Transcript 0:00 [upbeat music] Hello, and welcome to another Hill & Ponton VA Disability Q&A live here with Carol Ponton. 0:21 It's been a while, Carol. How you doing? Good, and you? Great. Great to be back here. Always, uh, interesting things happening right now at the VA. Mm. 0:28 We got a Carol's Corner today, of course, which will come up, uh, probably about halfway through just to make sure everybody's here. So why don't we just jump in and, and go w-what we have already for questions. 0:41 One of six, woo. Wow, you are a... All right, let's get our reading on. "Mental health, never filed for, too much pride. Trying to claim now, 20 years later. 0:51 In AB records, one MST, got counseling one year later, not reported. Not rape, inappropriate touching, two, two deployments, lots of 1:02 scary situations where feared for my life, walking through uncleared minefields in direct fire, et cetera. Also, VA diagnosed with adjustment disorder with depressed mood after I got out. Records say due to divorce, 1:13 moving, transfer job. Can that be used against me?" Uh, well- Not really... let's, yeah, let's stop there since we got six. 1:21 So no, that can't be used against you, and also, if the divorce, uh, took place in service, that's another trigger. 1:27 If you have documentation in your, your service treatment records that you sought counseling for military sexual trauma or, or just harassment or assault, whatever, whatever it was, that is a- Proof... marker- Mm-hmm... 1:40 proof in service. So that's what I'd be staking around, 'cause you gotta show something happened in service. 1:45 And if that happened, you know, unfortunately, that could have led to all the other things that happened, the transfers of jobs, the divorce, all of those are downstream symptoms of, of a MST. 1:55 So I think you got that there. Uh, Ask Ursula and Carrie, "Is it better to go primary or secondary due to chronic pain from service-connected back and migraines for mental health since I have been out for 20 years? 2:10 They said talk about both. We'll talk about MST, but don't want that to be focused. Lots of other things for active duty deployment, but focus more on secondary because it has been so long. 2:22 Giving more details now than when first asked question. Agree or not?" Um, so I, I mean, Carol and I are not about, you know, closing down a claim. No. If you feel like it is secondary to that, that's great. I mean, I... 2:34 Your job is to put the claim forward to the VA and say, "Hey, this is related to my service," whether it's related directly to the, to the assault you had while in service, uh, clearing the minefields, or after service if it's related to the pain from service-connected disabilities. 2:48 That's not your, that's not your job to determine. That's the VA. The VA must look at all angles to be able- Right... you know, their duty to assist to help you win your claim. So put it all in. 2:58 Yeah, put it all in there. Um, also, should Nexus focus on secondary, or should I focus on primary and secondary? Both. Focus both. 3:06 I would just, if it's focused on primary, again, I would look to connect it to something that's actually in your record, okay? That, that's important. 3:12 Uh, like clearing or going through uncleared minefields, unless that's in your record, that's not, uh, that's not something I'd base it on, because you have to show something happened in service. 3:22 You don't wanna give them a chance to deny you because you can't prove that you went through there. Right. Right. "Paying for mental health DBQ and Nexus from trusted company. Don't trust VA mental health or C&P." Why? 3:35 Why? I'm kidding. "Trying to figure out best strategy path for least resistance. Thank you for all I do. Love you guys." Yeah, I, I think you got this here. I mean- Yeah... in-include both. 3:42 Include what we know of in service, the assault, and the secondary problems you're having, because pain is, is a, you know, pain in the back can cause isolation, it can cause you to lose jobs. 3:51 Can't do things you wanna do. Yeah. You get depressed about it, your life isn't what you wanted. Uh, I'd put it all in there. Yeah. Make them figure it out. Yeah. All right. We have a six-parter to start with. 4:03 Angel, how you doing? "Greetings. VA granted SMC-K using my, uh, intent to file date of May 23 as effective date. Should they have used my VA PCP diagnosis treatment date of October 22? Thank you." Uh, I don't... 4:17 We need more info on this. Not if this... Huh? I think we need more info on this, don't you? Well, is this the first time you've filed it? I mean, if you, first time you'd ever filed for that- Then, no... 4:25 they could not go back. Right. If you filed and then it, something that was service connected and got worse within the year, which that is- Right, but it doesn't look like-... within a year. Yeah, it's within a year. 4:37 Um, yeah, I, we don't have enough information for that one, Angel. All right. Angel again, "Do the VA, does, do the VA have an appeal step process that's contracted or they decide and notify?" They, they do have it. 4:51 You can look online. Um, Carol and I think they might have a monkey just pushing buttons- [laughs]... 4:57 that, you know, change it from this to that, 'cause there's, there's no, there's no timeframes associated with each step. So, you know, it's, it's like to get your hopes up. It's, frankly, 5:06 m- it's more annoying than it is useful, in my opinion. Yeah. And, and like I said, I think we've talked about it before, all of a sudden you get case closed, and you don't know, have they closed my case out? 5:17 Have they finished with my case? And it could be that this person just transferred to somebody else. I mean, it really, it's not very clear what they do, unfortunately. 5:24 I, I think it causes more stress than it does- I do too... help, help anybody. 'Cause people are constantly calling and say, "Hey, my case closed. What's happening?" And we go, "Absolutely nothing. It's still there." 5:33 So that's, that's unfortunate, but don't put a lot of faith into what they're doing on there. "Miss Ambiguity. Rated 10% for tinnitus, submitted a claim for Meniere's, and VA combined both conditions to get me at 10%. 5:48 Should they rate them separately?" If you have symptoms of ti- uh, excuse me, of Meniere's- Right... you know, vertigo or, or problems with Meniere's- Nausea... 5:56 yeah, that should be rated under the Meniere's diagnostic code. So you need to make sure that you've pointed out all of the problems you have due to Meniere's, okay? I mean, y- y- tinnitus is capped at 10%. 6:06 Meniere, M- Meniere's can go all the way up to 100%, so you definitely need to make sure they're not shorting you on that.Yeah. 6:13 And if, if it's caused you to fall, to injure yourself, those are secondary service connections. So make sure they know how bad the Ménière's is. Thigh, one of three, 6:26 "If a veteran has one skin condition and uses two medications, one for the head, a shampoo, another for the body, legs, back, et cetera, and both meds do stain, the question is 6:38 can the veteran get two clothing allowances for his one skin condition, no prosthetic, just meds- No... or only one because the skin condition?" I don't know. That- that's interesting. 6:47 You know, there, there was a court case on this, um, probably about two years back. I can't remember the answer to this. 6:54 Um, I'd look up CAVC, uh, and, um, clothing allowance and mul- multiple clothing allowances to see what it says. Um, but I'm not sure. I think you've got an interesting case there, but, but I don't know this well. 7:05 Yeah, I've never had this before. Part three, "For clothing allowance claim, what will trigger don't poke the bear? Is that a claim action per se?" Y- you're gonna poke the bear- [laughs]... 