ensignoftheunit Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 (edited) Thank You to everyone at Hadit, and especially Berta. About 6 months after I filed my claim I was awarded 10% for the claim I submitted, and an additional 10% for another claim they had denied a year and half before. Because the original claim was filed within my 1-yr time frame I was awarded back pay from 2009... I've never seen anything like it, and I couldn't have done it without Berta. I posted last Spring about High Blood Pressure. She told me to slow down and get everything together before I shot-gunned a claim to the VA. The best advice she gave me was to treat it as evidence. Treat everything as exhibits used to prove your claim, and that if you made things easy to find for the rater then things would go better for you. I look her advice. I made a table of contents with every pertinent item labeled alphabetically as an exhibit. At a glance the VA knew where to find my information. I highlighted the points about my tinnitus and hypertension in my medical records, and even included pictures documenting exposure to burn pits. I included a chart that displayed a steady increase in medication dosage along with copies of the prescriptions from the various doctors I had seen. Despite my blood pressure readings being lower than the required readings for a 10% rating at my examination, the rater could clearly see in my SMRs that I had a documented history of high readings, and a steady increase in medication dosages. The end result was a 20% rating with 2 years back-pay when I expected a 0% SC at best. My blood pressure was granted, and the tinnitus I had filed before was also granted because of the clear evidence in my SMR. Truth be told, every soldier, sailor, airmen, and marine who comes off active duty should be handled a card with Hadit’s information on it as a part of their out processing. Edited February 19, 2012 by ensignoftheunit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharon Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Congratulations! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usmc89 Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Congratulations and way to go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halos2 Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Way to go. Berta knows the ins/outs of the VA claims processes. She is one tough lady, and a veterans advocate!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnjjr Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Congratulations on your win!! And cudos to Berta for assisting you. she's all ACES in my book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berta Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 This is GREAT news!!! Thanks for the Cudos but ensignof theunit took the bull by the horns here.So Cudos to this vet for obtaining this award! "I made a table of contents with every pertinent item labeled alphabetically as an exhibit. At a glance the VA knew where to find my information." That is superb. I recently had to send NVLSP my decision and a few points as to the EED etc. I felt like I was preparing another VA claim again because I enclosed an exhibit list (I used yard sale stickers on each enclosure as Exhibit A,B, C etc and then enclosed the specific evidence they refered to ). They didnt need anything too involved but I guess I did by habit. When we are able focus solely on the evidence (and I know it is hard to do, especially if you are rebutting a denial and are angry or stressed out) and get it into a clear format as ensignoftheunit did here- I think organizing it all helps us as claimants ,as well as the VA. An Evidence list and corresponding tabbed documents can be extremely helpful at a VA hearing too. If one has a vet rep who will show up at the hearing, and all the vet rep does is hold onto the tabbed evidence documents to give you as they are needed- it helps insure that all of the pertinent evidence will be documented as part of the hearing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts