Summery of Benefits Letter after an RFE Exam (Re-Eval) Is this my award letter?

[swimdad84]

I just had my re-eval for a claim I had a few months ago, and now I got a summery of benefits letter in the mail from regional VA.  It shows my "effective date of the last change to my current award" which is "DEC 1 2019"  and its the same percentage ive always had.  I didn't get any fancy manila envelope this time like the initial C&P exam (This was a 5 year re-eval)  So is this the letter saying my percentage is staying the same or is this something everyone gets and I should wait for something else? Not sure what I should receive after an RFE exam.

 

 

[Vync]

Welcome to Hadit!

The decision letter should explain the details to you. If you were to post the text of the decision letter (omit or redact any personal details), we can help try and explain what happened.

Your compensation is tied to your combined rating percentage, not individual rating percentages. This is that crazy VA math where 10% + 10% does not equal 20% (see below).

If you have a single rating and it went up or down, your combined rating percentage would have changed also.

If you have multiple disability rating percentages, an addition, decrease, or increase to them may or may not change your combined rating percentage. You can use the Hadit disability calculator to get an good idea of what to expect: https://hadit.com/disability-calculator

When your combined rating increases, it becomes more difficult to increase further the closer you are to 100%. For example, if you had a single 90% rating and was awarded a new 10%, the new calculated combined rating would be 91%, not 100%. You would have to get it up to 95% for it to round up to the next 10%, which would be 100%. That is described at https://www.benefits.va.gov/compensation/rates-index.asp under Combined Ratings Table.

 

[paulstrgn]

Vync is correct...going from 90% to 100% seems to be impossible to get. 

Good luck

[swimdad84]

3 hours ago, Vync said:

Welcome to Hadit!

The decision letter should explain the details to you. If you were to post the text of the decision letter (omit or redact any personal details), we can help try and explain what happened.

Your compensation is tied to your combined rating percentage, not individual rating percentages. This is that crazy VA math where 10% + 10% does not equal 20% (see below).

If you have a single rating and it went up or down, your combined rating percentage would have changed also.

If you have multiple disability rating percentages, an addition, decrease, or increase to them may or may not change your combined rating percentage. You can use the Hadit disability calculator to get an good idea of what to expect: https://hadit.com/disability-calculator

When your combined rating increases, it becomes more difficult to increase further the closer you are to 100%. For example, if you had a single 90% rating and was awarded a new 10%, the new calculated combined rating would be 91%, not 100%. You would have to get it up to 95% for it to round up to the next 10%, which would be 100%. That is described at https://www.benefits.va.gov/compensation/rates-index.asp under Combined Ratings Table.

 

Its a Summery of Benefits Letter it doesnt say anything about a decision.  But the last effective date for the award was Dec 1 and i had my RFE Exam before that.  For RFE Exams should i expect a fancy envelope or does this "Summery of Benefits" the results?

 

This is what it looks like:  http://www.nd.gov/veterans/files/resource/Annual VA letter IU.pdf

 

I thought maybe this coincided with my RFE because i had it a few months before i received this letter and the effective date awarded was dec 1, or maybe this is just an annual letter?

What does date awarded exactly mean? Maybe thats when they kept my percentage? idk?

 

It says this Document replaces VA Form 20-5455

Edited January 3, 2020 by swimdad84

[Vync]

That is just an overview letter. It doesn't appear to have anything to do with your RFE.

Have you looked on ebenefits or va.gov, or called 1-800-827-1000 to check the status of any open claims?

Keep in mind that the VA may bring a veteran back in for re-examination. Usually this happens if the disability is expected to improve. It can also happen if you have not held the same rating percentage for more than five years.

 

[swimdad84]

23 hours ago, shrekthetank1 said:

can you post the letter and cover any personal information?  

 

23 hours ago, brokensoldier244th said:

That is your decision letter. They don’t always send it in a big brown envelope- that’s a euphemism, and it probably depends on the RO. Mine have come in white, brown, folded in half ,thirds, flat, staples, not staples, etc. not sure why they insist on mailing everything unless requested, I’d much rather they just email me a copy and post in my e benefits and or my health vet. 

 

23 hours ago, broncovet said:

If you post the letter in its entirety (except for your personal identifiers), we could tell you more.  

However, based "entirely" on what you posted, there was a change to your award effective Dec. 1, 2019, but you did not say what that change was.  Its possible that VA did not send you "all the pages" of your decision, so you only got part of a letter.  

This is my advice:

    Go on ebenefits, click "letters".  Those letters should show a disability percentage, and your recent comp should be consisitent with that.  If you are satisifed with that percentage, then there is not a lot you need to do.  

    However, if your disabilty percentage was decreased, or not as high as you think it should be, then spring into the following action(s).

1.  Contact your VSO and see if he has a "complete" copy of your rating decision as apparently yours is incomplete.  Then you may need to file a NOD if its in dispute.  

2.  If your VSO can not or will not help you, or he wont return phone calls (like most VSO's), then you need to try emailing IRIS for a copy of the decsion.  

    It sounds like the most likely senario is that your current rating was continued.  

Paul and Vync .. did you even read what i wrote? Nothing to do with how the %s work im asking in regards to a possible RFE award letter. I literally said i already had my RFE exam which is a RE EVAL.  Please read more thoroughly instead of regurgitating standard responses.

Edited January 3, 2020 by swimdad84

[Vync]

@swimdad84 I apologize, but we're trying to infer what you mean based on limited information you provided.

There are a couple of ways a re-eval can work.

They can be routine follow ups handled by the VHA (i.e. VA medical). These typically have NO impact on your payments or percentages (unless you have consistent improvement).

They can also be follow ups regarding an existing claim (i.e. VBA claims). Because the VA brought me back in a couple of times for re-eval, that's what I thought you were talking about.

Anything that has to do with your compensation percentages (for individual ratings or combined ratings) is handled by the VBA and can impact what you get paid (increase, decrease, or stay the same).

We were just trying to assume what you meant.

In regards to your initial post:

On 1/2/2020 at 3:56 PM, swimdad84 said:

I just had my re-eval for a claim I had a few months ago, and now I got a summery of benefits letter in the mail from regional VA.  It shows my "effective date of the last change to my current award" which is "DEC 1 2019"  and its the same percentage ive always had.  I didn't get any fancy manila envelope this time like the initial C&P exam (This was a 5 year re-eval)  So is this the letter saying my percentage is staying the same or is this something everyone gets and I should wait for something else? Not sure what I should receive after an RFE exam.

Based on what you said, you had a re-eval exam. You got a summary of benefits letter in the mail. The percentage did not change because either it was the same as what you had before or was not a significant enough change to increase or decrease it. 

Effective dates different ways. They can work for a single disability, like you filed for your back on a certain date. They can work for a percentage associated with a single disability. They also work with your combined rating (how much you get paid). A rating decision (the manilla envelope) will indicate if they processed a claim and tell you what changed.

You can also go on ebenefits or va.gov and use the letter generator. It may indicate your rating % and payment with an effective date of whatever (which tends to be near when it was generated).

I had a five year re-eval and I received a rating decision letter in the mail telling me that they continued my existing rating with no change. Not sure why you had one and didn't get a letter.

As you see, there are a bunch of possibilities here. That's why I recommended you call 1-800-827-1000 or check online to find out more.

We're just trying to help. I hope this helps.