7:18 if you're worried about your skin rating, okay? 7:21 That, if, if that's what you're worried about and you ask them about an increase for clothing allowance due to your service-connected skin rating, that, that will poke the bear. Chris A, good to see you. 7:33 "Any idea how long VA is taking for extra schedule consideration for TDIU? Do they typically deny and then I have to go to the board?" Yes. "VA found Q with my claim and now has referred it." 7:45 So yeah, so first it has to be referred to the central office. Extracurricular TDIU claims, I bank on four to five years. I mean, it's, it's just gonna take forever. 7:54 And often we see it goes to the central office, someone there writes a memo of what they should do, and often the memo is grant and it's denied, and then you have to go to the board. But I've found every, 8:05 every time it's gone up to the board with those memos saying it should have been granted, uh, they'll grant it, but it takes forever. 8:12 If you're at the board and it hasn't been reviewed by the central office, they're gonna send it all the way back. They can't, they can't re- they can't grant it. 8:18 The, on the first glance, if you will, they, if it gets all the way to the board because the RO denied a referral to the central office and it gets up to the board, well, the bird, board then has to refer it to the central office. 8:30 They make the decision. If you disagree with that, then you can go back to the board for the board to make the final decision. So the, these cases take forever. VA hates them. Yeah. 8:37 Uh, it's a lot of money at stake, so, you know, if you feel you're entitled to it, you need to keep fighting, but you need to realize this is a long haul. Four to five years is, is realistic. 8:45 I mean, every once in a while, now with this direct BVA, things are going a little faster, but four to five years is what we've had to deal with. Hmm. Sherman, "Put in for keloids on supplemental- Keloids. Those two. 8:59 Keloids. [laughs] "For supplemental claim after denial, when they posted it saying, said disfigured on my face, my keloids are on my chest. Do I have, have to worry about so far as another denial? 9:13 Do I have to, do I have anything to worry about so far another denial?" Disfigured on my face, but they're on my chest. First of all, usually the higher rating would come for disfiguration on your face. Mm-hmm. 9:25 Uh, anytime that it's apparent, like on your chest, you, you are supposed to get a disfigurement, but the face is where you get the highest one. 9:33 So you have the option of pointing out they did something wrong or keeping the higher rating and just waiting to see if they found out about it. Hmm. I mean, that's up to you. Yeah. 9:45 But any of you who have keloids and you feel like you, or any disfiguration and you haven't gotten what you think is a, a good, uh, evaluation, take a picture. 9:55 I had a guy who, because of skin cancer, had the tip of his nose cut off and he, it really disfigured his whole face. He got an 80% rating simply by the picture of him I sent in. I'd used a Form 4138, 10:09 attached the photo, and had him identify, "This is what my face looks like after I had the skin cancer removed. The tip of my nose is gone. They, there's nothing more they can do." 10:19 That alone, they did not even send him out for another C&P exam. So remember, those, they are supposed to do that. I almost never see pictures from the C&P exam. But you can do yourself a big favor by doing that. 10:30 I find most of the time the, the scar, uh, ratings are the highest if you have a picture that's been submitted- Mm-hmm... and identified. Brian, "Hello. 10:44 After three years, 10 months, my BVA evidence MS claim was granted along with a number of secondaries. I'm going for exam at the actual VA center instead of a contractor." Huh. "Is this good or bad?" It's neutral. 10:56 We, we, we don't know until [laughs] you see the exam results. MS claim, okay, you get 30% for the diagnosis itself, all right? Then you need to make sure where the real money comes in is on the secondaries, okay? 11:08 You sh- if, if, if MS is florid, if you, if you're experiencing it and it's not like a dormant MS, I would expect you to get 100%. 11:16 If you're having problems with your extremities, you can't use your hands, you can't button buttons, you can't, uh, tie shoes or use a fork, you should be looking at what's called loss of use. Same for your legs. 11:27 If you're having trouble walking, standing, balancing, you're looking at loss of use there. Those are all SMCs. So just- And you should be getting aid and attendance. Right. If you can't button your zip. Yeah, yeah. 11:37 If you need help with buttons. So that should get you up to R1. Which is what, $10,000 a month? I th- 95? It's nine, I think. Okay, nine. So- R2 is, uh, 10,900, I think, around there. Okay. 11:47 So just be thinking about that because 100% is just under 4,000, and it depends on what kind of dependents you have. 11:54 Uh, so MS unfortunately is one of those diseases we take and we look at and, and we see significant special monthly compensation. So even if you get 100, don't stop there- Yeah... 12:04 if you're having problems with your extremities. The other thing I'll say, Carol, Carol just said aid and attendance, which you should be applying for, but also if you do need 12:12 the, the help of somebody on a daily basis, you should be applying for caregiver through the VHA, Veterans Health Administration, not the BVA. We're the-Where all the service-connected benefits are for. 12:22 So- See, you go to the local hospital, the nearest place, medical place that you use for the VA. Yeah. Um, and remember they're... 12:30 If, if you want them to approve your case, you need to send in the records that show the problem you have. You don't know what records. We have found on some of them, they use 10-year-old records. Mm. 12:39 So if you want them to really evaluate your case, give them all the records that you have, the latest records, and if you have a rating from the VA, just to make sure they know when you get this rating what you got. 12:51 If you have aid and attendance, they should give you caregiver, and that doesn't mean they will. They should, and if they don't, appeal it. Okay? We're agnostic. 12:59 We, we, we don't care where, where you're getting your exam, VA or not. That, that doesn't matter to us. 13:03 What matters to us is, is you walk in knowing your symptoms, knowing your residuals, and making sure you get the proper ratings for that because they, they will try to underrate you. If, if it's not that bad- [laughs]... 13:13 and it should be 100%, they're gonna give you 30. If it's really bad and, and you have loss of use extremities, I bet you they give you 100% and, and not the higher percent. 13:21 And that's 'cause so many people think, "I got as much as I can, I'm gonna go away." Many- so many people think 100%, well, that's the most you can get, right? Well, this is VMF. Uh, no, it's not. 13:29 It's not, and that's what's so sad. 13:31 I see a lot of, not just in this, but a lot of veterans who have horrible injuries, um, they come back from Iraq, Afghanistan, they get 100%, they think that's it, and the VA never tells them that they could be getting $6,000 a month more than what they're getting. 13:47 So please don't let them do that to you, all right? Always, always look and see, do I need somebody to help me? Am I able to use my hands? Am I really able to walk? 13:57 If you have need of a medical, uh, help like an IV that you have to have or a pro- a prosthetic that you can't put on- Mm... you may ha- get R2, which is almost $11,000 a month. So it's all out there. 14:10 The VA's not gonna tell you. You need to fight for yourself. When we get these cases, I pretty much tell people right away, "I'm looking at R1. 14:17 Maybe we get R2, but I'm not giving up until we have R1 for you," and you should, you should know that, too. Yeah, I'd say in the last five years we've had a pretty big shift. 14:27 You know, we handle a lot of TDIU, TBI, um, mental health cases, we s- you know, 'cause those get denied a lot and we kinda gravitate towards the cases that the VAs, uh, deny Gonna deny, yeah... 14:38 but we've seen so many more SMC cases where, as Carol said, they're just getting underrated, and it's, it's infuriating because if somebody needs special monthly compensation, they're, they're in grave need. 14:47 They're, they're, they're really hurting. So- They usually have a, a family member waiting on them- Yeah... caring for them full time, and that's why Congress set up these benefits. 