SAH/SHA Grant Quick Turnaround to Pending Decision Approval. Good or bad thing?

[mbl22885]

On 08/07/17 I applied for the housing grants and my claim is already at pending decision approval, so I'm not really sure what to make of the quick turnaround.

I am rated 100% P and T with SMC L for PTSD, 40% for Fibromyalgia, 10% for left elbow lateral epicondylitis with painful motion of the forearm,  10% for left elbow lateral epicondylitis with painful motion of the elbow, and 0% for IBS.  (Yep,  as the blue shows, I'm copy and pasting from ebenefits)

When I applied, I included this statement:

"I had a compensation and pension exam for Fibromyalgia (among other issues) with a Dr. X on 08/12/2015. 

Dr. X findings from this exam led to a rating of 40% from the VBA. 40% is the highest value the VA will place on Fibromyalgia, despite as noted in Dr. X exam that my condition exhibits widespread musculoskeletal pain and tender points, with fatigue, sleep disturbance, stiffness, irritable bowel symptoms, depression, and anxiety that are constant, or nearly so, and refractory to therapy. 

As X exam explicitly states, "vet has daily pain in all large muscle groups limiting any exertional

 activiites." These large muscle groups most certainly include those found in the arms and legs. 

Also, as it is noted in the exam and VBA criteria for a 40% rating, the Fibromyalgia must be "refractory to therapy," which essentially means "incurable," so in other words, my Fibromyalgia is permanent."

 

Any opinions on the quick turn around and what the possible reason is? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 8, 2017 by mbl22885

[mbl22885]

On 8/21/2017 at 1:27 AM, jamescripps2 said:

I can agree with what you posted here. Your award was for A&A. A&A is indeed a SMC "L" award. 

[john999]

I was denied a housing grant because I was told that since I was not missing legs and was not in an iron lung the VA would just wait until I fell down and broke a hip.  The VA denied me so fast and I get "S" and have PN in all four limbs and chronic pain disorder.  I got the strong impression that unless I was helpless no housing grant.

[mbl22885]

27 minutes ago, john999 said:

I was denied a housing grant because I was told that since I was not missing legs and was not in an iron lung the VA would just wait until I fell down and broke a hip.  The VA denied me so fast and I get "S" and have PN in all four limbs and chronic pain disorder.  I got the strong impression that unless I was helpless no housing grant.

john999, 

The SAH/SHA grant is basically dependent on loss of OR loss of use in the extremities. I faced the same problem you did, which was/is the VA not recognizing pain,fatigue,weakness, etc as loss of use. Per the information contained in the picture above, the VA is required to recognize the symptoms we experience with our conditions as functional loss (i.e. loss of use.) If you still have the decision letter concerning your claim for a housing grant, I'd suggest you check it to make sure they didn't apply the above pictured information to your claim. If they didn't, you have a CUE claim. 

You have a CUE concerning the decision regarding your claim for a housing grant as it's a pretty safe bet that whoever made your determination did not consider the info above when making your decision. 

If you have a VSO, they're probably not going to be able, or willing, to help you. I'm not sure on how to properly file a CUE claim at the Regional Office level, but hopefully someone with experience with that will chime in. 

The Directors Office phone # for the St. Pete VARO is 727-319-5900. I would call them and tell them your situation, as well as that you understand according to "The provisions of 38 CFR 4.40 and 4.45 concerning functional loss due to pain, fatigue, weakness, or lack of endurance, incooordination, and flare-ups, as cited in Deluca v. Brown and Mitchell v. Shinseki" your housing grant claim was decided in error due to the rater of your housing grant not considering and applying the above under 38 CFR 4.59.

[blahsaysme2u]

any updates on this? curious the outcome