Need Some Info

[mssoup1]

Well, we were told today that my husbands claims left the raters desk last week and we should hear something around the first of May.

I guess my question now is where does the claim go from here and what is actually done at each level. I have read some information on this, but it is very vague in content. I do know that from the rater it goes to the adjudicator. What do they actually do and does it take very long. Then from there, what happens.

We have been waiting for over 7 years for one of the claims. It is a remanded claim from the BVA. The others are new claims that occurred after the BVA hearing. So, these are about 1 1/2 years old.

We are patiently waiting for the next step and only hope that it is good news. I am assuming that the claims have already been approved or denied by the rating board, so the rest of the process is just formality.

Would appreciate any feedback from anyone who can give me some insight on what to expect at this point.

Thanks

mssoup1

[Alex]

When they tell you that your claims have “left the rater’s office,” it means that either (1) it has gone to the people who calculate the tetro and cut the checks, which is good news; or (2) gone to some review function within the RO, which is usually not good news, because they want to BVA-proof their disallowances.

Alex

[mssoup1]

Alex,

Thanks for your reply. Will the RO tell you where it currently is after leaving the raters desk? If they will, I guess that would then give us an idea as to what to expect. Also, we don't have a lot of interaction with the SO as he has not really serviced us very well. But, if we call him, can he find out anything more than what we are being told?

Thanks,

mssoup1

[Pete53]

Call your SO and see if they can give you a heads up?

[mssoup1]

Thanks Alex for your reply. I will try to call the SO tomorrow as he will be at the Vet Center and it may be easier getting him there.

I also have another question. My husband is service connected for a skin problem. When the ratings changed in, I think 2002, it now states that if you have a skin condition on more than 40% of your body you can be increased to 60%. Well, I put in for an increase for him. He does have this skin problem all over his body and has been treated for years with it and nothing has ever helped except the steroid treatments, but he can't stay on these for very long. He was given a C & P exam. The examiner examined him and stated to him that he did in fact have it on more than 60% of his body. He went on vacation and never wrote up the opinion. We then stated that we wanted another C & P due to this C & P not being documented. Well, the examiner must have gotten a little angry. His associate did the exam, but only had him to take off a few of his clothes. She then wrote up that he had it on 20 to 40% of his body, which keeps him at his current rate. It was signed off by the original examiner who we had requested not be involved in the second C & P exam. After getting a copy of the C & P exam report, my husband spoke to his fee-basis dermatogists. He wrote up in his report that it was probably on 60 to 70% of his entire body.

A couple of questions. How will the RO handle the word "probably"? Also, will this statement from his doctor who he has now been seen by for approximately 8 months make a difference? This claim has left the raters hands, so I am waiting on his denial and then I will file a NOD based on his doctors letter. I would think they would have to at least use the "benefit of the doubt" rule since the C & P report states one thing and his doctors opinion states another. But I am not sure.

Again, thanks.

mssoup1