Transcript 0:00 [upbeat music] Hello, and welcome to another Hill & Ponton VA Disability Benefits Q&A. 0:22 I am back with Carol. Carol, how you doing? I am great. She's been traveling, been having a good time, enjoying her life- Yep... while we've been slaving away here. Yeah. 0:32 [laughs] Um, but we're excited to be back together. You know, we had Kerry with me last week, and I feel like we didn't get enough of Carol's perspective on why you should keep on filing stuff. 0:41 So here we are this week, and we're gonna jump back in it. Yep. All right. What do we got? [clears throat] Leonard, good to see you. "Hello. I had a C&P exam August 13th, '25. 0:52 VA's still waiting for results from provider. Called the VA to see what's going on with my claim, and they said they're trying to get them, but can't." Well, this is from your provider. No, from the provider. 1:03 Okay, so it wasn't like it was your doc. [sighs] "They told me to call, and they don't care about it. Any advice?" Thanks for everything that you do. 1:13 I imagine he's saying that he called the C&P examiner, and they said they don't care. What a bunch of jerks. 1:19 Um, I, I mean, I'd call, [clears throat] if you know which one it is, can you call the inspector general's office for the VA? I don't know. Doesn't hurt. Yeah, I mean, I, I'd call the inspector general's office. 1:31 I'd call the line ag- the line you called again for the VA and complain about whatever it was, if it was ACE or, um- This song, I, I have a feeling that examiner may have left. 1:41 You know, that's what happens a lot of times. They'll ask the examiner to do a clarification, and that person just doesn't work for them anymore. 1:48 Um, so I think I, I'd file a request to expedite because it's been so long and just anything to get them to move. But this sounds like that's what happened. And that is too long. Yeah. Linker. 2:02 [clears throat] George, George, "Why should I claim all 30 conditions at once? I did, I did do this. I'm just curious why. I've been out 35 years." So 30 conditions is a lot. [laughs] It's a lot. 2:17 I tell people to file for all the things that they think are service connected or secondary service connected. You don't wanna file for things that are not. 2:26 I know some of my veterans have said VSOs tell them, "Just write everything that's wrong with you down." Don't do that. It needs to be service connected. So but if you have 30 legitimate things, I, I would file them. 2:39 Yeah, I, I, I... To me, that's a red flag. 2:41 If I see a case with 30, you know, if we're talking about the person has MS or Parkinson's and has all these secondary problems, or they have, you know, they're hit by shrapnel and have 14 different scars, okay. 2:52 But 30 conditions to me, uh, what I've seen in the past is 2:58 there are gonna be conditions that are weak, if not completely not related to service, and those cloud the judgment of the adjudicator, and then the good claims, the very strong, meritorious claims, end up getting denied. 3:09 It's kinda like they take the baby out with the bathwater. 3:12 So I mean, again, what Carol said, if you, if you feel like you have 30 conditions that are related, great, but if you have somebody- And they would give you a rating. 3:18 You don't wanna file for things that are not gonna really give you a rating. Right. Right. So things that are important, not- Yeah. 3:24 I, I have never personally seen a case with 30 legitimate claims, meaning that they were, we had evidence, and it was shown that they were related to service. 3:33 I have seen plenty of cases, 30, 45, 60 claims, where someone was telling the vet, "Oh, y- y- you know, you, you stubbed your toe or you walk with a limp." 3:42 I mean, it has nothing to do with service and, and they file and, and I, I think that's a really bad idea. Yeah. So you're saying, why file? Let's, let's take this from another direction. 3:51 We file all claims at once, all legitimate claims at once because we want you to get not just the maximum benefits but also the best effective date. 3:59 So if you file a couple now, couple in a year, well, your, your effective date's gonna be staggered, and you're not gonna get, uh, basically the maximum amount of money that you're entitled to. 4:08 So even if you have secondary claims, you have diabetes and you're claiming glaucoma as well- Yeah... 4:13 you know, VA sometimes come back and says, "Well, you didn't get service connected for diabetes, so what do you think you're doing, uh, claiming glaucoma?" 4:20 You file all those at once because once you get the underlying service connected ratings or, or issues rated, then you should, um, y- you get the other ones, and they all go back to the same date. 4:29 [clears throat] Why should you file a lot of claims that are legitimately service connected and you can get a good rating? 4:34 It's because now, because of Berry, our clients are getting far more money than they did in the past under special monthly compensation, SMC. 4:43 Because they'll get 100% for some disabilities, and then these other benefits, once they get aid and attendance, are allow- allowing them to go up higher on the chain. So before, we didn't do that. 4:55 I mean, but now I do that. If it's a legitimate, ratable, service connected problem, and I think the person, ultimately, most everybody needs aid and attendance because most of these cases are so progressive. 5:07 I mean, we have peripheral neuropathy, Parkinson's, MS. All of these things are not gonna get better. I don't think ultimately everybody needs aid and attendance. 5:15 [laughs] I mean, Carol, Carol- If they live long enough, they do... Carol deals with, with some of the, the worst and, and just most devastating diseases, but- That is true... 5:26 there are people out there who, if they get 100%, that's great, and fortunately, they're not gonna need aid and attendance. So I- I take that back... this, this group is kind of skewed because you all are so educated. 5:36 Unfortunately, a lot of you guys are dealing with some pretty, uh, significant d- disabilities, and so we talk a lot about special monthly compensation here. Yeah. But I don't think everybody should get that. 5:46 Just my- You're right. You're right... just being honest. All right. [clears throat] AW, "My husband finally got- Wow... his C&T he qualified for. My question to you is about back pay. 5:55 He was found 100% P&T in 2020, retroactive to '19. He was rated a combined additional70% for conditions not related to his TBI. He's ordered SMCS at that time. 6:08 He has been in need of regular aid and attendance since before he even filed the claim with VA. When we learn more about SMC from your YouTube videos, we filed an SMCT in twenty twenty-two. 6:21 He was granted SMCL, denied T on a interim basis as was set aside in ferry August twenty-four after denial supplemental. I'm confident enough that effort patients BVA will award back pay to an earlier [clears throat] 6:38 process. My husband's condition at the time certainly bad enough that he needed round-the-clock care for his own safety. He met all the criteria as required by Alaska decisions reading of US Code. 6:49 Thank you for your time answering my questions. I really appreciate all you do to support our veterans. Well, first of all, congratulations. Yes. 6:54 That is a hard benefit to get, and, and you had to fight hard apparent just watching this, what you did. 7:00 As far as the earlier effective date, I-my curiosity would be the twenty twenty-two claim you filed, was that within a year of that, I think it was twenty twenty-one, you got that first. 7:10 Can we go back to the first twenty twenty-two? Yeah. I'm not sure when it was finally... Okay. It's twenty twenty. And then did you have a decision between that rating decision or a request between- Next one... 7:23 that decision and the twenty twenty-two is what I would wanna know. Next one. So you filed in twenty twenty-two. Yeah, I'd like to know if there were any pending claims along. 7:39 And, and, and I guess there is the possibility of an unadjudicated claim in the twenty twenty decision if you had evidence in the file at the time of his need for aid and attendance. Right. 7:48 They sua sponte, meaning on their own, decided he needed SMCS. Um, should they have gone further because the evidence showed that you were constantly, uh, giving- Right... him aid. 7:59 Um, so I'd wanna, I'd wanna look at that because, I mean, if, you know, going back to twenty twenty-two, that's three years at T. That's- That's big. Eight thousand dollars more. So it could have been an inferred claim. 8:09 Seven thousand dollars more a month. So that's over two hundred thousand dollars that you should be getting back to twenty twenty-two, and then you think two more years, 8:15 uh, it's like this with another hundred and forty, hundred and fifty thousand. So I definitely would be fighting back to, oh, back to nineteen, really. Yeah. So, yeah, it's-- that's worth fighting for. Definitely. 8:25 Good luck, and great job there. Yolanda First Adams, good to see you. One of eight. 8:34 BVA finally granted my bilateral pod plantar fasciitis effective twel-twelve twenty twenty, but combined it with service-connected bilateral plus planus stating which was continued at fifty percent disabling. 8:46 Is this correct? Shouldn't I have a separate rating? Let's-- if we got- Let's wait. Let's wait. Let's do that. Let's just do these since we've got so many of these. Um, well... The-- it's the symptoms. Yeah. 8:58 That, that, that's what I'm worried about- What are the symptoms?... is the pyramiding. So, so that's what you're talking about here. And again, I like the fact that you've gone to the regulation. That's impressive. 9:05 Uh, the decision states... Wow. Functional loss of feet. Wow. Okay. So, so the first question, we would need to show that those two foot conditions had present through different symptoms. Right. 9:23 Yeah. And, and so you gotta show that the, the onus is kind of on you. So you need to look at the codes to figure out what code you meet for each of them so they're different. This is frankly the more interesting part. 9:34 Right. Um, should it be used for an A and A request? Yeah. Yes. I totally think so. And Carol would say s- try to use it independent of the, the PTSD because- Right... 9:45 if you get aid and attendance just for that- Then you can move up the SMC. Yeah. So-- or actually, I would try to get aid and attendance for PTSD, and then you're up to M, aren't you? 10:00 Or even the lo- uh, far, 'cause you got M plus L. No, I think with- No. It's just feet. It's just- Well, loss of use of feet. Isn't that M once you've had L? Uh, meaning, yes, initial. Yeah, it should be. All right. 10:15 What's next? [clears throat] Loss-- functional loss due to two painful motions, so assigned ten percent and minimum. Is that right? 10:23 They also granted pancreatitis, but combined it with service-connected GERD, which is gonna be a ten percent. That doesn't sound right. [clears throat] Okay. I'm sorry. Go back to the third. 10:32 Maybe we should've done this all at once. Functional loss of feet, including difficulty. Is this case should we use aid and attendance? And then what's the next one? What's the ne- what's four? 10:47 Allows functional loss due to two painful motions, so assigned ten percent and minimum. I-- this is really, uh- Right. This is something I really would have to see 'cause this is so complicated. 11:01 Um, I'm really sorry, but I, I think I'm just guessing looking at this. All right. Well, so let's continue on. My pancreatitis is worse than GERD pre twenty twenty-four. Again, should, should be- Yes... separate. Yeah. 11:16 I, I think it definitely should be separate and, and but you need to show through the code how it, how it should be rated. 11:22 For pancreatitis, VBA stated coexisting digestive conditions may not be evaluated separately, citing, [clears throat] uh, medical evidence was not sufficient. 11:33 Uh, VBA also found duty to assist areas during higher level review for two additional issues, my feet, and one was- With your heart, valvular heart disease... heart disease, 11:44 stating need to develop additional [clears throat] evidence before can properly claim. It says pretense. No. 11:52 How is it possible for VBA to combine two secondary conditions with a primary rather than standing on its own as it should be correct? 11:58 So they can, they can do that, but if you're saying the pancreatitis is worse than the GERD, then you should be rated for pancreatitis, which I don't know, I don't know if there's sixty percent rating there. 12:08 It's a fifty percent rating, but that's what I would be arguing.Right. And I was saying if, if they wanna go back and evaluate the valvular heart and other things, then I don't think that's pretense. I think that is... 12:18 Isn't that a chance to give you a higher rating? So if you get L for PTSD, then you get M for the loss of both feet, and if you get a 50% rating in, in... Well, it depends. 12:29 Remember, you wanna go to O, 'cause that would give you R1. So that's why those other things are very important, and the rating you get is very important. Is there more for... No. And it's Carol's favorite. 12:43 [laughs] I deserve, I deserve. One of five. My favorite. "Hi. I injured my lumbar spine in boot camp, filed this bill of claim years later, had been denied three times, and going to second C&P soon. 12:53 My strain has begun s- become scoliosis, disc bulging, urinary frequency, depression, bilateral radiculopathy, nearly unable to work" - Yeah... "how..." Walk, excuse me. 13:06 "How do I make the best out of my upcoming C&P exam?" Wait, let's go back, 'cause that's solely on that, right? [clears throat] Yeah. Okay. So, gosh, urinary can give you... Remember, if they, they... 13:22 I would make sure that I, I hope you put in those medical articles that show how your back can cause urinary problems, and then I would look at the rating for urinary, 'cause remember, it has to do, do you change pads? 13:33 How often do you change pads? Do you get up at night? How many times? So you need to understand and think about your answers, 'cause a lot of times when it's the first time you're asked, you don't even really think. Mm. 13:42 So I would make sure I had my answers on there. The radiculopathy sounds like it's pretty severe if you're almost unable to walk. So remember, just your back can give you a very high rating. 13:53 So you wanna make sure that you point out every problem that you have, how consistent it is. But let's go back to the... Was it the first one or the one before? [clears throat] There was one, yeah. 14:03 So that to me is putting the horse before the cart, because what we really need to show in your C&P exam is why it's service connected. And you hurt your spine in boot camp. Do we have service medical records of that? 14:16 Do we have buddy statements? We need something in addition to your statement showing that it's, that it's related to service. 14:22 So we need to get that evidence in front of the examiner, and then we need your evidence, you saying, "Look, I hurt my back. 14:29 I was able to get through it, but it hurt me the whole time, you know, and I just kind of powered through and I can no longer power through." 14:34 You gotta show that there was a continuity of symptomatology, basically, that the symptoms never went away. And remember, it's the continuity of symptoms, not treatment, okay? Or diagnosis. Or diagnosis. 14:45 So remember, you wanna show them this continued, and why it continued, and maybe how it affected you, jobs you couldn't do. So that's the way you convince the examiner. 14:53 It continued to hurt, and this is how it affected me throughout the years. If you went to a doctor, you can say, "I went to this doctor for 30 years, and he's retired and I can't get the records." Mm. 15:01 You just need to prove to them that this was an, uh wasn't an isolated boot camp incident that went away. 15:07 'Cause they'll probably maybe say, "Well, you were in boot camp, and look how much hard work you did after that, that you weren't complaining about your back." 15:14 So you need to be ready to make sure you've answered all those questions before she even asks them. Mm. He or she. But your focus is on why it's related to service. Right. All those other things are downstream. 