Transcript 0:00 [upbeat music] Merry Christmas. 0:18 Hello, and welcome to the Hill & Ponton Veterans Benefit Q&A Live. It's festival time. It is. Festive time. Matt Hill here with Carol Ponton. This is our last live broadcast of the year. 0:31 We're so excited and thankful for everybody who comes here and helps us create this community, and we just wanna say thank you, and we are here to be positive. 0:40 We wore these clothes, this hat, so that we can channel positive energy for VA to get a few things right- [laughs] -at the end of the year and hopefully get your claims decided as they should. Something like that. 0:50 [laughs] All right. I won't be seen in public with it. [laughs] Well, I think we're in public. [laughs] Um, let's get started. Chris, good to see you. It's been a while. One of nine. Whoo, Chris. All right, let's see it. 1:07 "Happy holidays. CAVC DOB Collins open claims are limited in scope to first evaluate if evidence was new and relevant. VA issued no new decision. I filed no new claims. 1:21 I filed two DBQ twenty-six-eighties, aid and attendance for my mental health and migraines in twenty twenty-five. Mental health, September two thousand twelve, seventy percent. 1:33 October two thousand twelve, quality error on twenty twenty twelve. Open... Reopen claim. Request Social Security disability records. I argued the VA left open. 1:44 Also, A&A for migraines, mental health, each with medical opinion back to 'oh nine in DBQ. Next claim I filed was Q TDIU, but cha-changed to open after it was referred to director. 1:58 November twelve, VA combines migraines and mental health for TDIU. Social Security records received January thirteen. Uh, VA found duty to assist error, twenty twenty-five for TDIU, December twelve. 2:13 Referred to director for, of compensation, not Q because duty to assist. Director of comp signs off an extra scheduler for migraines back to twenty eleven. 2:24 I argued duty to assist error/director statement, extra scheduler back to twenty eleven. Acknowledged claim remained open. In person, Vera turned to DBQs two days before, uh, RO decision. 2:38 All evidence before direct review. In your opinion, are both claims open? I'm arguing for R1. As always, thank you." I'm lost. So, so hold on. 2:47 He's arguing for R1 because he's trying to get, uh, A&A for both migraines and for, uh- Mental health... mental health. So that's the L's. Right. And you get two L's, so that, that makes sense, okay? Mm-hmm. 2:58 So that's where I just wanna start. Um, and I gotta be honest with you, I would focus on that first, trying to get to R1 now, whatever they give you. 3:08 I mean, keep the effective date issue live and going, but the R1's where you wanna be so that you're getting the monthly comp that you deserve now. 3:16 Then you get that retro if you're eligible for it, uh, then that's gravy, frankly. Um, as far as are they still open? So much went on, uh- Yeah, I don't even know where to start with that. 3:30 I mean, let's go back to number... Let's just jump through them. Go back to number one. Uh, two. So the, so the new and relevant, um, what was the old? New and material? Mm-hmm. 3:45 The new and relevant scheme applies to the AMA post two thousand nineteen when ramp started. 3:51 So the Collins case wouldn't necessarily, or not Collins, but the case he just mentioned wouldn't necessarily apply to you because that was the n- the un-- previous to the AMA, it was new and material evidence. 4:03 So I haven't read the case, but that's what I would say on that. Um, it looks like you didn't file any claims from the two thousand thirteen decision up till the twenty twenty-five. So let's go the next one. 4:21 Okay, next one. Next one there. Okay, so two thousand thirteen's still open. Let's go to the next one. 4:43 I mean, in my opinion, if they're saying the two thousand twelve decision was open- Yeah... and they should have given you IU for, it looks like migraines back to two thousand twelve, that's, that's open. Yeah. 4:54 Uh, so what's the next one? See if we're missing something. Yep. Yep. Go again. Eight. 5:05 So yeah, I, I, I think the fact that that's open, you got extra scheduler IU, what was at issue there was the proper rating for that disability. 5:15 So the fact that you're now arguing that the rating should be aid and attendance, you're just arguing rating, and you-your rating was open back to two thousand eleven. So I, yeah, I would definitely argue that. Yeah. 5:24 And that's, you know, that's real money. That's a great job. Um, I don't know about the psych claim though. I don't know if that... You didn't say anything on that, so I don't know if that's back to eleven. 5:33 You would need- Oh... A&A for psych to get... Yeah, so, so you got L on the table. Um, if you have psych at seventy percent, that's half step. 5:41 If you have it at a hundred percent or IU just for psych, then that's a full step, and that would go back to whenever you got that. So first, as Carol said, great job here. Yeah. You clearly know your rights. 5:51 You, you've drawn this out. I imagine you've got your C file. I think that's excellent. Um, and, and everybody else, this is an example of, of how you advocate for yourself and make sure you get the full benefits. 6:01 I mean-Our goal at Hill and Pond is always get service connection, proper rating, and an effective date in that order, because we want our vets to be paid currently, uh, and while they're waiting. 6:12 Um, so you, you know, you're doing a great job. Hats off to you. One of the things I always wanna point out is when it goes to the director for, say, an extra scheduler a- award, 6:23 what happens is someone reviews it for the director and publishes a memorandum, and then the director makes a dec- a decision. 6:30 And I've found often the director does not grant benefits, which is contrary what, to what the memorandum- Yeah... is saying. 6:38 So all you have to do is get a copy of that memorandum and appeal it to the BVA or in, and a lot of times you'll get automatically approved. 6:46 So make sure you have a copy of the memorandum that was done before the director made the decision. That's often great evidence for you. All that thinking goes on underneath that cap. Genius. Can you believe that? 6:59 Right here. All right. What do we got next? One of two, board-granted aid and attendance. 7:07 Veteran requires care on a regular basis to protect him from hazards in daily environment due to severe restrictions in ambulation and significant memory issues. SMC... What did that say? Oh, boy. [laughs] Uh, SMCL. 7:21 Okay. Oh, depression, bilateral hips, seventeen total service-connected. RO did not specify granting conditions on rating code sheet. How to correct? Believe I should be higher than SMCL. Oh, boy. 7:33 All right, Carol, start doing the live. So yeah, uh, this is an appeal, um, because again, th- thirty-eight CFR four point one, first thing in the rating code is the VA has a duty to maximize your benefits. 7:45 So good call here. Go back to the first part. Ambulation and memory. 7:52 So you know right away if you have sleep apnea, if you have hearing loss, if you have anything that doesn't go with walking and memory issues, you know those should be giving you a higher rating. Okay? 8:04 I, I, I want, uh, I, I want, I want it tested for each, right? Well, you can do both. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I, I- But I'm just saying already- Right, right, right, right... 8:11 you've got a, a way to go up the SMC ladder, anything that doesn't relate to that, s- sinusitis, rhinitis, you know, uh, there's heart disease. There's so many things that don't fall into those categories. 8:24 So to make it easier on yourself, if you already have enough to get you up to O- Mm-hmm... you've got what you need for R1. So I would look at that first. Seventeen issues. Yeah. Got seventeen issues. 8:35 Um, I think you may have that already. If you don't, then you need to file a claim asking for service-connected just to be awarded just for aid and attendance due to whatever is the one significant thing you think. 