Disability Benefits Questionnaires

[meghp0405]

roses: it's a boiler-plate response for conditions the VA thinks could improve over time. I've had the same thing for Migraines.They stated in the award letter that an appointment would be made to follow up and act as the "future exam". That was due last November and I've not heard from them on this issue since.

your follow up exam can be anywhere from 1-5 years. Continue to visit your doctor and more importantly, continue to address not only your SC conditions, but those symptoms you may be experiencing that could possibly be rated secondary to you current SC disabilities.

[justrluk]

your follow up exam can be anywhere from 1-5 years. Continue to visit your doctor and more importantly, continue to address not only your SC conditions, but those symptoms you may be experiencing that could possibly be rated secondary to you current SC disabilities.

Great idea - I also journal and take this with me to doctor appointments.

[Veldrina]

OK....but it's still only one mental condition, despite multiple diagnoses on Axis 1. That's what I was referring to. As for the Sleep apnea linked to PTSD, it's uncommon from what I've seen, but not impossible. We raters have to go by what the doc says, so if the doctor gave a nexus with rationale as to how your apnea is related to your PTSD, we raters have to write it up in our decision as is. ;)

Actually Veldrina your wrong!

You stated "Also, sometimes folks put in for things that are actually the same issue, such as insomnia, memory loss, depression, anxiety and PTSD. While it sounds like 5 issues, in reality all mental conditions are one, & all those conditions are symptoms of most mental conditions (ie anxiety can appear under both depression & PTSD, insomnia can occur under anxiety, depression or PTSD, etc.). By claiming it as "a mental (or psychiatric) condition to include: PTSD, depression, sleep problems, memory problems," etc, or something like that, you can condense the issues into one."

You only have one brain so PTSD and Depression though rated as one can actually be helpful to each other. If you were to be 30% for PTSD and the rater feels worse than 30% for Depression you will be rated Depression w/PTSD at 50%. If they didn't do that, they are not doing their job. The benefit of the doubt rule should be applying. Also all the mental healh issues can come with sleep issues but they sleep issues can be rated seperately. People do get sleep studies and have been found to have restless leg syndrome and/or sleep apnea. Sleep Apnea can be linked to PTSD.

You can do a NEXUS letter to link Sleep Apnea to PTSD and Depression. Get your doctor or doctors to write the nexus letter (see attached) so you can get linked to your sleep issue. 50% for PTSD and 50% for Sleep Apnea is an 80% rating.

[Veldrina]

OK, I'll bite....

I find it kind of humorous that the VA would consider that a Veteran "bombards" them with multiple issues when they file a claim. Considering that many mlitary members separate, or at least used to, without any real counseling regarding existing conditions, and what options are avalable to them.

The VA does try to put itself out there on the web, & service orgs are always ready to help with filling out claims.

And unless things have changed, there isn't any friendly separation briefing about filing claims within a certain amount of time, what benefits a Veteran is eligible for if they do file a claim prior to separation or immediately afterward. I know that it's been a long time since I separated back in 1994, and that the Internet has helped all of us tremendously. (I would not have had a clue about what benefits were out there if it weren't for the Internet to be honest.) <-----and there ya go

However, if an individual(s) is paid to do a job, and if they are taking tax payers money to do their job, for which they receive monetary compensation themselves, then they are public servants, and any attitude that a Veteran is a burden, or that their claim is a burden, simply because they filed a claim with multiple conditions is completely negligent.

Given, and while I'm sure some grumble more than others, you also need to understand the overwhelming amount of claims we face here at the VA. We are pressured by congress, by service orgs, by vets, & by management to "get it done ASAP"...however, we face stumbling blocks such as incomplete exams, no medical opinions, incomplete forms, too little info, too much info, etc. and we are given a # of how many cases we are expected to produce daily. The sad truth is, the more issues you claim, the longer your claim will take, and if you constantly send more info or more claims, it delays your claim further because it must now be reviewed, due process must be given, more exams may need to be ordered, etc. No one is saying you can't file a 30 issue claim....but pls don't expect to have that claim done within the year.