15:26 Yeah, but unfortunately, they're gonna be putting down all of those things. I mean, if you've been denied three times, I wanna get service connected first. Yeah. 15:32 If you have to appeal the, the ratings and the secondary issues, that's fine, 'cause you're still gonna have the same effective date, but I wanna get them to admit that it's re- The hardest part of your case is getting them to admit it's related to service. 15:44 Once you've got that, then we're talking about secondary conditions, we're talking about ratings. You're gonna have the evidence for that. That, that... You'll get that. Okay, number two. Oh, number three. Number three. 15:55 Number three was on PTSD. [clears throat] "Had a hearing with VBA judge a year ago this month. I also have PTSD due to MST. Should I mention anything in my C&P exams regarding PTSD? 16:06 Typically after C&P and judge hearing, now- How... how long should I anticipate decision made?" Okay, so you don't need... I would not mention anything about PTSD. No. I, I mean- You don't wanna cloud the issue... 16:18 these are simple people. Yeah. [laughs] They're given simple instructions, and you wanna fit your problem within those instructions so it doesn't confuse them, okay? Um, god, and how long to wait? 16:28 I mean- That's the problem. You know, in- even when you have the hearing, it can be years before you get the decision. That's why you don't wanna ask for a hearing. 16:36 Um, lots of people have hearings, and they're still waiting one, two, three years later. So I- Yeah... if you've got any basis to have it expedited, file that. But other than that, you're just at their mercy. 16:48 We see, unfortunately, a lot of veteran service officers always ask for hearings. [sighs] And it does nothing but make veterans sit and wait forever. Um, don't ask for a hearing. 16:58 I mean, I, um, it's probably 10 years since I last asked for a hearing. It's just not worth it. 17:03 And every time we go to the Nova Seminar, you know, our bi-yearly, um, education, if the judges are there, they say, "Please don't ask for a hearing, or your client is gonna be waiting forever." 17:15 I mean, they recognize it, and there's nothing they can do. Mm. They do the direct appeals. They try to get those out within a year. Sometimes they come out within a couple of weeks. 17:23 Um, the evidence are coming out much quicker, but these hearing cases are just sitting. I have stuff back to twenty twenty sitting. God. [clears throat] And I didn't ask for a hearing. The, the vet didn't? No. 17:37 [laughs] Oh, wow. Oh, wow. Okay. Navy Vet Wife, "I'm helping my brother file supplemental claim as secondary to his denied IBS and GERD claims. 17:50 I have the form twenty oh nine nine five and new evidence, buddy letters, medical articles. These are secondary to service-connected OCD." Hmm. Oh, was it was GERD and IBS? Mm-hmm. I mean, that's great. 18:05 If you have those articles and you have, uh, buddy statements, I think that's a great way to reopen the claim. They're probably, with that information, they should be sending him to a C&P exam. Yep. 18:13 And, you know, you gotta take it from there. Does the examiner give him a fair shot? Do you need to go out and get your own medical evidence? Um, I think that's, it looks like you've done great homework so far. 18:21 Yeah, it does. [clears throat]Pearly Earby. "Submitted higher level review, which was denied because the VA said that it was on the wrong form. We did not select a form. We submitted this through their website. 18:38 We selected HLR and answered the question that followed. There was a spot for about 200 characters for an explanation of the submission. How do we remedy this?" His HLR was submitted. It was submitted, okay. 18:51 So that's, you wanna use one of the forms, like the 4138, that swears whatever you say is true, because that gives you as much room as you need to say anything. 19:01 But you wanna point out, we get, I get at least five of these letters a day, you, you filed the wrong form. 19:08 And you need to, if you're going- remember, if they didn't understand what you did, you're gonna have to be really clear about why it's the correct form. And so you would say on there, 19:20 um, "I filed a supplemental claim on this date. I got this rating decision on this date, and I filed a higher level review to that rating decision, and therefore this was the correct form." Okay? 19:32 You need to, they can't figure, they've clearly shown they can't figure it out. So you need to explain it to them. If you can't, just file whatever form they want. It's either 0995 or 526. Just get it moving. Yeah. 19:43 And then you can go back for the effective date. But I have ones that we've sent in three of those letters and still don't have any, any response at all. So you need to respond within 60 days. 19:53 They're gonna close your file if you don't. I just kind of imagine a group of chimpanzees- [laughs]... handling their mail, and it comes in and they say, "Well." 20:03 I mean, it's, it, it is maddening that they, you know, they created all these damn forms and for this, for that, and this, and they can't even follow their own forms. It's like, what, what are you people doing? 20:13 Well, one, the, the biggie that, where I see this on, in addition to that, is when the board makes a decision and grants service connection for something. 20:21 So they're just granting it, they're not doing a rating or an effective date. 20:25 So they grant it, and I, that's a rating decision, and I wanna appeal the effective date or the rating, and I file a, an HRL, and they come back and say, "It's the wrong form because you can't appeal a board decision." 20:38 That's wrong. So you immediately, you again have to explain exactly what happened. The, the board only granted service connection. They did not grant a rating or an effective date, therefore, I'm able to appeal this. 20:50 You gotta make sure they understand what's going on. And I think these are gonna, they're gonna be tons of files where they're open claims. Mm. Yeah, I agree. 21:00 Like, if you, if you did this in the past and got one of these letters, that is an open claim. If you filed the form, they should process. If you filed the correct form, yes. 21:10 Alan, "Is it worth it if you're 100% P&T then to be connected for TBI?" For TBI, and it's, yeah, if it's serious. I mean, if we're talking about it causes headaches every once in a while, maybe not. 21:21 But, you know, if, if that's causing memory problems, central nervous problem, I mean, there's all kinds of problems it can cause. So find out how significant it is and- 'Cause remember, then you're looking at SMCT. 21:32 Yeah. That- So that's a massive bump in benefits... that's $11,000 a month. But you gotta show you need somebody helping you in your daily activities on a regular basis. Yeah. Happiness, good to see you. Hi. 21:45 "Helping a friend to get his benefits for National Guard. Is it much tougher when you only do it on weekends? 21:50 He has a few 10%s that says they treated him very poorly during COVID, messing with him- himself, his self-worth and making him depressed. Sound about right?" Thoughts? Now- It's hard. Yeah. 22:01 It's really, really, really hard. "Also, are things moving quicker now government is open, or was there a difference? Can you guys push a caregiver program to make a decision if you represent one of us?" 22:11 All right, a lot going on there. Uh- Yeah... for the National Guard, if it's inactive duty, um, those are really hard claims. You gotta show a specific incident, the incident that's caused something. Like, 22:23 when I think of National Guard duty, I think of there was an accident versus the discovery of an illness. Right. 22:27 So, like, if, uh, somebody's twisted their ankle on a fall, got hit by a car, versus- High blood pressure... high blood pressure, di- uh, diabetes. So he would be- So remember, you don't have the, 22:41 the, a presumption of that they're, they're in good health. Yeah. You don't get that with the National Guard. So that's why all these diseases are not covered. 22:50 Now, one thing that, so it's an accident, but say the person had a heart attack. If you can show they were doing heavy lifting or there was a lot of stress, then you may be able to get that covered. But it is very hard. 23:01 National Guard is not easy. He'd need something noted in the record or- Yeah, or somebody... a strong buddy statement. Yeah. Showing, you know, he was being bullied, he was being harassed. 23:11 A caregiver program, it's a black hole. Yep. You know, you're dealing with the Veterans Health Administration versus the Veterans Benefit Administration. They don't know what they're doing. They don't have any 23:23 structure in place on how to develop and grant benefits, so I, I kind of think they're making it up as they go along. They are. So- I mean, and they will talk about medical records that are 10 years old. Yeah. 23:31 They won't have any of the recent medical records. And they have the damn medical records. Yeah. It's the VHA. [laughs] Yeah. 23:37 As far as, I mean, this is not, y- I'll be flat honest with you, this isn't the kind of case where you'd have an advantage working with us because we know the system. I mean, nobody knows the system on this. Well, we do. 23:48 We knew, know how to prove it. We know how to prove it. But we don't know how to move it along- Yeah... because they don't move it along. They, I mean, they just do it when they feel like doing it. 23:56 It is- And we don't know who is doing it. Right. It, it, it's, it's opaque, and it's, you know, scattershot. We just, we just don't know what's going on. 24:04 They don't, I'm just, they don't seem to know what's going on, and nobody has brought down the hammer on oversight on this. Remember, that's why it's so important. 24:12 People may not like lawyers and judges, but that's why it's so important. 24:15 That's why veterans for years never got any benefits until the court system came in, and they started looking over what was being done, and they said, "You can't do that." And that's what we don't have at the VBA. 24:27 The health system doesn't really have any good structure for that. No.And as far as government being back open, I, I thought, I thought we saw some pretty good decisions coming out volume-wise. I was really impressed. 24:41 Yeah. You remember the government, the VA saves money in case there's a shutdown so they can work an additional month sometimes, and that's what happened here. Most of the people were actually working- Mm... 24:53 up until the end. Now, right near the end, we started losing people. Yeah. But so that's why we didn't notice what you would've noticed if they hadn't done that. And then were you gonna give your shout-out to the board? 25:06 Oh, and remember, I'm loving the Board of Veterans' Appeals. They were told, they were asked by the head of the VA- Collins... 25:14 yes, Doug Collins, to stop making decisions during the, the close down, and the judge said, "No. These veterans have waited long enough, and we're not stopping," and they kept sending out decisions. 25:27 So I do have a shout-out. Thank you so much for being there for veterans. She doesn't do that often. [laughs] So we gotta make sure she does it when she does. I should've. All right. 25:38 Alan: "Will it mean anything if I'm already 100%"- Oh, we already said that one. Yeah. So then it'd be service connected with TBI. 25:46 Uh, Lonnie: "Last week Kerry," the SMC wizard, [laughs] "had mentioned that if you're rated..." Oh, this was fascinating. Yeah. "Rated at N and a half plus CAN- Yes... you get to R1." Yes. 25:54 "My question is can someone receive R1 without A&A?" I- R1 means you need medical attention. 26:02 Um, O is the highest you're gonna get without the need of somebody to give you some kind of aid and assistance throughout your day. There may be, but I can't think of one off the top of my head. 26:11 I mean, if you're, if you're loss of use of both hands and blind, then yeah, you, you would jump up there. But you'd also probably need aid and attendance. Yeah. 26:23 Marty: "I asked local TX-employed VSO located in my local VA medical center to pull my C&P results from October 25, sleep apnea exam, denied October 30. 26:36 He said he cannot do that and that I need to submit a FOIA request." Get another VSO. Yeah, that's smooth. Yeah, that's- That's ridiculous That's lazy. [laughs] Yeah. 26:44 That's lazy or incompet- I mean, it could be that he doesn't have a, uh- Or doesn't know how to do it, but that's- Yeah... that's what the 22A that you signed giving him- Right... right to represent you allows him to do. 26:57 I thought these VSOs could. Yes, they can. Yes, they can. Are they prohibited? Nope. Nope. I'm, I'm frustrated with you. 27:03 Uh, that, I don't understand what the hell he's doing if he's not helping you get the evidence- You need another VSO. Just go to somebody else. You just sign another 22A. Yeah. 27:11 That kicks the person off, so you don't have to talk to them. So you got the county officers. You got, uh, you got state officers, the VSOs, and then you got DAV, VFW. All of those. All of them. 27:20 Find, I mean, hell, go through them all until you find somebody. Meanwhile, also try to call the VA and ask them to send you a copy. Tell them, "I just want a copy of the C&P exam." Yeah. 27:27 And a lot of times they'll send it out to you right away. You're not asking for the whole claim file, so it shouldn't take that long. Yeah, and I wanna make this a bigger point here. We get this from the VA. 27:37 We get this from VSOs. When you see something that just doesn't seem right, it's good to, [clears throat] good to come here and double-check and see what other people think. 27:43 But it's also good just to, you know, if it's one VSO saying something, go to another VSO. 'Cause just like the VA, sometimes these people are lazy or incompetent or, or just- Or not educated on it... not educated. Yeah. 27:55 So, you know, these people aren't handing you the gospel. 27:58 You know, if it, if it, it seems fishy to you, which this is clearly fishy, I mean, what, uh, what the hell else are they supposed to do if they can't get you evidence and help you prove your claim? 28:06 You know, you need to go somewhere else. I can't tell you how many VSOs I've represented, and they had no idea they were entitled to all the benefits I was getting them. 28:14 They had no idea, and so I think how could they have been helping- Mm... other veterans? And I think that's, that's not because these people were lazy. I don't think they were educated. 28:23 I don't, who's gonna tell them what they can do? And I think that's the real problem. This law- I just-... it's complicated. 28:30 I just worry if, if these people are put out there, supposed to be experts and representatives- I know... and they're not doing it. I mean, that- That's not right... it's not right. All right. [sighs] Okay. 28:40 Elma: "On aid and attendance, do you pay aid attendant when- Yeah... do you pay when start aid attendant?" Okay. E- everybody's confused. 28:49 When you talk about aid and attendance, it doesn't mean that someone's coming in and helping you. It doesn't mean that you're paying somebody. 28:56 It means I'm claiming that because of my service-connected problems, I can't do the activities of daily living, and therefore- On a regular basis... 29:04 on a regular basis, and therefore the VA should pay me under aid and attendance for that, and then I can hire somebody if I want. 29:12 So everybody confuses it with saying, "Well, I don't have somebody," or, "I'm not paying them," or whatever. That's irrelevant. This is a monetary benefit for you when you re- meet that criteria, okay? 29:25 Contrast that with caregivers. Caregivers, uh, is not under the VA benefits section. 29:31 It's under the health section, and that's when you need help because, uh, somebody is helping you, and they actually pay that person directly. 