14:55 They're for you, and please don't think, "Well, if I get it, somebody else won't." That's not the way it works. It's for every person who served in this country and needs these benefits. 15:06 I'm, I'm really grumpy today, and I [laughs] need to tell you why. Are we 30 minutes in yet, Neil? Nope. I'll wait- Just, just-... till 30 minutes... so she's gonna be spicy. She probably- [laughs]... 15:13 is gonna call things wrong and yell at me. We're just gonna go with her, okay? [laughs] 'Cause we, she needs grace. All right. What do we got? 15:21 PhD 102, "If the VA takes away 100% TDIU at age 67," so security age for retirement, "how will TDIU vets be able to get level L, N, or R, et cetera?" Wait a minute. If the VA- Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. 15:34 We got two questions... wait a minute. I didn't understand that. Okay. Okay. We'll go back. What's the... All right. "Will only a few scheduler vets with 100% for one condition to be able to get enhanced benefits? 15:41 What are your predictions from what you are hearing?" All right. So we'll go back to the first one 'cause Carol wants to talk about that first. He's basically saying- Right... 15:51 they, the VA has attempted this for a long time, and this might actually be something that this administration pushes because it would save them money. Yeah. 15:58 Is that once you turn, um, once you are Social Security eligible, in theory you, you're no longer working 'cause you're retired, so the VA would take away the TDIU benefits, you know, take you from the 100% TDIU back to whatever you were, 90, 80, 70, 60, something like that. 16:15 Um, this is, this is a really good question. Yeah. Frankly, first of all, I applaud you for, for thinking next level on this because that, that would be a problem. 16:23 If they take away your IU, you are no longer eligible for those SMCs, so- Well, technically the regional office says you can't get L, but you can get L. 16:34 Um, and they, they just don't- But you're talking about for aid and attendance? Yes, for aid and at- Okay... 16:37 you don't have to have 100% to get aid and attendance, but the BVA, the regional office says that's not right, but I have gotten cases from the BVA where they didn't have 100% where they gave them aid and attendance. 16:49 Hmm. That mean- they paid them at the five, almost $5,000 level- Okay... even though they didn't have it. So yes, you can still get it. It's gonna be a lot harder. 16:58 You could get, instead of TDIU, you could get the combined 100%, and that would allow that. Um, and remember, if you have loss of use of feet and hands, you don't need- Those are big... 100%. Yeah. Those are... 17:09 You can still get those as well. So no, it's not gonna be gone. It would be much harder. I have to tell you, they have been talking about this since, since they- Every administration- Yeah... 17:18 for the last two decades- Yeah... talked about this. This administration, they might. They're, I mean, again, the whole doge thing, doggy is what I like to call it. 17:27 [laughs] They're, they're looking to save money any, any and every way they can. 17:31 If you think about it, that would be millions and millions of dollars they could save if they could get rid of IU based on Social Security age. So, you know, this is something that we're fighting. Yeah. 17:40 We, we have lobbyists in Congress that, that we're making sure that this doesn't get passed, you know, in the dead of night because this would, would really, really hurt vets who are on fixed income. Yeah. 17:52 Oh, well, there's two. Oh. Well, no, it's back to what- Yeah... Carol said. Yeah. And I, you know, I gotta say that this is an area they're looking to cut benefits, but y- thankfully, veterans use their voices. 18:07 So if, if you're hearing of this as well, you know, you guys calling your congressman, they listen. 18:11 You know, they're say- if you're saying, "Hey, if you cut these benefits, this is gonna severely impact my livelihood or just my ability to live on a fixed income," they will... 18:20 It would be Congress would be the one backing down, not, not... You know, the administration's a little more insulated, but-I think Congress would be the one to s- pump the brakes on this. 18:28 And you need to know this has happened several times before. Remember, we've had when we were almost sure it was gonna go through. Yeah. 18:33 And we have begged all of our veterans to call your congressman, complain, complain, so that this doesn't happen. And each time, they have failed to do it. The, I mean, the administration and Congress. 18:45 So if you use your voices, get everybody to call, then maybe we won't have to deal with this. Yeah. How do you file CUE? There's no form- Yeah... unfortunately. So you have to file what... I'll tell you how we do it. 19:01 Usually, I do a supplemental claim, because that's, you have to file a claim or the VA won't pay any attention to you. I used to write a letter, got in the trash. 19:10 So I file a claim, supplemental, and I explain, "We filed a claim for this," and why there's CUE on that. So she, she discusses the prior claim upon which- Yes... there is CUE. 19:21 So I do a supplemental, that's zero nine nine five, and I talk about, "That's the claim I want," and then I give a letter or an attachment explains why I think there was CUE there. 19:31 And then remember, you have to follow it up. A lot of times they'll get it and they'll just- Sit on it... sit on it, or they won't put an action, uh, tag on there, so they'll just let it die. 19:40 So you really have to follow these up. Every three or four months, if you don't hear anything, you need to write to them. Okay? Forty-one thirty-eight, what's going on with my CUE claim? 19:51 And I can tell you, CUE often is only approved at the BVA. Lately, I have gotten a few CUE claims at the regional office, which has been amazing. But almost always, it has to go to the BVA or the CAVC and then back down. 20:06 They do not like to give CUE. Margarita, thank you to Nate for working on a documentary about Fort McClellan. That was great, Nate. "I've been denied specifically for service connection. 20:19 When will the documentary be available for viewing? Will it contain information on how to link service connection? 20:27 Thyroid cancer that spread to lymph nodes, hyperthyroidism, diabetes II, hysterectomy, high blood pressure, fibromyalgia, et cetera. Was there three months in basic training environment?" 20:39 Uh, Nate, can you tell me when the documentary will be out? As far as service connecting to that, it'll go into that. 20:47 Uh, there will be a link to get the records of Fort McClellan that you need to put in your, your record for your case. Um, you know, I, I don't know specifically that would speak to service connection for those issues. 20:59 You can look on both our blogs, and then I would, I would recommend searching videos. Kerry Baker has spoken about this a lot, so as far as how to get those things. If you need help, uh, this is Kerry's bread and butter. 21:10 He loves them. He, he loves this. He's extremely passionate about this. Uh, so, so yeah, hope- hopefully it gets you enough information to do it yourself. Otherwise, I'd go with Kerry. Nate says, uh- Mm-hmm... 21:21 Memorial Day weekend is when the re-release is gonna be. So we're looking forward to that. Nate has put a ton of, of effort into it. We've got a lot of good resources. He's found some really good witnesses. 21:31 Uh, this is, this has been a s- kind of a passion project for him, so we're excited. It's very comprehensive, so he's made sure he got it all right before it comes out. Yeah. Memorial Day weekend. PhD again. 