My latest VA denial for TDIU

[kanewnut]

At least they are turning them over quickly. Any thoughts?

2019-07-12 VA Decision Redacted for Hadit.pdf

[kanewnut]

I wrote to my VSO at DAV. This is my question - 

I have received my latest denial from the VA. Under EVIDENCE they list
a VA letter, dated May 10, 2019. What is this letter?

Under Entitlement to individual unemployability they state - Letter
from Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Division shows that your
primary physician stated you are unable to work and that your service
connected conditions. - this doesn't make any sense.

What do you suggest that I do?

Thanks
 

This is the VSO at DAV response - 

I have reviewed your record and the May 9 and 10, 2019 documents you inquire about is the previous decision concerning your request for Higher Level Review. The document dated May 9, 2019 was the actual decision which was attached to the May 10, 2019 letter as an enclosure.
 
Unfortunately, I do not have access to the Vocational Rehab letter as it is in a separate VA database, which we have no access to. However, the VA did take into consideration the physician's statement , however, the VA physicians in their examinations do state that the conditions interfere with your current employment, they do not say it interferes with all employment; as they relate to include sedentary employment.
 
In regards to your question “What do you suggest that I do?” I defer you to:
 
Please review the VA Form 20-0998 - YOUR RIGHTS TO SEEK FURTHER REVIEW OF OUR DECISION. This document explains the information as noted in the Notification Letter:
 
What You Should Do If You Disagree With Our [VA] Decision
 
If you do not agree with our decision, you have one year from the date of this letter to select a review option in order to protect your initial filing date for effective date purposes. You must file your request on the required application form for the review option desired. The table below represents the review options and their respective required application form.
 
Review Option
Required Application Form
Supplemental Claim
VA Form 20-0995, Decision Review Request: Supplemental Claim
Higher-Level Review
VA Form 20-0996, Decision Review Request: Higher-Level Review
Appeal to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals
VA Form 10182, Decision Review Request: Board Appeal (Notice of Disagreement)
 
Please note: You may not request a higher-level review of a higher-level review decision issued by VA.
 
The enclosed VA Form 20-0998, Your Rights To Seek Further Review Of Our Decision, explains your options in greater detail and provides instructions on how to request further review. You may download a copy of any of the required application forms noted above by visiting www.va.gov/vaforms/ or you may contact us by telephone at 1-800-827-1000 and we will mail you any form you need.
 
You can visit www.va.gov/decision-reviews to learn more about how the disagreement process works.
 
You can acquire the above form and any other forms that may be required for future needs by clicking the following web address www.va.gov/vaforms.
 
You will need to MAIL or FAX this document to our office at the address noted below as attaching to an email causes technical problems. If a document or packet of evidence is greater than 10 pages, Please Mail them to the noted address.
 
The VA has a new website www.va.gov. On this website you may use either the login information you use for your eBenefits or My Healthevet account. Or you may also use an ID.me account to login. You will need either a valid email address or a cell phone which will accept text messages to validate your account.
 
Once logged into www.va.gov , you will be able to track the status of your claim or appeal. This will give you the “place in line” of your appeal on the Board of Veteran’s Appeal docket and how many appeals are ahead of yours. It will show you what issues are currently on appeal, and what the decision is once a decision is finally made. It will also tell you what to do once you receive a decision on your appeal, should you desire to appeal any of the decisions made to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC).
 
It is important in any inquiry that you provide your claim or social security number so we can properly identify you.
 
Also, I would like to thank you for contacting our office. Please feel free to contact our office at 540-597-1731, Monday through Friday, 08:30-16:00; Except Thursday’s. Thursday, is 08:30 – 12:00. You may also email the office email account at dav.vbaroa@va.gov.
 
Thank you
 
 
 
John D Reed | Sr. National Service Officer
DAV Roanoke Office | 210 Franklin Rd. SW Rm. 808 | Roanoke, VA24011
Main Office (540) 597-1731 | Fax (540) 597-1734 | Email – dav.vbaroa@va.gov

 

As useless as tits on a boar hog.

[broncovet]

You need to appeal it.  File a NOD.  VA does this BS.  Order a copy of your cfile if you do not have it.  

The va is suggesting you can do some kind of work.  Apparently your doc says you cant work, but you probably need a vocational assessment (IMO from a Voc rehab  specialist) for your claim to succeed.  This will probably be in the 500 to 1000 dollar range.  Some may allow you to pay after your claim is approved, but those will likely charge you more that way.  

[Buck52]

I think the VA is full of it .

  Your Dr wrote a letter stating you can't work due to your s.c. disability   (can't work) to me means you are unemployable due to your S.C. Disabilities.