29:41 So the VA Health Center will pay them, whether it's so many hours a day, so many hours a week. Some car- some people get 24/7 because it's TBI. So that's for the person who's actually doing the work. 29:53 The veteran is still entitled to their money for aid and attendance, so it's a benefit for everyone. Yeah. I, I'd say the confusion kind of centers around is how to prove each of these claims is relatively the same. 30:03 You gotta show that you need the aid and attendance through the BBA- Yes... Veterans Benefit Administration. 30:08 You get the benefits of aid and attendance, but then if you have an actual caretaker, they can get paid through the Veterans Health Administration. Two different claims you have to file, but the evidence is the same. 30:19 So it, it, I, I see how people are getting confused. And once you get aid and attendance, you should definitely make sure that the caretaker program where you're appealing has a copy of that. 30:28 I mean, they could look at the computer, but they may not. Mm. So. All right. RL Hamilton: "Helen Pond, fantastic reply to Washington Post with your data-driven presentation." Is this 30 after? Yes.Carol's Corner, please 30:45 Okay. This is the time that usually I talk about something, and the thing that was most impressive to me this week was Matthew's response. A lot of you are asking what we think about The Washington Post. 30:56 You've heard us ramble on. Matt did an incredible, thorough evaluation. Go ahead, Matt. Wow. Yeah. I'm taking that with me. Yeah. Look at that. She's, she's believing in me. Yeah, I, I just, uh... 31:07 Well, I made two responses. Uh, and Nate, hopefully you can put these in the, in the chat box. 31:12 But we did, um, you know, I, I did a, an analysis of kind of what they did and, you know, where I thought they did a poor job of being balanced. Yeah. 31:21 They had all these stats of, of fraud and all this other stuff, but they didn't look at the fact that there's 900,000 claims denied a year, and they didn't look at what the approval rate eventually of what those were and whether those denials were, you know, fraudulent themselves. 31:34 Um, and then I also looked at a bigger picture of, okay, there's fraud in every big organization. A- and that's just something unfortunately we have to accept. 31:41 It's, that doesn't mean that we don't go fight it and find it and root it out, but what it does mean is that you need to look at a comparative analysis. 31:47 So I did a comparative to the DoD, to Medicare, to Medicaid, to unemployment, and you can actually see that the fraud rates on those are just astronomical compared to the VA. 31:56 So, you know, the article was, or the articles were just so disappointing to me 'cause they, they were so anti- Slanted... veteran. Yeah. And, um, and it really disappointed me. 32:05 On my video as well, I talked specifically about Combat Craig. What they said and did to him, I think is absolutely despicable. Um, they're picking on this, this man. He's dead- And-... and so he couldn't respond... 32:17 yeah, he can't, can't respond and, and, um, the things they said were just really awful. 32:21 They tried to paint a picture of him being, being a fraudster and then trying to get all these other people to get benefits and paying him to get the benefits through these, you know, uh, ways that were not legitimate. 32:31 It wa- it was just really, really, uh, petty doesn't even describe it. I mean, it was just really pathetic, uh, what they did. 32:37 So, you know, it gave me a chance to kind of talk about Craig again and what a, what a great guy he was, but then also just stick up for him. Because they didn't ask anybody his, you know- No... what, what they thought. 32:46 He has, you know, he has twice or three times as many subscribers as I do. You, you would've figured they could've reached out to some of those people to say, "Well, how did you get your benefits?" 32:55 Or, "What did Combat Craig do for you?" Or, "How much did you pay, pay him?" Because I'd say over 90% of the people didn't even pay him. 33:02 They just went on there, found the content they needed, kind of like y'all do here, and got the benefits they deserve. So really, really disappointed. 33:09 But, um, yeah, I, you know, the more we can share that video, um, you know, as we always talk about here, knowledge is power, and I think the more vets who understand what, you know, why... 33:21 It's one thing for us to say, "Oh, that article's awful. It's anti-vet." But it's another thing to be able to quantify it and show s- big things they didn't... 33:27 You know, they consider this little thing a fraud, yet here's this hovering mass of 900,000 claims that were denied and never looked at in detail whether they should've been denied. 33:36 So I just think it's important that we get the word out there about that so that when people start talking anti-vet, that you have actual information you can rebut them with versus, you know, our first response was emotional. 33:46 It was just, we were outraged with, with how awful this article was. So anyway, hopefully you guys get a chance to look at that and, and spread the n- the knowledge. Because the more people who understand 33:57 p- what was not said in that article, the better, so that, so that we don't get the sentiment in America that veterans are just stealing from us and... No, and this is not an isolated thing that's happening. 34:09 I think there's going to be a campaign against veterans. This is the start of it. And that's why I think they picked The Washington Post because most people think, "Oh, well this is liberal. 34:18 They, you know, they wouldn't be anti-veterans. This must really be bad." 34:21 The fact that it took them a year and a half to do this investigation, would take two days if they wanted to find out what's really going on at the VA, but they didn't want that. 34:30 They had a specific goal in mind, and that's what they went after. They're going after you, and, and you need to know when people come up... And they're gonna make comments. 34:39 You need to be able to rebut exactly what's- Yeah... going on. And like Matt said, first it's emotional because it is so untrue. Yeah. But you need to give them the facts, and I think that's what we need to spread. 34:51 So thank you for doing that. Yeah. 34:53 I, I mean, they're taking these 63 fraud cases and literally trying to paint all of you, anybody who used an outside person to help them, you know, a c- a claims consultant or, you know, so I, I, you know, they're, anybody who's not... 35:06 They, they keep on saying people weren't in combat getting these disabilities, and that's not how Congress wrote this code. 35:10 They wrote it to include everyone who was in the service, because frankly, a- and I did say this, this was probably a job that was really maybe under the table, but I said, you know, being in service is a little different than sitting behind a desk like a reporter. 35:22 You know, you're looking- Yeah... at a paper cut for a reporter, whereas you guys are out, you're lifting heavy equipment, you're ar- around big explosions. You know, there, there's always opportunity to get injured. 35:31 Right. But you're going through it every day. So, um, yeah, really disappointed in that, uh, as I know you all are as well. And, um, I just think it's super important, as we always do, get the information out there. 35:40 Knowledge is power, and this is definitely one that y'all need to spread. Oh, I'm getting buzzed by Nate. I was, I already screwed this up. There's a, there's a free copy... Oh, Nate, I don't know where that went. 35:52 There's a copy of the book. Apparently there's a... Oh, yeah, it's right there. [laughs] The, the code, the code up there if you want a free copy of our book on being service connected. 36:00 Scan that and we'll send you a copy. Uh, again, that's kind of my playbook I've developed over the last 20 years on how to win benefits. I put it all down there. 