BVA DECISION MADE

[Oliver]

My Attorney was successful in getting a BVA grant. It had been remanded back from the Veteran's Court. A CUE reversal. I'm over the moon, but don't know what to expect next. I also had a successful C&P exam for Hypothyroidism. (The newly added disease to the list of Presumptive conditions related to AO.) The Schedule of Ratings calls for a minimum of 30% there. I had asked the BVA for 100% from my present 60% for the tongue cancer, because anything less will not get me needed crucial dental work. I am hoping the combined rating will get me there. Do I now just wait for a RO rating decision? Anybody know how long the wait is? When I was Service Connected for PTSD, it seems it was pretty quick. My VSO says the VA has still not decided what the effective date will be for Hypothyroidism, but I have a claim going back to 2014.

Edited April 3, 2021 by Oliver
grammer correction

[Oliver]

Also, my service connected grant for tongue cancer is being rated at the RO. My attorney seems to think I will get a big retro award going back to 2016. The VA first gave me SC then took it back. It went to the BVA and was denied. He took it to the Court and had it remanded back to the BVA where it was granted. The VSO said I was awarded some money from the time they awarded it til the time it was taken back, but I don't remember. Don't know how much that would have been. Does anybody know what the rating might be?

[Oliver]

Finally got a VA rating letter. They gave me back pay to 2014, plus 30% increase. I had asked for 100% total since I already had 60%. Now, with VA math that only bumps me up to 70%, if I do their math correctly. I told them I need 100% for crucial dental work. Looks like they just ignored that part of my claim. They also said nothing about my recent service connection for hypothyroidism, which I believe I should have gotten 30% because the rating schedule seems to call for it. I got 0% for that, because they said there were no symptoms, even though I gave the C & P examiner a host of symptoms.  So I will continue my endless cycle of appeals. If I had known I would never be free of the VA, when it came time to sign up, I would have headed to Canada! No country is worth what I have gone through.

[GBArmy]

If you got your rating letter go to VA.gov and "letters" You can down load a letter that states what your new combined rating is. There are several good rating calculator sites to use, here on Hadit and elsewhere to confirm if your new rating is accurate. If you are a Vietnam veteran, which it sounds like you may be, hypothyroidism is one of 3 "new" presumptive AO presumptive diseases recently added to the VA list. But they have not released any new criteria about how the VA will be adjudicating the three, so you may have fallen outside some new criteria that is to be determined. You're rated as 0%; you can appeal if you think you were short changed, but you have a year (at least) so I would wait a few months until the VA publishes their new criteria to appeal if I were you. It's up to you. As for Canada, that's your opinion and you are entitled to it. I disagree.

[Fat]

Congrats.........