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Caluza Triangle defines what is necessary for service connection
Tbird posted a record in VA Claims and Benefits Information,
Caluza Triangle – Caluza vs Brown defined what is necessary for service connection. See COVA– CALUZA V. BROWN–TOTAL RECALL
This has to be MEDICALLY Documented in your records:
Current Diagnosis. (No diagnosis, no Service Connection.)
In-Service Event or Aggravation.
Nexus (link- cause and effect- connection) or Doctor’s Statement close to: “The Veteran’s (current diagnosis) is at least as likely due to x Event in military service”-
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Tbird, -
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Post in ICD Codes and SCT CODES?WHAT THEY MEAN?
Timothy cawthorn posted an answer to a question,
Do the sct codes help or hurt my disability ratingPicked By
yellowrose, -
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Post in Chevron Deference overruled by Supreme Court
broncovet posted a post in a topic,
VA has gotten away with (mis) interpreting their ambigious, , vague regulations, then enforcing them willy nilly never in Veterans favor.
They justify all this to congress by calling themselves a "pro claimant Veteran friendly organization" who grants the benefit of the doubt to Veterans.
This is not true,
Proof:
About 80-90 percent of Veterans are initially denied by VA, pushing us into a massive backlog of appeals, or worse, sending impoverished Veterans "to the homeless streets" because when they cant work, they can not keep their home. I was one of those Veterans who they denied for a bogus reason: "Its been too long since military service". This is bogus because its not one of the criteria for service connection, but simply made up by VA. And, I was a homeless Vet, albeit a short time, mostly due to the kindness of strangers and friends.
Hadit would not be necessary if, indeed, VA gave Veterans the benefit of the doubt, and processed our claims efficiently and paid us promptly. The VA is broken.
A huge percentage (nearly 100 percent) of Veterans who do get 100 percent, do so only after lengthy appeals. I have answered questions for thousands of Veterans, and can only name ONE person who got their benefits correct on the first Regional Office decision. All of the rest of us pretty much had lengthy frustrating appeals, mostly having to appeal multiple multiple times like I did.
I wish I know how VA gets away with lying to congress about how "VA is a claimant friendly system, where the Veteran is given the benefit of the doubt". Then how come so many Veterans are homeless, and how come 22 Veterans take their life each day? Va likes to blame the Veterans, not their system.Picked By
Lemuel, -
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Post in Re-embursement for non VA Medical care.
broncovet posted an answer to a question,
Welcome to hadit!
There are certain rules about community care reimbursement, and I have no idea if you met them or not. Try reading this:
https://www.va.gov/resources/getting-emergency-care-at-non-va-facilities/
However, (and I have no idea of knowing whether or not you would likely succeed) Im unsure of why you seem to be so adamant against getting an increase in disability compensation.
When I buy stuff, say at Kroger, or pay bills, I have never had anyone say, "Wait! Is this money from disability compensation, or did you earn it working at a regular job?" Not once. Thus, if you did get an increase, likely you would have no trouble paying this with the increase compensation.
However, there are many false rumors out there that suggest if you apply for an increase, the VA will reduce your benefits instead.
That rumor is false but I do hear people tell Veterans that a lot. There are strict rules VA has to reduce you and, NOT ONE of those rules have anything to do with applying for an increase.
Yes, the VA can reduce your benefits, but generally only when your condition has "actually improved" under ordinary conditions of life.
Unless you contacted the VA within 72 hours of your medical treatment, you may not be eligible for reimbursement, or at least that is how I read the link, I posted above. Here are SOME of the rules the VA must comply with in order to reduce your compensation benefits:
https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/38/3.344
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Lemuel, -
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Post in What is the DIC timeline?
broncovet posted an answer to a question,
Good question.
Maybe I can clear it up.
The spouse is eligible for DIC if you die of a SC condition OR any condition if you are P and T for 10 years or more. (my paraphrase).
