OT: VA Disability...

[Boondock_St_Sker]

Wondering how many tPB'rs were in the military and now have a disability rating??

I have been retired since 2012 (10 yrs active duty and 10 yrs Neb ANG) and am just now filing a claim. I have submitted the claim and am waiting for my first appt. to yap with an evaluator (??) is that the name of them? I work as a Dept of Air Force civilian at USSTRATCOM here in beautiful Bellevue NE and have lots of co-workers who receive disability ranging from 20% up to 100%. Curious to know your experience in the process.

 

[Jim14510]

This is @BugeaterInWa expertise.

 

[BugeaterInWa]

2012 - for some things you might need to show continuity of care, some things can be presumptive and knot need the extra documentation.

First item you should get is a Veterans Claims Assistance Act letter telling you they rcvd the claim, list of all conditions they see you claimed and wut you need to do and or wait til they send you for a Comp and Pen exam(s).

Then you'll wait for mor correspondence or the decision.

In a nut shell.

Thank you for taking over the watch and welcome home.

 

[BugeaterInWa]

Oh, and get a VSO - veterans service officer to help you

Like the DAV, VFW, AL, DAV, MoPH, AAPTSDA, DAV, WWP, VVA, Nebraskie VA reps, DAV....

They are avail at no charge. Some provide great training and a liveable wage, others pay the reps chump change and free coffee and just wanna hear stories imo.

 

[Havoc34]

Document everything. And just know going in you’ll likely have to appeal their first decision to get what you earned. You can get reviewed for 20 different things and they might come back and rate you at 10% overall. The calculations they use for percentage pretty weird. Also though even if something gets rated a 0% (a shoulder, bad knee, etc) that’s still marked as service connected and could be covered down the road if it gets worse and could be re-rated depending on the circumstances. So again make sure to list any and everything you can think of that’s ever caused you an issue during your service.
And as stated above it’s Always best to work with a VSO.

 

[BugeaterInWa]

Document everything. And just know going in you’ll likely have to appeal their first decision to get what you earned. You can get reviewed for 20 different things and they might come back and rate you at 10% overall. The calculations they use for percentage pretty weird. Also though even if something gets rated a 0% (a shoulder, bad knee, etc) that’s still marked as service connected and could be covered down the road if it gets worse and could be re-rated depending on the circumstances. So again make sure to list any and everything you can think of that’s ever caused you an issue during your service.
And as stated above it’s Always best to work with a VSO.

I really encourage a good rep. A good rep can get things done w/o filing an appeal. Appeals suck as they usually take a long time. Again, a good rep and good employees can get shit done. However, VA has turned into a bean counting process and employees are basically forced to speed through the claims in order to get thier daily needed beans and will miss a lot if easy shit. I've seen it all, over and over, and over, and over again.

 

[BIG TONE SOPRANO]

Wondering how many tPB'rs were in the military and now have a disability rating??

I have been retired since 2012 (10 yrs active duty and 10 yrs Neb ANG) and am just now filing a claim. I have submitted the claim and am waiting for my first appt. to yap with an evaluator (??) is that the name of them? I work as a Dept of Air Force civilian at USSTRATCOM here in beautiful Bellevue NE and have lots of co-workers who receive disability ranging from 20% up to 100%. Curious to know your experience in the process.

Pretty easy to get 10% for about anything. I’ve seen 100% disabled vets that were completely mentally and physically fine. It doesn’t really make any sense how they do it.

 

[Kaladin]

Pretty easy to get 10% for about anything. I’ve seen 100% disabled vets that were completely mentally and physically fine. It doesn’t really make any sense how they do it.

I might have to put I a claim then

 

[Boondock_St_Sker]

I really encourage a good rep. A good rep can get things done w/o filing an appeal. Appeals suck as they usually take a long time. Again, a good rep and good employees can get shit done. However, VA has turned into a bean counting process and employees are basically forced to speed through the claims in order to get thier daily needed beans and will miss a lot if easy shit. I've seen it all, over and over, and over, and over again.

A co-worker actually helped me with the initial claim using an AI bot, chat gpt, and another tool. It was pretty crazy. A VSO is a great idea! I’m interested to see how my Comp and Pen exam goes.

Thanks for the advice @BugeaterInWa and @Havoc34 I’ll keep you updated.

 

[Huskerbuck85]

Oh, and get a VSO - veterans service officer to help you

Like the DAV, VFW, AL, DAV, MoPH, AAPTSDA, DAV, WWP, VVA, Nebraskie VA reps, DAV....

They are avail at no charge. Some provide great training and a liveable wage, others pay the reps chump change and free coffee and just wanna hear stories imo.

My Mom just retired as Veterans Service Officer of 16 years. Her hand was forced by ALS. Long after she couldn’t talk, eat or drink, she kept serving until she was forced out. That woman was a go getter for her Veterans and it absolutely made a difference in their overall experience and benefits received.