Does the Disabled Vet have to ASK for Special Monthly Compensation

[ValpoVet]

FIRST...."THANK YOU" all for your service to this grateful nation!  I am the wife of a Vietnam Vet, Navy.  

I "FINALLY"  got him to apply for benefits, (Intent to file 8-26-16), and he is to see the VA doctor tomorrow, Chicago.  (Ischemic Heart Disease). (METs 1-3) I have YEARS of private doctors records of when he had his heart attack 2004.  He had to stop working in 2007.  He had to wait one year, (NO INCOME) for one year until he could take early retirement.  

While I am doing all the research I can I am unsure as to 'how' or 'if' he/(me) is to ask for Special Monthly Compensation if, in fact, they deem his disability worthy.  

Please help me....help him!!  

Thank you all.  

[Guest L]

I set my account on-line - alerts  for anything over $1.00 - it gets texted to me so that I can immediately see purchases - deposits.  Very easy to set up 

It also prevented my Target hack/Fraud back in 2014. 

[Buck52]

 L ,I Agree  and from what Gastone had mention above

Yes this is what I was trying to think of when I posted what I did...

check with your Bank and have them to do this to your account.

Notifications by text or emails from your Bank when there is any type of Activity to your account.

Wish I had done this years ago to my account...I would not had to been eating Bologna Sandwiches /Crackers & cheese had I known about the retro. eh!  Live & Learn

Thanks L& Gastone

Edited July 28, 2017 by Buck52

[ValpoVet]

7 minutes ago, Berta said:

SMC is explained well in the link to asknod's wordpress explanation , and in other posts  below the unanswered questions in this forum.

SMC is mandated that, whenever the veteran's service connected disabilities warrant SMC consideration, then the VA must consider and award SMC or give a full rationale as to why they denied it.

No veteran should need to apply for SMC.

This link ( Matt Hill is a member here) includes the IHD schedule of ratings when AO IHD regulations came out.

https://www.hillandponton.com/va-disability-ratings-for-heart-disease/

I assume he is scheduled for a C & P exam tomorrow.

If this exam is done at a VAMC he can get a copy of it via ebenefits ( If he has signed up there)

or with a brief request under the Privacy Act 5, USC 552, to their Records access officer, but if the VA farmed the exam out to a contracting doctor, the VA will not release the C & P exam results until they have made a decision.

Is he claiming his IHD is due  to service in Vietnam, or does he meet the criteria for the Thailand, or Korea Agent Orange regulations?

If not does he AO exposure elsewhere?

Do his SMRs reflect treatment for heart disease?

(SMR Service Medical Records)

Does he receive SSDI ( Social Security Disability Insurance payments?

I

Berta, "THANK YOU" for answering this so fast!  

Yes, he is on ebenefits and will see a doc at a VAMC,  Jesse Brown VA hospital tomorrow and with your suggestion....I WILL MAKE SURE TO GET A COPY OF WHAT THE EXAM STATES, or I guess I will see it on ebenefits.   

This is what his VSO put on ebenefits:  

• Submitted: 03/29/2017 (Compensation)
•  
• Disabilities Claimed: heart condition (related to: Agent Orange - Vietnam)DBQ justifies a 100 percent evaluation based on METS no VA examination is needed.
•  

We have "NO CLUE" as to why he is seeing a doctor after what DAV put on there.  That is why I am doing all the research.  

No...hubby is not getting Social Securtiy Disability.  I took him to SS but they said that he filed fSocial Security Disability Insurance paymentsor it after he already accepted his regular SS retirement pay.  He is 70 years old.   

 

 

7 minutes ago, Berta said:

Yes, his claim is that IHD is service connected.  He was on a medical ship in the Navy, was hospitalized two times for pneumonia, once he had to stay hospitalized for a month.  But, none-the-less both his ships are on the list of effected ships for AO.  Your question:  His SMR show he was sick, but not with heart disease.  

Any advice as to what I can do to help this along?  Thank you so much for answering.  I am just doing all I can for hubby.  Just trying to get him what he deserves.  

 

 

 

[ValpoVet]

Gastone,

I am a little "overwhelmed." Trying to get everything in order before I take him to the VA hospital.  

Help me understand what you mean by: VA Direct Deposit Bank or Credit Union.  I filled out the paper work for that, though (thank GOD) that doesn't show on ebenefits.  Is there something more I should be doing? There is nothing showing at my (our) bank that shows I have done that....(???)  

Tell me what you mean by:  VA Retro usually hits well in advance (up to 3 mos) before you receive the actual Award/Denial Letter.

Apparently, I answered Berta the wrong way.  I am better at posting than that.  Sorry for the quote in a quote.  

[broncovet]

While I agree with Berta that no Vet SHOULD have to apply for SMC, I suggest you do so anyway, if you are eligible and have not been so awarded.  Its the same old story in VA, that VA "forgets"

to do this for Veterans, so you have to "remind" them.  Several Vets here have sought and received SMC.  

Mine is a good example.  While the M21 MR mandates adjutcitation for SMC S, whenever the Veteran receives a "single 100 percent disability", the VA did not do that but instead adjuticated PENSION housebound, I think to deliberately confuse and confound the issue in order to create more delays.  

I have heard of other Veterans where VA did "not" adjuticate SMC S when they got a single 100 percent disability, or if they were otherwise qualified, but VA did not adjuticate it. 

Let me give an example of "when" the VEt needs to apply:

You become housebound due to SC conditions after your decision.  You need to apply or Va may not even know you are housebound.  Ditto for Aid and Attendance, (SMC L) VA may not legitimately know you need A and A, or are permanently bedridden.  

If in doubt, apply.  The worst that can happen is that its redundandt and VA is already adjuticating it.  

This issue reminds me of mailing everything to VA certified mail, return receipt requested.   Why?  Officially, VA does not "shred" VEterans claims, but the VAOIG found Vets evidence waiting to be shredded in the shredder bin.  VA wont take your word when you mailed it, thus you need to document you mailed it.  

The same thing with SMC.  Go ahead and apply.  If everything worked at VA the way it is supposed to, then you should not need to apply.  It doesnt.  

[ValpoVet]

Berta

Buck52 and Gastone,  *THANK YOU ALL!!*      I was feeling pretty "piffy" while doing all this research but not that hubby is going for his C&P tomorrow, I felt like I haven't done enough research.  

Berta, I am sorry, SO SORRY for your loss and your struggles.  Thank you for educating me, and I am sure many others, through what you have experienced.  

I hope to post a "SUCESS STORY" soon.  

Blessings to you all.