Form 526Ez To File For Smc-S?

[retroman]

Hi, Just got off the phone with VA and asked if I am qualified for SMC-S under Bradley V Peake and the lady told me to file EZ form 526. I told her it’s the statutory and I don’t need to file the form and she told me that’s the only way for rater to look at. What do you think? Below is my disabilities and I need you to tell me if it’s a shot or not.

Thoracic 40%

Right lower extremity(secondary) 10%

Left lower extremity(secondary) 10%

Cervical spine 20%

Right dominant upper(secondary) 20%

Headaches 30%

Scares on face 30%

Allergic rhinitis 10%

ED(secondary) 0%

IU approved on all above affective date of 1 Jun 2011

Depression (secondary)70% affective date of 2 Apr 2012.

So is this what Bradley V Peake calles 100%+60%?

[broncovet]

Good point, Buck. It seems that is what Asknod is saying, and it would make sense. However, what seems to happen most often is that, when a Veteran does get IU, he gets it based on "all" of his disabities, not just the worst one. That way, pymariding prevents the Veteran from gettting SMC S, as they Va does not want any Veteran ever getting paid twice (most of the time Vets get paid never, rarely once, but never twice).

[Buck52]

Now this veteran should apply for SMC based on his other disability's if they all add up to 60% then file for the SMC...but ''not'' any disability that is secondary to his MDD.


Just my Opinion.



.......................Buck

Edited May 19, 2015 by Buck52

[Buck52]

IF they used all his disability's for IU that would not be a fair assessment to the veteran,

This is actually how most veteran's get SMC (With different disability's)

I was thinking bout filing a secondary disability to my current disability for depression...but I am currently on depression meds &see MH.

So I want to see if they help me first??....I am currently rated for TDIU for my current disability...but I'd rather not have depression as a disability.... & not just wanting the $$$ for the SMC

In my opinion the SMC is for the veterans that need it worse than me.

........................Buck

[retroman]

ok, I guess I will not file for it. one, My Iu is made of many of my disabilities. Two, my 70% MDD is secondary. Three, If I did qualify for SMC S, Va would more likely contacted me. Thanks for all your input.

[FormerMember]

I have been at this now since 1989. Every time I was told I didn't (or couldn't) get to SMC S, it frustrated me. I attacked it from numerous angles. The most obvious, my Hepatitis @ 100% schedular, was a no brainer. VA would not grant based simply on an imputed "housebound in fact" in spite of an additional 40% for phlebotomies for Porphyria that left me dizzy and anemic. I then filed for cryoglobulinemia/fibromyalgia legitimately, knowing that the extra % would carry me over the top to the extra 60%. Va "fixed" that by ignoring it for three years. When I won my Writ this March, they upped the phlebotomies to 60%, restored the 10% skin scarring they took away (CUE) and then-wonder of wonders- finally handed me another 40% for the cryo/ fibro. I didn't need that extra 40% after they caved in on the porphyria but it illustrates taking several paths to get to it.

Under no circumstances would I relinquish my quest for housebound, Retroman. If you read my book, you would know that VA purposefully inculcates that guilt feeling in Vets and hopes they'll all "leave some on the table for the next guy". Look at your comp. check. If you're married with no rug rats, it's about $3 K and small change. SMC is a paltry $346 more. In no way are you stealing from another Vet. Congress appropriates the money for us. If anything, you are stealing from a Senior Executive Service (SES) type making $137 K per year and a hefty bonus to boot. SMC S is not for being physically housebound in spite of VA's attempts to portray it as such. It's because you sit at home most of the time because you are unable to work-not because you are confined there by your disabilities. To leave this on the table when you are entitled elicits much humor at your local RO. If it's owed, go for it.

When I went to war, I signed a contract. VA refused to honor it for 26 years and finally, in desperation, I used the Court (twice) to get what I begged them to do voluntarily. Berta's predicament is eerily similar. That I won ten times over is testimony to their callous indifference towards Veterans. Either that or gross stupidity. I admit freely that I was not entitled to 100% all the way back to 1994. I wasn't that sick then-merely dizzy and anemic. VA gave me the rating so I don't feel obligated to return it or correct their thinking. I'm impaired for life. My income stream is shot. $3 K is chump change. $346 more is an even bigger joke. I don't expect a $100 K a year comp check but let's all hold up a moment and smoke some reality weed. They tout that they "grant when they can and deny if they must". I submit they practice the obverse. My case is proof positive. You do yourself and all Vets a disservice by dropping the flag and surrendering on the field of battle, sir. As for Cruiser, Loyal, he is a self-acknowledged alcoholic and has no credibility in the Veterans Benefits arena. Let's leave him out of the discussion. Read this CAVC decision very carefully before you throw in the towel. https://asknod.wordpress.com/2014/08/25/cavc-howell-v-nicholson-what-smc-s-really-says/

I will certainly respect whatever you choose to do but remember always -this is not about you-or me. This is about all of us collectively. Remember Theresa's analogy of us tying our lifeboats together as one ship on these troubled waters? Our strength is in our numbers. Our success is in our shared experience. What I did teaches others. More importantly, what you do or succeed in shows others how and why it works. Each small contribution ensures another Veteran will not have to languish for years waiting for VA to get around to doing the right thing.

My decision to fight was the day they said I was never in Vietnam, not the denial for the Agent Orange and the hep. Oddly, by the time I get finished with this insanity, I'll be 270% disabled. How crazy is that? All I wanted was remuneration for the inability to work- not a lifetime litigation project. Pay it forward for all of us by continuing the fight. With the collection of disabilities you have, make them prove to you that you are not housebound as envisioned in the Howell decision above, sir. Best of luck in whatever you choose to do.

J1VO

[63SIERRA]

The Va is going to learn that pissing the wrong people off is going to cost them millions.. put me in coach!!!

Vets start getting very resentful.. kind of like,,, you might keep us in chains, but every chance we get we will throw a bucket of shit on you and flood the joint

Edited April 23, 2015 by 63SIERRA