Now like broncovet mention you need to NOD this with new and relevant evidence, get in  the VA Voc-Rehab..They will  test you for any type of employment you can do and train you for the job to include sedentary jobs, if they can't  find you anything (job) You can do due to your S.C. Disability, the counselors will write you a letter stating ''it is not feasible to retrain this Veteran at this time''.due to your S.C. Disabilities''  that letter is gold as for as evidence for IU

You also need to give a full detail of your disability  as to why you can't work?  (let them know what all is wrong with you and why you can't hold down a job ...> it is just to much for you to do with the pain your having  ect,,ect,,,

If this is your second denial for IU   3rd times a charm  So NOD THESE PEOPLE and let your new evidence speak for you.

If you been working that to is one of their reason they denied you...working is a no no.

When you file a claim for IU  you need to be out of work at least a year  but sometimes if you can get an employer to write you a letter as to why they had to let you go  is good evidence too  if they imply /refer to your S.C. Disability.

  then 6 months  not working.  that and your age if your young  they make it harder for a veteran,  but according to the Regulations they are not suppose to use age as a factor in their decision  but I bet they do.

NOD in a timely manner and keep your EED.

Good Luck

Edited July 29, 2019 by Buck52

[vetquest]

I would appeal to the BVA but I would first see what voc rehab said about you working, visit them.  Second I am curious as to how you lost your job, I lost my job when a doctor reflected to my employer that my continued employment was not an option due to my SC conditions.  Even with all of this it took ten years for me to get TBI from the BVA.  Have you applied for SS disability?  The VA also denied me IU when I got SS disability but it is supposed to be a factor.  Did the VA contact your last employer and what did they have to say?  Get your Cfile for this if your employer is refusing to talk to you.

Sometimes it seems IU is more difficult to get than scheduler.

 

[GeekySquid]

On 7/27/2019 at 6:13 PM, kanewnut said:

What do you suggest that I do?

scream..scream...scream...then breathe.

I am not going to read back through all the pages, but I do want to know if you Remember Going to VocRehab and applying? did you get a Denial letter from them?

Additionally do you have a Primary Care at the VA itself? Are you on good terms? does their office have a Social Worker assigned to your Care Team?

The reasons I ask.

1) If you did those things the Docs are in your C-file...Get it.

2) If you have a PC at VA and your Team has a Social Worker the odds are great that s/he has access to an application called the Joint Legacy Viewer. This is a Joint VA/DOD/Mil application that looks into ALL the repositories of veterans records. if that VocRehab Letter / Denial exists you may be able to find it that way while waiting on your C-File.

3) Go to VocRehab offices, with an appt., and tell them you want your records. let them tell you their process to get them directly from VocRehab. They are part of the VARO and VA Administration but not part of VAMC.

Sadly my PC Doc and the team SW are posted away from this VAMC until the end of Sept so I cannot use them in my own document pursuit.

[kanewnut]

On 7/28/2019 at 9:24 PM, vetquest said:

appeal to the BVA

Sorry I haven't answered sooner, I have been working on a CUE for this.

 

On 7/28/2019 at 9:24 PM, vetquest said:

I am curious as to how you lost your job

I had an SOB for a supervisor. I told management that I couldn't work for him but he said we had no problems. They wanted to wipe the slate clean. I eventually had all I could stand. We had some email exchanges one evening. The next morning I didn't go into work. A coworker called and while talking to him the supervisor took the phone away from him and started in on me. I was just like you flipped a light switch, I cussed him for everything I was worth and then hung up on him. Certainly twenty years of chronic pain that brought on depression had nothing to do with all this.

 

On 7/28/2019 at 9:24 PM, vetquest said:

Have you applied for SS disability?

Been on it for SC disabilities since 2005.

 

On 7/28/2019 at 9:24 PM, vetquest said:

Did the VA contact your last employer and what did they have to say?

They just said I quit. They said they had no record of a disability. They would not because I went to work there in 1996 and had no disability rating.

 

On 7/28/2019 at 9:29 PM, GeekySquid said:

did you get a Denial letter from them?

Yes. After an IRIS request and a Whitehouse hot line call they finally looked at it.

 

On 7/28/2019 at 9:29 PM, GeekySquid said:

do you have a Primary Care at the VA itself?

Yes.

 

On 7/28/2019 at 9:29 PM, GeekySquid said:

Are you on good terms?

I think so.

 

On 7/28/2019 at 9:29 PM, GeekySquid said:

does their office have a Social Worker assigned to your Care Team?

No idea.

 

On 7/28/2019 at 9:29 PM, GeekySquid said:

C-File

I have the C-file, up until 2016. I don't have the last couple of C&P's, but I got increases from them so I don't think they are negative.

I will start a new topic in the CUE forms shortly.