I had pretty well decided that when or if I get to 100%, I don't want to miss out on the free life insurance. At that time I will be so old it will become no risk, just a sure thing!

Schwanke, I think you might be misinterpeting it like I did for awhile.

Once you get your initial rating, you can then buy the insurance. You cannot wait until you get to 100%

Yes, if you have the insurance, and THEN get rated 100%, they will waive the premium on SOME of the insurance, I think it's up to $125,000. Since you can purchase more than that, only the first amount will be free.

Once the time limit goes by on you INITIAL award, you can not buy the insurance unless you get Service Connected for ANOTHER disability. The only problem with that is, when you apply for an additional disability, and you are already rated at 100% for PTSD, you open your original case for review, and that can be a bag of worms.

I have a hearing loss (total) that should be Service Connected, but I wouldn't dare file for it, in fear of having to go through a review process on my PTSD award.

depicts,
You explained it very well.

Any 'new disability' rating , no matter the percent, qualifies you for ins. (within a year of rating), I believe) An increased rating on a current disability doesn't qualify for this ins.

I too, don't dare to file on a 'new' disability for my hearing loss (Hearing aids help) becauase i currently have a back pay claim that goes way back for un employability.

If you currently have more than one claim with the VA, they will pick one and the other claim(s) will be 'deemed denied'. Flash

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Flash69,

Wow, you are making smoke come out of my ears thinking about that.
What you said jolted me a bit, I wondered why after getting 40% diabetes (20 diabetes, 10 each leg PAD) when I got an additional 10% tinnitus the papers seemed to re address the first 40%, and did it again when they turned me down on PTSD. I just thought it was more VA sillyspeak.
Since I am retired length of service, the only disabilities that I am concerned with are those that get me Combat Related Special Compensation. I am still trying to understand that, for instance I have several disabilities that could be easily rated, but have nothing to do with combat, so are not worth the effort to even apply (at least so I believe at present). Comically enough, I believe I have a well documented case of peacetime service connected PTSD! Hospital records, courts martial, military health records, etc.
Anyhow, thanks for the insurance opinion, it would appear then that I am still on the right waiting track.(maybe)

Schwanke,

Sometimes, non-combat related PTSD is easier to obtain. Mine is non-combat related, though not peacetime (i'm a Gulf War era vet). I was approved within a very few months after my intial C&P exam.

Just this review appeal that has me stressing... but I'm pretty sure it will be okay. Just the waiting that wrecks havoc on already pinged nerves!

Just got some more SSDI paperwork in the mail today, and I'm trying to figure out how to answer some of these questions... I mean, be honest of course, but there is so much, and not much room... what's the most important things to say? It's just such a stress! It's easy to believe if one is NOT PTSD, after all these processes and red-tape-a-thons you sure as shootin' would be!

My meds today really were playing a number on my body, and I felt like ca-ca all day... now at 2 am, when I should be snuggled warm in a bed, here I am... again...

quote:

Originally posted by Schwanke:
I too had quickly ignored that portion of my initial 40% award letter, this discussion made me go back and read it. Here is exactly what it says:
"ARE YOU ENTITLED TO ADDITIONAL BENEFITS? Since you have been rated for a new service connected disability, you may be eligible for government life insurance if you are in good health (except for any service connected conditions) and apply within two years of this notification of your disability rating. If you are totally disabled, you may be eligible to have your government life insurance premiums waived."
Since I was NOT healthy (PTSD, but determined NOT service connected as well as other health issues) and did not have a totally disabled rating, the statement essentially did not even apply to me. (At least I don't THINK it did)
-and-
Posted Fri 23 February 2007 18:26
Wow, you are making smoke come out of my ears thinking about that.
What you said jolted me a bit, I wondered why after getting 40% diabetes (20 diabetes, 10 each leg PAD) when I got an additional 10% tinnitus the papers seemed to re address the first 40%, and did it again when they turned me down on PTSD. I just thought it was more VA sillyspeak.
Since I am retired length of service, the only disabilities that I am concerned with are those that get me Combat Related Special Compensation. I am still trying to understand that, for instance I have several disabilities that could be easily rated, but have nothing to do with combat, so are not worth the effort to even apply (at least so I believe at present). Comically enough, I believe I have a well documented case of peacetime service connected PTSD! Hospital records, courts martial, military health records, etc.
Anyhow, thanks for the insurance opinion, it would appear then that I am still on the right waiting track.(maybe)

