A Strange Phone Call From Regional

[iceturkee]

as some of you may know, the VA is working on IU for me, based on a comment made by the shrink who did my mental health claim. to refresh your memory, she wrote that although i had been long retired for medical reasons, the odds of me ever working again (even in a sedentary job) were highly unlikely given the chronic nature of my depression and the fact i suffer from long periods of social isolation. the VA deferred IU with my entitlement to service connection for depression, for development and scheduling of a medical.

a few weeks ago i queried IRIS to find out when this exam was going to be scheduled. that lead to monday afternoons call from regional. in a nutshell, the guy asked me if i wanted to pursue IU since i did not initiate the claim. I told him i was under the impression (and verified by a VA management analyst in st. pete who is my reporters friend media contact) that the VA initiated the claim (based on the shrinks comments) and verfied by st. pete. he said yes that is all true but sometimes doctors do things without the veterans knowledge or veterans wishes. i told him that if the VA wanted to give me 100 percent because they thought i was qualified, i would gladly take it.

long story but the medical should be scheduled soon, probably at the VAMC in Orlando.

[Pete53]

In the wonderful zany world of the VA they actually think being over 65 can qualify for full pension provided other conditions are met. I suspect there are a lot of older Veterans who are entitled to benefits they don't know about.

[iceturkee]

In the wonderful zany world of the VA they actually think being over 65 can qualify for full pension provided other conditions are met. I suspect there are a lot of older Veterans who are entitled to benefits they don't know about.

i will agree that there is probably a startling number of veterans who are unaware of their benefits. me, personally, i'm not 65 yet...only 61!

[john999]

Iceturkey

The VA was asking you if you wanted IU. If you did say "yes" I think you will have it pretty soon because the VA has made up their mind. I use the St. Pete VARO. If they called you all they want to know is should they go ahead and award TDIU or not. I would not look that gift horse in the mouth. I got a call like that about SMC.

[iceturkee]

Iceturkey

The VA was asking you if you wanted IU. If you did say "yes" I think you will have it pretty soon because the VA has made up their mind. I use the St. Pete VARO. If they called you all they want to know is should they go ahead and award TDIU or not. I would not look that gift horse in the mouth. I got a call like that about SMC.

really, that is interesting to know!! Did you get ehw SMC? it sounded like the next step was a medical because he mentioned contacting the nearest VAMC, which for me is orlando.

[john999]

I got my SMC within weeks of the call. I think if the St. Pete VA called you about IU they mean to grant it.

[iceturkee]

I got my SMC within weeks of the call. I think if the St. Pete VA called you about IU they mean to grant it.

i hope you are right. just have a question, though, why would i be told i would be scheduled for a medical soon?