Va Messed Up

[jecsb4]

Called my POA today to see if he new anything about when I may get my award letter. He went over the medical issues with me and mentioned two fairly serious ones that I don't recall as being mine! I told him that and he said I would have to wait for the award letter before I could fix/ report it to VA. He said my pending award of retro was awaiting approval.

I know that I did get an increase in some of my SC, but if the VA over pays me for something that is not my condition then I will have to pay them back. The burden is always on the Veteran and his family, we even have to fix their mistakes!!!

[Berta]

Some medical mumbo jumbo sounds worse than it is- also maybe the VA found some secondary conditions that fully should be rated as SC- hard to say until the award letter comes. They will be part of it.

Dont feel bad-the VA tried to tell my husband he had a hole in his eardrum causing nausea and vertigo-they were aware he was in a large explosion and lost his hearing for a day or so in Vietnam.

In any event he sure didnt claim hearing problems-

he didnt have any.Not even tinnitus.

There was no hole in his eardrum and his vertigo was a series of strokes they kept misdiagnosing.

If the VA has revealed serious conditions that you were unaware of and they were your sole medical provider you could have basis for a 1151 claim.

But I really think that -unless the rep is a doctor too- he might have suggested these were serious when they werent.

Hyperlipedimia is an example- it is not ratable- it can lead to problems however-

it means ones cholestrol is too high and that can be corrected by diet.

[Pete53]

Joe:

Keep it under your hat but if the VA overpays and than wants the money back they have a fairly liberal forgiveness policy but you have to ask for it.

[jecsb4]

Pete & Berta,

The strange thing is the 2 issues due with the brain. I have head issues ie depression & migranes, but what they said was basiclly trauma stuff.

The VA guy gave a chuckle when I said that I didd't think these were my issues, he confirmed my name, DOB, SS#, address even the date of the claim being filed matched. He just thought I was a confused Vet!

The only thing I can think of is there is another guy with same name and almost exact SS#. Because a few years ago I got a VA bill from them and every think match except the last digit of SSN. It took forever to get that bill removed from my name / account.

[Berta]

Joe- did you ever have any inservice injury to your head?

Did VA ever give you an MRI of your head?

It seems they might be considering the migraines as due to a traumatic brain injury that they found in your SMRs.

Traumatic brain injury sounds serious but it could be a result from even getting hit in the head with a baseball, fall from a ladder,IED explosion-

Then again- lets say you had an auto accident post-service- they could attempt to say that you must have suffered a traumatic brain injury from that so -the migraines are not due to your service.

Even a mild concussion could be a potential trauma to the brain.

It seems to me that since you raised these issues the VA is looking for a nexus to establish SC for the migraines and depression or to rule out SC potential.

I wish you could see what the rep is reading- to tell you this info.

Soon you will know -since the award is pending-

Did the rep mention how many signatures they need on the award?

Anything over $25,000 is usually a 3 signature award-

Edited June 21, 2007 by Berta

[john999]

Many years ago the VA began paying me at the 100% rate. I was only 10% SC at the time. I called and told them they were overpaying me. The checks kept coming. I sent the checks back. They kept coming. I started just putting them in the bank. One month the checks just stopped. I never got any notice to repay them. I was overpaid about 200 bucks on my G.I. Bill. The VA hounded me relentlessly. I got that overpayment forgiven because it was a financial burden on me and the VA agreed finally not to take the money out of my check. I wonder how much money the VA loses every year due to their sloppy book keeping. I think that every negative decision the VA makes should be appealed because their is always a way. I even got paid for dental work done while my TDIU claim was being decided. I had the work done before I was rated IU so I asked Fee Base to pay me since I could have used the VA instead of paying out of my pocket if the VA had made the correct decision in the beginning. I got paid.

[LarryJ]

I've got a story even betten than that.

When I got out of the Corps, back in the sixties, my Dad calls me one day and says "Son, you got some mail here from the Gubbermint......looks like a check...." I says, "Dad, hang on to it, I'll pick it up next time I'm home.........".

6 months later, I think to ask Dad about the mail from "the Gubbermint". He hands me six envelopes from "the Gubbermint", six checks, pay-checks, from the Corps, monthly pay-checks.

I call Diego and tell them to stop with the checks, and what do they want me to do with the ones I already received. They say, "We'll call ya right back soon as we talk to the Head Cheese"............two years later....the checks finally quit coming. I tried writing them, calling them, finally gave up about six months after the first call I made. Dad and I just kept putting them into an account down at the local bank. After about ten years, we pulled the money out, wrote a check to cover the entire amount ($$$$$) and sent it to the Marine Crops League (Dad was an old Leatherneck, also).

HOOOORAAAAW!