8:48 Well, I mean, they're saying they're both significant. I, I'd want this broken out. I'd wanna see- Right... could you get aid and attendance for ambulation, separately get it for memory loss. Right. 8:56 So I mean, 'cause L and L, as we just solved Chris in the last question, that, that's R1 right there. Right. And if you're getting aid and attendance for... Yeah. 9:04 So I think you, as Carol said, you got two great avenues here. And Anna, she said the one that's easiest to get you maximized benefits right now is just to count those half steps, full steps. 9:15 That have nothing to do with walking or memory. Yeah. Okay? And at seventeen, uh, disabilities, you ought to be able to get there, and that's the easiest for you. I hope that, that works for you. 9:31 Oh, I'm just gonna call you Mr. Vasquez. Is- Isidoro. Isidoro. Isidoro. 9:37 VA denied my claim for right leg radiculopathy, but in the decision, the exam- examiner said it's not a separate condition and it's actually part of my diabetic paro- peripheral neuropathy in the reasons for section. 9:50 VA also made a favorable finding that I'm diagnosed with diabetic neuropathy. I'm already ten percent for neuropathy in both feet. I have the same symptoms in both hands. 10:00 Should I file a supplemental claim, have denied the radiculopathy recharacterized as diabetic neuropathy, and to seek separate ratings for hands secondary to my diabetes? Yeah. 10:10 I don't even know if you have to file a supplemental claim. Maybe you can have an appeal that says, you know, "I'm not a doctor. I didn't know what it was. 10:17 So instead of radiculopathy, it was really neuropathy, and I should be granted and add all of those in for those." Yeah. You're not gonna get benefits for both the neuropathy and radiculopathy. 10:28 Radiculopathy stems from the back, whereas neuropathy, as in this case, typically stems from diabetes, uh, 'cause they affect the same location [clears throat] and the, and the s- and the symptoms are rated the same. 10:39 So don't get lost on that train. They- they'd love to try to get you diverted there because if you get rated for both, you're only getting, uh, paid for one. Um, and, and I agree with Carol. You know, you definitely... 10:50 Diabetes is such a horrible disease, and if you have it in all four extremities, you, you need to get rated for that because it, you know, it has a tendency to get worse and you want the rating, you want the service connection established so that when it gets worse, you're, you're just talking to them about the actual rating. 11:04 And this is the one time when the VA says, "You're not a doctor and you don't know what you're doing," helps you. Yeah. 11:09 Because you can say, "I file for whatever problem I have in my legs, and now I understand instead of radiculopathy, it's peripheral neuropathy, so I wanna be rated for those." 11:21 Um, you may have to come in on a second claim for your hands if you never mentioned them at all. Or it was not in the C&P exam. Right. If it was in the C&P exam, that's an implicit claim. Right. 11:31 That's part and parcel of the claim you claimed, and the VA has to rate that because it's all tied into diabetes. Sherry, good to see you. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. Oh, hey, we're here for that. 11:44 [laughs] Thanks for all your info. Does it really take twelve X-rays of the same hip to prove arthritis? Will Carol's Cornell T-shirts be coming on February [laughs] That's funny. 11:54 Oh man, I'd love to have that right on a cat's horn. [laughs] Um, no, and that is frustrating. That's the VA just putting you through hoops. That's the, the- You know, a lot of veterans quit. 12:06 The VA has a great plan, just C&P you to death. And don't let them, just go through it and realize it's gonna end and you're gonna have your money. Don't let them win this part of the war. 12:17 I'm afraid it's happening to every single one of my veterans, over and over, the same stupid exam. And I look at the, the C&P exam, there's nothing they really need. They're just, 12:28 just doing what they can do to irritate you. So don't let them win. User JY8 and a lot. 12:42 "Part one, currently rated SMCM for loss of use of both feet and PTSD rated independently." No, wait a minute, M is for loss of both feet. No, it's for, it's loss of use of hands. You don't... I don't think you get, um, 12:54 bec- if it's above the knee, then I think it is. Uh, well, we'll, we'll talk about that in a minute. We'll have to look. 13:00 [laughs] Um, "PTSD rated independently at 100%, have other separate and distinct service-connected dis- uh, conditions, bumped me up to SMCO. It's currently being r- reviewed by VLG- VLJ... direct review lane. 13:14 Filed supplemental in July for aid and attendance, and the VO- V- uh, RO assigned a 301/IEP stating that review of your file revealed that we are already processing a pending appeal for SMC, which was received. 13:32 We have forwarded the new evidence to the appropriate processing team for consideration. I understand the window to add new evidence closed February 28th '25 based on the NOD. 13:43 Will the VLG consider evidence from my supplemental claim that includes evidence that lines up with requirements of A&A?" No. Oh, "I'm being told since it was forwarded by the VBA and not to me, the VLG will consider it. 13:58 If not, there is evidence in the record prior to the NOD that show that I require help for my activities of daily living, which includes leaving the stove on multiple occasions, cognitive decline, washing lower body, and safety. 14:10 Even though I didn't mention A&A on the NOD, will it look into it?" I take that, will the VBA look into it. Let's go back to the first one again. So it looks like you're saying that PTSD causes A&A. 14:26 So that's an SMC pl- that's an M+L. I don't know what an M+L is, but I think you're pretty close. An M+L I think is R1. Okay. Yeah, so will the board look at your, uh, A&A rating? 14:40 So first of all, you applied direct review lane to the board, which means no new evidence is considered. Right. So that evidence is in limbo. The RO said, "Hey, we're not considering this 'cause it's going to... 14:49 You know, you're, you're already looking for SMC at the board," and the board's gonna say, "You applied direct review lane." So don't let that evidence get lost. 14:57 If they do not address the aid and attendance, which I gotta tell you, I don't think they will because your appeal... I, I don't, I just don't think they will. 15:06 Um- So basically what you do as soon as it c- if they deny it, you fi- you have to file a supplemental claim saying that the board did not consider this, I want you to consider it, and then go, if you're denied, a direct VBA appeal. 15:19 I... You know, initially, when they started doing this, saying that, you know, if it wasn't in evidence before the initial rating decision, then we're not gonna look at it, they were very hard about it. 15:29 Lately, I've found they've been sending some back under remand. Mm. 15:33 So they may do that instead, but they have been pretty hard about, "If it's not in the file at this certain time, I'm not looking at it," which is ridiculous, but they have been doing that. 15:42 So if they do that, just do a supplemental claim. They'll decide that right away, and then you can go directly to the board again, okay? Don't go again CAR HLR because these are ones you can go right to the board. 15:56 So he's, he's both feet, so that is SMCL. Um, so really what we're talking about here, SM... So it's SMCL for the feet. You add on the 100% for the PTSD, that's the M. 16:14 Um, I'm just trying to see. You can't simply add. Um, and let's see here. So you would have- All in, they need is L, and they'll have R1... Yeah, so, so SMCL one is an aid and attendance, and it's, yeah. 16:29 So you would have two SMCLs here. Together they would combine to O, one's aid and attendance, and then it goes to R1. Right. You're really close. And you're doing a hell of a job- You are [laughs]... on the screen. 