hypertension Award Specifics..should Tdiu Been Awarded Sooner?

[Guest jangrin]

We have discussed this together and have decided that we should share the entire award with the Hadit Fambly. Because there were many many issues on this claim we feel we should limit the topics to one at a time. We will need your advise but we will need to stay organized so we can continue to work this claim.

We feel that there will be changes coming in benefits over the next few years, and although the award is 100% TDIU- the disability percentage is not. Sooo with this in mind we will be continuing to work the claims for increases in the ratings.

We hope we can all learn from this as it certainly covers alot of stuff on one claim. SUGGESTION is to start with the TDIU and effective date topic. We think TDIU should have been awarded sooner. What do you all think?

The result of the decision was as follows: TDIU 100% effective August 2006.

Your overall rating is 60% from Feb 06 with entitlement to the 100% rate based on IU from AUG 06. We do not add the individual percentages of each condition to determine your rating. We used a combined rating table that consider the effect from the most serious to the least serious condtions.

Coronary Artery Disease- 30% Feb 06

DMII- 20% Feb 06

PN left foot 10% Feb 06

PN right foot 10% Feb 06

Hypertension 0% Feb 06

ED 0% Feb 06

TDIU granted (60%)effective- AUG06

Please keep in mind there was no change in rating or any added disabilities to the award between FEB and AUG. The only thing that was new was the TDIU claim form that Berta told us to mail (thanks Berta) for TDIU in August.

Denied-

hyperlipidemia

bilateral hearing loss

tinnitis

PTSD

Claimed but not addressed by the VA in the award letter:

Gastrointestinal problems

Depression

cataracts

Edited April 28, 2007 by jangrin

[cloudcroft]

jangrin,

What you're saying IS possible, but so are a lot of other ways the VA -- or Congress -- could cut us vets who have already won our claims case (in this case a TDIU/P&T award) in the future...who knows what tomorrow brings?

But it does no good to speculate...it just causes unnecessary worry which leads to more stress. For those of us with psych disorders, the less stress the better.

I think we should keep up with VA "current events" but not worry over them.

So personally, I'll not try to up my total schedular rating any (although I might get it up to 80 or 90%) and just leave things lie, but I DO have some interest in the Chapter 61 people getting their retirement!

-- John D.

Edited April 29, 2007 by cloudcroft

[john999]

If you are TDIU and develope a serious disease like cancer from agent orange then it is very worth while to apply for service connection. Also if there is some possiblilty of special monthly compensation then it is worth while. Otherwise just forget it since you get no more money for it. Anything that might cause a death is worth getting service connected. For instance, blindness from AO diabetes would be worth while claiming because their is SMC involved. We severely disabled 100% schedular and TDIU vets are the VA's main constituency. Attack us and the VA attacks its own reason for being. I would not put that past Bush & Co. but the dems are in control now.

[theotherguy]

Jangrin,

You definitely should file a Notice of Disagreement with the effective date they assigned. It is absolutely wrong...

Let's say that you had not filed for IU until after the VA had promulgated the award that made you schedularly eligible for the benefit. They would send an 21-8940 with the veteran's award letter and you would have one year to file the form before the decision became final. In these circumsances, the controlling effective date regulation is 3.400(o)(2) which would allow them to go all the way back to the date the veteran became eligible with the exception of if he/she was gainfully employed during that time frame. In your case, that does not seem to be the situation. Claims for entitlement to TDIU are to be considered claims for increased compensation and even though this was an initial benefits application, the regulation controlling this matter is still applicable since compensation benefits were awarded effective prior to the date the TDIU application was submitted.

The benefit should have been established from February 2006. From what I can see in the regulations, I do not think that they can grant prior to the date the veteran filed the original claim for VA benefits since 38 CFR 3.153 "Claims filed with the Social Security" provides:

An application on a form jointly prescribed by the Secretary and the Commissioner of Social Security filed with the Social Security Administration on or after January 1, 1957, will be considered a claim for death benefits, and to have been received in the Department of Veterans Affairs as of the date of receipt in Social Security Administration. The receipt of such an application (or copy thereof) by the Department of Veterans Affairs will not preclude a request for any necessary evidence.

Edited April 29, 2007 by theotherguy

[Berta]

I agree- a vet does not become TDIU when they sign a TDIU form.

It could be a staged rating up to a TDIU level but at some point the medical evidence-more than likely showed TDIU was evident prior to filing the 21-8940.

This gets me all the time when I know that vet reps don't even give vets the form- and say their rating is below 70% so it cant be awarded-

TDIU doesnt depend on a rep's version of VA case law it depends on when medicsl evidence of record shos that the veteran was not longer able to work due to service connection.

The medical evidence is also not limited to clinical med records-

other evidence such as Voc Rehab findings that state Voc Rehab is not feasible due to service disabilities as well as employers statements etc-

can prove TDIU.

We sent SSA PTSD award letter, sensitive EEOC testimony (Rod sued VA for job discrimination as disabled vet and they all said he was crazy-documented)

performance appraisals( Rods VA performance appraisals were all good but noted his inability to read specific things posted on the dietic calendar and the diet cards and his frustration over this was documented) We also had documentation of his requests to the VA for accomodations to his visual problems that VA ignored ( His college however accomodated him) and were found subsequently due to his undiagnosed conditions)also we had testimony from a federal contractor he sued too for discrimination-(He won under the ADA-first vet State of NY to win under ADA- I sat on the Post Office steps until they opened the day ADA became law to mail the complaint-I prepared it myself and knew he would win) that they sent by error under an FOIA- it was PROOF positive they discriminated against him due to his SC disability.

Also after congressional intervention he got the real VA PTSD shrink who stated his PTSD was catastrophic and he could not be employed due to it.

Anything like this whatsoever-depending on the disability-medical evidence and oitherwise

that shows TDIU prior to date the VA decides is evidence of TDIU-

Although VA seemed to ignore all of the SSA records (they were all VA records anyhow)they awarded 100% SC PTSD back to the SSA award entitlement date.

They never called it TDIU- but my long point is that there are ways to prove TDIU and/or 100% for any disability that can generate SC award based on a proper EED.

Edited April 29, 2007 by Berta

[Guest jangrin]

So personally, I'll not try to up my total schedular rating any (although I might get it up to 80 or 90%) and just leave things lie, but I DO have some interest in the Chapter 61 people getting their retirement!

-- John D.

JohnD.

The reason for the concern about the 60% TDIU was because the SO where we live gave us a list of various benefits for Chuckles in our State and he told us that the Property Tax break and other state benefits were given "based on the disability percentage". And because Chucks was 60% not 100%,he wasn't eligible until he was 70%TDIU as that was the cutoff. We aren't trying to clog the system or anything like that, just want to make sure the bases are covered as I would not want us to have to wage this battle again. This was extremely hard on our family and on my husband physically. I appreciate your honesty. Thanks.

By the way, excuse my ignorance by could you tell me about or please explain CHAPTER 61-

Jangrin

Edited April 29, 2007 by jangrin

[cloudcroft]

Yes, in your case it makes sense to do that.

In my case, with no family or relatives to worry about or leave my "estate" to, it really doesn't matter...unless I could get some of my military disability/retirement pay back (30% medically-retired), $$ I haven't been getting for many years now. Being rated at 100% schedular would help with that, but that's unlikely since 100% schedular for mental means you're probably judged incompetent, too...and I'm not at all THAT bad...yet!

If I got a terminal disease would I get it SCed? Probably. But I'm not sure there'd be any real benefit to me to speak of.

Don't mean to be greedy, just saying...

-- John D.

Edited April 29, 2007 by cloudcroft