Recieved A Decision On My Initial Claim Today

[TANKERJOE0]

HELLO EVERYONE,I RECIEVED A DECISION ON MY INITIAL CLAIM TODAY.

I AM DISSAPPOINTED WITH THE DECISION AND AM IN NEED OF HELP ON WHAT MY NEXT STEPS ARE AS FAR AS AN APPEAL??

IM NOT SURE WHAT TO POST OR TELL SO EVERYONE CAN BE FAMILIAR WITH MY CLAIM??

ANY SUGGESTIONS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.

THANKS SO MUCH

TANKERJOE0

[TANKERJOE0]

THANKS SHANE,

I WILL FWD YOU THE DECISION RESULTS.

YES I TRULY BELIEVE I WAS LOW BALLED.

AND IM NOT TO SURE WHY YOU THINK ITS NOT IMPORTANT TO HAVE THE RIGHT DIAGNOSIS ON MY CLAIM??? PTSD VERSUS MOOD DISORDER?

I AM SO BLESSED TO HAVE SUCH WONDERFUL PEOPLE ON THIS SITE TO HELP!!!!

BERTA I WAS TRYING TO SEND YOU A PVT MESSAGE??

AM I NOT ALLOWED TO PM YOU??

THANKS AGAIN TO ALL WHO TAKE THE TIME TO HELP ME.

JOE

[sharon]

THANKS SHANE,

I WILL FWD YOU THE DECISION RESULTS.

YES I TRULY BELIEVE I WAS LOW BALLED.

AND IM NOT TO SURE WHY YOU THINK ITS NOT IMPORTANT TO HAVE THE RIGHT DIAGNOSIS ON MY CLAIM??? PTSD VERSUS MOOD DISORDER?

I AM SO BLESSED TO HAVE SUCH WONDERFUL PEOPLE ON THIS SITE TO HELP!!!!

BERTA I WAS TRYING TO SEND YOU A PVT MESSAGE??

AM I NOT ALLOWED TO PM YOU??

THANKS AGAIN TO ALL WHO TAKE THE TIME TO HELP ME.

A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet. All mental disorders can go to 100 percent. The hard part is over, you are service connected. Now we will work on an increase. Get you doctor to write you a statement as to the severtity of your mood disorder. This will serve as medical evidence and you can ask for a reconsideration. It takes a lot least time than an appeal and you appeal rights are still in tact.

JOE

[rentalguy1]

I've read your decision letter, and my opinion is the same as before. Sometimes I agree with Sharon's position on filing a reconsideration instead of a NOD, but not in this instance. I think a second look at this claim would garner the same outcome. If I were you, I would file a NOD, and ask for a DRO hearing (in person) so that you can personally go over every single piece of evidence that you have in your arsenal and get it recorded on tape so that the VA will have to acknoweldge it. If they want to send you for another C&P, jump all over it. It really shouldn't be necessary, but they often do this. In your case, it will give you another opportunity to show the severity of your depression.

The reason I say that a PTSD diagnostic code isn't necessary is because depression, anxiety, mood disorder, PTSD and several other mental health conditions are all rated under the exact same criteria. The name of the disease isn't important. Had the C&P doc not screwed you over, they would have sc'd the PTSD as well, since they acknowledged the stressor in the decision letter. As we've all said though, the tough part is behind you now.

On the deferred issues, I'm not sure if you caught it or not, but they actually have requested C&P's for those conditions. It stated so in the first part of the letter. If you don't hear from the VAMC about these exams soon, you should call the C&P department there and inquire about them. Now, you need to go prepare your NOD.

[bob_abad]

Rentalguy/Berta,

Wouldn't Tankerjoeo be better off with "Request for Reconsideration" instead of NOD? It is much faster, right?

[carlie]

Tanker Joe:

Check again in another 2 months. REsend your NOD again, after they tell you they lost the second one also. Repeat this until you can finally get someone to acknowldge your NOD, this will probably take about 5 or 6 requests, on average, plus one request to the VAOIG, one to the BVA, and one to the media, one to your congressman, and one to Mr. Shineseki, and one to Michelle Obama.

Most of the above is BS.

Write your NOD, if your close enough to your RO - take it in person and get

a date stamped copy. If not close enough send it Certified & RRR, keep the card you get

back from the post office.

Call in a month or so or send an iris to verify receipt of your NOD.

Do not send anything to the VAOIG until you have a reason to do so.

The BVA is not even in the picture for you yet as you are only at the RO level.

Your just getting started the Media doesn't give a sheet until you have something more.

Shineseki barely has his foot in the door - and you JUST git your foot in the door.

Your letter will never get to Michelle Obama.

Doing some of the above can create more problems for you and add time to resolving your disagreement.

jmho,

carlie

[rentalguy1]

Rentalguy/Berta,

Wouldn't Tankerjoeo be better off with "Request for Reconsideration" instead of NOD? It is much faster, right?

Faster doesn't always mean better. A reconsideration would get a faster look at the claim, and they would most likely overlook the important stuff yet again. Conversely, if he asks for a DRO hearing, HE can point out every scrap of evidence that HE wants considered, and it will be tape recorded. It takes away a lot of their wiggle room.