36:09 You know, we know we can't represent all the veterans who've been wrongly denied, and, and it's, you know, our job, we feel, to help as many vets as possible- Yeah... even if we can't directly represent them. 36:18 So if you need help as far as, uh, just kind of the basics of, of getting service connection, get a copy of that book. Free. We'll send it to you free. No strings attached. We just want you to know what your rights are. 36:31 All right, back to the show. That was, that was empowering, getting to do Carol's Corner. I mean, gosh, my week is done. Don't, don't get used to it. 36:39 [laughs] CPO Deep Sea Diver, "I would highly encourage veterans to get a C&P exam that doesn't reflect what you told the examiner to report them to stateMedical board on their conduct, right? I'd love that. Yep. Ooh. 36:54 Um, or just maybe future exams, veterans receive improved quality. I like this a lot. I do too. And I wanna go back to the one who couldn't get a copy of your exam. Uh, I'd, I'd do that as well. 37:03 The, the, where the, where the C&P exam hasn't... I mean, it's been like five or six months I b- I believe you said since you had the exam, they won't send out a copy. 37:10 I would f- i- if you ask them, I mean, I, you have a duty to ask them, and you did and they said, "Take a hike." I'd, I'd go to the state examiner too. This is a great point here, thank you, CPODVR. 37:20 That is a great idea because so many of these examiners are not qualified, they don't care, and they're gonna continue to do exams as long as there are not, no problems with them. Right. 37:30 So this is your chance to point out that there are problems. That's a great thank you. Remy86, good to see you. "Hello, I was recently granted 10% for GERD under the old and new criteria, supposedly. 37:44 But the old criteria would've given me 30%. I put in an HLR, and now VA's asking for an IMO, even though CP examiner typed in bold on the other C&P exam all symptoms I have- [laughs]... which is all the 30% criteria. 37:59 Also, the symptoms are in bold at the bottom of my decision letter for a 30% rating. I haven't missed any, uh, higher level review of supplemental claim deadlines. 38:08 I've been consistently con- consistent con- continuity of pursuit from '20 to '25, even before the new criteria changed. Does this seem like they are trying- Yep... to low ball me and make, make it stick?" Yeah. Yep. 38:21 Exactly. I, I think so. I'd take your old C&P exam to the new one and just say, "Hey, I don't really know what else they're asking you, but look what's in bold here, and do you agree?" These are all my problems. Yeah. 38:31 Yeah. That's why sometimes you don't wanna go higher level re- you wanna go to the board- Mm-hmm... because that's all the evidence they would have. That's a good point, 'cause the board's not gonna- Right. 38:43 The board's not gonna send you back for an IMO mostly. Mostly they're gonna just make a decision. Benny, "Hey, Matthew. Now that the VA law judge has a case, how much longer? How much longer?" This is a, a mystery. 39:00 You know, you go online and you check your case, and you see that it's on the desk of the judge. [laughs] But we don't know, we, it's sometimes- Sometimes it goes back. 39:08 Yeah, sometimes it switches back, sometimes it, uh, unfortunately, we never know. Um, it's, it's a crapshoot. Yeah. Dallas, "I've been denied for blood, high blood pressure," uh- No, that would-... "BPH." Yeah. 39:23 "Uh, my recent p- uh, PSA tests were high, twenty ten, seven ten. Last week, a prostate biopsy-" Wow "... shows invasive urethral carcinoma, high grade." Yes. "Should I file a supplemental or a new claim?" 39:39 And you wanna argue that's what you thought. You, you, just file it to make sure you're safe, okay? But then for an earlier effective date, you wanna say, "I'm not a doctor. I didn't know what I had. 39:49 But instead of BPH, I had cancer." Yeah. Okay. But file the claim for sure right now clarifying that. Yep. Thomas, "VA rated 0% hypertension 12/24, direct link to toxic exposure. 40:05 11/25, VA proposed to remove, stating no IMO or link to service. VA did two ACE exams, neither addressed toxic exposure or link to service. 40:14 I thought VA was seeking to increase rating, but seems like they all wanna [laughs] remove the rating. Any idea how to proceed?" 40:19 I'd go back to your, um, decision granting that benefit, and look on there and see if there was a finding of fact that you were exposed to some kind of toxic exposure. Yeah. 40:28 You went to C&P exam, and then remember, to get that changed, they have to show there was clear and unmistakable error. Right. 40:36 But I'm saying on the, on the decision itself, if they made a finding of fact that there was exposure- Right... they're stuck with that. Yeah. And that would've come from the C&P exam. They... No, no, no. 40:47 The, the, the, the, um, ratings, ratings board can say, "Oh, you were in this area, you were exposed." Yeah. But they're not going to. And I've, I've been having a lot of these, and I have to go to the board. Okay. 40:56 I've had, it's like they have this, this year they have started, "How can I sever? How can I get rid of all these benefits?" And my veterans get upset, but I'm telling them, "Don't worry. 41:07 We go to the board, puts it back, and then we continue to go up." Don't let them quash your claims because you're afraid of poking the bear. This is across the board, they're doing this to everybody. 41:22 Cassandra, "Book is the QR code on top. Just take a picture of it, and it'll take you to download." Yep. Thank you, Cassandra. 41:31 Terrence, "I have an ankle for 30, uh, major depressive disorder at 100, COPD," we don't know what. Exi- ex- ex- oh, eczema, I can't say that word right now. "Eczema, 10%. Can I get SMC 1 for first three conditions? 41:47 Should I, should I go for needing A&A? I have used the caregiver program for COPD." Okay, so you were COPD at 100%. Okay. Going for SMC 1. All right, let's go back to the very first part. 42:01 So if you have 200%, that equals SMC-S. 42:06 But if, if you are saying that you're already getting the caregiver program, meaning they approved you for that, for the COPD, then you need to file or appeal, if you have an active claim right now, for SMC-L, aid and attendance for the COPD. 42:20 That would get you SMC-L, and then the mood disorder would get you up to SMC-M, 'cause that's a full letter bump. Um- And then I don't, don't know how much. 42:31 You've got a 30% and a 10%, so that's not gonna give you another half. So you just need to look to see if there are other problems that you have that you can file for. Or if the mood disorder, 42:43 uh, causes the need for aid and attendance, meaning you need to have somebody around because you forget things or you're a danger to yourself-And you have two different reasons for a, for SMCLA in the tendons, then that, that gets you up to R one Right. 42:55 So you can... That's sometimes we get an IM though that shows you need eight and 10 is just for the mental, and then another one for the COPD, and those two will give you R one, two L's. Who would have thought of this? 43:08 [laughs] Yeah. Amy W, one of two. Husband was Gulf War vet, rated 70%, 30% for IVs. He was diagnosed with essential tremors. 43:18 Started shortly after war, and at 56 worsened to affect writing, eating, drinking, using hand tools, et cetera. He's on two meds but still has bilateral tremors. Would this be best filed as a Muckmi? 43:32 Any advice much appreciated. Yeah. Is essential tremors an, a medical diagnosis, Carol? That's, that's- I am not sure, but I would definitely file for it. I-my- I have had veterans that have gotten that. Yeah. 43:46 So file for that. I would. If they say it's not a diagnosis, then it is a Muckmi. And basically Muckmi, for those who are Gulf War vets, it's the only, uh, what is it? 43:56 38 CFR 3.317 is the only area where you can get benefits for an undiagnosed illness. Of any other illness, you have to have diagnosed. You actually have to have a diagnosed illness right now. 44:09 I think he does, though, with essential tremors. Well, remember, you don't wanna limit it to that. You just wanna file for tremors. Okay. Okay? And then see on what basis did they deny it. 44:19 If they deny it, and if it's not using Muckmi, then use that. This is, this is, this is one of those cases Kerry talks about to where he just, he's denied again and again. Yeah. 44:28 And this is a case where, I mean, this is devastating what this has done to him. Yeah. So you need to keep appealing. Um, he- this is a case I know he'd love to sink his teeth into. Yeah. 44:38 But, uh- The problem is the regional office, they don't know, they don't know how to do these, so if they deny it, nobody's gonna bother them. Yeah. They don't know the rec. They don't. 44:46 And even the board, a lot of those people, they don't understand it. Yeah. You got a case here. You still have to show that the tremors would have been caused by whatever he was exposed to in service. 