To Schwanke:
Please do not just apply for conditions that will be CRSC issues. Apply for conditions that disable you, period. After you are service connected they will be sorted out. There is also Concurrent Receipt which does not have combat issues, money is money.
PTSD has criteria that must be met. Stressors must be verified. It can be by military records, it can be by unit records and it can be by sworn statements of comrades in "Buddy Statements." In can be with letters written home. The point is many, that is very many people have told war stories to psychiatrists who believed them and give a diagnosis of PTSD.
In the early and mid 1980's some wannabe's were rated for PTSD and soon discovered and severed. That made it hard on all others following. It is necessary to verify stressors because of liars.
I know how you feel, as daily I work with veterans who have real stressors, I know their stressor meets the criteria and the rating specialist does not. You must remember most of the VA employees are not veterans. Most veterans are not combat veterans, it makes a difference in how people view a situation. When the bullet is fired at you, your perspective changes.
Most VA employees do a good job. Some people may not see it that way, but it is difficult to work as many cases as are presented. This is also with far to few people to get the job done in a timely manner.
The law says it is the claimants responsibility to furnish the evidence of the stressor. That is why you need a veterans service officer, who thinks outside of the box. By that I mean not just VA programmed responses.
I assist my clients by ordering records, doing unit searches and telling the veteran to contact their comrades, family members or friends who may have old letters. Now and then some just look at me and say, "how do you expect me to remember all that?" Well they better, as I don't have any way of doing so. It is their memories, not mine.

To all readers:

When a veteran is rated service connected for a condition, the VA sends the veteran a rather long letter with a rating decision attached. All to often, the veteran is only interested in how much money they will receive and read no further. That is unless it is less than expected, then they read the rating decision. That is why I tell every client to call me, every time they receive a VA letter. Almost all of them do call me. That is until they get the letter that tells them they will receive the amount of money they wanted. I hear from about 1/4th of those. The other 3/4th usually never contact me again, unless a problem develops. Problems such as address change (can cause checks to be late), dependent change (can create overpayments) and many more.
The VA award letter has much information including life insurance. WHICH IS NOT AUTOMATIC. YOU MUST APPLY WITHIN THE TWO YEARS FOR THAT CONDITION. If you are rated 10% and later get increased for the same condition, the insurance off WILL NOT be made. However if you are later awarded a second disability, you will again be eligible for the two year period. Your health is a factor if it is not a service connected condition. However the VA insurance is worth applying for as it is not commercial.
It is reasonably priced.

The following does not apply to those on this particular forum.

There many benefits that go unclaimed because the veteran did not read the entire letter, nor contacted their veterans service officer. It appears at times on the forums, many veterans feel they know more than their veterans service officer, may be they do; or may be they don't. However we usually know the law and regulations.

Worth repeating!

quote:

The law says it is the claimants responsibility to furnish the evidence of the stressor. That is why you need a veterans service officer, who thinks outside of the box. By that I mean not just VA programmed responses.

The key is the veterans service officer represents the claimant not the VA.

This is an awful thought, but true, not all claimants have a good claim. Sometimes issues are simply not service connectable. I will tell the claimant that is is not a good claim, but I will assist them in submitting the paperwork to the VA.
I am not authorized to adjudicate claims. The VA will make those decisions. However I will not represent a veteran with a frivolous claim.
Another example: in 1983 a veteran wanted my representation for a PTSD claim. The stressor was the DI yelled so much it caused the nervous condition. The veteran was separated in 1 month and 29 days. A frivolous claim. Being yelled at did not meet the criteria of PTSD by either the DSM III, DSM III-R, or today’s DSM IV. I advised the veteran "your claim does not meet the VA requirements." The veteran completed the VAF 21-526 and I mailed it to the VARO, the VA made the decision. When the veteran wanted to appeal the decision, it was explained again "your claim does not meet the requirements" then added the next line, "if you wish to appeal, you need to find someone else to assist you, as I cannot file a frivolous appeal."
I will not represent a frivolous claim. However many claims others may see as frivolous, I may not see that way. I will file claims as long as there is a possibility in my mind, the claim can be well grounded.

quote:

I too, don't dare to file on a 'new' disability for my hearing loss (Hearing aids help) becauase i currently have a back pay claim that goes way back for un employability.

If you currently have more than one claim with the VA, they will pick one and the other claim(s) will be 'deemed denied'. Flash

You lost me there Flash, I so totally do not understand your statement. Can you elaborate on that a bit? I have three claims working at the VA as we speak, your logic worries me.