21:43 "I served at Fort McClellan August to December '71, four months. Officer WAC basic training. Am I eligible presump- for, uh, a presumptive CLL claim for CENAFE in twenty twenty-four?" You are not. There is no... 21:58 "If so, can the effective date go back to the date I retired, or will the effective date be the date I put in the claim?" You have to file a claim. Yeah, if you've never filed a claim, it's not going back any further. 22:08 Um, if you filed a claim and you use the documents we have, then, then it can go back further, because documents we have are service documents that can trigger an earlier effective date under thirty-eight CFR three point one five six C. 22:22 Um, there is no presumptive claims for Fort McClellan. 22:25 They had the PACT Act come out, what, five years ago, four years ago now, that, that gave presumptive, um, exposure to all these different places all over the US and the world, and somehow they just decided to exclude Fort McClellan, which, you know, if you look at the documents, the, the exposure there and, and the use of Agent Orange particular, or the Agent Orange dioxins, was frankly more than you found in Vietnam. 22:48 So, uh, I don't know why. They continue to, they continue to fight this. So again, get the documents we have, put them in there. Um, you know, if you're gonna fight this yourself, fight it all the way up. 22:59 If- You're not gonna win at the regional office. We've, we've won several times at the regional office, but kind of shocking, like Carol says with CUE. Yeah, it's, but that's a shock. 23:06 But, but a lot of times we do have to go to the board. And then I will say this, once you get service connected, they don't seem to rate CLL correctly. This is, this is- No... 23:15 you know, a leukemia is with you for the rest of your life. There is no dormant stage. 23:19 So a lot of times what we see is they rate them at zero, and this should, should frankly automatically be at a hundred percent rating. Right. That's way down the road for you, unfortunately. 23:27 Like, you, you gotta fight to get service connected first. But once you do, do not let them underrate you. "Member put in an intent to file a claim." If you're not ready- I think she filed... or will. 23:40 Well, if you haven't, do. Good luck. Lonnie, "If I had plus planus, mild, before entering service, I was airborne, over thirty jumps. It got worse while I was in, but never went on sick call. 23:55 Can I file a claim now that with no service records it got worse?" So let- It's hard, but yes... let's, let's talk about that first, though. So you had it before service. Was it symptomatic? 24:09 When you went into service, did the doctor note both that you have it and it was symptomatic? Okay. It doesn't matter if you had a history of any disability. 24:19 It matters that you have the disability and it's current while you went in, but the, the doctor said, "Hey, he's got this. It limits him mildly, but he can still perform." 24:27 So-But if it said asymptomatic, then you didn't have it. Right. And then we're just looking at the fact that you made 30 jumps. Yeah. If that's in your record, that is very well enough of an incident to cause this. 24:39 Um, so that's that, if they, if, if they didn't note that it was symptomatic. If it was symptomatic, you need to show the degree to which it was worsened due to service, okay? That- that's doable. 24:50 You need to have a baseline, okay? What, what was it? Oh, it was mild? Yeah. Okay. So it was mild. Um, and then you need to show how, how it got worse beyond the natural progression of the disease. 25:02 To me, if you jumped out of an airplane with a heavy pack 30 times, that's gonna exacerbate it. Yeah. So that's what I'd be looking to be doing. But first, make it easy on yourself. 25:10 Look at those service records, the entrance exam particularly, and see if it noted, um, that it was symptomatic or not. [clears throat] Daniel was diagnosed with scoliosis of the spine in boot camp in '80. 25:24 Was not service-connected for this when I got out for some reason. Was service-connected for lumbar issues when I retired, and have multiple cervical issues and radiculopathy, both upper extremities connected for that. 25:37 I understand from the rater that if I could get service-connected for scoliosis and a good nexus for my cervical, I have a much better chance of getting these conditions connected. Scol- scoliosis. Thoughts? 25:48 Can we go back to one? Oh. Oh. Hmm. No. Cer- cervical is not service-connected, was denied, but the radiculopathy was a favorable finding as well as my cervical issues. 26:01 Hmm, I don't understand how the cervical issues are being- I don't understand that either. Can we go back to one? Uh. And just, diagnosed with scoliosis, was not service-connected when I got out. 26:10 Was service-connected for lumbar when I retired. Oh. And have multiple cervical issues and radiculopathy, both upper extremities connected. That I understand from a rater I could get service-connected for scoliosis. 26:24 You would have to show that that was aggravated and a good nexus. Have to show the next one, Nate, please, number three. Cervical. I would have a much better chance of getting those connected. Yeah. 26:35 I think you're gonna need to show what happened to the cervical. Uh, did... First of all, I'd like to know if anything happened in service. 26:42 I mean, if you're carrying heavy packs, I mean, all of that could have made it worse. 26:45 Then you get a statement from a buddy saying, either somebody who knew you or family member, that during service your cervical got worse because of those things. Um, and that would give you the basis for a nexus. 26:57 It's not easy, but I think you definitely could get that. And again, you know, this, the, the crazy thing about back ratings is the rating itself for the back probably is 10%, 20%, you know, extreme rating is 40. 27:09 But where you're gonna be looking, you've already honed in on, is the radiculopathies, the problems with your, your, your extremities. 27:15 That's where you wanna make sure you get service-connected, and, 'cause you'll get much higher ratings for those. For the cervical, you mean. Right. 27:21 Cervical you can get 30% at max, and then the arms you can get much higher, plus use of, loss of use of hands maybe. Remy86, good to see you. 27:35 Hello, I was granted SMCS housebound status two days ago for major depressive disorder at 70%. I was wondering how I would qualify for SMCL. 27:44 My son helps me with all my ADL, and I'm 50% for sleep apnea, 50% for migraines, and bilateral shins, uh, splints, 20% for peripheral neuropathy, 100% permanent and total connected. Thank you. All right, let's go back. 28:00 So they did this right here. I'm guessing that the, that you had IU for, um, major depressive disorder, and then that way they used the other disabilities to bump you up through a second... 28:14 Or he's straight-up housebound. Um, so if your son is helping you with your ADLs, what ADLs are related to your service-connected disabilities? 28:26 Um, you know, one we see commonly with, with mental health is that the person can't cook for themselves because they turn on the stove and they walk away, and they don't remember what they're doing, or they walk out of their house and they can't remember how to get back. 28:38 So- Forget their medications, mix up their medications, forget- Yeah... to go to the doctor. Because of their mental health, they can't leave home, so they can't go buy any groceries. 28:46 Housebound could be you can't leave home because of the mental. 28:50 So I'm not quite sure why you have the S, whether it was you have 100% for one thing and then another 60% or more for others, or you really can't leave the house. 29:00 So, and remember, when you, you wanna get aid and attendance, each limitation has to be due to a service-connected problem. But you may be looking for more than SMCL, okay? 29:12 So if the mental health alone requires aid and attendance, you can use the 50% for sleep apnea, the 50% for migraine to go from L to L and a half to M. Okay? And if there are others, you could go up as well. 29:25 So you wanna think about... And that's why a lot of times when we're doing cases, we let things sit there because we're trying to manipulate, not manipulate, but make sure you get the best rating possible. 