Va Compensation/pension Medical Worksheets

[longsonb]

I am about to go to my VA Medical exams. I found the following link to be very useful:

http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/21/Benefits/exams/index.htm

I am curious though, how much does my Army retirement physical taken last month play in the exams? I have multiple conditions which I did list on the physical as well as a ream of paper for medical documents, all of which have been copied and turned into the VA.

[mags1023]

The retirement physical means a lot! It establishes a service connection. Sounds like you are well on your way to getting connected for the conditions you suffered from while in the army. Make sure they check you for everything you have claimed.

[longsonb]

I did my first appointment, it was over 4 hours long with another appointment scheduled after Christmas. Most of the appointment was asking tons of questions and then a mini-physical. But I noticed the questions were geared to the C&P worksheets that I posted a link to. A word to the wise, take a copy of your medical records with you to your BA C&P exams. The doctor didn't have the C file with her. Lucky for me, I had a copy with me, it came in useful.

The retirement physical means a lot! It establishes a service connection. Sounds like you are well on your way to getting connected for the conditions you suffered from while in the army. Make sure they check you for everything you have claimed.

[gbsepter]

One thing you should do is be familiar with what they will be asking. I just had a C&P and it lasted 13 minutes and no questions were asked that were with the worksheet.

[68mustang]

I did my first appointment, it was over 4 hours long with another appointment scheduled after Christmas. Most of the appointment was asking tons of questions and then a mini-physical. But I noticed the questions were geared to the C&P worksheets that I posted a link to. A word to the wise, take a copy of your medical records with you to your BA C&P exams. The doctor didn't have the C file with her. Lucky for me, I had a copy with me, it came in useful.

I thought it was a requirement that the examiner have the c file? How else could the examiner be familiar with what your claim is about and what you have stated as causing your disability. I may be wrong so anyone else have any input?

68mustang

[JamesBreckenridge]

Situation: Vet just gets out of service. We set them up for a general medical exam to find out whatever is currently wrong with them. Remember, if there's not a current problem, it must be acute and transitory. Yeah, sure, maybe the problem shows up again later, but if it does, the vet will have evidence of a current condition in that case. There's no particular need for the doctor to have the C-file. All we want to know is "does the vet have a current condition?". If a condition is diagnosed, is it one that the veteran claimed? Is it one subject to presumptive service connection?

Situation: vet has been out for a while, and just now claims an issue. If that issue is also in their service treatment records, we set them up for an exam to evaluate it. No real need for the c-file there either.

Where the c-file comes in handy is when we ask the VA doc for a medical opinion. "Is it at least as likely as not that the veteran's _________ condition is due to his military service/secondary to his service-connected _______ condition?" That sort of thing. For that, I always send the entire c-file, and I tab the service treatment records that have to do with the vet's claimed condition. The doctor will usually attribute the current condition to military service, but sometimes states that it's a result of the natural aging process, etc.

Exams for PTSD (and possibly all mental conditions) HAVE to have the c-file present for the examiner's review. Any PTSD exam that doesn't have a c-file review is insufficient. I always send the whole c-file regardless of the type of exam, in the belief that the doctor wants to grant benefits as much as I do, and if he's got plenty of medical records to work with, he can go fishing for what he needs.

Those exam worksheets fit right in with the rating schedule, and are a big help for the raters who have to otherwise make an examination fit into the rating schedule criteria to find the right evaluation.

As for the examiner knowing what your claim is about, when the exam request is made, that sort of stuff is usually included in the request, but the vet almost always gives a history of the condition.

I thought it was a requirement that the examiner have the c file? How else could the examiner be familiar with what your claim is about and what you have stated as causing your disability. I may be wrong so anyone else have any input?

68mustang

[carlie]

Situation: Vet just gets out of service. We set them up for a general medical exam to find out whatever is currently wrong with them. Remember, if there's not a current problem, it must be acute and transitory. Yeah, sure, maybe the problem shows up again later, but if it does, the vet will have evidence of a current condition in that case. There's no particular need for the doctor to have the C-file. All we want to know is "does the vet have a current condition?". If a condition is diagnosed, is it one that the veteran claimed? Is it one subject to presumptive service connection?

Situation: vet has been out for a while, and just now claims an issue. If that issue is also in their service treatment records, we set them up for an exam to evaluate it. No real need for the c-file there either.

Where the c-file comes in handy is when we ask the VA doc for a medical opinion. "Is it at least as likely as not that the veteran's _________ condition is due to his military service/secondary to his service-connected _______ condition?" That sort of thing. For that, I always send the entire c-file, and I tab the service treatment records that have to do with the vet's claimed condition. The doctor will usually attribute the current condition to military service, but sometimes states that it's a result of the natural aging process, etc.

Exams for PTSD (and possibly all mental conditions) HAVE to have the c-file present for the examiner's review. Any PTSD exam that doesn't have a c-file review is insufficient. I always send the whole c-file regardless of the type of exam, in the belief that the doctor wants to grant benefits as much as I do, and if he's got plenty of medical records to work with, he can go fishing for what he needs.

Those exam worksheets fit right in with the rating schedule, and are a big help for the raters who have to otherwise make an examination fit into the rating schedule criteria to find the right evaluation.

As for the examiner knowing what your claim is about, when the exam request is made, that sort of stuff is usually included in the request, but the vet almost always gives a history of the condition.

James,

Thanks for the post.

Many of the denials I see, specifically state something to the effect

of,in the Reasons and Bases Section,

claim denied as the C&P examiner's opinion was based solely on the veterans

reported history and has not been supported with medical rationale, no

evidence of claimed disability found in service medical records.

carlie