16:40 Most people get lost, and when I say most people, everyone at the RO gets lost- [laughs]... in the SMC alphabet soup, so great job. Oh. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas to you as well. Yes. Good to see you. 16:55 "You guys are awesome. I got 100% P&T, but they got most of the dates wrong." Of course. "But they connected me using Terra, but I was denied for Terra before. Should I challenge it or just let it go? 17:06 Probably about 20 grand. Don't want it to be a return. What's due? Thank you for the happy new year." The big question is, how long ago did they deny it? If they denied it within a year, yeah, you wanna challenge that. 17:17 Yes. Um, y- yeah, I, I- Remember, this is what they do. A lot of times what they'll do is they'll give you whatever you ask for starting today- Yeah... 17:25 or yesterday, and that's what you file- Or when their daughter turned four- Yeah... two weeks ago. Makes as much sense. And then what you need to do, uh, I have found almost always you win if you file a CAR HLR. 17:36 So within 30 days of the decision, you file a CAR HLR and say, "The effective date is wrong. I've been continuously appealing since this date." 17:44 And that's all you have to do, and they have been really good about approving them. Remember, the CAR HLRs are going to somebody, it seems like, who has been there a while and sometimes knows the law. 17:54 Sometimes knows the law. She's talking specifically CAR for effective date issues- Yes... which they screw up as a rule, is she saying. So I, I totally agree with that and that's the right route. 18:02 I don't think they screw it up. I think they say, "Hey, let's see if they'll take this." Carol, it is Christmas. We're being generous- [laughs]... 18:09 with our thoughts and our words and our- That's generousAll right, I tried those. [clears throat] Let's go on. The truth is the truth. Butters, "Good morning and merry Christmas. 18:20 How long should it take for HLR that is flashed for terminal illness? What has the timeline been for you friends?" It's supposed to be within maybe three months, but I see some sitting there forever. 18:31 I, I, I'll file again the request- [clears throat]... to expedite, expedite if it's more than three months, and for some reason they'll just sit there. Uh, others, they're done within two or three months. 18:42 Yeah, this is one where I'd get on the horn to the VA. Yes. I'd, I'd contact your congressman to say, "Hey, what's going on?" This is the time of year that we see [sighs] 18:52 grants happening or grants that we feel like should happen right away happen faster, so- Yes... push this. Squeaky wheel is important here, 'cause you, if you're terminal, you, you need to get those benefits right. 19:03 So remember the form, the form at the regional office is there's one to expedite, and it says you're terminal. If you don't have a decision in two or three months, file it again. Hell, I'd say two or three weeks. 19:13 I mean, just, just keep pushing. Yeah. I usually give them the two or three months, but in this case I'd, I'd push. Right. [clicks tongue] Mynetrice Galloway, "Hello. 19:26 I was rated 80% disability and I'm not receiving TDIU 100%. My medical are from local health provider, diagnosed bipolar and schizophrenia. I just started VA treatment and she wants to diagnose me PTSD. 19:40 Will that affect my current rating? I'm now receiving treatment at the VA healthcare." So you're service connected for the [sighs]... That's the problem. It doesn't matter. 19:54 Well, they- I mean- You know how they have on the form it says, "Has the diagnosis changed?" Mm. You could put that down, "It's the same thing, but now I'm diagnosed with this." 20:02 Or they could say, "This is a whole different disability, and therefore it's not service connected." That sort of worries me. Yeah. I, I, 20:09 I would be focused on the ra- on, on the rating if, if there, if the symptoms, if making sure they get the symptoms right and that that hasn't changed. But- Yeah... [sighs] I don't know. 20:20 I mean, if he's not putting in a claim, I don't see how that affects it. But she might wanna put in a claim for IU is what it sounds like. You definitely wanna put that in. If you can't work. Right. Sorry. 20:32 Clear as mud on that one. Waveland Crew, "I put in for tinnitus and migraines. Tinnitus got approved, migraines denied. Then I put in a sup claim for migraines second to tinnitus. 20:41 It got approved service connected to Tara at 30%. I now have an HLR for migraines increased to 50 because I get two to three a week, completely prostrating, and in my decision letter it said I only get a one month. 20:55 I have VA records stating I get them two to three times a week and have been on medication for years. DBQ says I get them two to three times a week with ec- economic inadaptability." Wow. 21:08 "Was this the right choice to do HLR? Why did they service connect it to Tara when I put it secondary to tinnitus?" Who knows? Who cares? But the, who cares? 21:15 That's not, now all you focus on is the 50%, and you should get it, that DBQ, especially if that's from a, a CMP exam. 21:23 Remember, it doesn't matter, when you're going for 50%, it doesn't matter how many times you have them, the economic inadaptil- the inde- Hey, she's got tongue-tied for once. Usually, it's me. [laughs] Inadaptability. 21:36 Woo, look at you. [laughs] Yeah. That's the key. Remember, you need to focus on that. Right. 21:41 You've already got the 30%, which is prostrating, now you need to focus on the fact that you can't work because you have them so often. And anybody who gets those often, they can't work. Yeah. 21:51 A- a- and, and when you're, if you have a hearing, what you speak to, to the two to three times a week is it leaves you prostrating and what can you do while you're doing that? I mean, are you sitting in bed and working? 22:01 No. You, you're probably in a dark room. Are you in a dark room- Right... with no noise? And if you do have a job, you wanna speak to how that affects it. 22:08 I mean, maybe you have an incredibly generous employer that gives you time off [snaps fingers] like that whenever you want it, I doubt it- Yeah... unless you're working for yourself. 22:16 So that's what, a- as Carol said, like, the fact that they already have that in there is phenomenal, and that's what you wanna pound home because that benefits you. 22:22 And then you wanna, if you're not working, you wanna file for unemployability. Remember, even though it only goes up to 50%, that is where you extra schedule. 22:31 You have it go up to the director and ask them to look at the fact, if you're not working because of migraines, shouldn't you be getting IU, unemployability? [clicks tongue] Larry Price, "How do I get 100% P&T? 22:47 Currently SMCS on cancer, temporary, uh, c- heart 60, cervical spine 30, lumbar 20, feet 10, scar 10. 22:57 [clicks tongue] Uh, I'm most interested in state and local benefits for P&T, which are significant in Virginia, but they require that you are 100% P&T." All right, so let's go back to the first one. 23:07 So let's do our math here. Are you working? 23:09 Well, remember with the cancer, they're never gonna give them, uh, you're not gonna get permanent and total on cancer unless it's maybe sometimes terminal, but remember, they always think cancer could get better. Hello. 23:20 So you, it's only gonna be, like, on- 30% of 40, right? So that's 12, so he's at 72. He's, he, he doesn't have the 100% with that. 23:30 So what w- Well, what I would, would like to know is ca- what kind of cancer and what are the, um, what are the residuals? 23:36 What's, yeah, the resid- but you still have, once they still have the 100%, they're not gonna look at the residuals. Mm-hmm. So he's kinda stuck. 23:44 Remember, you're only gonna get 100%, whether it's on unemployability from the, uh, heart or, or one of these other things, you're not gonna get it from the cancer unless the cancer is terminal. Um, then you may get it. 23:57 So the only way I know of is to f- file for, if you're unemployed, file for the heart. I would go for that and say, "That meets, leaves me unemployable," and that would give you the permanent and total. 