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Are all military medical records on file at the VA?
RichardZ posted a topic in How to's on filing a Claim,
I met with a VSO today at my VA Hospital who was very knowledgeable and very helpful. We decided I should submit a few new claims which we did. He told me that he didn't need copies of my military records that showed my sick call notations related to any of the claims. He said that the VA now has entire military medical record on file and would find the record(s) in their own file. It seemed odd to me as my service dates back to 1981 and spans 34 years through my retirement in 2015. It sure seemed to make more sense for me to give him copies of my military medical record pages that document the injuries as I'd already had them with me. He didn't want my copies. Anyone have any information on this. Much thanks in advance.-
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RichardZ, -
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Caluza Triangle defines what is necessary for service connection
Tbird posted a record in VA Claims and Benefits Information,
Caluza Triangle – Caluza vs Brown defined what is necessary for service connection. See COVA– CALUZA V. BROWN–TOTAL RECALL
This has to be MEDICALLY Documented in your records:
Current Diagnosis. (No diagnosis, no Service Connection.)
In-Service Event or Aggravation.
Nexus (link- cause and effect- connection) or Doctor’s Statement close to: “The Veteran’s (current diagnosis) is at least as likely due to x Event in military service”-
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Tbird, -
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Post in ICD Codes and SCT CODES?WHAT THEY MEAN?
Timothy cawthorn posted an answer to a question,
Do the sct codes help or hurt my disability ratingPicked By
yellowrose, -
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Post in Chevron Deference overruled by Supreme Court
broncovet posted a post in a topic,
VA has gotten away with (mis) interpreting their ambigious, , vague regulations, then enforcing them willy nilly never in Veterans favor.
They justify all this to congress by calling themselves a "pro claimant Veteran friendly organization" who grants the benefit of the doubt to Veterans.
This is not true,
Proof:
About 80-90 percent of Veterans are initially denied by VA, pushing us into a massive backlog of appeals, or worse, sending impoverished Veterans "to the homeless streets" because when they cant work, they can not keep their home. I was one of those Veterans who they denied for a bogus reason: "Its been too long since military service". This is bogus because its not one of the criteria for service connection, but simply made up by VA. And, I was a homeless Vet, albeit a short time, mostly due to the kindness of strangers and friends.
Hadit would not be necessary if, indeed, VA gave Veterans the benefit of the doubt, and processed our claims efficiently and paid us promptly. The VA is broken.
A huge percentage (nearly 100 percent) of Veterans who do get 100 percent, do so only after lengthy appeals. I have answered questions for thousands of Veterans, and can only name ONE person who got their benefits correct on the first Regional Office decision. All of the rest of us pretty much had lengthy frustrating appeals, mostly having to appeal multiple multiple times like I did.
I wish I know how VA gets away with lying to congress about how "VA is a claimant friendly system, where the Veteran is given the benefit of the doubt". Then how come so many Veterans are homeless, and how come 22 Veterans take their life each day? Va likes to blame the Veterans, not their system.Picked By
Lemuel, -
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Post in Re-embursement for non VA Medical care.
broncovet posted an answer to a question,
Welcome to hadit!
There are certain rules about community care reimbursement, and I have no idea if you met them or not. Try reading this:
https://www.va.gov/resources/getting-emergency-care-at-non-va-facilities/
However, (and I have no idea of knowing whether or not you would likely succeed) Im unsure of why you seem to be so adamant against getting an increase in disability compensation.
When I buy stuff, say at Kroger, or pay bills, I have never had anyone say, "Wait! Is this money from disability compensation, or did you earn it working at a regular job?" Not once. Thus, if you did get an increase, likely you would have no trouble paying this with the increase compensation.
However, there are many false rumors out there that suggest if you apply for an increase, the VA will reduce your benefits instead.
That rumor is false but I do hear people tell Veterans that a lot. There are strict rules VA has to reduce you and, NOT ONE of those rules have anything to do with applying for an increase.
Yes, the VA can reduce your benefits, but generally only when your condition has "actually improved" under ordinary conditions of life.