C130: I agree that non combat PTSD would probably be far easier to obtain. The many documents readily available like police reports, hospital records, witness statements etc would be of great assistance. The "fog" of war and its very nature, results in no lasting records of most stressors, often not even witnesses, and that is why the VA was forced into the rule that states "If the evidence establishes that the veteran engaged in combat with the enemy and the claimed stressor is related to that combat, in the absence of clear and convincin evidence to the contrary, and provided that the claimed steessor is consistent with the circumstances, conditions, or hardships of the veteran's service, the VETERAN'S LAY TESTIMONY ALONE MAY ESTABLLISH THE OCCURRENCE OF THE CLAIMED IN-SERVICE STRESSOR"
That would seem to remedy the situation well, but according to Dave, that opened the floodgates to fraudulent claims, so the VA conveniently reduced their workload considerably by making an even harder to prove point, by establishing their very own idea of what "engaged in combat" means to them, then making you prove THAT instead. I accept their challenge, it may cost me lots of time and money, but I am confident that I can find others who served with me to support my claim, or the evidence they need in the form of paper records in the archives somewhere.

quote:

If you currently have more than one claim with the VA, they will pick one and the other claim(s) will be 'deemed denied'. Flash

I have read this .. more than once..in the last year, about this policy. Right now I don't have details or specifics, but I believe it to be a relatively recent , new law. (Memory shot)...articles stated that if the Va has more than one claim from claimant, they(VA) will choose one claim from claimant, and the others will be "Deemed denied" or "deemed deniable". It is very possible I 'misinterpreted' the VA sillyspeak, but what I read kept me from re-opening a SC claim for hearing loss, since I currently have a claim in process.

I'm sorry to have been cause for worry on this Sunday Morn. Do not worry. This is hearsay now.

I certainly may be incorrect.

If I can find printed info of what I read, I will post it. ..Flash

OK, thanks. I am still a little confused, what I did that is apparently even more wrong, is to apply for each disabling item separately, as a complete new claim!
Apparently once you are approved for anything, from there on you must just ask for an "increase" or some such title, not a new claim?!?!
I am like you, this is what I was told by a phone answerer at the VARO, but no reference to the exact process one must go thru. Maybe Dave can give us a reference to this and clear it up a bit.
I also sorta think now, no references, that you may claim a dozen things on one "application". I originally read things to believe only one item at a time would be considered by VA on a claim. I think somewhere in all this we actually agree, maybe based on valid stuff, maybe not.

I found this:

With regard to your question, your example is exactly correct. If a veteran files claims for a back disability, tinnitus and a psychiatric disability, all at the same time, and only one of those claims is adjudicated, the others are "deemed denied" under the holding of this case.

The most damaging thing to the veteran is that he or she would never receive notice from VA that the other claims were "deemed denied" and that the appeal period had begun to run on those claims. If no NOD is submitted within 1 year, the decision becomes final, and the veteran would have to submit new and material evidence in order to reopen those claims. If any of those claims are eventually granted, the effective dater could only be the date of the request to reopen those claims, rather than the date of filing for the original claims.

Another veterans' attorney has also brought up the problem of how a veteran could submit a claim for CUE (clear and unmistakable error) with specificity, as the law requires, when there has been no reason given for the denials.

As I told you, I believe this case flies in the face of 38 U.S.C. Sec. 5104 and 38 C.F.R. Sec. 3.103, which require notice to the claimant of all VA decisions affecting benefits.

---------------

Larry Scott

:

Here:

http://www.vawatchdog.org/old%20newsflashes%20AUG%2006/...lash08-01-2006-1.htm

Man, do I have a headache! The more I read the more confused I am. I really would like to file for SC hearing loss. I am already maxed out at 100% SC P/T , but I would like to receive my Life Ins benefit.

I will call my VSO tomorrow about this.
Flash

Thanks for taking the time to dig out the source and references Flash, I sure appreciate that.
You think YOU have a headache, I can't exactly determine what is being said there myself. They certainly don't do that as a rule at least, I just had a "twofer" come back, tinnitus for 10 percent SC, hearing loss 0% SC. They acted on both as above, this was while the PTSD was working, I have now three total working at the RO. The VARO did tell me that it gets VERY confusing for them when multiple claims are working, since the file always seems to be at the wrong place, further delaying the process, which already is very similar to watching moss grow on rocks.

Flash, you want a laugh about the hearing claim?

I wanted to file, because I got in front of 3 8" howitzers as they fired, and blew out my left ear drum. When I got discharged, at out processing, I mentioned the hearing loss. They pulled my 201 file and checked my entrance exam. There was a long piece of paper in there, sort of like an EKG looks. It was my induction hearing test.

The test line was completely flat.

The outprocessing officer told me this showed that I was deaf when I went in the service. I asked, "if I was deaf, why did you let me join?"

Of course they had no answer for that, and I just wanted to go home, so I dropped the issue and left.

Later I went back to the AFEES station where I had finished my last 8 months of service, to visit some friends, and I found out why I tested as deaf.

The hearing test booth was a few steps up from the corridor, and you went in and sat on a wood chair and put headphones on. I sat there and sat there, until someone came and told me to move to the next station.