24:09 Or you could say, "My back and my feet, I can't stand, I can't bend over." Just pick one of those two, and that ought to be able to give you the 100%. 24:17 Don't focus on the cancer, 'cause that's not gonna help you.Until you go into remission and they drop that hundred percent. Then you wanna see what are the residuals you have. At that point, you might be able to get it. 24:28 Right. So, so if it's prostate cancer, and you have, um, you know, fecal incontinence, or you have to get up six times a night- Voiding... 24:35 voiding, um, need to use pads multiple times a day, that could be a 60% rating right there. You start to creep up closer with that. I don't even know if you'd get it if it's 60%. I know. 24:44 So I think your, your best bet is, if you're not working, to go with coronary artery disease. Or if you have other issues, file for them. A lot of times people just, they say, "I, you know, I have 100% right now." 24:55 File for any of the others. Do you have sleep apnea? Do you have migraines? Yeah. You know, there are a lot of things that you may have. Uh- Or you have depression... do you have depression? Yeah. 25:02 God, how do you not have depression? With all- If your, if, yeah, if your heart that bad, you're not getting around well, you have cancer, if you don't have depression, frankly, that would be surprising. Yeah. 25:12 Because your whole life has completely changed. You're probably isolated. You're not able to do what you used to do. The thing with depression is, 25:20 um, it's a vet-friendly rating typically, so getting a 50% or even a 70% based on your symptoms is a lot, I think, how would you say it, a, a lot more accurate than your back would be. It's much easier to get it. 25:32 I mean, they have- Well, yeah, 'cause like your back is probably horrible. If it's 20%, that means it's horrible. And they may give it for that, too. 25:38 I- No, no, but, but what I'm saying is the ratings, I think, for, for lumbar and cervical, I think are improper. Yes. 25:43 They don't match the significance of to which they impair you, whereas, uh, we tend to see the, the ratings for depression- Depression... be a lot more accurate. And a, and a lot more favorable. Yeah. 25:54 And remember, there are studies that show if you have coronary artery disease, I think 60% of the people have depression. So when you file for this, you're much more likely to get it, uh, from a C&T exam, you know? 26:05 They don't fight that as much because they know how prevalent it is. So I would look at all the other things you might be entitled to and file for those as well while you're doing this. Tim, 26:20 "Have 2022 claim at BVA that's on a open claim back to '98. Should I file 4138 now or wait until BVA decision decides the claim? I also have two conditions from original '98 claim not yet service-connected. 26:34 [clears throat] I assume since those are active, I don't need to resubmit." Never assume. Yeah. "Just remind the VA the claim is still open and have them work on it. Other than back pay, are there any other 26:47 advantages to the situation? The SEP retirement section did not forward the '98 claim to the VA until 2001. Thanks for all that you do. Merry Christmas to both you and all of your staff." Thank you for that. Same to you. 26:58 Let's get back. Let's get back, yeah. Um- What, why are you filing a 4138? I'm not clear about that. Well, yeah, 27:13 if you have the issue of open claim to the board, you're not allowed to simultaneously adjudicate that at the RO. So if you're saying that's at the board, we gotta keep it at the board. 27:24 But what I don't quite understand is you're saying that there's two conditions from the original that have not been claimed. So put, go to the next thing. Have not yet service-connected. 27:36 D- I would, like Matt, don't assume these are active. I think you need to resubmit something. 27:42 So when I can't get the VA to react, I either file a new claim on a 526 or an 0995, and they'll tell me, "Oh, no, you have a pending claim." Then I can push the pending claim. Mm-hmm. 27:52 But if they process that, that tells you, you know, then process it once you get it. [clears throat] Then file for the earlier effective date. But never assume there's a claim if nothing's going on. Yeah. 28:04 Um, and what Carol's saying makes really good sense. I would say that your claim would be, um, precluded because you have a claim at the board, but what Carol's saying is you're forcing their hand there. 28:14 They're, they're gonna say, "No, this is at the board." That's fine. "So you're good." If they start processing, like Carol says, then you're gonna say, "Okay, well then I might have to fight this all over again." 28:22 So, you know, th- this is great. So other than back pay, are there any other, keep on going, advantages to the situation? 28:29 So the, the big advantage is if you get these service-connected back to '98, the 20-year rule applies. Yeah. And they can't take service connection or rating away from you. So that's, that's huge. Yeah. 28:39 So whatever you get ra- you wanna make sure you get the highest rating back to '98, and then that way that's locked and it's protected. Uh, that to me is the biggest advantage. 28:48 And, you know, if you get 100%, should you die and have a spouse, your spouse is automatically gonna get DIC benefits, which is like widows benefits. So yeah, there, there are a lot of advantages there. 28:59 Oh, the other thing is, a lot of times what happens is you have, I don't know what claims you have back then, but you focus on those, and are you thinking about any other problems you have right now that you could possibly file for? 29:10 I would file everything that you can right away and get those processes wa- Well, a lot of times veterans think, "I should only work on one thing. Let me wait until that's solved, and then I'll work on the other." 29:21 That's so bad for you. 29:23 A lot of times you can file claims for things you're entitled to in addition to that other claim, get awarded, start getting benefits, and meanwhile, you know, they're still gonna be working on your old claim. 29:34 Don't give up anything you could get right now, 'cause you may end up with 100% right now that will help you while you're waiting and waiting for the VA to do anything. I agree. Okay, so it's Carol's Corner. Not today. 29:50 Today we're doing Merry Christmas. Yeah, this was Carol's Corner, getting dressed. Did you notice her nails too, by the way? I mean, that's, she's got the, she's got the Christmas nails on. I got the Christmas spirit. 29:59 I'm excited. We're in just, the corner today is just we're happy to be here. This is one of our favorite moments all week. 30:05 Um, you know, again, the, the, the way you guys come prepared, uh, that first qu- question Chris had, nine-parter- That was amazing... 30:12 the way you guys jump into SMCs I think is great, the way you're thinking about maximizing your benefits to get to 100%. We love that. 30:19 Knowledge is power here, and you guys are taking on the knowledge to win your own claims, and w- we just think that's so important. And you know, I, [laughs] we talk about SMC here all the time. 30:28 So many people, I had a client who was really upset with me because, "Why are you filing more claims? 30:32 I have 100%."Even though I tell every client when we start about SMC, I think it's so overwhelming they don't hear me, and there's so many... And he said, "Wow, do other veterans know about this SMC stuff?" 30:47 You don't, you know, but please spread it around because there's so many veterans who think, "If I get 100%, I'm lucky and that's all I'm entitled to." It is so not true. 30:57 Please, please share the, share this wealth of knowledge. You people are incredible for what you know versus what most VA, uh, veterans know. Or VSOs. [laughs] I thought we were being nice. Oh, sorry. 31:13 All right, back to it. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas to you, Wayne. Great holiday, and thank you for all of your expertise. Ho ho ho. Ho ho ho. 31:26 Patrick Johnson, "Why will the VA not pay out my 70% service-connected, fix my 2021 COD or finish processing to upgrade discharge? Filed paperwork to, um, ABCMR- What is that? 31:40 -and I'm unable to check status after VA furlough 2025." Um, so it looks like the thing that has to happen first is the upgrade discharge. Yes. 31:54 If you have bad paper, they're not gonna pay you anything for that period of service. So that has to happen first, and then they would pay you for the service connection and hopefully get the, uh, COD, cause of death. 32:07 I, I don't know what it was. Happened, yeah. Um- I think a COD is cause of death. Character, character of discharge. Oh, character of discharge. Okay. 32:13 Yeah, so, so they have to, that has to be fixed before they're gonna pay you anything. 32:17 Hopefu- and, and I don't know if you're saying that this is something you applied to, to the military board at the DOD, or if you're asking the character of discharge to be reviewed directly at the VA and for them to make an administrative decision. 32:30 Hope-hopefully you did the latter, because that, that's usually a quicker process. Yes. Um, but that has to be decided. Wavelength Crew again, second question. 32:44 "I put in for PTSD and got denied saying I don't have a diagnosis, which I do. 32:48 Put in a subclaim stating I would like another C&P exam because I made a mistake of doing it via video, and that I have a diagnosis and it got denied again within two days. 32:59 Just found out the C&P examiner wrote I exaggerated and failed the 300 and 200 question test they give, give you for it. 33:07 I did not exaggerate, but how do I get the VA to let me do an in-person exam for PTSD, because I feel like the questionnaires they gave me was weighted towards making me fail the way they worded the questions. My VSO 33:22 advised me that in the meantime to put in for depression anxiety, which I both have diagnosis for, and see how that goes because it's rated under the mental health." Acquired, y- 33:32 please put in for acquired psychiatric disorder. Remember, if you put in for PTSD, you have to prove the, the stressor. Um, depression and anxiety, when did that start? 33:45 Acquired psychiatric disorder means you went in the service without any mental problem, you came out of the service with a mental problem. 33:52 All you have to show is that, and so you could get people who knew you before and after service to testify you were totally different, this is how you were different. 34:00 That's how you get the service-connected when they're giving you a problem like this. 34:05 Acquired psychiatric disorder, and then a lot of times when we go to the board, the board will approve for acquired psychiatric disorder to include PTSD, depression, anxiety, all of those things. 34:16 The, what I would think about doing is going to the VA and getting treated for mental health. Yeah. 34:22 Because if they find that you have a diagnosis, then it's gonna be hard, they're not gonna be saying you exaggerated, and you can use that as a basis for getting approved. 34:32 Remember, if you've had, you know, people who have bad paper, some people have had one or two or three ter- times of service, and you can still get benefits for all the times of service that were not bad paper. 34:44 Usually the last one is bad paper. So also make sure if you have earlier ones, you focus on what happened during those times rather than the one that you don't. 34:54 What Matt was talking about is you can ask that your discharge be upgraded, or in the, at the VA, you can say, the reason that I went AWOL or the reason that I got that paper was because I had been in Vietnam, I was not in my right mind, I had gone through horrible things, and you have to show that you were insane. 35:15 But what they mean by insane is you were not in your usual mind. It wasn't something you would have done before this happened to you. So there are two ways to get that, and that would give you benefits all the way back. 35:28 You wouldn't have to be, with the good, with, uh, your upgrading your discharge, you only start getting money after the discharge was upgraded. So there are two ways to go about that. 35:37 You might, you should probably try both. VB Consulting, "Happy holidays. What can a veteran do if he disagrees with the effective date granted on a condition by the Board of Veterans' Appeals?" So, excuse me. 35:54 What'll happen here is there'll be a BVA grant, and then the RO will give an implementing rating decision. That rating decision will say, "Hey, you can appeal if you disagree, yada, yada, yada." That's false. 36:04 That, you can't appeal the BVA decision through the RO decision. So the two things you can do for the BVA decision is you can appeal to the Court of Appeals Veterans Claims in 120 days. Yeah. 36:16 Or you can file a supplemental claim to the board decision, not the, not the RO decision that implemented the grant. 36:23 It's, it's confusing, and they want you to do the second one, and they say, "No, we can't touch this because the board's the one that granted it." Right. 36:29 So the regional office can't-[laughs] 37:21 Uh-oh. How about now? Yeah, it is that button. There, we're back on. We're back. We're back, folks. Keep those hands full. Carol was just given the best... I don't know what the hell she was saying. 37:34 [laughs] What were we talking about? Uh, veteran disagrees. Oh, yeah. So, yeah. 37:38 So remember, okay, so this is separate from the board saying, "You are service-connected for PTSD," and then the regional office effectuates it, and they give a date. 37:47 We're talking about where the board says, "Your PTSD started on this date," okay? And you wanna go for an earlier effective date. So you have two options. 37:57 One is you can go to the Port- Court of Appeals for Veterans' Claims, and you have to file that within a hundred and twenty days. If your, if your, um, income is under a certain amount, you can do that for free. Mm-hmm. 38:08 And then a lot of times I find when you go to the board and you don't have a lawyer, a judge may be more, more likely to send the case back and help you because there are certain requirements that they have to meet to help you if you don't have a lawyer. 38:24 So I wouldn't just, uh, throw that out just because you don't have a lawyer. 38:28 The second thing you could do is- You're talking about the CAVC would do that, not the- The, the Court of Appeals for Veterans' Claims, those judges, not the board judges. 38:36 And then the second thing you can do is file a supplemental claim, and that would, uh, I think in this, I'd try to go to the CAVC. Mm. 38:45 But you can file a supplemental claim showing why the board was wrong, and you have to have new, is it material? I keep forgetting. New and relevant. New and relevant evidence, so that's the requirement there. 38:54 But make sure you're appealing or the supplemental claim refers to the board decision, not the rating decision- Right -from ORO that comes out after the board's decision. Right. Remington and me, good afternoon. 39:09 I'm working on increase- increasing my ratings and have asked my primary care provider, acted captain, I think, to sign off on two Nexus letters I prepared for them with little help 39:20 from [laughs] ChatGPT for bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome and anxiety after she submitted referrals for those conditions for EMSG and mental health. Said she couldn't do it due to command policy and 39:31 recommended contacting five private physicians. Is this why we're stuck paying hundreds of dollars for doctors to write Nexus letters for us? It is very frustrating. Um, y-you know, 39:43 some, some, some doctors go to bat for their patients, some don't. What you don't wanna do is push this doctor. No. 39:49 If they say, and they won't do it, you don't wanna force them to do it, and then you get a shitty C&P exam from Nexus. Exactly. So yeah, this is frustrating. 