tdiu I'm Over This *&^%$#

[cowboys4life]

So I received my final decision from the BVA which granted me TDIU which states that my effective date is June 2016 which I strongly disagree no surprise there huh!!!!!!!!!!!!!. My question to the elders on this beloved sight is what should I do. I mean the judge I guess tried to pay me back to my original claim date in 2002 but the evidence did not support staged ratings or extra scheduler rating. She used in my favor a statement  dated in June 2004 made by a VA doctor stating that my coronary artery disease solely kept me from working and maintaining gainful employment. That she said outweighed the recent opinion from the C&P examiner made in June 2016. Now my total rating recently jumped to 90% which I guess made it easy for her to give me the TDIU. I am confused about the regulation covering early effective dates and how is it established if a doctor gives an opinion that many years ago and they do not reference it until it is convenient to disallow a big retro. Should I just be thankful for what I got and just get over this. Anxious to hear from the community 

[Guest L]

Cowboy$Life - remember the criteria for TDIU - that may help to understand the issue. I too received TDIU last December - I was only back dated to the date I received my 70% rating. so my back pay was only from  2014. 

[cowboys4life]

So, as long as the VA kept low balling me after having two separate heart surgeries, to wit: They were able to say with a straight face that my condition did not warrant a higher rating until 2016 which were based solely on medical tests and not my own assertions that that is how it is. I've lost a lot of years staying above ground only to see buried by the bull@#$. I won't ever understand it and will never accept the fact that they won. Hell they never mentioned the opinion of the cardiologist until this decision. VERY CONVENIENT!!!!

[VetlawUS]

Effective dates for TDIU typically can go back as early as the original "claim" for IU...schedular or extraschedular.  

A claim for IU can be a) any request for increased rating where unemployability due to the condition is mentioned , or b) the submission of 21-8940.

The VA often uses the 8940 date, and wrongly does not consider earlier dates.  Not saying that happened here, but it's worth looking into.   

I am a little curious how the Board used the 2016 opinion to out-weigh a contemporaneous 2004 exam in your favor.  Not saying it's wrong, but I'm also not saying its right.