What I didn't know, was that outside the booth, on the floor, there was a 3 foot high sign that said, "Press button to start test." But I was so short I couldn't see the sign, so I never pushed the button.

So you see, I am deaf to the Army because I am too short, and I can't do anything to prove otherwise. Talk about a LOW blow!

You gotta laugh sometimes, what else are you going to do?

Bill

My C&P board for hearing loss was almost as bad. The civilian hearing aid sales store down the street from the VA Clinic was tasked by the VA for the exam. They put me inside the booth, put a headphone on my right ear, and left the left one off. Then explained that it was not operating, so I was to just listen thru the door of the booth for the left side.
When I got a hearing loss, service connected, zero percent rating, I did not know just what to make of it. Apparently you have to be pretty darned deaf to get a rating on hearing loss. I figure I will just go have a genuine hearing test taken someday, to compare with the C&P exam results.

Dave, despite what I posted to flash in this thread, about me being deaf when I enlisted, I just remembered something else.

When I was in boot camp, I got menengitis. I was hospitalized at the Fort Dix Hospital for ten days, given spinal taps and intervienus medication. My fever was 105 degrees when I went in the hospital.

Now I find out that meningitis can cause hearing loss.

When I left Ft Dix I hand carried my 201 file to my next duty station, Ft Benjamin Harrison. When I looked in the file, there was no record of me being in the hospital, or finishing basic training late, or ten days of medical leave. I spent some time back with my basic training company as tempory cadre, until the next cycle for my AIT at Benjamin Harrison opened up. I was told the medical report would catch up to my records sometime.

I don't know if they ever did. I never saw them.

Would menengitis be presumtive for hearing loss?

Do you think I could win that case if I filed, so that I could apply for life insurance.

I know we talked before, and I decided not to persue it, but that was before I remembered about the menengitis, and read that loss of hearing can be an after effect.

How do I request my medical records to find out if that information ever got posted?

Thanks Dave

Bill

Just some thoughts, if it were me, I would get on the phone to Ft Dix hospital, release of records people. Fax them a release and expect to get your records from there.
Another thought, you did not say just when that was, but is possible that your finance records may have some helpful items defining the hospital time and leave.

The general recommended procedure is -- if you are found 100% for anything (or groups of things totalling 100%) to leave it alone. IF you try to push another item for more, or add new ones, all the old claims can and usually are opened again in the process of determining a new one. Besides, 100% is 100% you aren't going to get more compensation for 2 100% SC conditions.

Also, you are told if the other items are denied... on your rating paperwork, it will list which items were granted SC and which are not if any.

On my initial rating 3 years ago, I was given 100% for PTSD, and denied on the claim for headaches. The two things I filed for.

I still have the headaches, and they actually started before the PTSD symptoms, actually, the headaches were the first symptom I feel... but since they didn't look at it like that, the headaches were denied.

At the time I didn't try to fight for P/T or IU, because I didn't want to have them reveiw my claim any more than necessary. Now it's under appeal, as they were trying to reduce me to 50% (after a joke of a C & P review).

My symptoms have gotten WORSE not better, and where I was able to work when I was initially rated (I was earning upwards of 4000 a month) I ended up losing that job, and had 5 months of unemployment, and then a part=time casheir job at the commissary was the only job I could get (wiht my military service as an officer, college degree and professional flight license, that's all I could get). After a year of that, where I was sick all the time, from meds, and anxiety attacks, using more than my allotted sick leave and getting in altercations with fellow employees that were male.. now I've not worked for over a year. Now they think I'm "better"... because of a 15 minute C&P reviewer who didn't even correctly document my situation.

FOr example she stated I received a Bachelors degree SINCE my rating for PTSD... WRONG!! I earned that degree 7 years ago BEFORE I EVER WENT INTO THE AIRFORCE.

She rated my GAF at 60 where two weeks later, and for 3 months previous, my treating physician rated my GAF between 45-49.

Anyway, I forgot what my point was...

Aviatrix, I think you were going to tell me to leave well enough alone!!!

What I'm trying to do is get life insurance by initiating a new claim, without screwing up my current 100%.

I'm wondering now, if I wait until I've been rated 100% P&T for ten years, if that would give me enough protection to try to get even a 10% rating, so I could get life insurance. It would sure take some worry off my wife's shoulders.

Schwanke, thanks for the tips. I was at Ft Dix in August of 67. I was to graduate BCT the first week of November. In my 7th week of Basic, I went to the beer hall in the afternoon, and by suppertime I was sick as a dog. They checked me in a few hours later.

After ten days in the hospital, I went on recuperation leave for ten days, then came back to my BCT company. I stayed there until around the 2d week in December, then went to Ft Ben Harrison.