ptsd Claim Appeals

[scout1069]

I currently have 2 appeals going on. 1st appeal Dec 2009- Initial rating was for 70% PTSD, 20% cervical spine, 20% lumbar fracture L1 L2. So 80% combined on that one. VSO requested De Novo review.

2nd appeal was for TDIU which was filed Dec 2009 and was denied Aug 2010, appealed that one Nov 2010. VSO requested De Novo review.

My question is, will having 2 appeals in for De Novo review take longer since they are basically both for an increase in rating, but 1 is TDIU and the other was just appealing their original decision?

[deanbrt]

Mine seems like the evidence falls under the "clear and credible evidence" circumstance. I am, I suppose, paranoid that delays keep cropping up to the benefit of others. Mine was a Vietnam era injury with secondary under appeal. I already had a 30% rating. It has been remanded 3 times. All the way back from CCVA. It is hard for me to understand that mine is delayed for review due to a mandate that Nehmer cases must be reviewed first.

Is it possible I might fall in the Nehmer scheduler 100% claim? Would that explain the delay?

It's really hard to guess, since the VA is consistent in it's inconsistency. Supposedly, there are multiple paths that a claim might go through.

Nehmer is just one path. PTSD likely is another. Recent claims from the current conflicts are also supposedly placed first on the priority list.

Us Vietnam vets with older claims that have been screwed up by the VA usually get pushed to the bottom.

One way the VA has done this to Vietnam veterans is to not place Nehmer claim veterans on the "official" Nehmer list that the VA furnishes to NVLSP.

Another one seems to be to treat an appeal of a non Nehmer claim as preempting an earlier or co existent Nehmer claim.

It seems that the type of claim involved in the "preempting" is likely a claim involving a percentage rating, and may be a low rating, such as 10%, and usually less than 50%.

The "hung up" Nehmer claim may be a scheduler 100% claim with additional special schedule compensation also applicable.

[Berta]

"I already had a 30% rating. It has been remanded 3 times. All the way back from CCVA. It is hard for me to understand that mine is delayed for review due to a mandate that Nehmer cases must be reviewed first. "

What mandate that Nehmer claims must be reviewed first?

VA trained a very large staff in 6 different VAROs on the Nehmer Trainng Guide. Nehmer claims are sent from the AOJ (Agency of Original Jurisdiction) to one of the Nehmer RO departments for special handling.

That leaves all ROs without Nehmer Division doing business as usual.

I have noticed some animosity in some internet vets site (but not here- please dont take this wrong) that AO vets are holding up non AO claims.

Hell, VA has been doing that for decades holding most of them all up anyhow. They dont need help on that.

In my opinion Since most of the AO presumptives are deadly anyhow, the VA has played games long enough with AO vets and hopefully most of these IHD vets will live long enough to see their AO awards under the new regs.

I get a little ticked off too because I never forget that the Nehmer Class Action began with a widow, Beverly Nehmer.The only way (and I know this by years of personal experience) that many widows get any where with VA is by being tenacious and persistent.They take advantage of the fact that a veteran's death brings emotional , financial and social consequences that make it difficult for most survivors to even deal with them.

You put that coupled with some NSO who spouts off VA lingo, tells his entire war story as he prepares a 21-534 for the survivor, could care less about the grief the survivor deals with, and who also doesn't have a clue on DIC and the widow might well have years to wait for a proper resolve of the claim.

I would like to read the link to this mandate as I understood from NVLSP that these AO claims were being processed separately by specific Nehmer cordinators and also being doubled checked before a decision is made.

Maybe it is possible that in the late 1990s many AO claims DID hold up non AO claims as it took VA time to make sure they screwed thousand of those vets out of AO retro .

Then it took VA more time to rectify those errors when NVLSP caught them and stepped in.So that probably held up all other claims.

Any link to the 'Mandate' will be appreciated.

[deanbrt]

"What mandate that Nehmer claims must be reviewed first?"

My remand from BVA back to the regional RO (remanded from CAVC to BVA) in late August was going to be reviewed within 45-60 days in November. based on a conversation a paralegal had with the RO. Now I have legal council telling me my review is on hold until Nehmar claims are all reviewed in the next 60 days at my regional office. Then I was told they are not sure if Nehmer cases have been referred to my regional office from the larger ones but cannot give me any idea of a time frame now. I don't know what to think. The paranoid in me starts to think that the supporting evidence in my case is so substantial now that my legal council only makes more income as the review drags on while I despair financially and emotionally....

