Retro Money- Bait And Switch

[harleyman]

THIS POST IS BEING PLACED HERE AS A WARNING TO OUR RECENTLY DISCHARGED OR SOON TO BE DISCHARGED GULF WAR VETERANS.

Be very careful when you submit the claims under this new program for retro active payments.

The retroactive money will be paid only if these conditions are met:

1.this is an initial claim (first claim ever)

2.if it is filed as an FDC claim (all evidence must be submitted at the time of the claim)

3. the claim is filed MORE than 1 year after discharge.

#3 above is NOT good for first time claimants unless you have already been discharged for more than one year and you have not yet filed a claim for disability compensation.

There are certain rights Veteran's have following discharge and one of those is ,you are entitled to a general medical examination for any conditions that you as a Veteran believe you are suffering from if you claim them or they arise within one year following your discharge.

If you file your claim within one year for a condition it is presumed to be related to your service and you will get an examination for the condition whether or not it is in your STRS. If you have a diagnosis of the condition it is presumed to be related to your service if you jad treatment for it durig service and if not you are entitled to an opinion exam to provide a nexus or link to service.

If you file your claim after one year, you "may" get the retro money, but you loose the presumptive to service within one year of discharge and if your evidence you musst submit with your claim is not strong enough, you have forfeited the right to your automatic Medical or Psychiatric examination to help link (provide a nexus) for the claimed condition as relatd to your service, because you filed your claim after one year from discharge.

IN MY OPINION DO NOT WAIT TO FILE YOUR CLAIM FOR THIS "PROMISED" ONE YEAR RETROACTIVE PAYMENT. YOU MAY BE GIVING UP YOUR RIGHT TO CLAIM ALL CONDITIONS WHICH CAN BE NOTED BY AN EXAMINER WITHIN ONE YEAR OF SERVICE. These conditions found by examination if claimed within one year will be rated at zero because the examiner will document your conditions at that time, but later on if the conditions worsen your can file for an increase.

THIS IS JUST A PLOY TO REDUCE CLAIMS IN THE FUTURE SO THE GOVERNMENT DOESN'T HAVE TO PAY DISABILITY LONG TERM and exclude many presumptive conditions.

Berta, I would love for you to chime in on this topic and you have a away with words, and this instant gratification for Veterans could really harm them in the long run.- _IMO

Edited August 10, 2013 by harleyman

[63SIERRA]

Yes it sounds like the law is meant to either rush a veteran into a FDC claim, with minimal evidence so they can deny, or make the veteran wait a year, to file, and hope they forget abt it and dont file at all.

I cant see where this law helps vets in any way.

They know that if its claimed in service or in the one year period, the vet has the upper hand in the claim, so they want to deny that leverage.

Edited October 30, 2013 by 63SIERRA

[NavyWife]

Meg-

Thanks for clarifying that for me.

63Sierra-

I agree with you. This "incentive" would not help a recently discharged vet. Don't they get retro pay to the date of discharge if they file within 1 year, anyway?

I submitted hubby's claim as an FDC with minimal evidence & now through research on hadit, I've found out the 2 pieces of evidence I need to submit to get his claim approved. But I cannot submit them now, or else the claim will be pulled from the FDC program.

Uggghh! Frustrating!

[63SIERRA]

thats why I would NEVER file a FDC claim. As I was going thru the process ,I recalled and found evidence I had long forgot about. or take this for instance., I was one day surfing the web doing research on my kidney cancer., I run across a lawfirm site, with alot of info, abt kidney cancer being linked to hepc which I had, service connected. I submitted the article I printed off the internet, and guess what, I got awarded 30 percent.

You may even find a valid argument that you can present as evidence, like this scenario that I learned off this site/

I have sleep apnea. They denied me service connection. I claimed it as presumtive from the gulf war. Ok, so now what im going to do, is once im service connected for my back condition, im going to claim sleep apnea because im overweight, due to my back condition. The obstructive sleep apnea is now determned to be because of my large neck. If they say im claiming sleep apnea for something different I will tell them im not a doctor and thought it was from gulf war ilness, guess I was wrong. Fat neck wins. pay me fool.

See what im saying.. one thing leads to another, and you are screwing yourself by submitting a FDC.

THEY DONT PLAY FAIR!!!! THEY WILL FIND A WAY TO PUT A TACK IN THE TIRE, AND YOU CANT PLUG IT.

Edited October 31, 2013 by 63SIERRA

[63SIERRA]

Another reason that FDC claims should be illegal, is that medical conditions are usually " evolving". They are usually either getting better, or worse. They are not Finite., Things can change in a few days. So then what are you going to do? They dont want no more evidence/.

Filing a FDC is relinquishing very important rights that only benefir the VA. They lure you in by saying the claim will get processed quicker, but what they will do, is sit on it for a while until they can poke enough holes in it, to deny it. They have the high ground on you, they dont really care if your claim gets done in 4 months or 4 years, not paying you is thier mission.

The Va likely figure a soldier just getting off active duty, who is used to getting fair treatment from the branch of service they served will approach the va with a great degree of trust and faith in the system.(just like most of us did) ! They persuade the veteran to submit a FDC, deny it, then make the vet feel like, sheesh, I submitted all that I had, and lost, so I must not be service connected.. Oh well, im 25 yrs old, guess I will just go find something that I can do to make a living . I know this from living it. They are always making up new tricks to use on the veterans.

Why doesnt it work like this, WHY doent the VA create a fully developed claim FOR us, we review it, and if it is acceptable we submit it to them. They are trying to make it ALL the veterans responsibilty to gather everything, then, with your own hand, cut your own throat, by saying,. I AM RELINQUISHING MY RIGHTS TO SUBMIT MORE EVIDENCE, BUT THE VA, CAN HUNT FOR AS MUCH STUFF, AND AS LONG AS THEY LIKE TO FIND THINGS TO DENY MY ARSE.

Edited October 31, 2013 by 63SIERRA

[free_spirit_etc]

Sierra,

It was my understanding that submitting a FDC doesn't prevent someone from submitting additional evidence if they choose to. The only thing is that once they do that, it is no longer processed as a FDC. So, of course, there is no reason to file a FDC if you plan on submitting additional evidence. But if you do submit a FDC, and discover something additional to present, then you have to decide whether to submit it, or wait and see how the decision goes.

From what I have been reading, FDCs actually work very well for some people, depending on their condition, the evidence they have, etc.

So I think it is nice as an additional option for veterans to use.

[63SIERRA]

I hear ya. but look a little further down the road . if the claim gets denied, then the vet submits more evidence, it puts the va at more of a liberty to say,, well you submitted a supposed FDC. You lost, now your just shooting in the dark trying to hit something.

I just dont think its a good idea. If they would agree to process the claim im say one to 2 weeks. I may think different.

If its FULLY developed then why should it still take 4 months or longer.

Edited October 31, 2013 by 63SIERRA