39:57 This, I mean, you might wanna find a new doctor unless the treatment's great, but, but yeah, this, this is why we need consultant doctors out there because they're not afraid to go to bat for a vet and, but they do cost money. 40:10 And in, in all fairness, so the VA long ago said, "If your vet asks you to write a letter, you should do that." But then the local people controlling the doctors say, "You can't do that." 40:21 So a lot of the doctors are thinking, "I'm gonna get fired if I do that," and they're not wrong in some cases. 40:28 I find [chuckles] some of the doctors when they're getting ready to quit or retire, they just write the letters. They've been wanting to write them, but they couldn't without getting fired. So they're kinda caught. 40:39 But what Matt says, "Don't make anybody write anything that doesn't want to because you will regret it." Yeah. RL Hamilton, good afternoon. 40:51 I'm a veteran from Virginia currently working on a claim for shoulder and skin conditions. I have put together about forty-five pages of evidence, including private medical letters. Before I send this to the VA, I 41:03 want to hire someone to help me organize and edit the documents so they look more professional. I am looking 41:09 for a firm, law firm that I can pay for about three hours of work to clean up the packet, edit it, possibly a paralegal. I'm not ready to submit it yet. I just wanna make sure it presents well. 41:19 Do you know of any vendors or services that can help you with this? So this is what, um, claim filers, what we sometimes call claim sharks do. You know, I've got mixed feelings about them. 41:31 Um, who's the people at, uh, Vets Guardian. I've worked with the people at Vets Guardian out of North Carolina. I think they do a pretty good job. Yeah. But they're not gonna charge you three hours. 41:40 They're gonna charge you, um, it's, it's some, uh, they're gonna charge you a lot. Basically, whatever increased rating they get you, they'll charge- Is it six months? I think it's five or six months, yeah- Yeah... 41:51 of, of that going forward. So that, you know, that is something you pay for. If you don't wanna use a, you know, the, no law firm is gonna do this for you because it's, uh, it's illegal. 42:01 Um, law firms are not allowed to do this who are accredited by the VA. Um, so you could use, if you're gonna use a claim shark, Vets Guardian to me far and away is the- Yeah, that's the only one I think of. Yeah. 42:11 Uh, I've, I've looked at their processes, and I think they're pretty good. If you don't wanna pay for that, which I understand, I'd use Claude, uh, not OpenAI, uh, ChatGPT, but Claude I think is pretty good. C-L-A-U-D-E. 42:23 You put, take all your documents in there, you put them in, you say, "Hey, what's the best way to organize this for VA service connection, increased rating," whatever you're doing. Um, "Is there anything else I need?" 42:34 And it, it, it will do a pretty good job. I, I have Claude review a lot of things I write. It catches stuff that I didn't have. Uh, it definitely helps me with s-spelling and grammar, all that stuff too. 42:44 Um, so that's what I would do if you wanna do it yourself. Otherwise, go with Vets Guardian.You know, when we get a case, we, the, first of all, the VA won't let us do that. 42:54 Um, but when we get a case, we can't just look at what you give us. We're required to really look at everything and it, it takes a lot more work than you would think. 43:04 So that's just another reason, w-we can't even do it, but if we did, I wouldn't wanna do it unless I've looked at the whole case. Yeah, whole claim as well. 43:10 Because, you know, legally, we need to be able to suggest other things you should do. There's n- there's a lot more that would be required of us other than just saying, "Yeah, this looks good." T. 43:25 Mack, "My elder- elderly mother that I care for, what is her max net worth that would disqualify me from receiving dependent compensation? She's on Social Security, has a small pension, and a couple investment accounts." 43:39 Uh- Don't you have to show that you file, you, you supply more than half of her income? I don't know what this is for. Is this for Social Security? Is this for VA? 43:50 "What is her max net worth that would disqualify me from receiving..." [percussion sound] Oh, that is confusing. Yeah. 43:56 Or I, I read it as you're a veteran, you're getting benefits, and you wanna get her on your account as a dependent, but I'm not sure that's what you're saying. 44:06 If that's true, you have to show that you provide over half of her income. Um- Yeah, I, I'm, I'm not even gonna speculate on this, 'cause I don't really know what we're going for here. Yeah. 44:18 FGN, "Sustained knee injury on active duty. Cannot locate active duty records, have tried everywhere. How should I proceed with a claim without records to document the injury?" 44:28 Um- So, y- if you know somebody in service that can verify it happened, otherwise, you get somebody you knew before and after service saying you didn't have a problem, after service you had a problem, and how it affected you, and it's continued to affect you since then. 44:42 Uh, remember, you, they, the VA won't believe you- Mm... 44:45 but they will believe if you have a mother, father, brother, sister, cousin, friend, anybody that can say, "You used to, you know, we played golf, we played football. 44:53 After you got back from the service because of your knee, you couldn't do any of those things." And that's what you need to prove it. 44:59 Now, you're probably not gonna win at the initial or the r- r- higher level review, but the board does listen to that, so that's what I would do. Tech Soat, 45:15 "Currently SMCS with the following service-connected conditions: 100% fecal incontinence, 100%, uh, Meniere's disease, 70 PTSD, 50 bilateral plus planus, 40 lumbar s- scapular strain, 45:31 40 right hip limitation flexion- Wow... 40 left hip, 30 cervical spine, 30 right upper extremity peripheral neuropathy, 20 upper left extremity. [clears throat] I have additional conditions. 45:43 What should I be rated for at cur- and currently filing for supplemental claim due to denial of TBI because they are linking it to a car wreck when it occurred during, um, a, a military sexual trauma. 45:55 All conditions awarded in the last five months. Should I have aid and attendance?" Go back to the very first part. Yep. I don't see... Okay, PTSD is 70%. Yeah, I want that TBI service connected. 46:09 I think you're doing a smart thing doing that, um, 'cause if we can get aid and attendance for that- Yeah... 46:14 not these other ones, boom, you go straight to T, SMCT, which is R2, which is max, and we don't have to worry about all the other stuff. But I can tell you it's gonna take a long time. This is what they're doing. 46:25 I have three board decisions that granted service connection for traumatic brain injury from June of last year. 46:32 They are letting them sit, and then when they finally get so much crap from us that they finally send them out for a C&P exam, then they wait months to bring them in, and then as soon as you, no matter what you do, now the latest thing is they want clarification of the C&P exams. 46:46 They, they know this is $11,000 a month, and they are fighting it by not doing anything on them. 46:52 So yes, go for SMCT, but meanwhile, get aid and attendance for only one of these things if you can, fecal incontinence, Meniere syndrome, PTSD, and then use these others to get you higher up the SMC ladder or show that you need SMCL aid and attendance for several different things- Together... 47:12 together, and that's gonna give you R1, but that's still not what you would get with SMCT, but you're going to get that much faster than you're gonna get SMCT, I can tell you. 47:21 They are, they have decided h- "Okay, I'm gonna just not do anything on these." It's, it is really infuriating. So let's look at this. 47:31 Um, I would think out of those, the Meniere's disease would probably be more likely to give you, um, aid and attendance, um, because you, y- you know, if you get dizzy, if you get lost, if you, if you're gonna faint, if you, you can't drive a car, you might not be able to go outside because you don't know what would happen. 