"advance On The Docket"

[broncovet]

My FIL is an 86 year old terminally ill WW2 Veteran dying of cancer. He has applied for A and A which was quickly denied based on "too much income". His income is not all that great..about 2k per month, but he has $1500 ++ per month medical expenses. The bonehead VSO told us "not to bother send in the medical expenses..they dont need them". I listened to him, unfortunately. So the Va denied his A and A Pension claim, not because he does not need A and A, but because he makes too much money as they did not know about his medical expenses.

After the denial I sent in a "reconsideration" to the Pension Management Center in Miluakee..not to the RO. The denial letter came from Miluakee, not from my local RO.

Of course the problem is that he is unlikely to survive 4.4 years to go through a BVA appeal. Medical expenses for cancer patients are enormous.

Also, of course, the VA does not respond, and wont respond to my IRIS about it either.

My question is, has anyone actually gotten an "advance on the docket" due to advanced age/terminal illness? Does it apply only to BVA, or to the DRO review also?

Anyone got any good ideas on how to "advance" this so that he may get benefits before he dies? The caregiver law wont help us because he is WW2 Vet, and that is for "new" Vets. Thanks