29:37 So when you decide what causes your need for aid and attendance, remember, if you have a lot of significant ratings, 50% or more, you wanna use only the ones that you need to get aid and attendance, and then use the others to go up the SMC ladder beyond SMCL. 29:56 Okay? Uh, and it looks like you have a whole full step with the 50% for sleep apnea and a 50% for migraines. Or maybe you could say you're disabled because of the migraines. 30:06 I mean, pick the one thing that really keeps need, makes you need aid and attendance, and then use the others for moving up. Nate, are you there? 30:25 Cassius, good to see you. Can you explain date of entitlement rose if reference to effective date of a claim which a effective date can go back to the original claim of condition occurred? 30:36 Thank you.Okay, date- oh, I had a neurological disorder since '04 due to TBI. Can the date of entitlement arose go back to '04 as the effective date? So date of entitlement is 30:48 the date of the claim or the date the disability was either diagnosed or worsened, whichever is later. Yeah. Okay? So, y- uh, to go back to '04, we're gonna have to look for a loophole. 31:02 Like did, were you diagnosed with this neurological disorder? Was it on a C&P exam or any of your medical records when the claim was filed? And then you would have a, what's it called, implied claim for that, okay? 31:14 For instance, it could say veteran suffers from migraines, which are related to the TBI. They should have told you then to file a claim for migraines. 31:22 That's a- Back in '04, they should have, they should have just processed the claim, and that's why it's an implied claim that it's unadjudicated, and you could go back. 31:30 Um, but the, the, the, you know, the rule is date of application of this current claim or date of the diagnosis, whichever is later. 31:38 You gotta puncture through this current claim by showing that either, frankly, that there was evidence of the issue back then and they just didn't adjudicate it. Okay, let's go to Carol's Corner. All right. 31:54 She's feeling spicy. All right. What does that mean? Oh, boy. I got two things I'm gonna talk... The first one, if you file a claim to the BVA, 32:01 if you don't specifically and blatantly waive a year, remember, you have a year- You get... But what kind of BVA claim are you talking about? Eith- any of them now. Oh, wow, okay. Yeah. 32:11 We found out there's a Williams letter out there, so if you file any BVA claim and you don't waive the right to appeal again... So remember, you still have a year to appeal, uh, when you go to the BVA. 32:24 You have to specifically say, "I am waiving that right and asking that you adjudicate my claim." 32:30 So if you file a direct claim, evidence, or hearing, they will do absolutely nothing on your claim until that year has passed unless you have waived it, and even if you have waived it. 32:41 We just downloaded a list of all the cases that were waiting for the year to pass, and we had asked that they waive it, and all the ones that were ours, they just missed it. 32:50 So you need to make it blatant, big capital saying, "We are waiving the right to appeal anything over the next year and ask that this case be adjudicated now." 33:01 Preferably, you do that in, in the actual appeal document to the board. Right. See, remember, if you send it a separate letter and you send in the appeal the same day, it takes a while for the appeal to be docketed. 33:11 So this letter comes in, and they don't have an appeal to attach it to, so it goes in the trash. So you've got to either have them together or do it the next day, okay? I- we learn all this stuff over the years. 33:23 'Cause even though we always file it, it never shows up because their system didn't tag it to the appeal, okay? So that's the really important thing that I want you to know this time. The second is severance. 33:34 Okay, so around the end of January or March, I don't remember this year, all of a sudden we kept getting notices, "We are going to sever your right to mental health." 33:44 That means you were service connected for mental health, and now they're gonna take it away. "We're gonna sever your rating because," whatever. 33:51 You know, they can't do this, but it looked like this was another way they were trying to see how they could get rid of benefits. 33:57 That went on for maybe a month or more, and then it stopped, and that's what I want you to know. It has stopped. 34:04 We have, on all of ours we got except for one, and I'm going to appeal that, we have gotten it reinstated right away. Everything they did was wrong. But here's the thing, they got away with cowering you. 34:17 I have so many clients that say, "I don't wanna poke the bear. I don't wanna do anything. Let's just leave it right here." They won, and I'm really angry about that because they- She's crossed her arms. 34:27 [laughs] They are, they are taking away your benefits. I don't ever tell my clients to appeal if I think that they're gonna lose anything permanent. 34:35 The VA always can come down and say, "Okay, I'm gonna reduce you," or whatever. 34:39 But when you have a right to these benefits, when Congress said, "You served our country, you have a right to these," they've screwed you once. Don't let them do it again. 34:47 And I just feel really angry because even though they didn't get away with it, they got what they wanted. I, I'm telling you- Mm... I've had client after client say, "I don't wanna do anything. Let's just stop." 34:57 Please don't let them do that to you. So that's my gripe. Yeah. Mm. You deserve this. Yeah. Keep going. We'll help you. And that's my Carol's Corner. All right. That was pretty concise. Yep. 35:15 Agent 2017. Hello. Veteran served on Mather Air Force Base as security personnel around flight area. Diagnosed with Parkinson's 2018. Believes he was exposed to jet fuel. Intend to file with VA. 35:27 What's needed to ex- to support exposure? So I would have a statement from the veteran talking about what his MOS was, what he did. I would also look in his, uh, you know, the, oh, it's that manual. 35:41 They've got some manual that explains all the MOSs and, and gives more details as far as what they, um, w- what they were doing, what they might have been exposed to. 35:51 Yeah, and then you need a nexus, uh, connecting jet fuel and the Parkinson's, and that is out there. That is something you can do, 'cause jet fuel is, is just- Awful... an awful thing. 36:00 Uh, and so that's, that's what I'd look to do then. You know, that's, that's unfortunate that he's got exposure already because, or sorry, Parkinson's already, because that's just, that to us is like, uh, MS, you know? 36:11 It go, it just gets worse and worse. That's an R1 and eventually an R2 claim. Sure. So remember, you wanna show what your MOS was. You want to do a statement about exactly the exposure, how long you were exposed. 36:23 Did you walk for eight hours around the perimeter with jets taking on and off? How far away were they? 36:28 If you happen to have a buddy-Uh, that would be great, saying, "I had the exact same MOS, I worked with this guy, and I was exposed," and go through all of that. We've won with that. 36:39 There are also, like Matt said, there are manuals that identify exactly what happens, what you're exposed to with your MOS. And remember, it can be different from the Navy, from the Air Force. Mm-hmm. 36:49 So you wanna pick whatever service you were in and then get that book that identifies, uh, what, what happened to you, what you were exposed to. 36:57 And then you're going to need a doctor showing that, but there's lots of evidence that, uh- Yeah... the jet fuel causes, um... 37:04 My daughter was in the Air Force, and I remember one of their friends, she was in, but her husband was in as well, and he was a fueler, and she complained about how he would come home and his clothes reeked of the fuel, and there was nothing she could do to get it out. 37:17 Mm. She would wash it, she would bleach it, whatever, and it still smells. This is really deadly stuff, so you should be able to win that case. 37:25 Those are the cases we take because the VA is so hard on them, and they are so devastating. Yeah. Hey, vetslife- Hi... how you doing? "I put in for IBS, but I don't have a clear diagnosis. 