Unless you contacted the VA within 72 hours of your medical treatment, you may not be eligible for reimbursement, or at least that is how I read the link, I posted above. Here are SOME of the rules the VA must comply with in order to reduce your compensation benefits:
https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/38/3.344
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Lemuel, -
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Question
carlie
I've pasted here a prime example of what I'm referring to as the attitude of a rater
in my prior post. This came from a Court decision and I sure wish I would have saved the entire document or my link to it. Let me know what you think, should I add this information into what I am sending BVA ? Anyone out there have a similar
problem ?
carlie
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The Court notes that, in reaching the above conclusion, the Board relied on the October 1996 orthopedic medical opinion by the VA specialist that was solicited by the RO. R. at 6-7. Although the Board also said that "even without the doctor's opinion" it had concluded that DC 5286 applied only to conditions that affect "the entire spine", the Board was obviously influenced by the conclusion in the October 1996 medical opinion by the specialist that DC 5286 was not applicable to Pott's disease, even if the entire spine had been involved (R. at 191). The RO, in its October 1996 engagement memorandum that led to the October 1996 opinion, alleged that Dr. Lloren's October 1994 diagnosis as to the veteran's back disability was "lifted verbatim from the Rating Schedule", sought a resolution to that "problem", and then proposed that the specialist "feel free to refute the private physician's report as fully as possible for a better argument." R. at 255. That language suggested and, in effect, requested that the orthopedic specialist refute Dr. Lloren's opinion that the veteran's condition was ratable under DC 5286. In addition, the RO limited the inquiry to two narrow issues -- whether the previous report was accurate and whether the veteran's disability had recently worsened -- and left to the specialist's discretion whether he would {12 Vet. App. 535} review certain prior examination and x-ray reports ("you might want to review the 1973 examination and x-rays", R. at 255).
The Court holds that the questions that the RO presented to that orthopedic specialist in the engagement memorandum were fatally flawed in that a "question may not suggest an answer or limit the field of inquiry by the expert." Bielby v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 260, 268-69 (1994); see also Austin v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 547, 552 (1994). The Secretary has conceded the impropriety of that memorandum. Under _CFR_4.23 38 C.F.R. § 4.23 (1998), "rating officers must not allow their personal feelings to intrude . . . and fairness and courtesy must at all times be shown to applicants". That regulation was violated by the engagement memorandum prepared here. Moreover, the memorandum also violated a requirement in _CFR_4.1 38 C.F.R. § 4.1 ("it is thus essential, both in the examination and in the evaluation of disability, that each disability be reviewed in relation to its history" (emphasis added)), because it gave the examiner discretion as to whether to review certain prior medical records. See Green (Victor), supra ("thorough and contemporaneous medical examination" is one that "takes into account the records of the prior medical treatment, so that the evaluation of the claimed disability will be a fully informed one").
Accordingly, in view of the errors pointed out in part II.A.2.a., above, and the serious compromise to the fairness of the adjudication process and in order that the adjudication of this claim comport with "underlying concepts of procedural regularity and basic fair play", Thurber, 5 Vet. App. at 123 (quoting Gonzales v. United States, 348 U.S. 407, 411-12, 99 L. Ed. 467, 75 S. Ct. 409 (1955)), a new medical opinion must be obtained on remand to carry out the Board's March 1996 remand order (R. at 174-75). See Stegall, supra. Accordingly, the Court will remand the claim for the Board to obtain a "medical opinion from the Chief Medical Director or an independent medical expert [(IME)], pursuant to _CFR_20.901 38 C.F.R. § 20.901(a) ,(d) (199[8])," as part of the readjudication of the Pott's disease claim that we hold is required. Quiamco v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 304, 310 (1994); see Lathan v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 359, 367 (1995) (holding that remand was "necessary for VA to obtain a medical opinion which [would] enable it to give [the claim] 'careful consideration', as required by _CFR_3.312 38 C.F.R. § 3.312© "); see also 38 U.S.C. §§ 5107 (a), 7109; Bielby, 7 Vet. App. at 269 (requiring that BVA obtain IME opinion from an IME different from one whose opinion was tainted by Board's engagement letter). As to the process for obtaining the medical opinion on remand, although the Court is reluctant to intrude into the VA adjudication process, given the seriousness of the regulatory and fair-process violations that occurred in this case and the need for expeditious action in light of the nature of the 79-year-old veteran's disabilities and in order to ensure fairness, before any engagement letter is sent, the Court believes that the appellant's counsel should have an opportunity to submit a draft of such letter to the Secretary's representative here in Washington, D.C., and that the engagement letter should be prepared through that representative, in consultation with the appellant's counsel, for the Board then to send pursuant to 38 U.S.C. § 7109 and _CFR_20.901 38 C.F.R. § 20.901(d) , rather than using the indirect approach of preparing an engagement letter in Washington, D.C., for use by the Philippines RO.
Carlie passed away in November 2015 she is missed.
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