbands favor. Everything that was before the BVA was approved. Others may have different outcomes from their experiences, but I think if we share what each of us does at various times through the VA process that results in a favorable decision, then I think it can only help others who are going through the same process themselves. mssoup1

Only my opinion. Anytime you are in a position that you can personally take any info you have on your claim personally to the RO, you are much better off doing so. If you mail it in, it can sit in the mailroom forever before it is sent to the intended area. There is tons of mail which, I have been told, that comes into the RO everyday that someone has to sort through. Imagine the time it takes and the lag time in getting your info where you need it to go. Another way to slow your claim process up. Again, I would personally take it to the RO if at all possible. We have gone to the RO before and told them we had questions on my husbands claim and needed to speak to someone on it. When we gave them information which needed to be included in his claim, they took the information and said that they would take it straight upstairs and give it to the person working my husbands claim. They also answered any questions we had. Did this help in anyway? Don't know, but I can't see where it hurt either. mssoup1

The analyst is the "lead programmer within the Policy Analysis Service and as such needs access to real Social Security numbers." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- While I am unsure exactly what should happen to the analyst who had the laptop at home which was stolen, I do feel that in his position as "lead programmer within the Policy Ananlysis Service" he should have used better protection in ensuring that this information could not be accessed by anyone. Especially knowing that there had already been break-ins in the area he lived. mssoup1