37:40 I do have all the symptoms, and I believe it's presumptive. How likely are they to deny it?" Okay, so to get service-connected benefits, you have to have a diagnosis of something. Yes. 37:49 The single exception is if you served in the Gulf Theater. If you served there, and you don't have a diagnosis, then you wanna go for... What is it called? Unknown etiology. 37:59 Yeah, unknown etiology, unexplained chronic disability, and that's the only area where you can get this service-connected without a diagnosis. LG1914, good to see you. "Hello. 38:13 I'm trying to help my dad connect his migraines to his 70% mental health," or, um, excuse me, "major depressive disorder. 38:19 He has a current diagnosis, a headache log, prescription from the VA, and a, his resignation letter. Is there anything else I'm missing? Thank you." Your nexus. 38:26 Yeah, you need, you need a medical nexus, a doctor saying, "His mental health disorder caused this," or, "The medication caused this." Yes. 38:33 Uh, the, the headache log is great, and I'm glad you got that, but that goes towards the actual rating, not, not getting it service-connected. And same with the resignation letter. 38:42 If you get it service-connected, it sounds like you're getting bumped up to, or excuse me, he's getting bumped up to 100% or- Right... or by you. 38:48 And remember, you can only get 50% tops for migraines, but these are the extra scheduler cases we were talking about earlier, where you'd allege, "I am entitled to unemployability because the migraines keep me from working," and then they have to send it to the central office for them to make a decision first. 39:09 Mickadoodle, "I have 100% P&T, 60% for bilateral rheumatoid arthritis. What's SMC should applied for it? Granted, I applied for SM- SMCS, and they never took a look at SMC." That's SMCS, right. Thank you. SMCS, yeah. 39:24 Yeah, it's SMCS. Remember, until you get L, which is aid and attendance, you can't start lopping on all the others. But if you have 100% from one and 60% combined or more for another, that's SMCS. 39:37 And this should go back to the date to which you've had both 100% P&T and 60%, although the 100% has to be for one disability, right? Yes. 39:47 So if, if that's where you are, the 100%'s for one disability, and you have 60%, it's an implied claim that they're supposed to give you, frankly, the benefits because it's, it's simple math, uh, the date it occurs. 39:59 So if they have not given that to you, and that's the case, then you apply, but then you say this should go back to whatever date, um, that that- Was granted, yeah... yeah. 40:10 Groover, "I had an arthroscopic left knee surgery two years prior to enlistment, Navy '86. Now I have, uh-" Osteoarthritis... "osteoarthritis in both knees, both hips, and lower spine. 40:22 Can I file for knee as primary and hips?" Absolutely. Yeah. That's a really good claim. Josie6445, "I've been diagnosed with chronic fatigue by my C&P examiner. I'm also rated for sleep apnea. 40:39 Is, I can be, can it be, uh, secondary to sleep apnea? My ENT also says I have chronic sinusitis." I'd ask your doctor. Yeah. 40:50 Uh, you know, if you're not sleeping due to your sleep apnea, I could definitely see where, where chronic fatigue would pop in. Right, and you could, you're entitled to ratings for all three of those things. 41:03 Jamie, "Can I higher level review an effective date after getting awarded through higher level review but given the wrong effective date? Keep claim alive, or would a supplemental claim be better?" 41:12 You cannot higher level review- No... a higher level review. Um, your two options are supplemental claim or go to the board. Um- I, if it's clear, I'd go to direct BVA. I mean, we're- Or waive... 41:24 and, and waive the one year to, uh, appeal. Okay? We're, we're having great luck with that. They like the easy cases, effective dates. 41:35 Playbender, "What is the probability that if you put in a claim for a specific condition, but the nexus mentions other supporting conditions not part of the main claim, will the reviewer add that to the claim?" 41:45 Law says they're supposed to. Your, your claim is that which you articulate and what the evidence presents. How are they gonna, how often do they do it? Never. [laughs] So- Yeah... 41:57 if you see that, file a claim for it, and the effective date should be the c- the date of the claim for which you filed. Yeah, implied claims, forget it. They d- I mean, that's the law, but- Yeah... 42:06 they're not bound by that. Well, they just don't follow it. [laughs] Jay, "I have 90% for bladder, dry eyes- But, no, 90% but have bladder, dry eyes, and anemia pending. Should I wait for these? Poke the bear. 42:23 [laughs] I'm telling you, don't let them push you around. If, if, if this, I mean, yeah, that's what Carol's saying. I mean, they, they did all those severances to try to get you not to file any claims, valid claims. 42:33 If you, if you got a valid claim for your knee, again, as Carol said, Congress put these benefits in motion to, to give these to you because they recognize your service, and this is n- [laughs] you know, serving's not easy. 42:44 Most people aren't just sitting behind a desk. So yeah, if, if you have-These disabilities and, and file for it And i-it's to make up for what happened to you. 42:53 People who didn't go in the service got to go to school, got to start their careers. They got ahead of you. This is... And they didn't have these injuries, they didn't have these diseases. This is to make up for that. 43:03 This is your right. Please stop letting them push you around. Cheryl's gonna get fired up again. I am. I am. PK Design Lab, LLC, one of two. I filed for PTSD in '13, denied. Refiled September 23 for PTSD, diagnosed. 43:21 VA told me in May 24 that I had to file PTSD as a supplemental claim. Back pay was from May 24, even though they sent misdiagnosis or from refile, September 23 would be worth it. 43:37 So- I think we missed the sec- did we miss the second one there? No, I think, uh, yeah, maybe we missed the sec- Oh, it's one and two. Okay. 43:43 Remember, if they, they'll send you a letter saying that you filed the wrong form, and I think you have 60 days for them to file the right form. So I'm not quite sure whether you filed it within 60 days. 43:53 September of '23, May of '24. And what's the next one say, Nate? Refile. Well, it was within the year. I'd file and then appeal and see if you can get it. I'd appeal back to the first date. Yeah. 44:15 Jamie again. Filed SMC-K for FSAD, secondary to mental health with medication. Got denied on the basis of Terra in direct to service. HLR, yes. You filed a secondary claim. There is no need for a Terra memo. 44:28 And you need to do a duty to assist that this is not, they did not answer the question as to why you should be service connected, okay? Was it related to your mental health or the medication? 44:39 And they should give you another, either a, a medical opinion or another exam. And it, well, you can't turn it in with HLR. 44:45 But remember, when we turn these, when we file these claims, we like to file as much of, uh, medical records, at least two or three, uh, treatises to show why they should be service connected. 44:56 You don't wanna do that now, but if you get denied, uh, on a supplemental, I would definitely make sure you file those. There's lots of evidence in support. Nathan. 45:09 I heard a lot of vets saying the VA doctors cannot write Nexus letters. This is false. Right. We agree. A good doctor will and should write a Nexus letter. I don't think a lot of vets know this and use pay services. 