44:57 Could also be caused maybe by medicines from PTSD. I, I don't know- Yeah... offhand. 45:01 Um, but yeah, this is, this is a massive disability from what you're saying as far as how it's affecting him, and you, you need to file and see if you can get this. 45:13 Antonio, "If I was rated a hundred percent P&T under seventy-one ten and received surgical correction with the VA re- will the VA reduce my disability a hundred percent P&T?" What's seventy-one ten? 45:25 I don't know that either. I don't, I haven't memorized those. Yeah, unfortunately, s- since I don't know the code, I can't speak to that. It might be in the code. Uh, also have SMCS as well. Yeah, I'm sorry. 45:36 I, I don't- Yeah... know that one. Greetings all from Walla Walla. Hey to you too, John. Yeah. Jeff, "Does the win from CCK about TDIU with the board, 45:51 does that apply to claims that are in final review after Judge Hassel's seen the case?" Yeah. Yeah, any case at the board, uh, where you're asking for TDIU under extraordinary, uh, it's thirty-eight CFR three point... 46:06 sorry, four point one six B, basically you don't have, uh, one claim, you don't have one service connection at sixty or more than one at seventy. 46:15 Uh, the board can now grant those versus having to refer them over to the, uh, uh center, the whatever it is, um, director- Central office, yeah... central office, yeah. They're called extra scheduler. So, yeah. 46:28 Just so people who don't understand that, remember in or-order to get unemployability, the law says you have to have at least sixty percent for one rating or combined ratings of seventy percent with it, with at least one of them being forty percent. 46:41 So if you have not been able to work but you don't meet that schedule, you say, "I have an extra scheduler, um, disability that qualifies me for unemployability." 46:51 And always in the past, the board could not make a decision unless the regional office had done that first. 46:57 And for them to do that, they would have to ascend it to the central office, they would have to make a decision, and then if it wasn't favorable, then you went to the board. 47:05 The case he's talking about now says you don't have to do that. The board can recognize that and grant it right away. It's a great case. Yeah. 47:17 Timothy, "I have bil- bilateral radiculopathy, ten percent lower extremity, twenty percent lumbar spine. Just got diagnosed with lumbar radiculopathy. Should I file a claim? I'm seventy percent now." 47:28 That's the same thing. Same thing. Yeah. Bilateral radiculopathy means it's coming from the back, the lumbar, going down both legs. Both legs. 47:37 So that's what you already have, but maybe you should h- file for a higher rating if you think that's- Yeah. 47:43 Remember, you can get, uh, twenty percent for your back, and you can get forty percent, sixty percent for one leg. So, um, those radiculopathy is no small claim. Mm-hmm. 47:55 If you have drop foot where your foot, you can't pick it up, it sort of drags, that could be a forty or sixty percent rating. [clears throat] Sherry, good to see you. Thank you for all that you do for us. 48:08 Any idea when Carol's cross- [laughs] Jesus. You guys and your merchandise and your sayings. Your b- she doesn't need ego boost here, folks. She is robust enough in that category. Unbelievable. Thank you. 48:21 [clears throat] Natalie, "I had an accident in ninety-two while in Navy. I have, I am having some dizziness, memory loss, headache issues now. I have several doctors telling me it sounds like TBI. 48:31 Medical notes from that time talk about all the other injuries, including broken ribs, but don't say anything about a head injury. 48:38 And I don't remember about two years ago, two y- uh, I don't remember about two years ago after that injury. I don't know how long I was unconscious. I worry it'll get worse. 48:50 How likely is it that I can get this service connected without mention of head injury?"You're gonna need a witness or someone that was there and can say what happened to you. That's really hard. 49:01 Um- If you can't get that, and I agree with Carol, then what you're gonna say is, you're gonna say, "This was the accident I was in where I broke my ribs. During that accident, I lost consciousness. 49:11 When I got up, you know, they, they dressed my ribs because that was the immediate problem," right? That was the, the thing they saw that they needed to attend to. 49:19 Your, your, your cognitive issues as a result of that don't have to develop right away, but if you can show there was an incident in service and say, "This is where this happened," even if it's not related in the notes, you could, should still win. 49:33 But as Carol says- That's hard... that's a tough road to hoe because the VA's gonna say, "No, no, no, no, the medical records here only talk about a broken rib." 49:38 That's why you have to give more detail about how the ribs were broken. I mean- Were you thrown out of the car? I mean, clearly, if you were thrown out, you hit your head. Yeah. 49:46 So if you can get a buddy statement, that's the best route. Otherwise, you gotta be very descriptive about what happened and what you remember and, you know, being unconscious. Or if you can get the accident report. 49:56 Oh, yeah. Sometimes that helps. Sometimes they have a, um, the ambulance that took you there or report things. 1992 is not... They may have those. When we were dealing with 1960 and '70, you don't have them. Yeah. 50:08 But 1992, they may still have some of those. Alaskan Assassin, "I was denied PTSD, anxiety, and depression, but the C&P examiner diagnosed me with anxiety. Should I go for an anxiety secondary service-connected tinnitus? 50:25 Currently rated only for tinnitus." If that's what you got, that's what you go for, unless you can show that something in service caused the anxiety and you have proof of that in addition to your statement. 50:34 And there's no saying you can't go for all of it. Mm-hmm. You can go for anxiety secondary to service-connected tinnitus, but if you're being treated for PTSD, anxiety, depression, you can re... 50:44 I would go back and appeal those as well. I agree. Michael, "I have a higher level review coming up and want to present loss of use. 50:55 My DBQ doesn't explicitly say no effective function, but remains, but poor gait, balance, propulsion issue. Should I present that case at HLR appeal with new evidence? 51:08 Also have A&A on appeal because they denied it due to not regular spine flares with functional paraplegic symptoms." Whoa. 51:16 I'd go to HLR because remember, the person who makes those initial decisions is usually the newest person there, and they're supposed to be the people that do, especially the CAR, high-level reviews, they're supposed to be more knowledgeable. 51:30 And I've found we won a lot of our appeals on CAR, higher-level reviews, where we got nowhere in the initial claim. So I would definitely make sure I gave that a chance. 51:39 I wouldn't go back to supplemental if you've already got really good evidence. Yeah, I, I agree with that. Uh, the last part's key. You, you have the evidence in there. You need to speak to the evidence. 51:47 What does it mean that you can't propulse? What does it mean that you can't balance? What does that look like in your day-to-day activities? 51:52 But if you have a higher level review hearing, you can hopefully flesh that out some. In a supplemental, all they're gonna do is deny you or give you another C&P exam, which- "Hey, try the sober doc. 52:02 You spoke about this. We don't want you to." [laughs] Willpower, "VA says they will cancel my claim if I don't provide civilian medical records, but there are no civilian medical records. 