Champva And Survivors

[john999]

What happens when the ChampVA sponsor dies and before the surviving spouse has their DIC approved? Does ChampVA stop until the survivor gets their DIC claim approved? If my wife were to be on Medicare as primary and ChampVA as the secondary medigap coverage and I croak then what? I know the money from my compensation stops, but do all the other benefits to the spouse stop as well until she/he has DIC approved? My wife is entitled to three survivor pensions so to speak. She would be eligible for my SSA, my Civil Service survivor pension and to DIC. The thing is how long does it take for all this to kick in after she applies? Not many survivors just snap out of it in a week and then claim their life insurance and all their survivor pensions. They have to bury their vet and deal with all that plus they might be in grief for a while. The way I see it the survivor can't afford to grieve if they want to keep paying their bills. Now I have some of this taken care of but the insurance thing worries me. One thing I do know is that the vet and the spouse need an emergency fund that will carry them at least 6 months while all this stuff gets worked out. I have the disabled vet insurance which is enough to bury me, but do undertakers extend credit based on the VA insurance? Even if a vet has the grave and headstone paid for by the VA the service and all the extras can come out to $5000-6000. I did take a course in financial planning but I did not get to that specific section I guess. My wife always avoids my talking about what she will have to do if I leave this world before her. She says " John, you worry too much!" Yeah, I have been dealing with the VA for 40 odd years, so I do worry. I think it would behoove her to get one of those medicare advantage plans so she would not be high and dry if I croak and she has to wait for DIC claim.

John

[atomicwidow]

I have a few things in process:

1. the pulmonologist who diagnosed the lung cancer's clarification....I drafted the suggested wording (subject to her approval/changes) including "more likely than not" primary lung CA and that it significantly contributed to his death (using IMO language and reinforcing the death certificate)

2. a call this AM with VA regional office; they have my husband's soc security # wrong despite me mailing them corrections in July 2014. She read my correspondence with correction documents, so we know they received it, just didn't yet update/correct the file. Correction is now in process.

3. request to the VA RO for copy of the claim file. Waiting on that.

Free Spirit, yes, the MD who diagnosed the cancer is a different MD than who signed the death certificate. So you're right, there are 2 MDs who state "probable".

If the VA has my husband's SSN wrong and has not corrected it in the 6 months since I sent the documentation they need to correct it, I wonder if they also missed medical evidence sent? Getting the claim file contents will be telling.

2 more questions:

- at what point should I sent the Notice of Disagreement......now or wait til I get more evidence? I have until August (12 months) to appeal.

- as I read recent posts, it seems BVA gets involved at some point. Is there a link or tutorial to explain the steps & timeframes bumping it up the legal ladder?

Thanks, all.

Jo

[Berta]

In this main link
http://www.hadit.com/veterans-affairs-claims-process/
the following pamphlet pops up and takes a claimant step by step as to what to expect in the appeal process


http://www.bva.va.gov/docs/Pamphlets/010202A.pdf

In the Radiation regulations, it notes:

"Note: The VA will request an estimate of your level or range of radiation exposure. The request will be sent to the appropriate military service or the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. When dose estimates are reported at a range to which a Veteran may have been exposed, the highest level of the dose range is accepted. See 38 CFR 3.311(b)(5) for more information."

http://www.benefits.va.gov/compensation/claims-postservice-exposures-ionizing_radiation.asp

Did the RECA determine a dosage for the claim you had with them, and do you have that documented from RECA,

and if not, do you have your husband's complete SMRs and 201 (Personnel) file?

I have tried to find out if RECA needs this dosage info from DTRA , but can't find out if they do obtain it. You might need it for the VA DIC claim.

This BVA case shows what I mean:

"The Board notes in passing that during his lifetime, the Veteran had been awarded a "compassionate payment" of $75,000 from the Department of Justice under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Program (RECA), based upon his status as an on-site participant in above-ground nuclear weapons testing. (See the Radiation Exposure Compensation Program guidelines submitted by the Veteran in December 2005.) While the factual determinations of the Department of Justice regarding the Veteran's RECA claim are not binding on VA with regard to the appellant's present claim for service connection for the Veteran's cause of death, they nevertheless constitute probative evidence indicating that the Veteran may have been exposed to ionizing radiation during active duty. Furthermore, a nexus opinion presented by a VA physician during examination in March 2011 states that, assuming as true that the Veteran was exposed to ionizing radiation in service and given the absence of other documented risk factors, it is at least as likely as not that his terminal esophageal cancer was due to service. Therefore, it is necessary for purposes of fairly adjudicating this claim that VA obtain a radiation dose estimate from the DTRA, or otherwise an adequate explanation as to why such an estimate cannot be provided. "

http://www.va.gov/vetapp13/Files4/1332867.txt

[atomicwidow]

Wow Berta, you dig deep....that's a compliment!

Yes, my husband has a Defense Threat Reduction Agency exposure record. I have a copy of his dose exposure estimates. We requested those records as soon as they were declassified, long before the cancer diagnosis and death. Veteran groups at that time advised that vets radiation exposure numbers would appear small, perhaps not representative of their true exposure. DOJ, via their RECA (Radiation Exposure Compensation Act) award concedes his presence, so with a presumptive cancer, I believe the dosage is not important.

