ptsd New 100-percenter With Qs

[Testvet]

Pete I am not real smart but doesn't anxeity get covered under mental issues, and I have always heard that part of the 100% rating schedular is for the fact that you are not employable, if a veteran who is rated 100% for any mental issue then enrolls in school fulltime is actually showing that they are not 100% disabled so yes while I am sure the VA wants the veterans to rehabilitate does it actually do the veteran good to prove he is "better" per se when he still has the same problems, and thus while trying to better themselves the VA then uses that same "help" to pull the rug out from under them financially and on review lowers them to 70% or even 50%.

I am not encouraging anyone not to better themselves, I am just questioning the wisdom of shooting yourself in the foot and putting your 100% at risk we all know in a year or so of being 100% they will give the veteran the P&T rating and then his spouse can use the benefit and if the veteran moves to SC the kids would then get free college as a state benefit and could keep the Chapter 35 benefits to pay for books a car etc.

[john999]

You would think the VA would do every thing in the world to encourage a 100% vet to get rehabilitated, so that he could work. The end result would be a reduced benefit, but it would be worth it to the VA and the Vet. I would rather be making a good living at a good job than collecting 100% for 40 years. No promotion possibility at 100%. The question is does the VA see it that way? They used my being in school to keep me at 10% for years. They said if you are able to go to college how can you be seriously disabled. They used my college dergee to question my disability, and to call me a liar for saying I could not work. We are dealing with assholes.

[Pete53]

Testvet:

In 1998 I went back to School for 1 year. If I had not been retaking courses to bring my average up so I could get a Teachers Certificate I would have made the Deans List for 2 Semesters. Anyway I increased my GPA from 2.012 to over 2.9 and if I could have continued I was eligible to get a Teaching Certificate because I had over 2.5 overall GPA.

I was in Voc Rehab and the VA Voc Rehab decided to require me to sign a statement that I knew that VA could look at my 100% P&T Rating. I refused and dropped those plans. Its to bad cause I think I could have made it but that is another story.

When a Veteran is in Voc Rehab going to school it is not proof that they can work. I had tudors and was assisted by American with Disability Act which allowed me to take my tests independent of the class and others help by the University.

So to me this falls into the VA netherworld that says yes you can work if you are 100% P&T but maybe we will lower your rating if we feel like it.

Going to School is considered rehab and until you get a job it should not be used to give a low ball rating. Just my opinion.

Now for the conclusion most of us worked to damn hard to get 100% why put it in jeopardy? I just mind my own business and wait for the check.

[Testvet]

Pete, I agree it's a damned if you do and a damned if you don't, my ex son in laws father was mad when they awarded him TDIU and then threw him out of Voc Rehab, he also wanted to be a teacher....but vets have to jump thru the hoops to get either 100% or IU and then to put it at risk by any way just seems contradictory.

But all of us are different and we all dance to a different beat, but all things have to be considered, advantages and disadvantages and what do you want from life and what can you really do if you get a degree and the VA decides to review and then decides you are better, and we all know if is easier for the VA to reduce a 100% award than an IU award, the only way to really lose an IU award is if the veteran gets a job and shows they are capable of working other than that it is really hard for them to claim you are better.

a 100% on the other hand can easily be reduce to 70% or even 50% based on a C&P exam and a DRO that is looking to cut compensation awards. You really are not safe until you have the 20 years of comp payments on the books. I hope I live long enough

But it is a tough decision for younger guys to make it's that question of the bird in the bush or the birds flying around

me I am a recluse so my decisions are easy

[out_here04]

I'm aware that I would need to be 100 percent P/T for my daughter to get Chapter 35, versus Chapter 30, which is the actual GI Bill. I would just like to have seen the new GI Bill come out with more veterans eligible to transfer the benefit to their dependents, particularly since many of the SCs make it difficult or impossible for a DV to even consider going to or back to school. Currently, there are many service-connected veterans from Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom who have suffered traumatic brain injury, PTSD, or other trigger SCs better left unsaid. Many of those probably have at least 36 months of post-9/11 active-duty time which fully qualifies them for the new super-dooper GI Bill --the one that pays for tuition at the highest rate in the (academically-qualified) veterans state of residence. If I'm not mistaken, as written, the only ones who can transfer the new GI Bill will be on active-duty on Aug. 9, 2009.

