Many of you write me and ask why it’s so difficult to get secondaries to DM2 approved (or recognized) by the VA . Well, duh. They don’t want to pay you, pilgrim. As I continue to point out, that’s what insurance companies do if at all possible. And when you’re the only insurance company in town, this is easy.
Thus, it behooves one, as I have always suggested, to use the system they employ against them. This is where their very own training letter comes in handy. 2000-06 is a compendium of all the diseases and afflictions that are part and parcel of DM2. VA will deny that they have anything to do with your individual claim but here they acknowledge it and attempt to acquaint their raters with the phenomenon. By using this and quoting from it, you prove that you didn’t arrive in America recently on the USS Mayflower nor were you born last night.
TL 00-06 has something for everyone. Scroll down to find that essential ingredient you need to buttress your contentions. VA cannot very well argue it is not pertinent or only applicable to someone else’s claim and therefore not precedental. In this business, you take your victories where you can find them.
In addition to that, I was sent this helpful hint:
asknod
brewerkelli
cspencer02
jamesaurora
kcraveiro
Laura
Veterans Claims Help 
My DH was diagnosed with DMII 10 years ago by a private doctor. He went on a strict diet. Since then, his glucose is at 115-116. His VA doctor says he doesn’t have DMII !
What does he have to do, eat badly, get sick again, before they acknowledge it?
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From the training letter, this definition supports what his VA doc says but what does “…(IGT) is a category that refers to…” Category of what exactly? Weasel words.
Page 4. What is impaired glucose tolerance?
Impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) is a category that refers to those with fasting
plasma glucose greater than 110 but less than 126. This group is at increased
risk for diabetes.
I’ve been working on a post on medical coding. It’s changing over from ICD 9 to ICD 10 so I looked these terms up,
His condition should be coded 250.00–alternative terminology. It should convert to ICD-10-CM E11.9 Type 2 diabetes mellitus without complications
http://www.icd9data.com/2013/Volume1/240-279/249-259/250/250.00.htm
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Instead, they probably have have him written up with IGT:790.22 which converts to: ICD-10-CM – R73.02
http://www.icd9data.com/2013/Volume1/780-799/790-796/790/790.22.htm
Nice trick to keep the DMII/AO claims down. (Need to find out more about this!)
Thank you for posting this valuable information Mr. NOD. Diabetes is a wicked, insidious disease process, one that silently robs it’s victims of the ability to feel, think, and by the time the patient is diagnosed, the playing field is uneven to say the least. Sounds alot like HepC., don’t it…?
There are no mulligan with diabetes Veterans. From day one of diagnosis do everything you can to be proactive in your care. The inability to “feel” a heart attack is a serious matter, it happened to my husband. Seven years later we were advised he had at least one heart attack “sometime in the past” ~ believe me, if we’d known about it, his arse would have been in the ER that day.
I applied for the VA life insurance and was denied because of diabetes and another was IBS. So, when the next round is won I will apply once again and see if they deny coverage because of bouts of IBS which in turn will awaken the beast once more. Who ever heard of such BS to deny life insurance? Just another byproduct of the VA system I guess.
Send them a copy of your P&T status. They may not have updated their records. You should get it ($10K Whole Life) free.