More here:
Source:
https://www.va.gov/disability/dependency-indemnity-compensation/
NOTE: TO PROVE CAUSE OF DEATH WILL LIKELY REQUIRE AN AUTOPSY. This means if you die of a SC condtion, your spouse would need to do an autopsy to prove cause of death to be from a SC condtiond. If you were P and T for 10 full years, then the cause of death may not matter so much.Picked By
Lemuel, -
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Question
allan
Gulf War Veterans Need Help
Posted on May 17, 2009 by dsnurse
by Denise Nichols, Staff Writer
Whichever exposure caused the problem it is important that these Veterans of Operation Desert Storm 1990-91 or Gulf War I as often referred to now since Operation Iraqi Freedom should not be forgotten. These veterans have fallen into the long standing problem with Military Toxic Exposures ie Agnet Orange and Atomic Veterans and Project Shad. DOD and VA do not want to acknowledge because of the long term costs. But they were injuried just as those that sufferred direct trauma ie amputations, maybe even more devistating and long lasting. We need to keep the veterans, family members, civilians, civilian supporters, news media, and the power and legislators in Washington DC fully informed and speak up for them. Here is a recent news story of one veterans struggles. http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/northwe...ory/743925.html
Reminder Tuesday AM House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold a hearing focused on Gulf War Illness see our earlier story posted in Gulf War Section.
Tri-City Elks help veteran store items before VA hospital stay
Getting an 8 a.m. start for moving Thomas Race's belongings into storage wasn't a big deal for the seven Elks and military veterans who took on the task Friday morning.
But it was a big deal for Race, who spent the past four weeks packing up his and his wife's possessions so he could check himself into the Veterans Administration hospital in Walla Walla next week.
Race has used a wheelchair since January, but he has battled depression and drug abuse for about eight years. Now he hopes to get an upper hand on his mental struggles by addressing his physical disability, which was brought on by an anthrax vaccination nearly 20 years ago.
The onset of his illnesses was gradual, as was his openness to asking for help.
"It was real tough because you're supposed to be able to take care of yourself," Race said. "If there's one thing that I learned in the Army: take care of myself and take care of my troops and make it happen."
He first started noticing symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis in 1992 -- about a year after the vaccination -- but he didn't know the cause. Symptoms started in his knees and eventually spread to his shoulders, lower back, left elbow and left ankle.
It then derailed Race's life in a broader sense. He had to leave the Army in 1995 because of the disease. In 2001, he wanted to re-enlist after the Sept. 11 attacks, but he was 50 percent disabled and the Army wouldn't accept him.
He slid into depression and became addicted to the morphine he was prescribed for pain. He also abused alcohol and marijuana, and later lost his house and two vehicles.
Throughout his struggles, his wife Kerrie was by his side, helping him figure out what was wrong. But she's also in the military, a specialist in the Washington Army National Guard, and last year she was deployed to Iraq with the 81st Heavy Brigade Combat Team.
Race was proud of her service and never doubted her as a soldier, but her deployment contributed to his mental turmoil.
"I was always the one that was deployed. I was always the one that went overseas. I was the one not home all the time," he said.
This time, she was off serving the country and he was at home, powerless.
A few months ago, Race began to realize he needed to change his situation after he realized he couldn't see through the fog anymore.
"I was talking to my dad, and he stopped me and said he couldn't understand half of what I was saying," Race said. "I'd gotten to the point where I guess I felt like I was flipping out."
He finally pieced together the answer to his disease from a combination of sources. One was the insights of a civilian doctor who examined him. Another was the e-mails circulated by former members of his military unit, who also had received the anthrax vaccine and either also showed symptoms or had heard about problems with the doses.
His wife in Iraq received her own anthrax vaccination and was briefed on potential side effects -- symptoms that sounded awfully familiar.
Armed with that information, Race has been motivated to turn things around, he hopes in time for his wife's return in November. He filed a claim with the VA for his physical problems and plans to get treatment for the rheumatoid arthritis.
He also booked an appointment to be admitted to the Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial VA Medical Center's substance abuse program.
The one thing he couldn't do, however, was move out of his rental house. So he contacted the Columbia Basin Veterans Coalition, which told him the Elks have programs for assisting veterans.
Race said he wants other veterans to realize how many resources are out there to assist them -- from groups such as the Elks, the veterans coalition and other service organizations.
Don Creighton, veterans service chairman for Tri-Cities Elks, said the club helped Race through the Army of Hope program, which provides assistance to families of reservists and National Guard members called to active duty.
Creighton, a retired Marine, also encouraged veterans with specific needs to let his club know. "It would be nice to be overwhelmed with those kinds of things," he said.
SOURCE: http://www.veteranstoday.com/article6783.html
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