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Trouble Remembering? This helped me.
I have memory problems and as some of you may know I highly recommend Evernote and have for years. Though I've found that writing helps me remember more. I ran across Tom's videos on youtube, I'm a bit geeky and I also use an IPad so if you take notes on your IPad or you are thinking of going paperless check it out. I'm really happy with it, I use it with a program called Noteshelf 2.
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14 Questions about VA Disability Compensation Benefits Claims
When a Veteran starts considering whether or not to file a VA Disability Claim, there are a lot of questions that he or she tends to ask. Over the last 10 years, the following are the 14 most common basic questions I am asked about ...
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Most Common VA Disabilities Claimed for Compensation:
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Can a 100 percent Disabled Veteran Work and Earn an Income?
You’ve just been rated 100% disabled by the Veterans Affairs. After the excitement of finally having the rating you deserve wears off, you start asking questions. One of the first questions that you might ask is this: It’s a legitimate question – rare is the Veteran that finds themselves sitting on the couch eating bon-bons … Continue reading
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Commonly Claimed Disabilities
Tinnitus | PTS(D) | Lumbosacral Cervical Strain | Scars | Limitation of flexion, knee | Diabetes | Paralysis of Siatic Nerve | Limitation of motion, ankle | Degenerative Arthritis Spine | TBI – Traumatic Brain Injury
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Post in Ready to be rated
Hucast21 posted an answer to a question,
So, my lawyer sent an IME w/ IMO and filed a supplemental claim solely for IU on March 20.
It was closed on March 25, and va.gov just states claim closed and nothing more.
Hopefully, I get good news.
Picked By
Hucast21, -
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Post in NOD QUESTION
Galen Rogers posted an answer to a question,
Thanks for the responses. I am filing a new claim but will continue pushing the NOD. My new question is it stated in law or statute that if during the claims process the VA finds conditions that could possibly rate service connection that was not originally filed for, the VA will “invite” the veteran to file the claim on the claims form. Reason I ask is that my private DBQs, NEXUS letter, and even the VA nurse examiner's DBQs lists bilateral upper radiculopathy as present. If it is written in statute or official guidance it might qualify as a CUE. Just looking at all angles.
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Galen Rogers, -
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Post in I faxed my TDIU to the VA form this morning
broncovet posted an answer to a question,
Everyone needs to read our stories so they can try to avoid these screws by the va...
Thank you, everyone contributes, good or bad, all of our stories will help others, and yes, they have been stated by others for ages, over and over, but we just get depressed, and the time turns into years as they screw us..
Welcome to the department of Veterans Affairs! I can honestly say, "been there, done that".
Even after winning my tdiu in 2017, it was back to the drawing board as VA hornswaggeld my effective date. (but of course).
I finally won my tdiu effective date in Feb. 2020, 18 years after I first applied!!!
Here is how they managed to drag mine out 18 years:
1. They never adjuticated my decison until 2009, where they called it "moot".
2. I appealed, said it was not moot because it could result in an earlier effective date and SMC S under Bradley vs Peake. The judge agreed with me, and ordered VARO consider me for extra schedular TDIU, under 4.16 b.
3. The VARO piddles with the remand for 3 years, and hoped I wouldnt notice. I noticed and raised cane until they adjuticated it. (denied of course).
4. Finally, after the baord denied again, I hired a lawyer, in 2014, and appealed to CAVC.
5. The lawyer won a remand, got an IMO and I won tdiu in 2017. But at the wrong effective date, even after 15 years.
6. I hired another lawyer, Chris Attig, and appealed the effective date, and he won a remand for effective date. Trip 2 to CAVC.
7. Mr. Attig won a remand, and advised me to get another IMO.
8. The board awarded my earlier effective date in Feb. 2020.
So, I do have advice fighting VA for TDIU, they fought and fought and I hung in there and won it all.
ADVICE: Dont count on VA, they could easily throw your fax in the trash. Follow up!
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retiredat44, -
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Post in CUE
glenda h posted an answer to a question,
"Keep in mind that due to the nature of the digestive system, VA would most likely combined your conditions and pay you at the higher rate to avoid pyramiding". That is one of my main gripes. They are only listing the GERD with hiatal hernia and ignoring the rest of my gastric issues such as the gastritis which I also had in service. I included it in my 2007 request for increase and again in 2019. The info from the civilian dr that stated I had the gastritis with H pylori was not even provided to the examiner in 2007, nor did he have my VA health records. The 2019 request was based on an EGD I had AT THE VA in Jan 2019. I filed for an increase 6 Mar and they did an ACE on 27 Mar and downgraded to noncompensable on that date. The only reason I was thinking CUE: 38 CFR § 3.326 - Under Examinations it states (c) Provided that it is otherwise adequate for rating purposes, a statement from a private physician may be accepted for rating a claim without further examination".