47:47 Um, that, you know, I would, I would like to get it on one issue. The safe thing to do is apply for multiple issues, both of them. I mean, so, so I see three tracks here. 47:55 One, service connection for the TBI to get you SMCT. As Carol said, that's the long road. Two- But you wanna take it. Yeah, yeah. So you're doing all these at once. It's multi-front war. 48:06 Two gets you aid and attendance for one issue, the Meniere's disease most likely, or the PTSD. And then I think that gets him up to O. 48:12 I, I was just counting, 'cause say if you get Meniere's, then you've got up to M for fecal, M and a half, N for bilateral. Could you go to the next one? 'Cause we've got 40. That's N and a half. C- yeah, N and a half. N. 48:29 You're at a... I think he's almost at O. If you have erectile dysfunction, you're definitely at O. So you, if all you get is aid and attendance, I think you may be able to get up to R1, O next to R1 already. 48:43 But that's not R2, which pays you a little bit more. Right. That's SMCT. But that you'll get with SMCT. Yeah. Yeah. So go back one-What Carol was saying, the third avenue, the third, um, front of attack here is 48:59 asking for aid and attendance for the first two. Fecal-- or I, I don't know what your symptoms with PTSD are. 49:04 If your symptoms of PTSD leave you lost, confused, you forget to turn the stove off, that's aid and attendance right there. 49:09 But take your two strongest and try to get s- uh, aid and attendance for that, and then you climb up the ladder. You're not gonna get past M and a half probably, but, um, that's, that's another avenue to take. 49:20 I'm with you. If Meniere's disease, if you can't stand and walk, you're not gonna be able to stand and cook. It's gonna be difficult to take a shower. I mean, can you drive? 49:29 I mean, if it's a hundred percent Meniere's disease, I think you might be able to get aid and attendance just for that, and that's what I'd ask for, and then save the others to get you to R1. Yeah. 49:37 And, and I gotta tell you, a PTSD frankly, um, at seventy percent, that you don't discount that. Yeah. If you need the assistance of somebody else, there's... So you got a lot of avenues in the, in the, in this. 49:47 Carol says, you throw them all at them. You don't say, "Okay, I'm gonna try this one now, that one later." You put it all out there and say, "I don't care how you do it VA, but you're gonna get me up to R1, R2 or SECT." 49:59 [laughs] Keep us updated on this. Yeah. This is really interesting. Judy, recently diagnosed with Parkinson's, will that change ninety to a hundred percent rating? So- Hmm... 50:11 Parkinson's, first of all, I'm sorry to see that. That is an awful disease. Parkinson's itself, just for the diagnosis, is rated at thirty percent. 50:20 And then what they do is rate all your symptoms, any problems you have with your hands, your legs, your memory, um, central nervous problems. So you should get a thirty percent rating just for, uh, the, the diagnosis. 50:33 Now, if you're at a s- at a, at a true ninety, meaning your combined rating is ninety, then you're just gonna have a ninety-three percent, and that does not get you a hundred. 50:42 But what I see happen a lot with veterans with Parkinson's, it's kinda like Carol says, they, they say, "Okay, you have Parkinson's, here's thirty percent," and they just ignore all the symptoms you have. 50:51 We have a lot of Parkinson's cases, and we don't stop at a hundred percent for them because it's such a devastating disease that can take away your ability to walk, your ability to write, your ability to speak. 51:02 Everything. Um, so those are cases we keep because we know our vets are gonna get worse, and we know they're gonna need help to get the correct rating. 51:11 So a hundred percent is what I would call the minimal rating if you have zero to, to very small symptoms. Otherwise, you know, I wanna see can you button your buttons? Can you write? Can you use a fork properly? 51:23 Can you tie your shoes? Can you walk without assistance? Can you talk still? Um, you know, just- Do you need aid and attendance? 51:30 And usually, I talk to people, and it's funny, you know, all of us sort of forget what's- What life used to be... going on and what life used to be like. Like I'll say, "Can you tie shoes?" 51:40 And you go, "No, I use slip-ons." Yeah. That's not the same thing. You use slip-ons 'cause you can't tie. And so once I talk to them, usually it, it's loss of use of hands, loss of use of feet, um, aid and attendance. 51:53 If you can't pick up your pills, if you can't organize them, if you drop them. I mean, it's unfortunately very easy to get R1 at least for Parkinson's if, if you know how to do the claim. 52:05 Um, so when I look at these, the first thing I'm gonna be talking about is filing all of these things. And so many people will say, "I don't need that." And I'll say, "Well, can I talk to your wife?" Mm. 52:14 "Or can I talk to your husband?" Because they do things for you that you may not even be aware of. You're trying hard enough to get through the day. Yeah. So yes, you should get far more than a hundred percent for that. 52:29 [laughs] They almost didn't let me go on air with this. [laughs] They're like, "Hey, it's not serious enough." I'm like, "Hey, this is the first time I've ever worn a suit on this show. I mean, come on." 52:39 [laughs] He had another one, but he went... What did you go, um- Oh, water skiing... water skiing in it, so. Yeah. When, when this one gets old, send me your address. I'll get it on there. 52:49 [laughs] AngelsBeauty11, "If my husband got denied twice for tinnitus, can he still file again?" Yes. Yep. Yep. Okay. But remember, if you file again, you have to have new and material evidence, okay? 53:01 Um, so if you get denied twice, and it's been over a year, then you have to file a new claim, and that's when you need new and material evidence. 53:08 If you've been denied twice, and you're still within a year, you can go ahead and appeal that and show the evidence that you have. 53:14 So you can either file a supplemental claim to get the new evidence in, or if the new evidence is already in, then you can go to the board if you think ha- you have everything you need. What other... I'm sorry. 53:26 Would you go back? There was one more question there. What other things can he do in regard to trying to get tinnitus? Okay. How bad... He was an aircraft. I don't understand why they're not giving that. 53:40 That's kinda crazy. Um, with tinnitus, sometimes it can cause headaches, it can cause sleep apnea, it can cause a lot of different problems. So if he has those problems, are there other problems he has? 53:53 Does it cause depression? Uh, I know sometimes my husband says he can't hear what people are saying because of that noise, and he tries to concentrate, and that noise drives him crazy, so- So he withdraws. 54:02 So he withdraws. So you may want to file for depression. Um, think about the things that tinnitus may be causing or the other things. Remember, aircraft mechanics smelled that oil, and that causes a lot of problems. 54:15 So does he have any heart problems? Does... You know, what else does he have? Don't just go over the tinnitus. Think about what is he getting treated for, and what is he taking medication for? 54:26 Can you relate any of those things to the work that he did? Unfortunately, aircraft mechanics 54:32 were exposed to so many solvents and so many awful things that, um, there are a lot of diseases that that's gonna cause or will cause. 54:43 Statesmanship, "VA destroyed VR record for TBI in 1987, hid VA records for eighteen years. Finally, I got VA records in 2024 to see an X-ray from the same day of TBI after twenty-three years denied service-incurred TBI. 54:59 VA now admits-"But rates it a zero despite certified disability analysis, analysis did test to show residual effects and state that MRI was necessary. 