45:21 So- We know this too... yes, we totally agree with you. However, if your doctor says, "I don't feel comfortable writing this," or, "I can't write this," 45:30 you need to be careful about pushing them, because we've had doctors say, "Fine, you want a Nexus letter?" And they write a denial, which is- And put it in your file... that's in your file. So be careful. 45:40 Um, doctors a lot of times won't do this, but it is definitely worth asking your doctor. And you're right, a good doctor will and sh- should and will do it. 45:47 They specifically, the VA specifically said the doctor should write letters in support, and then the regional, the local VA- Hospitals... hospitals, whatever, say, "No, you can't do that." 45:59 And the doctors don't wanna get fired. No. And so they're either gonna write this. A lot of the doctors who do this have been there for years. 46:06 They, they know they're not gonna get rid of them or they're gonna retire anyway, and I, God bless them that they will help you. 46:11 But, you know, they have somebody pretty much say, "I'm gonna fire you if you don't do what I say." It's really not fair, but that's what they're looking at. 46:19 But don't ever press a doctor to do something they don't wanna do, because every time you end up regretting it, I guarantee you. Not me. 46:32 Is a motor vehicle accident injury received during active duty on personal vehicle eligible due to service connectors? Yes. Yep. So the courts have said that a service member's day never ends, 24/7. 46:45 Doesn't matter, you're on base, off base. If you are on active duty and something ha- if you get struck by a meteor on active duty- [laughs]... you're entitled to whatever benefits or disability benefits that caused. 46:56 And, and think about it. You cannot buy, uh, disability insurance. You can't buy insurance to cover yourself when you're in the military, and that's why you have these rights under the VA. 47:14 Gruver again. I have been diagnosed with pleural plaques during my time in the Navy. Uh, we were at NASCO shipyards for repair 16 months in San Diego. I believe I got exposed then. Is that part of the PACT Act or no? No. 47:29 What would be part of the PACT Act is you should get a Terra memo on that to see what- Right... toxins were there and what kind of exposure and what that could have caused. So yes, it is. 47:39 Is it, it is not presumptive though. And pleural plaques, you need to show that that's actually causing a disability- Mm... a problem, okay? So make sure that if it is, that that's clear. D. Bailey speaks. 47:55 Just had private doctor complete a DBQ for PTSD. I just completed a BVA hearing with attorney. Judge says needed Nexus. What next? Private doctor completed DB... Okay, the DBQ often just talks about how bad the PTSD is. 48:09 It doesn't usually say that it's connected to service. Mm. So you need a doctor saying, "I've reviewed the medical records. 48:17 Uh, let me, this is what happened in service," or, "This is how he was when he got out according to his buddies and friends, and I find that this is related to service. 48:26 He's currently diagnosed with PTSD, and it's related to service because this kind of trauma causes PTSD." And then make, you know, that's what I do. I think that's what you're missing. Who but I 585. 48:43 2005, 2006 was denied back claim. Did not pursue until 2018. Was approved in 2022 for same claim. 48:51 Is there any possible way to fight back for back pay even though I didn't appeal back in '05?It's hard if the record was left open by some, you know, medical records within a year of the date of the decision. 49:04 If it's a rating decision, if it was a statement of the case, sixty days within that period, you'd need to get a copy of your claims file to see what went in when. Yeah, you really have to find a legal error. 49:15 So things we look for are, did you put more medical evidence in the file within a year of the rating decision? Okay, medical evidence that is relevant to the claim that you filed. 49:27 Or were all the service medical records in the file at the time that a decision was made, and later service medical records were submitted that relate to the claim? Those are two things. 49:38 Uh, one is, another is, um, your representative is entitled to a copy of the decision. If the representative didn't get a copy, or you didn't, that's, that's an open claim. 49:49 So those are, are just some of the things we look for. You have to go through the whole claim file, look at the VA medical file to see if there were records at the same time that they didn't put in. 49:58 Uh, but it is very hard to get those old claims reopened. Happiness, good to see you. Carol is my girl. [laughs] We need you, Carol, to prove SMCT. 50:13 They will not acknowledge and said he's only ten percent TBI and the rest is PTSD. They don't understand supervision and protection. All right. Send, send it in. Send it to us and say, "This is..." 50:22 You need to note that this was on the video conference today, so- And that Carol will look at it... and to say, "Let Carol look at it," okay? They don't let me look at a lot of things. I don't know why. 50:35 Railroad Retired, good to see you. "Hi, guys. Question, my appeal has been sitting with the BVA waiting to be sent to a veterans law judge. It's been sitting there since October fifteenth, twenty four." 50:44 [laughs] Is that... Yes. Oh. Unless, unless you have a, um, advance on docket reason, uh, that's a very young appeal. I'm getting ones from twenty twenty and twenty twenty-one. Yeah. 50:56 And also remember, if it's something you filed in, uh, last year, did you waive the year? Mm. Okay? Did you waive the year to file further claims or to appeal this a different way? 51:08 Always make sure you've got that in there. That may be one of the things that's holding it up. And you know what we're gonna do, Matt? 51:15 Let's, uh, we're gonna, we're gonna have Nate publish the, the, the language that we put in there. Let's have him put it on the, uh, board somewhere. 51:24 There's specific language that says, "Under whatever, we waive the right to file an appeal," and ask for the board. Okay. Okay? We'll get that up there for you. Uh, MT Hernandez, nineteen eighty-two. 51:38 "If a medical opinion was granted a higher rating than what the C&P examiner concluded existed before the claim was finalized and was not included in the evidence list, can this be constituted?" 51:50 Medical opinion that granted a higher rating than what the... You mean cue on... Well, the VA can try to do that, but remember the medical, the, the person who makes the decision is not limited just to the exam. 52:02 They can be looking at medical records, and maybe they feel like the medical records show that you should get a higher rating. Okay? So yeah, you can get a higher rating than what the examiner has. 52:12 And also, a lot of times we find, particularly for mental cases, the examiner will say, uh, they only have an occasional difficulty with doing their duties, and then later on in the symptoms, they'll put they're suicidal or that, um, they can't work around people. 52:27 That means they need a seventy or a hundred percent rating. So just because they have picked the limitation for work, that's not conclusive. 52:34 You need to look through the whole report and see if, if there are, uh, symptoms that would, uh, grant a higher rating or not a- uh, enable you to work. 52:43 And they're also, they've also usually got medical records that they can look at. They're not limited to just one thing. 52:50 But remember, these are the kind of things that the VA comes back and does cue, because they're just gonna look at, uh, whatever they checked, occasional. 52:59 So you, if they say cue, you have a right to support yours because say no, they said suicidal or whatever else in there. So make sure you figure out why they gave it to you, if you can, just in case they come back. 53:15 Greta, "Hi there." Thank you. "I really enjoy your content. 53:18 I wanna learn more about higher level review because I have an informal tomorrow regard- regarding an other than honorable that occurred in ninety-seven and two thousand and fourteen. I have a reconsideration." 