georgiapapa

Congratulations. I hope you get your retro soon. You have waited too long already. I know it will never happen but congress should pass a bill requiring the government to pay penalties and interest in cases like yours. Good luck to you.

Carlie, After reading your comments I checked out WWP on the Charity Navigator website. As usual, you are right. Only 57.9 % of WWP funds are spent on the programs and services it delivers. The CEO of WWP has an annual salary of $311,538. To say I am disappointed would be an understatement. There are several other charities listed on Charity Navigator that spend over 90% of their revenue on similar programs and services for veterans and their families. In the future, I will checkout the charity before I donate. Thanks.

I don't think the social security retirement will have any effect on your TDIU. I am 100% P &T and draw social security retirement along with federal CSRS retirement. Good luck to you.

Definitely agree with Mike about the buddy letters and IMO.

The pentagon claims there was never any agent orange on Okinawa. Another lie by the pentagon. It will probably take twenty years or more before the military or VA acknowledges the fact that military personnel were exposed to Agent Orange while stationed in Okinawa and deserve compensation for their medical conditions presumed to be caused by agent orange. I hope I am wrong.

I will keep donating to WWP as long as the need exists and right now a lot of veterans and their families need WWP to do the things our government has failed to do for them. I totally agree with John999's comments.

Hopefully your RO has your sleep clinic records showing your sleep apnea diagnosis. Good luck to you.

Hollis, Nothing the VA dies surprises me anymore. My hearing test C & P in 2010 was at VAMC Augusta which is 120 miles from my home. I could not understand why they didn't send me to VAMC Decatur which is 80 miles from my home. I was afraid to ask them to change my appointment so I just drove the extra miles, and got mileage for it too.

Hollis, In checking the VAMC Tuskegee website, it doesn't show audiology services under healthcare services offered. Did you have a previous hearing test at Tuskegee?

I don't think you will qualify for social security disability while working. If the sleep clinic gave you a CPAP machine, you have sleep apnea. Did you have a sleep study prior to your C & P exam and did you submit the sleep study report as part of your evidence to the RO for your sleep apnea claim? I just do not understand how the C & P examiner thinks you do not have sleep apnea if they were made aware of your sleep apnea diagnosis by the sleep clinic.

Congratulations and good luck.

Great news. Congratulations and good luck.

Hopefully it will be good news.

Congratulations and good luck with P & T

NavyWife, I understand your frustration and appreciate your comments about the Vietnam vets, Korean vets and gulf war vets. Regardless of when or where we served we must stand together and try to do everything possible to make sure our fellow veterans are not denied the benefits they earned.

I like the FDC concept but it does seem to be unfair to the veterans with older claims filed before the FDC program was implemented. As with other VA initiatives, fairness is not always a priority. Look at the VA family caregiver program. It is a great program but it is only available to post 9/11 vets. Nothing fair about that but it sounded great in the news media and the costs were kept lower by not offering the program to the pre 9/11 vets as well.

I don't blame you for using private medical providers. I have service connected cancer and heart disease and I go to private doctors for both conditions.

As Mike stated the new VA bill might change current VA policy regarding approval to use private medical providers but I believe you would have to live more than 40 miles away from the nearest VA medical facility or have been waiting more than 30 days for an appointment at a VA facility. I might be wrong.

Welcome to Hadit. Great advice given above by Carlie and John. Good luck to you.

JT24usn, I might be wrong but I thought 63Sierra was asking if a veteran filed a FDC for a new SCN condition while the veteran had a claim pending for another condition (not related to the new FDC claimed condition), would the FDC become a regular claim? The link you provided did seem to answer the question that a veteran could not file a new FDC claim while another claim or appeal is pending. However, your comment "the whole purpose of FDC is to file everything up front" is true if we were talking about evidence for the same condition but as 63Sierra stated "health problems are a constantly changing situation." A veteran can develop a new condition while another claim is pending. For example, an AO veteran has a claim pending for hearing loss and the veteran suddenly develops chest pains which are diagnosed as SCN Ischemic Heart Disease. The veteran would like to go ahead and file an FDC for IHD but the VA prohibits the filing of an FDC while another claim is pending. This is unfair to veterans regardless of how you try to justify it. In regards to filing a FDC while an appeal is pending, You stated there is no fast way to get a file back from the BVA. If the VA would join the modern world and use an up to date database where the veteran's complete file was on the computer so it could be accessed at any time it would not be necessary to wait for an original file to come back from BVA as long as the VA updates their files each day. One team could be working on one claim while another team is working on another claim (including FDC claims) filed by the same veteran because both teams would have access to the same files at the same time. I know what I am suggesting is not the way the VA currently operates, I am just saying the VA is behind the times and they could change if they really had the veteran's best interest at heart. I worked for the federal government for over 25 years and I always hated it when someone made a good improvement suggestion and received the response "well that is the way we have always done it." Just my opinion.

63Sierra, You posted a good question. According to the above link it appears you can not file a FDC for a new condition if you already have a pending claim or appeal pending for another condition. I guess a new claim, even if it is a FDC claim, can not be processed until a final decision is made on old claims or appeals. If I am reading it wrong I hope others will let us know. I guess if you had a pending claim for a minor condition and later developed a SCN major life threatening condition, you could withdraw your claim for the minor condition and then file the FDC for the major condition. In my opinion the veteran is penalized if they file another claim (FDC or standard claim) while another claim or appeal is pending. The VA claims system should be set up so they are capable of processing additional claims later filed by the same veteran without delaying a pending claim or appeal. Your entire C-file should be on a VA database where more than one person or team at the VARO could process new claims filed by a veteran and not delay or interfere with current claims or appeals. Just my opinion.

Congratulations and good luck.

Great advice given by NavyWife.

Welcome to Hadit. Sounds like you have a lot on your plate. Hopefully other Hadit members with situations similar to yours can be of assistance. I would suggest you provide specific questions or concerns that you have regarding the information you listed in your posts. Good luck.

My experience with IRIS has been mixed. If I sent a general question regarding VA polices or procedures which did not require a response from my regional office, I usually received a response within ten days. If I sent a question that required a response from my regional office (e.g.- current status of my claim, etc.), I never received an actual answer to my question in a timely manner and/or the response I received really did not answer my question.