My husband also registered in the IRR: Ionizing Radiation Registry. I have that documentation. That also was long before his cancer diagnosis and death. Again, the fact that the feds acknowledged Fred's radiation exposure via the IRR long before his cancer hopefully connects the dots.

His Navy radiation exposure was during Operation Castle, including Castle Bravo: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/bomb/peopleevents/pandeAMEX51.html

I'm in and out of this site...sometimes I may not reply timely. Just so you know, I work full time, take care of aging parents, recently (8 weeks ago) survived a rollover car accident on ice on my way to work and I'm pretty achy but mostly ok & grateful.

Tenaciously,

Jo

[Berta]

You certainly deal with a lot Atomicwidow!
Sorry to hear of the accident. But I am so glad you are sore but OK.

I am sure glad too, that you have all of the info I mentioned.

The regulations for presumptives of any type also usually have this type of statement within the Radiogenic regs:



"You have one of the radiogenic diseases listed in 38 CFR 3.311(b)(2) OR an unlisted disease for which a medical opinion shows a relationship between the disease and exposure to radiation."


and
"The evidence must show the existence of a radiogenic disease listed in 38 CFR 3.311(a), or an unlisted disease for which a medical opinion has been submitted showing a relationship between the disease and exposure to radiation."

http://www.benefits.va.gov/compensation/claims-postservice-exposures-ionizing_radiation.asp

So even if a presumptive cannot be proven sometimes, a direct service connected claim could succeed.

But that can be very difficult and needs a very strong medical opinion:

"Department of Health and Human Services literature also suggests a possible association between ionizing radiation exposure and prostate, nasal cavity/sinuses, pharyngeal and laryngeal, and pancreatic cancer."
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/bio-effects-radiation.html

This comes from a 2011 study by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The article ends:
" At the NRC's request, the National Academy of Sciences is currently engaged in a state-of-the-art update to the earlier study. The new study will examine cancer rates in communities around operating and decommissioned nuclear power plants, as well as nuclear fuel cycle facilities."

I don't know if that study is completed and could not find it on the internet.

But my point is Nothing is impossible and although the lung cancer is the strongest means of gaining DIC ,in your case,.
an expert oncologist might even find a strong radiation link ,with updated studies and treatises, as to the larynx cancer.

I Love the way you signed your post:

"Tenaciously,

Jo"

When my husband died the only person who believed in my original FTCA/1151death claim was my daughter.

And she is the one who made me file under the AO DMII regs as well and has consistently been a source of.encourageent to me with my additional claims.

Widows have problems that compound their ability to even take the time to handle VA claims.

I think back on how fortunate I was to have been the family livestock farmer ,so I could continue to farm ,when my husband died and I knew how to use power tools and how everything.like the electric panel, the water well, etc ,septic system...etc etc all worked. I also spent many hours going to law libraries and medical libraries-no internet then like it is now,and relentlessly did research for my claims.

The wife of a VA doctor who had treated my husband had died and at a yard sale she had I found considerable medical texts of his that helped me understand the many acronyms and other stuff in the stack of med recs I had , all handwritten and difficult to get through..

And when some neighbors began to cut into some of my land and said they would take my land under adverse possession because I was alone now and couldn't do anything about it, I sued them and I won.

Widows deal with many things that non widowed people don't even have to consider.

And we succeed in our claims because we ARE TENACIOUS! And willing to do whatever it takes to get our proper DIC awards.

You are an inspiration to me and are an asset to this site because one never knows how many vets might have been exposed to radiation particularly when this topic might become very important to our site:

Operation Tomodachi ( Fukusaki earthquake:)
)ber-of-vets-effected/#entry342880

and: Tbird opened a new Forum for any future input:

[atomicwidow]

I just read Berta's 2/3/15 post.....I'm blushing. I truly hope my knowledge of DIC application for atomic vets helps another vet or widow down the road.

Today I received a letter from VA regional office/claims telling me they corrected my husband's social security number in his file. It only took them 7 months and my follow up.

Argh.

I'm waiting for the diagnosing MD's written support in IMO terms. I expect it in March. I'm also waiting for a copy of my husband's claim file from the VA. I won't hold my breath.

My next step is to submit a NOD (Notification of Disagreement) with a cover letter connecting the dots, referencing the CFRs (Code of Federal Regulations), including all the documents/medical records to support "probable" lung cancer. I have until August, so I'm okay on the timeframe.

My sister said this is a bit like writing her doctoral thesis.....I agree.

Jo

[Berta]

"My sister said this is a bit like writing her doctoral thesis.....I agree."

LOL and that is true...we have to practically become doctors and lawyers!

I just went over this AM some of my past issues with VA.

I think my thesis experiences at AMU helped me a lot.

My claims have all involved

A clear opening Opening statement,

then I lay out the argument as to exactly why they are wrong, and then refer to the enclosed evidence, and state how each piece of evidence fully supports my claim.

My CUE claims are usually very short, much shorter then other stuff I had filed.

And my easiest claim of all was my FTCA case.

It took a long time to study medical stuff and prepare that case, and no internet then as we know it now, so lots of time spent in law libraries and medical libraries.... but when you deal with VA lawyers,

they can and will read every single piece of evidence they get.

.