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glenda h, -
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Post in Not Recommended: Bosley & Bratch
Tbird posted a post in a topic,
Enough has been said on this topic. This forum is not the proper forum for an attorney and former client to hash out their problems. Please take this offline
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Jamezam, -
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By vetquest
I was helping a widow of an ALS victim get benefits from the VA. She decided to use a VSO also. When she filed a FDC the VA denied her as for some stupid reason the death certificate stated they were separated at the time of his death. I requested that she cite CFR 3.214 in that she was his spouse but they filed a Supplemental claim with a revised death certificate and two buddy letters. The claim finished last week and she received back pay for about a year and begins receiving benefits this month.
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By nacole
Hi, Berta (everyone), I am curious if there’s any instructions on how to go about:
DIC is granted & accrued / death pension benefits are denied. My VA rep (Colorado VA office), recently explained to me that my mom was awarded DIC benefits ( I filed on her behalf ), effective the day of his death (my dad died Dec.30, 2017) of...
1-Pneumonia
2-COPD
3-CAD
but, we (she) was denied accrued because the Army / VA did not owe him any money, since he never filed for benefits while alive. While that part is true, he never filed because he was told he did not have agent orange, he was told he “wasn’t in the right theater”, course that “theater” explanation is false. Vietnam establishes theater now, period. My dad was on ground (in air) for a year. Further my dad’s records I received from archives (medals included) do not have a lot of information in them. I have a hard time understanding what they do say. My dad was 191st Military Intellegence, not sure if that is why I have trouble making sense of the records they gave me or if that has anything to do with why I had such a trouble free approval on DIC portion of our claim (approved first time & expedited approval within 3 months)..to which we are grateful. However, I have an original document from 1989 that reads, “ In regards to YOU’RE request to be tested for agent orange...Donald L. Welch...” (my dad)..you’re appointment is scheduled for ...1989 at ... etc. then written in red pen on the top of the document is written “6-8 weeks”. I prusume his “testing” (set for an entire day 8am-6pm) did not inform my dad he had exposure, because he then would have filed! Yet, clearly he did (death certificate reads CAD) & DIC awarded for presumptive CAD! Throughout his lengthy medical history of: Arteries blocked (multiple), Surgical stents, cardiac-arrest, COPD, bronchitis-chronic, lung problems, etc. He believed he did not qualify for benefits. Months before his death he went to VA medical at his brothers insistence & on the way home from getting RX (for the first time ever from the VA) he told his brother he was told he wasn’t in the “theater” for agent orange benefits. By the time he got his first RX delivered through the mail...he was dead....of CAD. How do I prove establish that he would have filed for benefits (as far back as 1989, document attached), if they had not told him he didn’t qualify & wasn’t exposed? How do I get addditional records when he was military intelligence? I can’t even find out what battles, his medal citations are even from. I also know his helicopter crashed while he was in Vietnam and his back had either whipping marks or shrapnel scarred all over it...I want to know why. No records if him being a POW. Can anyone link me in the right direction? I’ll have to figure out how to attach documents to post- will follow through.
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By Persistant
Berta told me about Footnote One Nehmer yesterday and I had not heard about that although I do know about Nehmer. And yes my husband was rated for Ischemic heart disease before it was added to the presumptive list. And his death certificate signed by his GP at VA saying long term heart disease. It was rated as secondary to diabetes (which was rated 20% initially) and was already a presumptive condition. He had applied for both at that time - about 2003 or 2004. He was rated 30% initially for his heart even though he had had a quadruple bypass (Dec 2000) with neurological complications, extensive scar tissue from many previous heart attacks that had to be cleaned out before the bypass could proceed in surgery. He had a TIA on the operating table and post pump syndrome from being on the heart lung machine so long (due to the cleanup) for surgery. He was told by his heart specialist he could no longer work at what he was skilled to do. He was granted SS Disability as a result 9 months later.
He filed his first VA claim a couple years later when his buddy finally persuaded him to do it. He had been diagnosed with Type II Diabetes in 1997. They didn't address any of the neurological stuff (from the heart surgery) as I recall at all or the post pump syndrome (which usually goes away rather quickly but was a problem for at least a couple years for Don). The lower left ventricle of his heart was dead already before surgery from previous attacks we didn't know about - silent due to diabetes. And his ejection fraction was 25 before and right after surgery and then came up to 30-35. It bounced around some over the years but was usually 30-40. He had an echocardiogram every year which approximated it. After 2 hospitalizations for Congestive Heart Failure over the next few years, they finally rated him 60% heart and 40% diabetes (when he became insulin dependant. Shortly after starting insulin - a few months - Don was put on an insulin pump because he was needing so much insulin and put him on the U500 insulin which is very closely monitored because of being so very strong) and VA rated him for 10% each leg for Peripheral Neuropathy. Don also claimed PTSD, which should have been granted, as we had a few years worth of records already from a private practice psychologist the VA had recommended whose report said he had it and it was from VietNam (non-combat). But Va's C&P psychologist or psyciatrist said he wasn't sure of that origin. He agreed Don had it. They asked us to prove Don's stressors. We searched for months for other guys Don remembered being there, found one but couldn't prove the stressors. They never contacted us when the requirement to prove stressors was lifted to re-evaluate his claim.