55:10 Two QTC psychiatrists also rated zero, but never ordered or saw an, like, the, uh, MRI. 55:16 Since moving my VA address from the VA to Maryland in April twenty-five to get away from dishonest, uh, Roanoke, I've climbed from ten to seventy. Still have an appeal for TBI, sleep apnea, maybe narcolepsy. 55:32 My VA office in DC claimed in tw-twenty, so two thousand and two, seven service-connected injuries, only one rated at ten percent in June twenty-three. 55:41 August twenty-five, VA finally says yes to service connection and have rated some issues of the past seven. Not yet rated all of them. Merry Christmas, and thank you. Yet what is SMC? Okay. Okay. 55:59 I'm curious as if you have an open claim. So if you filed for the- Filed the very first. Yeah. If you filed for any of these benefits before those records were in the file, those are open claims. 56:12 So you can go back and say, "I want service connection back to that date," okay? Now, it- those are not easy to get. 56:20 I'll find sometimes even the board won't give them to you, but those, you're entitled to those, and you can get them. So especially this TBI that you're talking about, and that is exactly what we see with the TBI. 56:31 They know that's money, and they don't wanna give it. But you have a complicated claim. I'm not really sure. They s- they stored a record at eighty-seven. 56:42 They hid the records for eighteen years, so were you filing for things back then? If they were, they should all be open. So you should just be fighting not only for a higher rating but for an earlier effective date. 56:54 This would be a wonderful Christmas present for Carol because she loves these damn puzzles- [laughs] -and treasure chests. 57:00 If you don't get this yourself, I'd at least write into our intake and say, "Hey, Carol wanted to review this claim." She'd look at your claims file, figure out if there is something there. 57:09 This is, this is grossly complicated. Um. Yeah. Frankly, this could be new law that you have to get made here with these VA records being hidden and destroyed. Um, so if you don't get it, send it to her. 57:20 She, she loves this crap. No more of a treasure hunt than that situation right there. I love to make them pay. All right. What do we got? Modi11 found so many different views on IMO and whether VA reviews them. 57:36 They are expensive, no guarantees, and VA doctors will not complete. How do you approach the need for Nexus letters for your client? Well, we have, 57:44 we have worked very hard to find-- First of all, there are a lot of doctors out there who write these form letters, and they'll service-connect you for anything. 57:52 And unfortunately, the VA knows them, and they give them no credibility whatsoever. So we have worked very hard to get credible, experienced, qualified doctors who will write these for us, but they're expensive. 58:05 I mean, we pay twenty-five hundred, fifteen hundred, uh, routinely because they are not going to just give you an opinion. 58:12 They're gonna look at the file there and look at the evidence, and they're gonna make sure that what they say is correct. They're gonna s- they're going to, uh, 58:20 research whether or not the condition you had in the service or the exposure you had in the service would cause the disease you had, and they're gonna write a really good letter. 58:29 That's the kind of doctor you need to get, but many of them are so busy practicing law, I mean, practicing medicine, that they're not gonna, they don't have the time. 58:38 And so it's very hard to find really good doctors who will do a really good job. And I don't know how to tell you because I'm telling you, we 58:47 work really hard to find people, um, and they're usually pretty overwhelmed with requests. So what, what I'd say here is when you file a claim, the VA has a duty to assist. Yeah. 58:58 If you, whether you put in a medical opinion from an outside doctor or not, they're gonna get you a C&P exam. 59:05 Now, when you have a medical doctor giving an opinion that shows everything you need and they get a medical exam anyway, that's called duty to sabotage- Yeah... 59:13 because they're looking at that saying, "Well, I can't, I can't deny this case without a C&P exam." But we always let them get that C&P exam first- Yeah... 59:20 because first of all, the, you might get a real examiner who knows what the hell they're doing and give you, give you what you deserve. Exactly. 59:26 Second of all, I want my doctor to have the last word, and if I'm gonna pay for him, I'd rather, you know, I, let's see what the C&P examiner does first. 59:34 So always wait, and then if you get your doctor, remember, you need to get them all the relevant records. 59:40 You need to obviously get them that C&P exam, but any service records, any current treatment records, any statements from friends. So there's a lot they need to review. Um, 59:51 y- you know, as far as expensive, you get what you pay for. Yeah. If you pay two hundred dollars for a form letter, uh, great, but, but it's probably not gonna get you the benefits you deserve. Yeah. 1:00:01 All right, let's take two more questions. Uh, Fpinichpinash, based on the letter from higher review, what do you think about my chances for them approving PTSD? I currently do not have any rating. 1:00:20 Based on this letter? I don't see this letter. Was there an attachment or something, guys? Hmm. All right. Y'all look into that. We'll come back to it. Oh, that's all. So there was- That's all. So no, I'm sorry. 1:00:34 We, we can't. There's nothing there we can tell you. All right, we'll do two more since we didn't do one there. Railroad Retired, good to see you. Merry Christmas to my favorite representatives on the planet. Thank you. 1:00:47 And very happy New Year. Thank you, sir. Merry Christmas. Happy New Year to you. All right. And the last question of the year for Carol and Matt. 1:00:54 Fred Flick, thirty-three ninety-six, how does the VA get away with denying an established secondary to p- to tinnitus that's already getting paid for? They denied anxiety 1:01:06 and depression that's listed as secondary, but they still denied it.How does the VA get away with whatever... That's what-- They, they're infuriating, and they do all of these things. 1:01:18 I don't know how they get away with it, but I know if you continue to appeal, you're gonna win. You have to just give them the right evidence. 1:01:25 Um, you know, we run into-- And one thing I would tell you, if you go to a C&P exam and it's not good for you, never go back to that person. Mm-hmm. I have people that go back to the same person three times. Don't. 1:01:38 Once is enough, and if they aren't honest, if they don't say exactly what's going on, then you need to never go back to them, and all you do is you, when they call to schedule, say, "I had this guy before, and he didn't write. 1:01:50 He was untruthful, and I'm not going back to him. I deserve a different doctor." And they will give you one, no problem at all, okay? Another-- I could go on and on. 1:01:59 My client said, "When I was in for the C&P exam, the guy said, 'Oh, I can see you had a traumatic brain injury. It caused this.'" When he got the report, nothing was in there. Mm. This happens all the time. 1:02:09 So how do they do things? I don't know. You know, I, if I knew, maybe I could win the lottery. What do you think? [laughs] She'd be clairvoyant. All right, folks. Thank you so much. 1:02:21 Uh, it's been a great year, twenty twenty-five. We hope that you guys are on the road or have already conquered the road to get your benefits. We will be here for you in twenty twenty-six. 1:02:31 We're gonna change things up a little bit on format to hopefully give you more information you need for your claims. But until then, we are incredibly blessed to be working with you guys. 1:02:40 We hope you have a merry, safe holidays. Take care. Merry Christmas. Happy holidays. 1:02:46 [outro jingle]
