Congress Considering Age Limit On Iu Awards

[gs106]

If enacted, this will, at least in the immediate future, effect Vietnam veterans more than any other group.

Vet Groups Warn Hill Not to Act on Aging of ‘IU’ Claimants

Read more: http://militaryadvantage.military.com/2015/07/vet-groups-warn-hill-not-to-act-on-aging-of-iu-claimants/#ixzz3gWt9LjRX
MilitaryAdvantage.Military.com

[broncovet]

Use caution when taking what the VA says at face value, especially on things like "grandfathered in". That sounds like a big lie to try to keep Vets advocates off their back. Then, when push comes to shove, the "grandfathered in" clause will be scrapped as it will cost the government money. IM on to VA's tricks. Remember "Veterans choice"...and how they figured up how many miles? There are so many of those "gotcha's" for Veterans its unbelievable.

what about Va math?

Please tell me how a 100 percent vetran gets 2906.83, so a 10% Vet gets $290 dollars, right? Wrong. A 10 percent Vet gets less than half that..$133.

How did they do that? A 10 percent Vet is not 10%. He gets 4.5%. Do the math..divide 133 into 2906. Its 4.5%. Its similar for them all. How did they do it?

A little at a time over many many years, rounding the dollar amount down each year. Somebody caught on, and they dont round down anymore.

When we get a raise of, say, 1.7% here is how it works (rounding down to the lower dollar)

133 times 1.7% equals $2.26 raise rounded down to 2.00. If you divide 2.00 by 133 dollars, the actual "1.7% is really 1.5%"

2906 times 1.7% equals $49 dollar raise rounded down. But the 100% Vet, after rounding down, gets 1.68%. By compounding this year after year, the lower the percentage the more you get hurt.

[Vync]

It seems like a ploy to get as many IU'ers bumped down from 100% to 90% (or less) in order to shave $1163.35 per month times the number of veterans (victims of this ploy). And that's just from a single 10% drop.

$2906.83 @ 100%

-1743.48 @ 90%

$1163.35

There are tons of other areas where savings can be achieved in the VA and throughout government nationwide, but unfortunately they are looking to cut costs in the wrong places.

[Buck52]

I don't see how this will ever possibly be passed.

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

[iceturkee]

I don't see how this will ever possibly be passed.

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

hasn't this been talked about for years? one of the state va reps at my clinic agrees with you buck!

[Vync]

Yes, you are correct.

The government has special bean counters who get paid to evaluate cutting costs, without any genuine concern for the damage they would end up causing to the very veterans who served to help protect and keep the citizens of this country free. I wonder how much money would be saved if they focused on legitimate projects that need to be cut or eliminated instead of picking up us veterans...

As soon as any actual forward movement picks up, advocate groups like the VVA, VFW, or DAV, usually raise a ruckus and help the politicians come to their senses.

[GuaymasJim]

The only reason IU exists is because the VA has only updated their rating schedule a tiny bit since WWII. Rather than create a modern comprehensive rating schedule, the VA resorts to this accounting trick called IU. When a vet is unable to work because of his/her service-connected medical conditions, there is only one justifiable rating-100%. IU awards are often granted using another gimmick called "rating by analogy" which goes something like this: "Well, we don't have a rating scale for your particular medical condition; so we will rate it using another condition that WE, not medical science, feel is similar or just make one up. This can ultimately save a great deal of $ for the VA because of the "hammer back" traps involved in a IU rating.

I have been rated by analogy since 1973 (42 years), and IU since 1980 (35 years) with P&T added in 1985 (30 years). I have two pages from my medical records framed and hung on my wall: (1) States that I don't suffer from the condition I am rated for, therefore my condition does not exist so I cannot be disabled by it signed by a VA doctor; and (2) Another official VA document which concurs with the first stating that my previous exam (by the first doctor) showed no disability signed by another VA doctor. My benefits were discontinued based on these two documents. The vindictive VA even sent that reversal award to the SSA who followed suit and rescinded my SSDI. I have always considered this event to be my "Pearl Harbor" in my continuing war with the VA. After I discovered that my medical records had been illegally altered to conform to the denial AND after I physically assaulted doctor #2 (Don't ever do this! I was very lucky not to go to prison!), the war began in earnest. With the world's 3 leading authorities on my side (one of which was willing to attend my hearing at his own expense) combined with my possession of "the originals" of my original unaltered medical records and heavy Congressional intervention, I won every battle thereafter. However, the amount of time, energy, and money I had to expend destroyed any chance I had to succeed with Voc-Rehab. I will never forgive them for that!

After accounting for inflation, my total disability income is only $5.82 per month more than the day I left the Marines in 1973. Gasoline pump price was $0.36 gal. The job (along with and the included equity) I lost in 1980 which prompted the IU rating (I was given three months to get my medical condition under control or leave the company) would have made me a multi-millionaire over the course of the next ten years. I will never forgive them for that either!

Whether you have a 100% schedular rating or 100% IU rating, you lose the opportunity to accumulate generational wealth--particularly if you have a family. No 401(k). No Retirement accounts. Etc. Etc. And as we all know, there is no compensation what so ever for the lost quality of life caused by our disabilities. I doubt very many vets served in order to get wealthy, but we should at least be treated as adults and fairly compensated for our losses.

Veterans make up the largest voting block in the nation, but even though we are shamelessly used a props for election photo ops and are the target of choice for budget cuts, have a completely dysfunctional VA, a majority of us vote against our own best interests every election. I doubt that will change in my lifetime. If we don't collectively hold our elected representatives accountable then they will never hold the VA accountable and round and round we go.