Filing More Than One Claim Lumped Togther

[autumn]

i had a claim in for MS secondary issues and was told by a congressional rep it was in decision phase back in Oct 2011.

so, i checked with vso about filing the SC for cervical issues and increase for already SC'd lumbar issues.

today i get this notice from RO:

Generally speaking, VA policy dictates that if additional conditions are claimed while you already have an open claim in process, the newly claimed conditions must be added to the open claim already in process and development must be completed for the newly claimed conditions.

so now, what another 2 years to get this complete since they lumped it all together?

[jvretiredvet]

I don't know what the moral of this story should be.

If you don't file a claim for a new condition or an increase in an existing condition as they come up, yes, your effective date for the new conditions would be later.

There is the KISS principle. Like it or not, adding additional issues to an existing open claim can make an entire claim ... dirtier(?), that is, less clear-cut. Whether it matters significantly depends upon the issues.

ok, thanks folks appreciate the education.

well, i had to file. my spinal issues are some real issues that va docs seemingly didn't want to address, just like the ms issue. in my life, seems only C&Ps get me adequate diagnosis/treatment.

is the moral of this story not to file claims when one is open? don't we lose effective date thing doing that?

[carlie]

is the moral of this story not to file claims when one is open? don't we lose effective date thing doing that?

Over about the last 6-8 years, I have become a FIRM believer that if I currently had

claim issues in for consideration, I would not continue to submit additional claim issues.

It just adds to what is already there and basically starts back over - IMO.

I know there is some disagreement in this - BUT - it is what I have personally seen and experienced.

I feel for me it might be, more important to let an earlier effective date pass by on some issue/s

so that's whatever issue/s I currently have at VBA can finish getting rated / adjudicated.

Later down the road you can hit the additional issues and get upto one year EED on them per

medical evidence of record.

JMHO

[autumn]

My philosophy is file when you are aware of the SC issue.

Holding off from filing hoping it doesn't delay your decision would make sense if VA reliably and promptly processed claims. A claim could take 180 days or 2 years before an initial decision, I think a person has a better chance controlling what you roll at a crap game than claims processing consistently.

You also have to remember that the decision you are waiting for is most likely wrong anyway and will need to be appealed.

The biggest mistake we can make as disabled veterans is depending on the Government to do the right thing.

The current administration wanted claims for losses in the gulf(oil spill) decided in less than 120 days -- and for the most part they were!

Neither political party is in a hurry to fix the VA claims system....It would cost them to much money...money that could be better used to fund projects that benefit thier core constituencies.

Hate being a doom and gloomer, but you could be in decision phase for 6 months and have a rater then say whoops something is missing and send you back to development. I was sent back to development once for medical records they already had. I called 4 1/2 months later to inquire on status and they indicate that they don't have the records yet, I ask when the Dr.s office received the request, they then indicate they hadn't sent the request to the Dr. yet because the letter asking for the records wasn't done yet.

Timelines....TIMELINES!!! We don't need no stinking Timelines!!

Best regards,

i certainly think and the SO dis so that part of the spine issue is SC-able and the already SC lumbar issues has gotten worse over years. so sent it in. as you say, why wait if a veteran is going to have wait a few years per claim, so to speak.

wierd, now RO says maybe some spine issues are causing some "ms symptoms" and maybe some "ms symptoms" are causing some neuro spine issues. most of the spinal med records were included with the ms package. wierd, RO doesn't bring thos issues up until i file claim for them.

so when VSO says, lets wait and see if VA does the right thing, we'll all be waiting forever. right thing would be as you say, a reasonable accountable time frame, which doesn't exist. too, right thing would have been to acknowledge the medical conditions already in that first packet. but nope, they disregard em until i file for claim then seemingly jerk it all around.

it isn't doom & gloom to me. its my real experience with them. and many other veterans.

i don't see how Shinseki is going to get the VA's to do the 120 day claim time frame. i really don't. makes good press. but i've been told VA & RO is swamped, things take time, see if they'll do the right thing, loss of records, VA doc writing incorrect data, etc for over 24 years. i don't see anything changing there. the buildings might get newer, newer people will employ there, but policies behind doors, they'll stay the same.

[autumn]

71M20 so correct, timeline's! But I added multi condition's alone the way. It seem not to slowthing down, but speeded them up!

I did not use E-benefit to check the status, But I called the 1-800 number and set on the phone for 20 minutes to talk to someone and ask them of the status and told them how sick and could not afford the cost.

I would do this every two to three weeks, and as i saw my privite doctor's , I would get that information and send it to VA. I would not wait for their Timelines, they can timeline you to death!

All ways be nice, even if you know their Bulling you. Wait a couple days and call back, you might get the right person

From April 2011 to Sept. 2011 I change my condition with VA 7 times. I'm not saying that it work's all the time. I got my rating on Jan. 9,2012

congrats! glad to hear your successs

what is that 800 number? just the VA national number or like ebenefit number?

we all know all RO & VA are managed different with different priorities. appears yours "does the right thing"

[autumn]

Over about the last 6-8 years, I have become a FIRM believer that if I currently had

claim issues in for consideration, I would not continue to submit additional claim issues.

It just adds to what is already there and basically starts back over - IMO.

I know there is some disagreement in this - BUT - it is what I have personally seen and experienced.

I feel for me it might be, more important to let an earlier effective date pass by on some issue/s

so that's whatever issue/s I currently have at VBA can finish getting rated / adjudicated.

Later down the road you can hit the additional issues and get upto one year EED on them per

medical evidence of record.

JMHO

i've seen you and pete say this on other posts and i hesitated to file the cervical SC becasue of that. i sent folder for this claim to VSO and specifically wrote on note that if he thought it would mess up the ms secondary claim not to file yet. but since RO told VSO and congressman's office claim was out of devlepment phase i thought it ok to file. so did VSO.

it was like a haphazard dump a new claim on old claim kinda thing. and after numerous calls, faxes, letters, RO still hasn't written to tell me they actually have the folder VSO sent them for spinal claim. only the vcaa letter they got claim request and they needed more info. VSO says they have it and write them i have no further evidence to submit.

guess i can't recall that claim huh? nevermind, thats just just goofy thinking. its sent in, i have spinal issues that need to be rated and increased, done deal now.

[broncovet]

Probably the best would be to figure out how much it costs you to delay filing a claim. Its hard to do this until you know the percentage of each claimed issue.

I think the optimum amount of money I would like to forfeit by delaying filing my claim would be zero. Others may disagree, hypothesizing that one claim may delay another. While this may be true, the VA does not need multiple issues to delay a claim, they can/do delay claims for all kinds of reasons. A few examples of how the VA delays your claim are: lost paperwork, administrative errors, rating errors, glitches of all sorts, erroneous rating codes, sending your paperwork to another Regional office, keeping your paperwork at a very busy office (they are all busy), failure to read your c file, failure to follow regulations, failure to send out VCAA notices, and there are many, many more..and this is just at the RO level...we have not yet begun with appeals, such as BVA, DRO, hearings, C and P exams, AMC CAVC and many many more reasons to delay.

It is even worse when you appeal, since a BVA appeal takes an average of 4.4 years per issue. The only paperwork that seems to be processed with any degree of speed is the executive bonuses at the VA. So, the best way to get your claim processed quickly is to become a VA executive.