Hamslice

Va math is simple. Not sure where your scar is, but it don't matter either way right now. So both ways, its 94 rounded down to 90. Bilateral's are always first. Add 10% to total. Left leg 10 Right leg 10 + 10 = 19 + 1.9 = 20.9 rounded up to 21 Single maladies, highest first, even though it don't matter. PTSD, 21 + 70 = 76 Apnea 76 + 50 = 88 IBS 88 + 30 = 92 Tinnitus 92 + 10 = 93 Scar 93 + 10 = 94 94 rounded down to 90 Or, if your scar is related to your legs, Bilateral's always first. Left leg 10 Right leg 10 + 10 = 19 Scar 19 + 10 = 27 + 2.7 = 29.7 rounded up to 30 Singles next high to low PTSD 30 + 70 = 79 Apnea 79 + 50 = 90 IBS 90 + 30 = 93 Tinnitus 93 + 10 = 94 94 rounded down to 90 Note: I have found the calculator to be wrong once. So, I use it as a quick guide, but I like to use the pencil to be accurate. FWIW, Hamslice

I am no fan of the hearing tests. My initial test with the VA, for which I was service connected for hearing loss in both ears at 0% and one ear 10% for tinnitus, the examiner told me "don't forget me when you get your hearing aids". So, there's that. In a test two years ago for a "denied" increase, when in the chamber, I heard a lot of air coming in or out or whatever, and when I said something about it he just turned up the volume. So not sure that they can an do manipulate the volume to help the scoring. My left ear is definitely worse than my right ear, but the VA says not enough for comp. My word recognition was 100% at my last C&P, even though sometimes I can not hear my wife when she talks to me, especially during football games on TV. Just sayin, Hamslice

How is your VA doctor supposed to treat you if you do not do the tests he requires to do his evaluation. I think sometimes we overthink things. I don't believe the VA has a team of people going over our records to see if we have gone to the doctor since our last C&P and rating looking for things to downgrade or deny. Now, when you do claim an increase to a rated condition, I do believe the VA is going to look at your medical records to see if the increase is justified. The simple answer would be to ask the doctor why he wants the test and what he is looking for. He may be thinking one or more of you abilities have degraded and he wants to know what is attributing to it. When my dad started with his Parkinson's, they tested him for a lot of things to rule out stuff. Which is more important to you, your health or fearing a conspiracy from the VA? I pick my health, and I will worry about the VA spies (those bastards) later, Hamslice

"SSI is available to individuals who have either never worked or who have not workedenough work quarters to qualify for Social Security disability insurance. However, eligibility is subject to income and asset limits." I believe you can have a home and one car and a maximum of $2000.00 in the bank. My mom gets my dads SSI, but because she is in a nursing home and on MediCaid (not MediCare), she is subject to the income and asset limits just like SSI.. This is why many old people bury money and or hide money at home. Just sayin, Hamslice

You have had to work in the 5 years prior to applying for SSDI. Exceptions I do not think exist. In other words, if you haven't worked in that last 5 years, you will not get SSDI. From what I know, Hamslice

Not only that, but the VA, during a C&P, can advise you to fill a claim for something they, the doc, sees during your exam. But if you do not file, well you are just out. I have had it happen twice, but, I did take their advise, and I did get service connected. But the date is the date of MY new claim, not the date of the exam where the doc told me to file, etc. You need to file, and file now for what you think you may have a claim for. Just like getting married and reserving the best place to have it, you send out a "save the date" card. You need to file your "save the date" claim as soon as possible. Worry about the details later. Just sayin, Hamslice

You can appeal it within a year of the decision letter, or, You can file for an increase. There is know-one you can call to say, hey, I think I should have been rated higher. The VA don't work that way. I filed for an increase on what I thought was scored low. Got an increase on one and was denied on one. I have never appealed anything. Yet... Keep in mind, the VA usually low-balls first claims. Because they can, Just sayin, Hamslice

Paul, In all of your examples, the person was leaning forward in the foxhole and doing the right thing. You need to remember, only 3% percent of the US population can qualify for service and only a little over 1% actual go in., so with that said, anyone leaving for the service is in a small group of people. Good people. I always tell the truth about my service. I went to my daughters 2nd grade class when I was home on leave from Iraq in 2003. "Did you shoot any Iraqi's" was the theme when the Q&A started. I was honest and said no and then told them about the bad Iraqi's we detained and all the great things we were doing for the Iraqi people. Which as an Engineering Unit, we were. There were twin 8 year old brothers that seemed to know more about the weapons I was assigned than I did, but that's a whole other story. It was easy telling the truth, and even at eight years old, I think they would have known if I tried to tell a whopper. Now, just the other day, while working, I had the opportunity to talk to a frequent flyer, (I'm a cop, he's a suspect), and I tell him that I was in the military. Keep in mind, I know his age, and date of birth and criminal history. He proceeds to tell me that they were training him for Vietnam, but he could not go because of his leg? I was eleven years old when Vietnam ended and he is three years younger than me. So, I guess the military was training an 8 year old for combat way back when. He is the typical bull-shitter that gets his ass handed to him in a bar fight, and then he will tell me he don't know how or what happened. Anyway, Paul, the truth is the best. Especially with your kids. They will understand either way, but you will feel better not having to double down on a lie when its eventually found out. My wife and kids know everything they want to know about me and what I have done and been through. I don't elaborate, but I do not hide either. If they care about it and ask, I tell them. Simple. Life is to short to try and hide from it, Hamslice And, yes, you are a Veteran

In this case, it looks like a "private opinion" helped the Veteran. As I have said before, the Army (military) buys you whole and returns you whole, or compensates you for the differences. You just got to prove the differences. LOL, Hamslice Nice read, Paul. Good job!

