tdiu P&t, Tdiu, 80% Csc, Still Scheduled For C&p?

[JohnO]

Am I exempt from future C&P exams if I'm P&T? I am P&T, 80% SC, and TDIU. I just had one C&P yesterday and am scheduled for another in one month.

I asked my VSO about the exam and he said the VA was just getting a benchmark on my health, tracking my disabilities for future reference.

I received a letter today from DVA regional thanking me for my service. The letter noted my claim #, dates served and honorable discharge, and gave my VA information.

Sevice-connected: Yes

Combined service-connected evaluation is: 80%

Effective date of last change: 1 Dec 2011

Current monthly award: $2,924.00

Am being paid 100% because I'm unemployable: Yes

I am considered to be totally and permanently disabled due to service-connected disabilities: Yes

I just had a C&P exam yesterday for sleep apnea possibly secondary to CAD. Also, the exam covered DMII. I had a C&P for DMII in 2010.

[Teac]

I did not file any new claims. Some of my original claims have not been C&P'd. My original filing from May of 2010 included claims for a neurological condition and for sleep apnea. These two items are being C&P'd now, which is why I posted this topic. I did file for diabetic neuropathy, which shouldn't be considered as a new claim since I'm already getting 20% for DMII.

If you submitted a claim for neuropathy after you received a service connected award for DMII , it is considered a new claim secondary to the DMII.

I attempted to search this site for answers but searches only bring up titles and most titles of topics are not very descriptive. I am very curious about what P&T actually means. Obviously, it does not mean what I thought it did, giving me some sort of immunity from further examinations and possible reductions of benefits.

The following is from VA watchdog.org ( http://www.vawatchdog.org/Permanent___Total.html) and explains P/T best.

There is a lot of confusion and misunderstanding about just what a Permanent & Total rating is.

In the language of your VA, the word permanent does not mean that your benefit is permanent! To have a 100% P & T rating only implies that your dependents are eligible for benefits like Chapter 35 DEA & CHAMPVA.

Your rating is NOT protected! There is but one way to achieve a "protected" rating...you must hold it uninterrupted for 20 years. Until you've held the rating for 20 years VA may contact you at any time to evaluate your rating.

How do you know if your rating is temporary or permanent? You go to your original award letter and look for the secret codes VA likes to use to confuse you. If your award letter says "No future exams are scheduled..." that means that your rating is permanent. If you see "Eligibility to dependents Chapter 35 DEA / CHAMPVA are established", your rating is permanent.

Those phrases may differ from one VA Regional Office (VARO) to the next but there should be something similar on your award letter.

If you see "Future exams are scheduled" or similar, or no reference at all to future exams or other dependents benefits, your award is probably temporary.

VA establishes the rating as permanent when there is little chance that the condition will improve. VA makes a lot of mistakes when establishing the permanence of a rating. It's up to you to know what to do...nobody will do this for you.

As a rule, most mental health conditions and cancers will be temporary ratings.

A veteran must hold a 100% permanent rating for 10 years, uninterrupted, for his/her family to be eligible to apply for DIC benefits should the veteran die of anything other than a service connected condition.

[71M10]

JohnO,

A veteran will only ever have 1 new claim. Every condition you ask to be added or increase of an already SC condition are tacked on to that original claim.

What people are stating is that any time a person with IU asks the VA for a new or increased rating that I/U P&T is fair game, the door has been opened by the veteran and they do not have to justify why they are reviewing that status.

Its kinda like driving with a broken tail-light on Saturday morning at 2:45 am. That tail light is an open invitation for Officer I-am-Working-the-Late-Shift to have a friendly conversation with you and determine if you have been drinking.

Is it profilling because he stopped you 45 minutes after that bar closed? No he just wanted to talk about that cracked or partially broken tail-light!

I would say if a person is TDIU P&T and comes accross new service connected conditions I would collect the medical information and records and an IMO and set it aside until the VA initiates an action and then file it. The exception would be if that condition is serious enough to kill you or be a major contributing factor in your death. Then I would pursue it to lock in DIC for my spouse in case it caused my demise.

Best regards,

[JohnO]

Thanks, Teac

It's much clearer to me now what is going on. I've reread my awards letter and it spells out why I'm having the two scheduled C&Ps. I have an anxiety attack every time I get something from the VA.

My awards letter under "Decision" states:

2. Entitlement to individual unemployability is granted effective (deleted).

3 . Basic eligibility to Dependents' Educational Assistance is established from (deleted).

Open claims listed as deferred in the awards letter stated that I would be scheduled for an exam. That is what is going on with me right now.

Thanks for the help with understanding permanent and total.

[jbasser]

Be careful when filing additional claims, especially when it comes to aid and attendance or higher level of SMC's like A&A.

They may not try to reduce you but they will make you sweat like crazy.

Some Regional Offices don't like it.

John, being IU, you are actually looked at every year. You receive a letter asking if you have worked. They do look at it. If they suspect anything they will start to dig. in most cases they don't.

J

[Teac]

JohnO,

A veteran will only ever have 1 new claim. Every condition you ask to be added or increase of an already SC condition are tacked on to that original claim.

Technically, you are correct... it would be considered a new issue vrs a new claim.

I would say if a person is TDIU P&T and comes accross new service connected conditions I would collect the medical information and records and an IMO and set it aside until the VA initiates an action and then file it. The exception would be if that condition is serious enough to kill you or be a major contributing factor in your death. Then I would pursue it to lock in DIC for my spouse in case it caused my demise.

Best regards,

I guess your last statement is a matter of opinion. In my case the VA has never reopened any of my issues on their own. I have however, opened many new issues to include A&A, Adapted housing, sinusitis, Hearing, Knee issues, COPD and a few others. This was done after I was already rated TDIU due to a back injury. In every case the va denied the claims, and in every issue I requested a de novo appeal and one issue even made it to the BVA before I won the issue. Three issues were awarded on CUE. Now in my case, and over 25 years the VA has never re-looked at any medical issue that I did not request them to look at. Could they? sure but they arn't likely do so because it just would be additional work added to the backlog.... Heck I even submitted a claim for 100% after I had been TDIU for 8 years...

I firmly think if a veteran feels he has a valid claim he should submit it. Too many times I listened to others who advised me not to submit a claim, some times using the reason the va is going to reopen all your issues or telling me I would lose what I already had been awarded. I will never know the exact amount of compensation that I lost because I listened to the nay sayers, but I know it is a lot. It wasn't until I learned that no one cared about my claim more than I do, and no one gave a care if my claims were approved or denied...

Sorry, sometimes I am so long winded......

[Gulfvet45]

You claim file was still open because of the SA that you filed for. As along as you have the open claim, the VA can and in most cases will look at all other issues in your file.

Even with the T&P on your claim as long as you are going after something else everything is fair game. This is why I tell veteran to close out ALL pending issues once they get T&P.