Ihd Nehmer Letter

[hawkfire27]

Hi all,

My husband just recieved a nehmer letter in the mail two days ago on 2/13/2011, regarding his IHD claim.

I noticed that some people recieved this letter last year. Does this mean his file has reached the top of the pile?

We submitted his IHD claim in 10/2009 a few days after we heard the news and before the regs publishing process started, and they put it on remand pending the new regulations.

He had his C&P in October 2010. It just seems this process is taking forever, even though we should have been right near the start of the cue, I am seeing success stories from veteran who filed months after us, including some at our VARO.....

Any thoughts?

[Berta]

It depends on many things-

When you say Nehmer letter-did this come from the RO of jurisdiction over his past claims or from a Nehmer coordinator in another RO?

The VA was supposed to pull any past denied claims that now come under Nehmer and advise NVLSP who is on their RO lists.

They never advised NVLSP in my case but I emailed NVLSP who made sure I was coming under Nehmer.

The main claim they have from me is a CUE claim from 2004 still pending -that is now under Nehmer and I filed formal IHD claim as well in Aug 2010,which was sent to Togus and then to Phila to be with the other claim.

Have you emailed NVLSP as to his past denied AO claim?

So with my CUE claim under Nehmer that is almost 7 years old, I don't know how one gets to the top of the Nehmer stack.

Did the C & P exam result in enough info for you to determine his potential rating?

[hawkfire27]

HI Berta, thanks for replying,

In answer to your questions:

* "When you say Nehmer letter-did this come from the RO of jurisdiction over his past claims or from a Nehmer coordinator in another RO?"

The Letter come from the Phoenix RO who according to the Nehmer letter is helping our local RO.

* "Have you emailed NVLSP as to his past denied AO claim?"

Yes we e-mailed them about 2 months ago after concerns the file had been lost, even though the VA identified it as a Nehmer case from the beginning in Dec 2009.

* "Did the C & P exam result in enough info for you to determine his potential rating?"

Yes, using the published CAD rating schedule he qualifies easily at 60%. Estimated EF at 45%, estimated METS at 4.

He was unable to test because of the possibility of complications, and he was not a candidate for stress test. We also submitted all his private care records showing the results of actual tests. He had a CABG x5 in 1990, as well as numerous angios and caths. A well as a letter from a doc in 1990 that stated, my husbands heart disease is " the worst case I have ever had the misfortune to treat. This patient is a future candidate for heart transplant". Transplant of course will never happen now he is 64 and with diabetes and well as liver and other problems, but it sounds impressive! :-)

He also recieved SSD in 1988 for his IHD. The VA claim goes back to 1996, at which time he was already 100% so he should have a 100% + 60% SMC rating too from 1996. It's just that is has taken so long to get the nehmer letter, and I was hoping it was a sign something was moving on this claim, especially because I am seeing lots of success stories lately. I guess were are worried we got lost in the system when they farmed out to phoenix, and IRIS is completely useless, they have given me 7 different reason why we haven't heard anything, from other pending claims (which have already be rated and should have been closed), to a "thank you for your inquiry we are currently processing your claim", and the best one we got was that there is a c&p amendment pending for the Diabetes C&P which was performed in January 2010, and diabetes was rated at 20% in April 2010 and should have been closed by now.

It is just so frustrating because I have no idea who we can talk to to find out what is happening with our file, and worry that if we go the congressman route that our file will be pulled and take even longer.

So this reply is so long.

It depends on many things-

When you say Nehmer letter-did this come from the RO of jurisdiction over his past claims or from a Nehmer coordinator in another RO?

The VA was supposed to pull any past denied claims that now come under Nehmer and advise NVLSP who is on their RO lists.

They never advised NVLSP in my case but I emailed NVLSP who made sure I was coming under Nehmer.

The main claim they have from me is a CUE claim from 2004 still pending -that is now under Nehmer and I filed formal IHD claim as well in Aug 2010,which was sent to Togus and then to Phila to be with the other claim.

Have you emailed NVLSP as to his past denied AO claim?

So with my CUE claim under Nehmer that is almost 7 years old, I don't know how one gets to the top of the Nehmer stack.

Did the C & P exam result in enough info for you to determine his potential rating?

[Berta]

His IHD claim sounds like it would be easy for VA to rate.

And it appears that he certainly would receive retro for SMC.

I cannot understand -with the systems the VA put into place early on for the AO claims- why they are taking so long for some-

I tried to get a 800# status yesterday on my AO claim and the operator rattled off old BVA stuff.Finally I got her to focus on the AO claim and of course nothing has changed there.They consider it an appeal because they are working on a SMC CUE issue that regards my husband's heart disease.

In August I was told (and an Iris stated to) that it went right to a Nehmer co-ordinator. But that meant nothing.My claim is complex because it involves misdiagnosed IHD over a 6 year period.From one misdiagnosed heart attack 1988 to the final fatal heart attack 6 years later.

Still the FTCA documents and the ECHO etc give them what they need to rate.I regret your claim is taking so long and I feel after the first flurry of awards a few months ago- VA has slowed way down on these claims.

VA can be sanctioned for retro errors so maybe this is why they are afraid to make decisions on some of these claims.

A COngressional Inquiry would slow your claim down by a few months and will not help resolve it.