Every situation and or circumstance is not the same for everyone, when dealing with the VA. The original poster was pretty vague on what he is paying for and for an almost guarantee of going from 50 to 100% this might his best bargain. It might be he needs help putting it all together. Like he said, Dr Bash saw things in his record that he had not, so there is that. I do read a couple of posters on this site often that have been struggling more than a few years with the same issue and fighting the VA with bad results, but who refuse to get a IME/O or hire a lawyer. God bless Buck for trying to help them, but, if it were up to me, I would pitch in for a helmet for when they continue to bang their heads against the wall, and send them packing. They disappear for about six months and come back on with the same going nowhere questions, which are answered and then not followed. Maybe he has more money than time, etc. Or maybe he just likes to overpay. I do that some times. Hell, I'll pay twice for a good steak just so my cheap father-in-law stays home. From everything I have ever read on Dr. Bash, he looks to be the Tom Brady of IMO/IME's. Thank God, I haven't needed or used either yet. I did look into getting one a few years ago, but I live so far from the real world, the nearest doc is many states away. So, I can't just run to the big city and get one. One day, I might send of my record(s) to have one of these guru's look through it to see what I did wrong. Anyway, I hope the OP gets good service and is successful in his claims, whatever the cost, and most important, a return on his investment. Hamslice

pwrslm, If he was NG and at AIT, his unit and State HQ should have done an LOD (Line of Duty) for this. He needs to submit that with a claim and and get service connected for it. Then work on the increase and any/all of the secondaries that can be attributed to it. Service connection is most important. Is he in the VA system already? Vetquest, Thanks for posting the letter. I was medevac'd in Iraq in 03' for a body temp of 105.8 degrees. I was packed in ice and hospitalized for 4 days, and then returned to duty. When I filled my initial claim with the VA, that was part of my claim regards gastroenteritis, which I had because of the heat stroke, but was denied. As usual, I don't think I claimed it correctly. When I file my next batch, I am going to file for heat exhaustion as that is what is on the medical records for that event. And when I filled that first claim, I didn't not have the records I have now for that event. Anyway, with that letter and my medical records, I should be able to get service connected for it, hopefully for more than a 0%, but I will take that for a start. I know some short term memory loss and I do not tolerate the heat very well. And the not tolerating heat is and has been in my medical records since 2004 to this day. I will have to read my counseling notes from my VA OCD appointments and claim (denied) to see if my short term memory problem was claimed wrong and (s)could have been attributed to heat stroke. Thanks again, Hamslice

"If the veteran’s spouse is a patient in a nursing home, or if the spouse is blind, nearly blind, or disabled so as to require regular assistance from another person, the monthly increase in the veteran’s payment is $286 for a veteran who is rated permanently disabled. The monthly payment is proportionately less for veterans with a disability rating between 30 and 90 percent." The above is from the link Berta posted. Buck, This is what I receive for helping my disabled wife. I am at 80% and I get an extra $122 a month. I filled out a VA form, had her doctor do his part and I did put in my own narrative of what I do for my wife, i.e., help her out of bed 100%, cook for her 50%, help bath 50%, etc. etc. This is the only thing through the VA for my situation that I know of. I do pay out of pocket for a cook/cleaning lady 1-3 times a week depending on my work schedule. Currently about $600 a month. And, just so you know, its hard to get good help. And lock your prescriptions up when they are "helping" out. Just sayin.. Your fired. You being 100% there is a lot more for you with insurance etc., when it comes to long term care from what I read in Berta's link. I will be keeping that in mind when I get a little older. LOL... Tricare for life in less than three years for me. Anyway, Thanks Berta for the link, And I hope you get some much needed help, Buck, Hamslice

This is what I can tell you that worked for my spouse. We were denied twice because MS (Multiple Sclerosis) is not on their list of maladies. You will be denied if your problem is not on their list. The list is on the SSDI site. After much research online, I found a legal aid place for SSDI called ALLSEP. The good news about ALLSEP is that they are paralegals, not lawyers, so I assume it costs less, and they have a very high success rate. The bad news is, they have a very high success rate because they "will not" take your case if they do not think they will win. So, you will know if you have a case or not right away for free. First call is free, etc. They won my wife's case and she had to pay a percentage of the back-pay, plus supplies, etc. So, in our case we got 6000 in back pay and they kept 2000 of it. Also, when you get SSDI, you don't get a check for the first six months, and you don't get medicare for 24 months. But, in our case, we traded getting SSDI monthly for a year of medicare, because ALLSEP settled the case in three months instead of waiting 18 months (the going time-frame for a hearing in Wisconsin). So, we got the monthly payments six months after we settled and had to wait 30 months to get medicare. Also, a biggie is your age when it comes to SSDI. In our case they settled on my wife's birthday, because she turned 50. I have other posts on here regards age(s) and SSDI. It is very different than the VA and VA comp. FWIW, Hamslice I have no affiliation with ALLSEP, none, whatsoever.

Great news, Hamslice

October 21st, 2018. Just throwing it out there, Hamslice