One of the briefers at a transition briefing I attended, before discharge in 2004, mentioned a 100 percent veteran going to college who was interested in becoming a public speaker about his military experiences. I think he said the vet was going to school at his house, because he didn't socialize well in that particular type of environment as attending classes. VA had provided a computer as well as paid for the tuition and books. His future speaking goals were likely going to be paid endeavors, but I don't know. I just hope he was able to transition into a better life, no matter how the VA might slide the compensation scale down and thus affect his rating.

My thought on this is that, yes, we may pursue higher education or better qualification for the workplace (as he did), but it sure as hell --in most cases, I would venture to guess-- is not as easy as it is for the typical American (without a disability) who breezes through school. If not for that veterans SC maybe he could have had a much more lucrative salary or net worth as anything he might even now be able to achieve.

I've never had a reason to think about it until now, but don't civilian students with disabilities who are drawing Social Security go to school or are all SS recipients cloistered in their homes or medical facilities? If they are going to school or involved in a work program, does the SSA strip them of their benefits because they are doing so, or does the SS check help pay for their tuition or fees? If they graduate and can obtain gainful employment because of that, I would guess they do have their SS lowered or discontinued, which makes what I'm about to say even more of a debate on that topic.

To me, the veteran's compensation should be for what was suffered and has to live with because of military service, which without this country would be nothing. Anything the veteran can overcome and persevere through and accomplish is our right to pursue the American Dream. If Bill Gates or T. Boone Pickens were VA-rated at 100 percent, I don't see why they shouldn't deserve the rating as well as the profits they have earned through diligence and hard work. I know the VA doesn't think like that (especially since the back-pay would be prohibitive to them) and I'm preaching to the choir, but they damn well should. :P

Finally, someone mentioned on here that the, or a, former Veterans Administration director was rated at 100 percent. If he had any GI Bill left or got hired on with Bill Gates or T. Boone Pickens, would he lose his rating? Hmmm...

[WhoopAssSmitty]

Bro,

If VA/rater said IU was a "moot" point, then he/she based your 100% scheduler on some disability, which may or may not ever improve.

Here's the differences:

as a Vet, with 100% IU P&T you can not work, you and your doctors say your conditions are so severe, you can't work and offering you VOC REHAB or anything else is a waste of time and resources.

AS a vet with 100& scheduler, you can work and work all you want.

Take that with a grain of salt!

If your rating was for 100% for a mental issue, then you can forget working and if you do go to work, VA WILL Call you in for a reexam and reduce your rating to your last know rating level.

With 100% IU P&T your family gets chapter 35 benefits, meaning they can go to college for free.

AS a vet, with 10% up to 100% Scheduler, you can use CH31. Voc Rehab and go back to school and earn a degree for example in a field, that will not aggrivate your service connected disabilites.

Your educational goals are YOUR PLAN, you've got to research and sell your educational goals.

You've also got to show future employment possibilites, what kind of work, certifications,etc...you'l need. It's all completely doable, but it requires work from your part.

VOC REHAB is an AWESOME benefit.

Why use the montgomery GIBILL? Save that for your Masters later on down the road!

Use your CH31 Voc rehab...let them pay for your school, tuition, books, computers, tutors, certifications, etc....

For the vet, who's 100% IU P&T.....well you can file for under voc rehab, for the ILP program, again, it's your plan and this is a program set up to help improve YOUR QUALITY OF LIFE AT AND AROUND YOUR HOME!!

Do not use key words such as for hobbies and things like that....use words that say "if I had this or that, it would help keep my mind, hands active and would help make me feel better about myself, because I have something constructive to do."

Now this was just an example....but I hope this helps you understand a bit better about the ILP program.

As for the other issues and benefits, I hope I explained those well enough also.

Regards,

Whoop