Ok... so I have been confused by what is going on with my claims, I opted in to ramp Jul 2018 . The claims were already in an appeals status and I had already requested de- novo reviews. So they took a claim that did not even exist in one case (Heart) and requested a C&P exam. In another case they decided to ignore the issue and what had been written when I requested an earlier effective date for my TBI rating and then denied the EED. In another case I asked for a separate rating for my sleep apnea, ( separate and apart from my asthma/copd) and I requested a step increase in my SMC from L 1/2 to M, because any rating 50% or more entitles the veteran to addition SMC. When the illegally combine a sleep disorder with Lung disease and then deny the SMC I think this is wrong, in fact the BVA has awarded a few separate ratings for Lung Disease and Sleep Apnea. I understand the special rules regarding Lung disease and that they do not award separate ratings for these conditions. My legal argument is that the VA should not be denying a separate rating for sleep apnea because sleep apnea is a sleep disorder not a lung disease.... Anyway I already knew that this issues will have to be decided at the BVA or higher.. In fact, I want this to go to the Court of Appeals, and if denied I will take it outside the system to a federal court. For too long the VA has improperly rated sleep apnea as a lung disease and denied me and possibly thousand of other veterans separate ratings when we have a lung disease. In my case I have Asthma rated 60%, COPD 100% and Sleep Apnea 50%. But because of the rules I get screwed and all three diseases are rated as one, first its not right because it fails to take into consideration how serious and different the 3 separate diseases are, and while Asthma and COPD do overlap, sleep apnea does not . Anyway the va then took my knee issue, and hearing issues and requested new C/P exams. I have already had 4 hearing exams ( one just last September) , and two c&p for me knee issues.. Why they need new C&P exams is beyond me and a waste of time and money. In a different post I indicated they had my claims at pending a decision, and then they were back at seeking information ..well now I know why... So I now have to appeal these two denials to the BVA, and it has to be done on a special 21-4138 that they supplied and they give 6 different options and I have to select 1 option for all appeals. So In my case Ramp was a waste of time because all they did was deny the claims again and I have to send them to the BVA anyways. ( Maybe they saved me a little time, under de-novo they would have denied them under the old system too) Anyway they are off to the BVA and I have new C&P exams sched for the 22 of Jan for my knee, and then at a different office in a different town on the same day a hearing test. I really think ramp is a crappy system. Also when they wrote the denials, the letter actual reads as if they left some lines out of the decision, over all very confusing. I understood the old system and should have just waited for a decision under that system... Sorry for the long story.....
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Richard1954
Ok... so I have been confused by what is going on with my claims, I opted in to ramp Jul 2018 . The claims were already in an appeals status and I had already requested de- novo reviews. So they took a claim that did not even exist in one case (Heart) and requested a C&P exam. In another case they decided to ignore the issue and what had been written when I requested an earlier effective date for my TBI rating and then denied the EED. In another case I asked for a separate rating for my sleep apnea, ( separate and apart from my asthma/copd) and I requested a step increase in my SMC from L 1/2 to M, because any rating 50% or more entitles the veteran to addition SMC. When the illegally combine a sleep disorder with Lung disease and then deny the SMC I think this is wrong, in fact the BVA has awarded a few separate ratings for Lung Disease and Sleep Apnea. I understand the special rules regarding Lung disease and that they do not award separate ratings for these conditions. My legal argument is that the VA should not be denying a separate rating for sleep apnea because sleep apnea is a sleep disorder not a lung disease.... Anyway I already knew that this issues will have to be decided at the BVA or higher.. In fact, I want this to go to the Court of Appeals, and if denied I will take it outside the system to a federal court. For too long the VA has improperly rated sleep apnea as a lung disease and denied me and possibly thousand of other veterans separate ratings when we have a lung disease. In my case I have Asthma rated 60%, COPD 100% and Sleep Apnea 50%. But because of the rules I get screwed and all three diseases are rated as one, first its not right because it fails to take into consideration how serious and different the 3 separate diseases are, and while Asthma and COPD do overlap, sleep apnea does not . Anyway the va then took my knee issue, and hearing issues and requested new C/P exams. I have already had 4 hearing exams ( one just last September) , and two c&p for me knee issues.. Why they need new C&P exams is beyond me and a waste of time and money. In a different post I indicated they had my claims at pending a decision, and then they were back at seeking information ..well now I know why... So I now have to appeal these two denials to the BVA, and it has to be done on a special 21-4138 that they supplied and they give 6 different options and I have to select 1 option for all appeals. So In my case Ramp was a waste of time because all they did was deny the claims again and I have to send them to the BVA anyways. ( Maybe they saved me a little time, under de-novo they would have denied them under the old system too) Anyway they are off to the BVA and I have new C&P exams sched for the 22 of Jan for my knee, and then at a different office in a different town on the same day a hearing test. I really think ramp is a crappy system. Also when they wrote the denials, the letter actual reads as if they left some lines out of the decision, over all very confusing. I understood the old system and should have just waited for a decision under that system... Sorry for the long story.....
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FormerMember
And, depending on which RAMP path you chose, you are not allowed to submit any new evidence to the BVA that might mitigate in your favor once you start down that road. The problem with RAMP is si
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