I know that may not be fair but there are an accumulation of missteps that have not been to my benefit in terms of time......

"I already had a 30% rating. It has been remanded 3 times. All the way back from CCVA. It is hard for me to understand that mine is delayed for review due to a mandate that Nehmer cases must be reviewed first. "

What mandate that Nehmer claims must be reviewed first?

VA trained a very large staff in 6 different VAROs on the Nehmer Trainng Guide. Nehmer claims are sent from the AOJ (Agency of Original Jurisdiction) to one of the Nehmer RO departments for special handling.

That leaves all ROs without Nehmer Division doing business as usual.

I have noticed some animosity in some internet vets site (but not here- please dont take this wrong) that AO vets are holding up non AO claims.

Hell, VA has been doing that for decades holding most of them all up anyhow. They dont need help on that.

In my opinion Since most of the AO presumptives are deadly anyhow, the VA has played games long enough with AO vets and hopefully most of these IHD vets will live long enough to see their AO awards under the new regs.

I get a little ticked off too because I never forget that the Nehmer Class Action began with a widow, Beverly Nehmer.The only way (and I know this by years of personal experience) that many widows get any where with VA is by being tenacious and persistent.They take advantage of the fact that a veteran's death brings emotional , financial and social consequences that make it difficult for most survivors to even deal with them.

You put that coupled with some NSO who spouts off VA lingo, tells his entire war story as he prepares a 21-534 for the survivor, could care less about the grief the survivor deals with, and who also doesn't have a clue on DIC and the widow might well have years to wait for a proper resolve of the claim.

I would like to read the link to this mandate as I understood from NVLSP that these AO claims were being processed separately by specific Nehmer cordinators and also being doubled checked before a decision is made.

Maybe it is possible that in the late 1990s many AO claims DID hold up non AO claims as it took VA time to make sure they screwed thousand of those vets out of AO retro .

Then it took VA more time to rectify those errors when NVLSP caught them and stepped in.So that probably held up all other claims.

Any link to the 'Mandate' will be appreciated.

[deanbrt]

I was never given a link to any mandate. This is the statement a paralegal made to me.

"What it means foryour case is that even since your claim is remanded by the Board in DC, andmeans that your case will be expedited, because of this mandate, all non-Nehmercases are being put on hold so that they can finish with the Nehmercases."

]

"What mandate that Nehmer claims must be reviewed first?"

My remand from BVA back to the regional RO (remanded from CAVC to BVA) in late August was going to be reviewed within 45-60 days in November. based on a conversation a paralegal had with the RO. Now I have legal council telling me my review is on hold until Nehmar claims are all reviewed in the next 60 days at my regional office. Then I was told they are not sure if Nehmer cases have been referred to my regional office from the larger ones but cannot give me any idea of a time frame now. I don't know what to think. The paranoid in me starts to think that the supporting evidence in my case is so substantial now that my legal council only makes more income as the review drags on while I despair financially and emotionally....

I know that may not be fair but there are an accumulation of missteps that have not been to my benefit in terms of time......

[Berta]

"The paranoid in me starts to think that the supporting evidence in my case is so substantial now that my legal council only makes more income as the review drags on while I despair financially and emotionally.."

That isnt paranoia -you are correct that the longer a case takes, the bigger the retro and then a larger attorney fee.

But VA controls the wait, not lawyers-at least I hope they don't. That would seem to be unethical for any lawyer to deliberately stall a good claim.

[deanbrt]

My case was remanded from CAVC by my legal support because BVA had not asked for my SS records. Then my legal support waived the VA's right to the SS records. I am on SS disability and my records are 255 pages long. They only lend support to my claim. The BVA law judge then remanded back to regional for SS records in August since they were not availalble. I was told since my legal support had my power of attorney they would get my SS records and submit them for me. In early October I realized nothing had been done and got them myself for regional. I could go on....

I felt very good about my legal support for the longest time but now fear my interests are not primary. I have 3 IMOs in my support that I believe to be "clear and credible"....

I have been told that all non-Nehmer cases are on hold but can find no documentation that supports that...

Can you blame me for wondering what is going on?

[

"The paranoid in me starts to think that the supporting evidence in my case is so substantial now that my legal council only makes more income as the review drags on while I despair financially and emotionally.."

That isnt paranoia -you are correct that the longer a case takes, the bigger the retro and then a larger attorney fee.

But VA controls the wait, not lawyers-at least I hope they don't. That would seem to be unethical for any lawyer to deliberately stall a good claim.