octdevildog Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 now that you have all this good information what are you going to do with It? I am on your side,but how can this post, help you,what can hadit members do,to help you? If you can get a NEXUS, out of this might help you,we need to get something .....can your doctor help? I think you SHOULD file a claim under 38 3105a read this, your medical papers will be accepted as correct,and It doesn,t hurt to read 3105a....... Wow awesome information here, thanks for posting all of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollywoodnc Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 "Rentalguy" and "hollywood", great posts. Can't thank you enough. Well said. Aaaaaaaaaaaamen and Amen. I think not a day has passed that I have not learned something new about my spine or confirmed my suspicion's about the VARO's bulls..t. VMO... THANK YOU Sir for your kind words. Hopefully soon, this will get better...either the Gov't. does it on it's own, or WE take action and kick them where it hurts. As I had stated time and time again, I'm constantly offering opinions to elected officials. I've submitted documentation to the Sub Committees and Committees of Veterans Affairs. Whether it was reviewed, I cannot say. But if enough of us bitch and complain enough, sooner of later, it'll change! I hope it's sooner rather than later! Best Regards! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollywoodnc Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 (edited) Rentalguy, One Word... INCREDIBLE !! Thank you so much for the time you obviously put into your posts. I applied for SC for a my lower back right after I got out, but was turned down due to lack of a chronic history of back pain. Now I look back at my service and I am wishing I would have went to the hospital every time my back hurt (but I did ask for it). So ten years later I am looking at DDD L4-5 & S1, out of work for since Jan 07, and currently waiting for a disability determination from both the VA and SSD. I am just now finding this site and learning the ropes. I have been being treated at the VA for this wonderful malody I have since I re-injured/aggravated or just plain really screwed up my back while at work (which is another story in itself). All I can say is this has to be a fate worse then death. I can't work, I am only SC 10% for a gun shot wound and I am living on $117 a month - 100 for cable, phone and internet. I am not sure what the best course of action would be to try to speed up the process and light a fire under my file. At this point I am undergoing the shot series, scheduled for #2 in march. I was also just recently diganosed with PTSD. But I am under no circumstances going to file for that SC right now, otherwise the claim I got in now will go back to square 1. Seems like I am on never ending road leading nowhere and covered with land mines. Storm StormWolf... Questions... #1) Where on your body were you shot? #2) Did you EVER mention to your Army doctor that you had hurt your back? #3) If so,is it DOCUMENTED? #4) For SSDI...Do you have disabilities, that meet the following criteria as set by the ADA: An individual with a disability is defined by the ADA as... A: a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, B: a person who has a history or record of such an impairment, C: or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment. (SEE: http://www.ada.gov/cguide.htm#anchor62335) #5)Do you have a Social Security Attorney? In RE to your VA claim... Whereabouts are you in your claim? RO? BVA? Do you have a Service Officer? (DAV, PVA, other?) Is you have an SO, then ask if you can Amend your complaint to include your back, especially if you have Military records showing that you saw a doctor for such. GOOD LUCK...and WELCOME to your second, LIFE LONG WAR! Us "Old Timers" will steer you "Rookies" in the right direction! hahaha OH...One last note... You may also be eligible for SSI (through Social Security). Also, as times are hard, don't be "TO PROUD" to apply for Social Services. I view it as "Milking the Gov't."! Edited December 9, 2008 by hollywoodnc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
out_here04 Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 Identity theft is a major concern today. The possibility of the enemy or some other ne'er-do-well assuming a veteran's identity and all that goes with it, including compensation payment as the veteran waits for a decision in poverty, is not beyond happening. I have had my own suspicions about people I run into at VAMC. AS RECENTLY AS TODAY, I have seen firsthand an example of how VA is helping perpetuate this possibility with people handling our correspondence with incompetance. I got in the mail one of those "keep waiting letters" from the VARO stating: "We are still processing your application for COMPENSATION. My letter was addressed to me complete with my name, address and file number/social security number. It was addressed to me from my VARO in Decatur GEORGIA (Atlanta) with Thomas O. Sanders, Veterans Service Center Manager and unsigned sender. No problem there, right. We all get them. BUT, folding in my envelope behind my letter was the same exact kind of letter addressed from the VRO in Montgomery ALABAMA, unsigned sender A. Hill, Veterans Center Manager, to a veteran in ARIZONA. I know his name, his address and social security number. As a fellow veteran and fairly decent person, I'm going to mail the veteran his letter and tell him what happened and just hope it isn't some kind of trigger for him that the VA is waving his identity out there for anyone to steal. WHAT IF I was a nefarious person who got this in the mail at another address, veteran or otherwise? How much of a leg up would I have on stealing this veteran's identity? I know it was probably a human error and the papers likely stuck together somewhere --although I still don't get why two VARO's correspondence is in the same stack-- but it could be an indication of a lazy or disinterested person just slapping papework out in the mail. At least it wasn't shredded, right? ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
out_here04 Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 Now that I think about it, my anal-retentive U.S. Postal Service mail-carrier probably won't accept the letter if I let the Arizona recipient show through the envelope window and write on it that it was misaddressed. I'm not budgeted by VA for the 47 cents, so I'd rather just have my congressman get it to the veteran through his congressman. I bet if that happens a lot and we take the trouble to use Capitol Hill as a P.O. Box it would get somebody's attention, especially during "Shreddergate." Sorry, this all just irritates the hell out of me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sf_ranger Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 Chick,you are not 30% unemployable.This is the way it go,for you to be able to get TDIU,you have to be .You are only 70% service connected,but you are ungainful employable because of your 70% service connected disabitlities,and for thst reason,you are being paying at the 100% rate,But you are still 70% and IU. I hope this helps mobie I am under the assumption that if you receive 70% SC and 30% IU then you are 100% P+T......First one must be rated as IU to receive TDIU then of course the 100% is applied as 100 % P+T...... In addition, if one is rated as 100% P+T and in the breakdown for example says, "70% for PTSD and 30% IU", the vet can object and file again within a certain time limit. However, the vet can get reduced if the vet refuses the 100% P+T using the VA's original rating. It is funny you bring this up because I wanted to do teach and I am 100% P+T. I risk too much to argue to get full 100% SC which my current injuries can or should enable me to go for it....IU simply means I can no longer work and recently I thought I could but now go back to teaching College but now realize I cannot because I now hurt more than ever and because of my original IU Claim... If I try for 100% SC it really does not make sense for me because of the myrid of benefits my family and I now receive. The bennies could be reduced. It is a gamble that if disapproved I can get a reduced rating....I cannot afford to get reduced and hopefully you see the same if are the same and that is 100% P+T. My friend is 100% P+T SC and works for the Govt...Yeah he makes good pay but he is not even in fair physical shape...I will not want the exchange or a reduced P+T percentage because I believe I should have been given entirely 100% SC....We Vets should have been awarded the percentage without the fight and we fought so very hard for what we deserve.... I actually believe we deserve more than the average "Joe" because we have lost job opportunities due to our disabilities and have not received a fair VA raise in over 15 years. Why not???? I always contact my congressperson and all of us should do the same.... Individual Unemployability (IU) or also known as Total Disability due to Individual Unemployability (TDIU)..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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