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CUE UPDATE

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RBrogen

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Happy Holidays Everyone,

I wanted to let those of you who are interested know that the cue I filed for change of effective date from March 2018 to October 1999 is now in the "Preparation for Decision" status.  I mailed the formal CUE September 17, 2019 and it went to "Preparation for Decision" status today.  Now I'll be on pins and needles until I get the decision packet in the mail.  I'll keep you all posted!

Best,

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17 minutes ago, RBrogen said:

@Vync I have been fortunate as having disengaged from the VA for over 20 years because of a bad experience, I remained at 20% since 1991.  I decided to reconnect and filed my first claim in Nov 2018 and after 4 claims wound up at the 100% total and permanent as of April 2019.  It is definitely worth fighting the fight.

I completely agree! My initial claims were awful. I was at 40% from 1995 to about 2008 when I found hadit. I made it to 100% by 2013. I educated myself, looked back at the initial ratings, and realized the VA granted lowball initial ratings by not following the laws in effect at the time. I decided it was a moral imperative to right these wrongs.

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Vync I agree with you 100%. I believe many here agree and have experienced the same. The VA denies or at the very least low balls us and just ignores the evidence. It makes you do two things; either roll over, or, get you so mad you try even harder to right the wrong by go after everything you have coming to you. And we educate ourselves and just go out and try again. And again if need be.

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13 minutes ago, GBArmy said:

Vync I agree with you 100%. I believe many here agree and have experienced the same. The VA denies or at the very least low balls us and just ignores the evidence. It makes you do two things; either roll over, or, get you so mad you try even harder to right the wrong by go after everything you have coming to you. And we educate ourselves and just go out and try again. And again if need be.

Yes it is IMPERATIVE that every vet educate themselves fully to the process and the way the VA will most likely view their conditions, ratings and process.  Unfortunately there are some vets out there who feel the VA should just give them the rating they want without doing anything but sending in a note.  I've heard vets complain about "those who know what to say who get the best ratings".  They don't seem to get the fact that the VA is a system with a history of doing the minimal and less to help vets.  Every vet  must educate themselves to that system if they are to get properly rated.  I know I've been on a VA indoctrination course the past year and had I not educated myself I would still be sitting at 20% without any benefits for my family nor a solid retirement.  An example is I just responded to a post where a vet was confused about their rating level when all they had to do was follow the rules for bilateral conditions and then follow the rating chart to see why they were rated at what they were.  The basics of understanding how things are rated, what conditions rate higher, secondary conditions like scars which can be rated for pain as well as disfigurement could have major impact on an individuals overall rating level.

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@GBArmy The crazy part is I used a state VSO to file the claims. The initial application consisted of a single sentence. I asked about telling the VA what happened during service, but they said the VA has people who get paid to go through everything. When the denial letters came in, they helped me file the appeals. When the award letter arrived, they looked at the first two pages and told me not to rock the boat. I trusted them.

In retrospect, they are very helpful for quick things. However, they are just not setup for thorough assistance for every veteran. It is like an economy of minimums. Do just enough to clear the lobby. However, I assume they might be more thorough for helpless veterans.

The moral of the story is to trust, but verify. Know your evidence. Understand the importance of a nexus. Carefully read the C&P exam results and decision letters. Understand the rating criteria and applicable laws. Double-check and cross reference everything to ensure the result was actually correct.

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@RBrogen Indeed! A lot of it ties back to being in the military and trusting administrative teams know their trade. We leave the service believing that the VSO's have us covered. Later on, I did have an excellent VSO, but she retired. Her replacement was decent, but missed some things. Eventually, I got to the point that I would do my own research and then take my final draft by the VSO for review. 

After my heart attack earlier this year, I filed two new claims through my local VSO. My head wasn't clear at all. In both cases, they were denied. I should have just did an intent to file and waited until I was a bit more clear-headed. I'm pretty certain I can win both by filing supplemental review requests, but want to ensure everything is airtight.

 

13 minutes ago, RBrogen said:

I've heard vets complain about "those who know what to say who get the best ratings".

This part got me laughing. I feel it is more about knowing how to approach and follow up.

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Vync we must have ate the same oatmeal this morning; again I couldn't agree more. One thing still gets me though. The VSO's still say "don't rock the boat." 9 times out of 10 (probably more)  that is just flat out wrong. To me, when they say that it either means one of two things: they are lazy and don't want the extra work. Or two, lack of understanding or training. They just don't know about SMC's, etc. I tell everyone that if you want to use  VSO, and they are useful, make sure you really check them out before selecting one.

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