brokensoldier244th

It may have to do with two claims on one 'system'- i.e. your ears. For a lot of ratings, you can only have 1 per body system, though there are a few where its not pyramiding, like I have lower back DDD, and nerve impingement into my legs, but the impingement is rated separately because while visually it 'looks' like its the same system related, its not, medically. It may also be advantageous that they combined them because at least you won't have to wait for 2 separate claims to resolve.

If you are ever in a situation where you have another child in the wings for college that you ARE getting the extra for, make sure you tell VA as soon as their status changes, and then save that amount back every month until they stop it. Most likely you'll end up being paid for them while they are getting Chap 35, too- it takes them awhile and they are two different departments. This happened to me and my son with about 4 or 5 months of overlap. VA finally figured it out and sent me the information to pay them back. Otherwise they will recoup it from your disability at about 10% at a time until its paid off.

If they are using chap 35 you don't get anything extra. If they aren't but are still at home you do.

Sometimes you can get them through download on ebenefits via blue button but contractor notes I think you usually have to get from the contractor directly if you want then sooner than waiting on your c file

It would help if some asshat didn't propose reducing VA benefits every year because 'entitlements'....

Good luck and carry on! As you were, Tut Tut stiff upper lip and all that! Not having to worry about primary income! I used to work for cash as a DJ in an adult club, and for a year I made shoe orthotics. You have the freedom to be discerning and pick interesting jobs now.

I meant to say on this "shouldn't flag anything anyway....." as that they wouldn't even be looking for it because you aren't confined to not working like an IU vet.

That is true, to a point, but are there any other disabilities in the rating schedule that spell it out like that as MH does? I did a ctrl-f scan and search and I couldn't find one. Sure, if I was 100% for combined schedular, we all know, or come to find out, that we can work to our ability based on that. MH says specifically, though, hence the reasons that many vets see that and it gives them pause. My Voc counselor told me years ago that he was 100% and could work but he wasn't 100% for MH. When I was rated for that I didnt work for 2 years, and rightfully so, since I was still cleaning up my own mess and working on me. After awhile, though, I figured that I would at least find something part time and so now I work in a library. That MH specifically calls it total impairment is the problem, though, one could argue that if they do in fact mean 'total' than the rating for a total 100% rating for MH should be higher than a combination 100% rating for other things, because there are many veterans at 100% that can and do supplement their disability pay from VA with work, and with the VA's blessing.

Not necessarily a myth though, the text does say total occupational impairment so I can understand his hesitation

My former Voc rehab caseworker was 100% scheduler.. /shrug

If you can find an environment that can manage to accommodate your limitations, go for it. The number of jobs that can and or will, however, are so few that a person may as well be y unemployed by definition. Also, VA looks at employment as meaningful gainful employment- if you make less than poverty level wages it shouldn't flag anything. My therapist says my limited working is a good thing but by no means does it change the fact that under about 98% of circumstances I'm unemployable.

Hey Buck, how do you figure 8000 ish? Im 100% P/T and housebound and its not that much. Im not TBI, though, but 100% for MH among other things. Is there something that im missing? CAS

If you are 100% schedular you can work up to your ability to do so. Its when you have TDIU that it gets weird, and you can't work. I work part time in a library a few hours a day. Its not much, but it gets me out of the house and around people, still, and I make a little money on the side to facilitate my guitar habit. Ive been working part time since 100% for a few years now with no issues, other than having to file taxes.

Some uppity Senator or Congressperson proposes this every few years, and they have for decades. I doubt that the IU program is going anywhere, but, yes, if you have those forms, Id bring them to your C&P, and submit them on your own with your claim, too.

I guess the short answer is that, dependent on what regional office you work through, there may be a 100,000 veterans in your proximity that work through that RO. I live in Lincoln, NE, so our RO only services part of NE, Iowa, and maybe KS- im not sure, but its way less than someone living in FLA, or on the coasts, or in TX, for example. Sure, they could hire more people, and they do, but VA budgets are discretionary not guaranteed line items like Defense or other things, so they don't know from fiscal year to the next what they are going to be working with. Pair that with millions of vets, old and new, courtesy of *pick President* in the last 20 yrs or so and our involvement in *opinion* places and things that we probably don't really need to be involved in, and you have a huge influx of new vets added to the already existing caseloads of older vets. Many of the older ones have paper only records that have been shuffled to hell and back, and main document depositories like St. Louis that can't seem to find anything, and your answer is somewhere in all that. If its awaiting adjudication (is that exactly what it says? Ive not seen that as a status before) then it should be in line for a rater.