Cue Held Up By Appeal

[Bossman]

VA presented me with a proposal on January 18th 2007 and I requested a hearing on January 25th 2007. I never received the hearing and my compensation was reduced from 80% to 60%. I found out that they made a terrible error (http://www.warms.vba.va.gov/admin21/m21_1/...2/ch02_secc.doc) and I should not have been reduced.

Now, I have an appeal in with VA to prove to them that I had knee surgery to reattach my Quad tendons to my patellas (bi-lateral). My Doctor has already sent a letter by me that it is knee but when I got a copy of my C-file the letter was not there.

My VSO is telling me that I should wait until the raters correct my knee issue. I do not believe that is the case because they do not have the letter that they asked me to get to show that what I had was knee surgery. I am SC for my knees.

As my VSO explained it, I should wait until they settle the issue with my knees. If I changed to pursue the CUE (which would move me to 90%) they would have to remove my files to a different area to be worked and that would cause a delay with them recognizing that I had knee surgery even though they do not have the letter for my surgeon and over the last 10 days they have not requested it. I was told by my VSO to wait on the VCC letter. My P.O. Box is less than 2 miles away.

Am I being advised correctly?

[Bossman]

well..that's really hard to say. It shouldn't have. You should have been contacted to straighten the whole thing out. Especially since there were so many irons in the fire at one time. BUt, it's hard to say what actually happened. They may not have done a review, and they may not have even seen your NOD(s). The only thing that is for certain in this case is that it got screwed up bad somewhere. I would start off with the IRIS to see what the actual effective date of the redution was. Then I would find out why you haven't heard anything on your other appeals/what stage of the process they are in. Then I would go into action on both of them. You're going to have some work to do, and it will take a while to straighten it all out, but it can be done. You are in the right place to learn how to work your claim with confidence. You just need to find out the preliminary information to see which direction to go.

thank you again Rentalguy1,

Tomorrow morning I will add this to my IRIS inquiry.

[Bossman]

well..that's really hard to say. It shouldn't have. You should have been contacted to straighten the whole thing out. Especially since there were so many irons in the fire at one time. BUt, it's hard to say what actually happened. They may not have done a review, and they may not have even seen your NOD(s). The only thing that is for certain in this case is that it got screwed up bad somewhere. I would start off with the IRIS to see what the actual effective date of the redution was. Then I would find out why you haven't heard anything on your other appeals/what stage of the process they are in. Then I would go into action on both of them. You're going to have some work to do, and it will take a while to straighten it all out, but it can be done. You are in the right place to learn how to work your claim with confidence. You just need to find out the preliminary information to see which direction to go.

Hello Rentalguy1,

I finally got a response from IRIS today. Guess what? They said that they do not see anything that show that I filed a request for a hearing on January 25, 2007. They also said that my effective date for the reduction was July 1, 2007.

Of course you know that I responded to their response. I happen to have a copy of my C-file and there is a copy of my request in my C-file and it has a claims assistance name on it and a time and date stamp. I suggested in my response that the copy of the 2148 in my C-file is proof that they had my request and since they logged in my request in a timely manner they should not have reduced my compensation without further follow-up (a hearing).

Let's see what angle they come from now. The box is getting smaller.

[Berta]

Are you saying that they reduced you already?

After you requested a hearing?

That set of initials and numbers-if this is near the date area of a letter from VA- this is a code for the person who has your claim.(usually their initials)

Maybe the Iris person simply didnt really look over the C file before they responded to you- in any event you might have to get a little tough to get this squared away-

Atlanta Georgia

Thomas Sanders VSCM 1-404-929-5721

Stephanie Di Bello AVSCM 1-404-929-5497 ( phone numbers as of 2007)

[Bossman]

Are you saying that they reduced you already?

Yes, as of July 1, 2007

After you requested a hearing?

Yes, I requested a hearing on January 25, 2007 in reponse to the proposed reduction dated January 18, 2007.

That set of initials and numbers-if this is near the date area of a letter from VA- this is a code for the person who has your claim.(usually their initials)

No, the full name of the person and his title (Claim Asst.) was in the middle of the form 21-4138 and also written a little above the name and to the left side was, "Appeal Issue".

Maybe the Iris person simply didnt really look over the C file before they responded to you- in any event you might have to get a little tough to get this squared away-

I sent a reopen email back through IRIS stating that the form is in my folder and I also told them where it is located. They referenced another form 4138 that was Approx. 12 pages past the form that I was referring to in my inquiry.

Atlanta Georgia

Thomas Sanders VSCM 1-404-929-5721

Stephanie Di Bello AVSCM 1-404-929-5497 ( phone numbers as of 2007)

[Bossman]

Are you saying that they reduced you already?

After you requested a hearing?

That set of initials and numbers-if this is near the date area of a letter from VA- this is a code for the person who has your claim.(usually their initials)

Maybe the Iris person simply didnt really look over the C file before they responded to you- in any event you might have to get a little tough to get this squared away-

HOW DO i GET TOUGHER WITH THEM?

By the way, the updated info for Thomas is....

Thomas O. Sanders/AR

Veterans Service Center Manager

How to Contact VA:

On line: www.va.gov

By phone: 1-800-827-1000

1-800-829-4833 (TDD hearing impaired)

By letter: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

PO Box 100021

I should have a response by Friday the 29th.

Atlanta Georgia

Thomas Sanders VSCM 1-404-929-5721

Stephanie Di Bello AVSCM 1-404-929-5497 ( phone numbers as of 2007)

[Bossman]

Are you saying that they reduced you already?

After you requested a hearing?

That set of initials and numbers-if this is near the date area of a letter from VA- this is a code for the person who has your claim.(usually their initials)

Maybe the Iris person simply didnt really look over the C file before they responded to you- in any event you might have to get a little tough to get this squared away-

Atlanta Georgia

Thomas Sanders VSCM 1-404-929-5721

Stephanie Di Bello AVSCM 1-404-929-5497 ( phone numbers as of 2007)

Sorry Berta, my mistake I did not pay attention to the 800 number that they sent me on my IRIS response. Your numbers are good.