In 2006 they rated him TDIU and his heart 100% by itself in the same decision with effective dates a few months apart??? Makes no sense to me since the TDIU was then dropped due to the 100% rating. That was his last rating - 2006. He developed kidney failure late 2010 with a hospitalization of a few weeks for Congestive Heart Failure because the kidneys weren't removing the fluid with normal types of hospital treatment. He was treated by a team consisting of his heart specialist, his GP who had admitted him, and the new Nephrology group the GP brought in. All Private Practice doctors and hospital. They finally tried something rather bold, I'm told, that started the fluid draining. After discharge, at home, he had a few weeks of digital monitoring of his stats, reports I had to give them on weight and output amounts etc. and nurse visits and was told to prepare for dialysis.
About that time his doctor at VA called, alarmed, at his rapid decline in kidney function. That is in the medical records at VA along with numerous notations of him being on dialysis and having a port in his abdomen for it, every time he went in for a 6 month checkup.
As you know, Berta, we asked about rating his kidney failure (which his doctors say was from diabetes making it another secondary condition of diabetes and so service connected..) and 3 different VSOs in 3 locations each said we couldn't go above 100%. I didn't know about these kind of forums then. And only discovered the blog I reference below, by accident. We also asked his doctors at VA and they didn't know either. But one of them (unbeknownst to us) requested payment from VA for the 'dialysis treatment plan' and they agreed to pay for supplies, treatment, bi-monthly clinic followups with the 'team' (nephrologist, nurse, dietician, social worker). They also covered delivery of supplies to our home bi-monthly (huge amount of heavy bags of fluid and much more.). He had started dialysis April 2011 and they began paying April 2013 and continued until his death Dec 6, 2015. In March 2015 I saw a blog about Special Monthly Compensation and about rating conditions beyond the 100% level. I asked for an analysis of Don's case and the attorney agreed requesting Don's C-File from VA in March. It didn't arrive until late Aug 2015. The analysis wasn't quite finished when he died. A & A was definitely something he qualified for as well and I have many statements from friends, relatives, our pastor etc as well as notes in VA's files and doctor statements about it. But that's another story.
I don't know if Nehmer affects anything I've said here or not. Does anyone else? Berta? And we were not ever contacted by VA or NVLSP about it. Maybe because he was already 100%?
I did apply for DIC and Accrued benefits within the year following his death and was granted DIC and denied accrued because they said there weren't any. They never checked his C file or medical records or Treasury to discover anything really. I had thought the attorney would represent me in an appeal but he's decided not to.
My DIC was granted at the higher level due to Don having been 100% for over 8 years. I'm not sure what you thought I interpreted wrong about that Berta.
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By Berta
If you are new to hadit and have DIC questions it would help us tremendously if you can answer the following questions right away in your first post.
What was the Primary Cause of Death (# 1) as listed on your spouse’s death certificate?
What,if anything, was listed as a contributing cause under # 2?
Was an autopsy done and if so do you have a complete copy of it?
It can be obtained through the Medical Examiner’s office in your locale.
What was the deceased veteran service connected for in his/her lifetime?
Did they have a claim pending at death and if so what for?
If they died from anything on the Agent Orange Presumptive list ( available here under a search) when did they serve and where? If outside of Vietnam, what was their MOS and also if they served onboard a ship in the South Pacific what ship were they on and when? Also did they have any major physical contact with C 123s during the Vietnam War?
And how soon after their death was the DIC form filed…if filed within one year of death, the date of death will be the EED for DIC and also satisfy the accrued regulation criteria.
Many years ago I tried to find a widow’s past posts here, as she had returned to hadit with more questions on her DIC claim..
I googled -DIC Berta hadit and her name- and many links popped up, some from VBN (YUKU) where a widow has complained at YUKU that she got no help from me because I asked her too many questions at hadit.
Fortunately some VBN members advised her that I understand DIC in and out and I asked probably the same questions any VSO or vet rep would. And maybe asked some the vet reps didn’t even think of.
DIC can become a very complex issue , and only by asking questions ,can we possibly direct any survivor as to what they should do.
By “we” I mean others here as well as me because all vets with a spouse need to get up to speed on DIC.