52:14 The attorney says, 'Don't be concerned,' as they just say that the whole time." Yeah, they do. If you, if you put in saying there are no records, you're fine. Yeah. Kevin, good afternoon. 52:29 "If I was rated 30% for migraines in 2025, but my original claim started in 2021, totally denied in 2021, not zero, denied. VA says that I was rated zero and no back pay." [groans] Was that appealed? Yeah. 52:45 That's, that's the question. That's a long time. If you appealed it, then you can ask for a higher. But if you didn't appeal it and there's no legal error there, then you're stuck with when you just filed it again. 52:56 Whether it was zero or denied, it doesn't matter. Right. There's no appeal. [sighs] City Nights, good to see you. "How far back does the Berry rule go? 53:05 Example, someone appealing a claim continuously since the '09 Rangers." Yes, that's covered. They go on back. Yeah. This is one of Carol's favorites. When she wins these cases- I love it... they go way back. 53:14 "Please do a clip showing examples of inferred claims." Oof. Hmm. I mean, those are hard. 'Cause there's so many. Yeah, it's not... Yeah. And the problem is, the VA never infers a claim. Never. I've never seen it. 53:30 And you, so you have to infer one. Fers are aid to attendance, loss of use of feet. It's something- Well, you infer neuropathy if you say, "Hey, I have PD." 53:37 Well, I mean, that's, that's part of the thing they're supposed to do. [laughs] She's given VA enough credit today. We're done with that. All right, DJ Thomas, "Can I apply for TDIU if SA approves me for SS?" Yes. Yes. 53:49 Can I use the evidence? Yes, you can. Yes. Not necessarily dispositive, meaning even though one government agency says you can't work, the other government agency is not bound by that. 53:59 So don't, don't rest on that thinking, "Okay, I submitted this, I'm gonna win automatically." It says in there, not, we are not bound by that, but it is highly probative, whatever that's supposed to mean. Yeah. Yeah. 54:11 But it does help. Michael, "One of two, sleep apnea died is direct with stock response following C&P sleep study exam, which diagnosed sleep apnea. 54:21 Within one year of denial, submitted new claim secondary to PTSD with IMO that rebutted original opinion as insufficient with more likely opinion that my sleep apnea to, due to PTSD during, uh, active duty. 54:36 Claim denied b- for not being submitted as supplemental to rebut original denial versus supplemental as..."Secondary. Is the BBA correct or mistaken? 54:49 If so, does my secondary submittal matter or do I need to address that? I never, I don't even know that. Man, they can make stuff up like nobody else. Go to the board. They should be writing novels. Yeah. 54:58 Yeah, go to the board. Remember when you're asking for service connection for sleep apnea secondary to PTSD, you are not going to win at the regional office. You are not. Go to the board. 55:08 As soon as you have that evidence and you're at a position like the supplemental was denied, go to the board. Don't go to higher level review. You're not going to win. 55:16 The- They're just gonna give you another C&P exam or just deny you. Yeah. A- and the theory of the case does not mean it's a new claim. No. It's just a different way to prove the claim that you originally asked for. 55:27 If that was within a year, that was not a new claim. So I agree with Ca- this is, again, there's some idiot punting the end of this claim. [laughs] And, and the board's your best bet. Jeff again. 55:41 Does the new ruling on TDIU apply for claims? We, yeah, we did this one. Yeah. Jason, if a veteran's 100% for PTSD, what should they file for it if they don't like to leave their house 55:55 and would like it to back pay to the date 100%? 55:58 Okay, so you file, if you just got the decision and it's an initial decision, then you file a CAR higher level review for an earlier effective date, and then for an inferred rating, maybe you can say, "I should have gotten SMCS because I'm housebound." 56:14 So. Yeah, I agree. All right, let's take, uh, three more. Sherry, Carol, your hair li- oh my God. [laughs] Sherry, would you- She's my... We're gonna be pen pals. Sherry, come on. She doesn't need this. Thank you. 56:26 [laughs] Pavera's boys, does h- uh, H&P review intent to file claims before we file? Thank you for all that we... We don't do that, unfortunately. We, we, uh, only handle cases that are already denied, typically. 56:42 N- Naudi, I think. Naudi. Okay. Lejeune vet, service-connected three cancers, mental health, intestinal issues, 100% plus SMCS. 56:51 Is it worth filing for residuals of treatment, diabetes, kidney problems, neuropathy, in order to protect my wife? Yeah. Yes. In this case, Carol and I both agree because those are devastating disabilities. 57:02 You know, you're not filing for a scar, you're not filing for tinnitus. Those disabilities unfortunately could lead to your death. 57:09 And you're right, because when you die, VA is gonna say, unless you've been 100% for 10 years, they're gonna say you have to prove that a service-connected problem caused or contributed to the death. 57:22 So I think that can help you in several ways. You know, you may, and if you end up needing aid and attendance, that's gonna get you higher up the SMC, but it's gonna help your wife- Yeah... uh, if you die. 57:32 That's a really good point. Yeah. I'm glad you're doing that. All right, we're gonna take one more 'cause Sherry was just throwing out- Love you, Sherry... nothing, s- sweet nothings to Carol. So let's do one more here. 57:41 TexRoy1644, VA combined my T- 12L1. 12L1, so thoracic spine, lumbar spine one, with my L5S1 injuries and only rated me for T12L1. In essence, I'm submitted 10 claims and only eight are being adjusted. 57:58 How should I approach my response? Do they differentiate between thoracic and lumbar spines? Not really. I don't think so. Yeah. I, I think you're not gonna, 58:08 you know, Carol said this earlier, and, and what we look for in back cases, the rating for back itself is, you know, they talk about updating, uh, the rating codes all the time. 58:18 To me, the back is so ripe for an update because they don't, they rate it by flexion. They don't, they don't look at how the back is actually affected in a day-to-day- Right... problem. 58:28 And so what you really gotta do is look for other issues to your back. Do you have problems with radiculopathy? It's fun. She talked about you could get a 40% for each leg on radiculopathy. 58:37 Do you have problems with urinary, you know, incontinence? Um- Does it cause depression? Does it cause depression? Those are the things you wanna look for. 58:44 Uh, this, you know, you're, you're gonna fighting around and may- maybe you go from a 10% to a 20%, whereas the other issues we're talking about can easily get you up to 100%. Yeah. 58:52 So- So for a back, whether it's together, uh, thoracic and the lumbar, the most people usually get is 40% unless- And that's rare. Super. And that's rare unless your back is ankylos. That means it doesn't move at all. 59:06 So if you can't move your a- back at all, then you're gonna get a higher, maybe 50, maybe 60. 59:11 But Ma- what Matt said is you're gonna get the big ratings from the radiculopathy, from the other things that that back problem causes. So you need to look at the rating codes and see, is this worth my while? Mm-hmm. 59:22 You need to fight for something that's gonna make a difference to you. Exactly. All right, folks. With that, as always, we appreciate you coming here. 59:31 We, uh, um, Sea Diver, he had the comment of the day as far as the go, go tell on those damn C&P examiners- [laughs]... that they're not doing what they should be. I mean, seriously. I love that. Seriously. That's great. 59:41 Somebody's gotta hold them accountable. Um, otherwise, we appreciate your time, and if we don't see you next week, if y'all are, are out with your, your families, please be safe in traveling. Have a great Thanksgiving. 59:51 Know we're thankful for you. Um, otherwise, have a great week. [outro music]