53:28 We have actually started doing a lot of these reconsideration, excuse me, other than honorable upgrades. 53:34 Um, they changed the law, I believe, last year, uh, to show compelling circumstances for, for reasons why you had an other than honorable, and the law is liberalizing, meaning that it's, it's easier standard now. 53:47 The, the, you know, standard used to be really hard to get a discharge upgrade through the VA. So these, these cases we're finding that, uh, that veterans really should get overturned. Um, 53:59 so how, just kind of backing up a little bit, for an other than honorable or, or an upgrade, it's an administrative decision through the VA. 54:07 So it sounds like you got denied at the first level and now you get a higher level. If you have an informal, that means you asked for a hearing. 54:14 So you wanna present what compelling evidence you have that shows why, you know, whatever happened in service c- that caused the other than honorable, you wanna show what that was and why there's compelling evidence that it should, should not cause your hon- uh, dishonorabl- uh, discharge. 54:30 You can find in the rating decision, the initial rating decision you're getting, what did they find for favorable findings, what did... 54:38 And, and, and essentially it's, it's like a matter of elimination to tell you what they didn't find. 54:42 So they should lay out all the issues as far as here's the issues, and they say, "You meet one and two, and, and if not meeting three, you need to address that." 54:51 And, you know, but even though under the Biden administration they did this, and we're really glad they did, for years we have appealed and filed claims based on if it's a mental claim and you can show-That the veteran was, they call it, at the typical VA, they say that you were insane, but the definition of insanity is that you were not acting as you normally would have acted. 55:15 Mm. And so say you've had, you've been raped, say you've just ex- been exposed to horrible battlefields. 55:23 Anything that's happened to you that caused you to act in a way that you normally wouldn't, then we get a doctor's opinion saying what you went through, how it affected you, and how you acted differently from when you did before, and then we can overcome that other than honorable, and we've been doing that for years. 55:39 Uh, you just need a good basis for that. Yep. The best of the best. "I filed three CUES but not fill out a form. Will they still review it and approve it?" Um, I- I wouldn't- I wouldn't count on it. Yeah. 55:54 You need to file, uh, O-nine nine five, a supplemental claim, and write in there what the issue is and why you think it's CUE. And then you need to follow up every three months, call, "What's going on with my case?" 56:07 Write, "What's going on with my case?" Uh, they... The problem is, if it's n- a normal thing, a knee, a back, they know how to handle that. When they look at a CUE, they don't really know what to do. 56:17 They just know that, "I don't wanna grant this, because it may be a lot of money." Mm. So they just put it on the side of the desk and go work on something else, or they ignore it, so you have to keep pushing them. 56:30 Ranger one seven five, part one of two. "I'm service-connected for lumbar degenerative disc disorder, radiculopathy, bilateral. Can I be service-connected for degenerative arthritis of the spine and sciatica as well?" 56:43 It's really the same thing. "If so, I have bilateral factor for both sciatica and radiculopathy." So radiculopath- Sciatica is a f- form of radiculopathy, or it's one of the nerves that can cause radiculopathy. 56:55 So this would be pyramiding both in the lumbar spine and in the radiculopathy. You would have to show s- y- you know, I guess he could get, if he had arthritis, uh, of the lumbar spine, he could get- I-... 57:06 a rating on that. I think he already gets 10% if he has arthritis, doesn't he? Well, he's got degenerative disc disease. I'm just wondering if, if they- I think they-... they did that... they're the same. Okay. 57:14 But you should already be getting bilateral, because you have radiculopathy on both sides. If it's, if it's, like, the femoral nerve versus the sciatica, you just wanna rate the most significant, so- Right... 57:26 getting service-connected is not gonna get you anything, but if, but if, if your sciatic nerve is, is more than your femoral nerve or whatever else you're, you're s- you're service-connected for, then great. 57:35 Y- you get the rating higher, but getting the actual, you know, service-connected diagnosis don't do anything for you. Right. 57:44 Chris, "Hello, I've been diagnosed with myocarditis, and I don't know how to service-connect it." I think you need to, to look what causes myocarditis and try to figure out, have you been in that situation? 57:57 Do you have a d- a service-connected problem that could cause that? But that's where I always go. I go to Google or Gemini now and say, "Causes of myocarditis." 58:06 And then I also would look at exposures to toxins that you have had- Mm... and say, "This toxin and myocarditis," and figure out... 58:16 Or maybe, like, when you have hypertension, have a valvular cardio, a heart valve problem, that could be caused by hypertension or high blood pressure. 58:24 So, see, I'm just, you're trying to figure out what causes those two things. So hypertension, could that cause that? 58:31 I'm just saying figure out all of either the diseases you already have, the toxins you were exposed to, and see if they would cause that. Check, if you're looking at toxins, check out our toxin map on our website. 58:41 It's, uh, basically, it's got all the bases in the US that had, you know, they've at least admitted there was toxic exposure there, and then it shows what those toxins are and what disabilities they can cause. 58:54 Let's take two more. DJ Dirty Danny, "Will hypoglycemic- [laughs]... unawareness al- allow with-" Along with- Along-... 59:02 assisted hypoglycemic- "Hypoglycemic episodes noted in the record be easy enough to apply for aid and attendance, meeting other qualifications for 100% P&T?" It's never easy. It's never easy. 59:12 And what I'm missing here is an actual diagnosis. Hypoglycemic episodes are not, is not a diagnosis. No, but do you have diabetes, and that's causing it? 59:21 And if you have diabetes, and it's causing that, remember, and you have insulin, you should have a 40% rating, and then that is a good, um- Starting point... good starting part. Uh, diabetes is a horrible disease. 59:33 A lot of people have this, where they just faint or they... A- and it, so you need to have that documented, have people who've seen you have that happen, and I think that's a good basis for aid and attendance. All right. 59:46 Last question is coming from Doobie Main the G. "Good afternoon. I have a rating for lumbar strain, lower back. How can I connect this to bilateral radiculopathy for a rating?" It should be evaluated already. 1:00:00 When they evaluate your back, they should be looking for any cause, problems it causes, radiculopathy, problems going to the bathroom, uh, so it should automatically be done. 1:00:09 And so you need to appeal that and say, "This is all part of my claim, and you didn't evaluate it." I agree with her. Maybe we should finish there, because I agree. [laughs] All right, folks. Thanks for- Wait a minute. 1:00:20 Don't make me come after you. Don't let them push you around. Yeah. File the claims that are valid. It does- you know- Don't be afraid... 1:00:29 they're trying to scare you guys out of getting the benefits you deserve, but if you have a valid claim, you need to fight for that. You were in the military. They weren't. Hmm. I'm gonna put Spicy Carol. 1:00:40 All right, folks. Thanks so much for being here this week. We love your questions. We love your insights. Always just appreciate the camaraderie we get from you. 1:00:46 Have a great week, and we look forward to seeing you on this space next week. We'll actually be here. We will be. Yeah. 1:00:52 [outro music]