Others will get a chance , with the two issues on the board today One is DIC, and one might become DIC at some point but that vet is still alive.
Many DIC claims fall under 100% SC P & T for ten continuous years.....easy to succeed in
A few are Section 1151 death issues. Difficult but not impossible to win.
The rest usually involve proving that a SC disability caused or contributed significantly to death,....not impossible but difficult too sometimes.
And if the DIC claims are not based on the ten year DIC regs, the survivor may also definitely need a strong IMO.
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Post in Ready to be rated
Hucast21 posted an answer to a question,
So, my lawyer sent an IME w/ IMO and filed a supplemental claim solely for IU on March 20.
It was closed on March 25, and va.gov just states claim closed and nothing more.
Hopefully, I get good news.
Picked By
Hucast21, -
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Post in NOD QUESTION
Galen Rogers posted an answer to a question,
Thanks for the responses. I am filing a new claim but will continue pushing the NOD. My new question is it stated in law or statute that if during the claims process the VA finds conditions that could possibly rate service connection that was not originally filed for, the VA will “invite” the veteran to file the claim on the claims form. Reason I ask is that my private DBQs, NEXUS letter, and even the VA nurse examiner's DBQs lists bilateral upper radiculopathy as present. If it is written in statute or official guidance it might qualify as a CUE. Just looking at all angles.
Picked By
Galen Rogers, -
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Post in I faxed my TDIU to the VA form this morning
broncovet posted an answer to a question,
Everyone needs to read our stories so they can try to avoid these screws by the va...
Thank you, everyone contributes, good or bad, all of our stories will help others, and yes, they have been stated by others for ages, over and over, but we just get depressed, and the time turns into years as they screw us..
Welcome to the department of Veterans Affairs! I can honestly say, "been there, done that".
Even after winning my tdiu in 2017, it was back to the drawing board as VA hornswaggeld my effective date. (but of course).
I finally won my tdiu effective date in Feb. 2020, 18 years after I first applied!!!
Here is how they managed to drag mine out 18 years:
1. They never adjuticated my decison until 2009, where they called it "moot".
2. I appealed, said it was not moot because it could result in an earlier effective date and SMC S under Bradley vs Peake. The judge agreed with me, and ordered VARO consider me for extra schedular TDIU, under 4.16 b.
3. The VARO piddles with the remand for 3 years, and hoped I wouldnt notice. I noticed and raised cane until they adjuticated it. (denied of course).
4. Finally, after the baord denied again, I hired a lawyer, in 2014, and appealed to CAVC.
5. The lawyer won a remand, got an IMO and I won tdiu in 2017. But at the wrong effective date, even after 15 years.
6. I hired another lawyer, Chris Attig, and appealed the effective date, and he won a remand for effective date. Trip 2 to CAVC.
7. Mr. Attig won a remand, and advised me to get another IMO.
8. The board awarded my earlier effective date in Feb. 2020.
So, I do have advice fighting VA for TDIU, they fought and fought and I hung in there and won it all.
ADVICE: Dont count on VA, they could easily throw your fax in the trash. Follow up!
Picked By
retiredat44, -
-
Post in CUE
glenda h posted an answer to a question,
"Keep in mind that due to the nature of the digestive system, VA would most likely combined your conditions and pay you at the higher rate to avoid pyramiding". That is one of my main gripes. They are only listing the GERD with hiatal hernia and ignoring the rest of my gastric issues such as the gastritis which I also had in service. I included it in my 2007 request for increase and again in 2019. The info from the civilian dr that stated I had the gastritis with H pylori was not even provided to the examiner in 2007, nor did he have my VA health records. The 2019 request was based on an EGD I had AT THE VA in Jan 2019. I filed for an increase 6 Mar and they did an ACE on 27 Mar and downgraded to noncompensable on that date. The only reason I was thinking CUE: 38 CFR § 3.326 - Under Examinations it states (c) Provided that it is otherwise adequate for rating purposes, a statement from a private physician may be accepted for rating a claim without further examination".
Picked By
glenda h, -
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Post in Not Recommended: Bosley & Bratch
Tbird posted a post in a topic,
Enough has been said on this topic. This forum is not the proper forum for an attorney and former client to hash out their problems. Please take this offline
Picked By
Jamezam, -
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I have an 82 year old aunt, whose husband died mysteriously after a battle with cancer and a seven year hiccup. He died from prostate cancer. The thing was, he was a veteran of the Korean War (Conflict) and was honorably discharged. However, that he died about 30 years ago. She asked if I could help her to file a claim with the VA for any benefits that she may have been entitled to as the surviving spouse of a war veteran. She is convinced that his cancer may have come from his tour in the service, especially since he died relatively young. I would appreciate any feedback on this issue regarding the direction to go in, if there is one.
Thanks,
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