georgiapapa

Good luck boomer2 and bhoward422. bhoward422, if your C&P exam for hearing is like the one I had, the exam will be conducted where you are in a sound proof booth wearing a headset on your ears and the examiner will be outside of the booth pressing a button which sends tone sounds of different frequencies to your headset. You will press a button whenever you hear a tone. The examiner will test one ear at a time. While in the soundproof booth, the examiner will also administer a speech discrimination test where the examiner will say different words and you repeat the words back to the examiner. Prior to my exam, the examiner conducted an interview with me and asked about my noise exposure in the military and after the military. She asked about civilian recreational (hunting, music concerts, etc.) or occupational (civilian work) noise exposure. She also asked if I had any ringing in my ears. I responded "yes" and she asked if the ringing noise was constant and I responded "yes." She also asked how long I had the ringing in my ears and I responded "since I was in the military." The examiner also asked what my military occupational specialty (MOS) was in the military and I responded "field artillery." Your responses are important. I was awarded 10% for hearing loss and 10% for tinnitus.

Forgot to mention, your reimbursement for travel to medical appointments goes back to the effective date of your award. You can contact travel office at your VAMC and request the reimbursement.

Congratulations. With a 30% rating you are entitled to reimbursement for travel to VA appointments.

I use the discount at Lowes and Home Depot. Never had a problem except one Home Depot employee told me I could not use the discount on sale items. I went to another register and the employee applied the discount to all of my items including the sale items.

Berta, Happy to see DIC was granted in this case. Just curious, would there have been any additional compensation for the widow if service connection had been granted?

My retro was also direct deposited in my account before I received my official notification.

Disgusting. Veterans and/or their families should be able to file civil lawsuits against the VA when incidents like this happen. The VA should also have to pay interest when there are unjustified delays.

Congratulations on your win. When My disability rating reached the 50% level, I contacted the pharmacy at my local VAMC to request a refund. They advised me they would conduct an audit and send me a check. I received my pharmacy reimbursement check about a month later.

If they are really serious and start prosecuting VA employees they will have to keep federal grand juries in session for years to prosecute those who deserve to be prosecuted. They will also have a lot of job vacancies at the VA. If whistleblowers continue to come forward and veterans continue to complain to their congressman the politicians will know they risk losing their jobs if they ignore the problems and fail to take appropriate action. Time will tell.

Congratulations on your increase.

This is the type of healthcare you might expect to receive in a third world country. If you use the VA to provide healthcare for a life threatening condition (cancer, heart disease,etc.), you are placing your life in jeopardy. I have a cousin who recently went to the VAMC in Baltimore for his annual physical. He told his PCP that he was having some of the same symptoms he experienced in the past when he was diagnosed with coronary artery disease by a private cardiologist in Pennsylvania. My cousin asked for referral to a VA cardiologist. The PCP conducted an EKG and chest X-ray on my cousin and told him "your heart is ok, you don't need to see a cardiologist." After he continued to experience symptoms, my cousin decided to go to a cardiologist at John Hopkins Medical Center in Baltimore. After thorough testing at John Hopkins it was determined that he needed immediate quadruple by pass surgery on his heart. He had the surgery and is doing fine at this time. I would never use the VAMC for anything other than minor health issues. When I see my private oncologist and cardiologist I provide copies of their medical reports to the VA when I have my annual exam. I do not use the VA for my serious service connected conditions (cancer and coronary artery disease).

Good luck. Hope you get good news.

Veterans again suffer the consequences of a dysfunctional agency and VA personnel who either don't know what they are doing or who do know what they are doing and just don't care.

Congratulations on your long deserved win. Good luck to you.

Congratulations on the award for PTSD and good luck on the other issues.

I should have said A and C.

You definitely need A or C. A good IMO is better than a DBQ but a DBQ is better than nothing.

I actually had my retro direct deposited in the bank a couple of days before I received my official decision package from VA. Check your bank account.

Navy you are right. The most reliable advocate we have is the one we see in the mirror. It's ok to seek advice but it is up to each of us to make sure the advice is accurate, up to date and actually applies in our particular situation.

Call me a pessimist but I don't believe anything that comes out of a politician's mouth until I actually see it happen.

Congratulations and continued good luck. I am surprised that you were told it will take 6 months for retro.

If the VA's justification for giving you 0% for sinus issues is because you did not receive VA treatment, the VA screwed up. A majority of the evidence I submitted with my claims was from private medical providers. About the only medical issue I know of that requires VA treatment is PTSD.

In the past I periodically checked medical appointments on the e-benefits web site. On at least three different occasions I discovered the VAMC had scheduled appointments for me but failed to call or send me a notice. I had not changed my address or telephone number. I would have missed the appointments if I had not checked the medical schedule on e-benefits.

Welcome. Just because you are now under VA healthcare and not under DOD healthcare does not mean they have the right to lower the standard of healthcare you are entitled to receive. Your PCP sounds like a jerk who should not be working in the VA healthcare system. Ask for a new PCP and tell them why you are requesting the change.

John, Good luck to you. I hope you qualify for the inspire system. Hopefully, medicare and blue cross will at least pay part of the costs.