brokensoldier244th

Yes, medical records, service treatment records, all having to be new and/or relevant-basically the same stuff that you send with any claim.

Keep in mind that the call center people (800-827-1000) are not cleared to see your whole claim- there are limits to the information they can provide, and they aren't trained to work on claims so there are big pieces of the process that they legitimately wouldn't know. They can read our notes, input noters for us, and provide directions to the correct places to call/talk to, and discuss things like what form(s) you need for whatever action. There is a separate avenue for information called VERA which has RO personnel that work within it- they can get a lot more hands-on with somethings. Google VERA and you should find the page to set up an appointment via phone or in person if you ever need to.

You can just upload a 4138 or call in to the National Call center (800-827-1000) and tell them. There shouldn't have been a request for it, anyway- if you haven't worked since 1999 its irrelevant. In any case, a claim cannot be denied solely on the lack of returned 4192's, we receive far fewer back than are sent.

Unfortunately, by law, a rater determines what is “enough” or “adequate” or “complete”. Partly why I’m not a rater; 1. I don’t want the drama, 2. I’m better at finding the bread crumbs as a researcher. I’d rather help build as strong a case as I can by mining “your” records- you’d be surprised what’s in there, however subtle, that I can usually add to your already submitted evidence that was overlooked or deemed inconsequential by someone.

instead of focusing so much on the DBQ you need to have your lawyer look at the exam request itself because within that is the question or questions that are being asked by the rater, which would then be the driver for the new C&P exam. The DBQ‘s may look to be complete, but I see DBQ‘s sometimes that are full of all kinds of things written down as rationale, or citations for medical documents or reports or studies, and other things, but none of it actually addresses what was asked. Kind of like those term papers you write in college every now and then after you’ve had a bad weekend and there’s something due on Monday. You throw literally everything you can add to it and hope that the instructor gets lost in the details without seeing the whole picture, and the simplicity of what was actually being asked. I see this a lot with the swampy type of lawyer firms that basically upfront promise to increase your rating by X etc., etc. and then the documentation that they provide to the ratings people is full of all sorts of legalese and half theories and generally rubberstamp opinions from examiners that they have agreements with or relationships with, but none of it necessarily matches up completely with your service treatment records or your personnel records. The opinions being made are not supported with a decent rationale or citation of the medical records as to why that opinion is being made by the examiner, it just sort of comes out of nowhere.

Insomnia is rated as a MH condition, unless it is specifically physical like OSA.

You can always use both just remember that if you send us. 4142/4142a release to gather private records file you that does not compel your outside provider to cooperate, cooperate timely, not charge for records, etc., and VA is not budgeted an allotment to pay for private records whether they be medical, civil, or criminal (in the case of MST, for example). In those instances it’s faster that you do whatever it is your private provider or local LE requires to release records to you and then you copy or scan and send to us.

Yes, you can continue to submit up until the point when it is in "Rating".

Yes

No. If you don't authorize it the providers won't share it. The control is on the providers' side, and yours.

You're aren't 100%, and your state and county, even, can make their own rules about whether they accept TDIU the same as a 100% schedular rating. My state, for example, does not. If you aren't 100% schedular you don't get property tax exemptions, etc. You are not going to see 100% reflected when you log into the computer because you aren't rated 100%. They're isn't anything for the RO to correct.

What did you, or your doctor, write on the 8940 that you used to apply for tdiu?

If those other contentions are considered part of tdiu then they aren't separate. Yes, they are, but it gets missed so sometimes you need to ask.

I would leave out the references to your other family members, and to SSA. VA will already know that you are SSDI/SSA, its part of what we look up. The references to your family may be useful if they were discovery for court, but VA disability is about you, and only you. if it didn't happen to you or wasn't experienced by you, it didn't happen. I would simplify your support statement down to the bare minimum of What you have for a service connection event and any treatment in service or complaint in service, something that shows you have a current disability now, and then briefly explain how you think they are related. Posting studies about things that you weren't directly involved with (like medical trials, for example) doesn't do much for you because the studies aren't about 'you', they are cross-section of other people. VA, for good or ill, is only concerned about you- its like the MST claims I work on- you may have a personal trauma event/PTSD or similar because of something you witnessed, but for MST specifically if you saw something happen to someone ELSE its not an MST based claim, because MST by definition has to be experienced by you. Bronco pretty much covered the rest.

HLRs by legal definition, can’t introduce new evidence. They only consider what was in the claim at the time it was denied, a review of the claim as it was. Superman’s can consider new evidence that is new and or relevant, though.