What a lot of the civilians working in the VA, along with many others, fail to recognize is that our military is an all-volunteer force, and that all of these military members and veterans volunteered and gave years of their lives to serve their country to protect those same people that feel a little irritated and overwhelmed at having to review a multi-condition compensation claim. And as for the non-volunteer veterans that were drafted, I hope that these poor overworked, overburdened office workers sitting in their air conditioned offices, playing Angry Birds or checking their Facebbok status remember that the draftees were taken from their normal everyday lives, trained and sent off to war to protect them, their parents and their grandparents, and then returned later (if they were lucky enough to survive) back to their hometowns with illnesses, conditions and other conditions that would not manifest for years, even decades later.

I disagree with your comment that we fail to understand....we understand very well. In fact it is driven into our heads every single day...every poster, every meeting we have, every email...everything is about serving the vet & the sacrifices vets have made. Also, my office is not air-conditioned, & we don't have access to Angry Birds, or Solitaire.... Frankly we have very little time to do much, let alone play games. By law we are given two 15 min. breaks & a half hr lunch...and if u work in Manhattan, that's barely enough time to get out of the bldg to even acquire said lunch...forget about eating it, u must eat as u work. many of us do. Hell, many of us, including myself, forgo the breaks & sometimes lunch just to try to get things done. And it's not so much irritation we feel as the overwhelmingness (if that's a word)...yes, we are very overwhelmed, completely in fact. There is a backlog of cases from here til kingdom come, and everyone is breathing down our necks to get them done, however, as i said, we face obstacles. It's not an insult, it's a fact. If you send every medical record ever from your pediatrician up to your present doc, it must be reviewed, and that will take us all day, during which we are panicking because there are now more cases piling on our desks with deadlines, however we don't want to miss any pertinent info in the 30 issue claim. Just know your claim may have to be put on the backburner several times as we try to juggle everything else thrown at us (ie some cases like ALS will take priority over yours no matter how long you've been waiting).

And keep in mind that in those days, and to a lesser extent now, it was not considered popular to be disabled or to "ask" the government for assistance, even medical, for fear of the stigma of being labeled as getting government assistance. I know I personally was in turmoil over filing for quite some time before I actually sat down to start climbing the mountain of paperwork that the VA "bombards" uninformed Veterans with. (And before anybody takes it the wrong way, yes......the VA makes us "ask" them for assistance, and then prove exponentially why we need it. You can be healthy, never served a day of mlitary service in your life, and get tens of thousands of dollars of government assistance annually, including 100 percent medical/dental care, free tuition to higher education, and nobody bats an eye, and they call that an "entitlement".) We have to file for and justify ourselves each step of the way, and quite often multiple times for a single condition.

Understood, which is why we have all been told to "grant if you can, deny if u must", meaning give every reasonable doubt affordable to the veteran.

I know that just as far back as 1994, most men and women who were separating were afraid that the doctor would put something down on their exit examinations that might slight their chances at some civilian career. I know now that this was foolish youth, and that 90 percent of employers that I've encountered don't really even ask to see or request copies of military medical examinations. (Some will though.) Most veterans upon separation want to be identified as healthy and capable, and don't know about what options were/are available to them, until in many cases, it is too late.

I say this because conditions do affect us as we grow older, and what was small then, may be a major problem now. And the VA isn't exactly opening its doors to Veterans and providing counseling on how to file their claims properly, even though this would be the best and most proper way to allow a Veteran to enter the system, or better still hiring VA "counselors" who actually sit down and complete forms/applications with the Veterans. (The government provides information and counseling on just about any other program that is out there to assist claimants "before" they file a claim.) The VA is the only government entity I know of that tells you to file it, and gives a disclaimer that they'll do only what they have to do, and the rest is up to you. <-----again, many service orgs do provide this service of helping u file a claim, and you can always ask questions at the regional offices...at least in mine we have a museum/intake center where we will get you a counselor if you request one.

If I'm wong on any of this, please somebody jump in and correct me.

I'm sorry I rambled so long. I hope that I didn't bombard you guys with too much. Have a great Sunday.

Mark

[dsgsr]

Thank you Veldrina. I hope the majority of Rating Officers share you attitude.

David

[dsgsr]

Thank you, Veldrina. I hope the majority of Rating Officers share your attitude.

David

Sorry for the double post.

Edited December 27, 2012 by dsgsr