EXPOSED VET SHOW–THE REAL VETERAN’S RADIO SHOW

Posted on July 17, 2023 by asknod

I’ve been sent links to watch this Vet’s show and that Vet’s site. I’ve searched high and low for shows that inform you in real time on how to file and which “lane” you want to be in. And all too often, they’re too generic or recite stale information which can actually be downright harmful to your bottom line. I’m not going to drag names through the mud. I’m sure not trying to hype my site, either. I don’t have enough time as it is to write full time the way I did in the good ol’ days of the mini-Depression. I enjoy climbing into the ring and duking it out nowadays.

This is why a good radio show that freely hands out current, up-to-date  data on our “Area of Operations” without any snake oil is rare. I ‘m not selling anything. John and Ray sure aren’t. It’s almost boring. Between us, we don’t have a single t-shirt or coffee mug emblazoned with our logos for sale. What we do have, I feel, is free information about specific fields of compensation-some that are rarely investigated or that few know of. No pay walls. No manuals for $9.95 + tax & shipping on ‘How to…’.

Nevertheless, I strive not to neglect the FNGs- the pings, the cherries or whatever you call  them. To them, our banter might sound more like French. EED? 4138? NOD? Becoming immersed in this and adroit just understanding the terminology is only half the battle. It  changes all too frequently. The Vet offering you a recital of what he did back in 2006 to win a mega six-figure retro is useless now. It’s like explaining a Motorola brick phone to a Gen Z. Yoo-hoo? We don’t use VA Form 9s anymore, old man.

I can’t even begin to tell you how depressing it is to sit like a fly on the wall and eavesdrop on some of  the oldtimers who pass for the resident experts handing out stale advice on how to accomplish something they haven’t done themselves in over 20 years. I reckon they mean well… or do they? I sure don’t mean to be that old lady in the Burger King™ commercial asking “Where’s the Beef?” But then, too, you can go to some of the Big Name sites of Big Attorneys PLLC and hit the chat button. You’re in for a heapin helpin’ of what if’s, couldas, betteroff’s and lastly, ‘let me get your email and I’ll have one of our paras get back to you. I just answer the phone, sir.’ In this day and age, everyone wants instant answers. Newsflash. There ain’t exactly a shit ton of us out there providing those VA Google© search answers licketyspit.

This simply doesn’t help with the VA claims addict who wants an instant fix. So naturally they come to Gotit.com and ask advice of  some Vet who goes by Tay Ninh 1970 and signs all his replies with ‘I am not an attorney or VSO and my opinions are strictly mine (no flies on me).’ These shade tree law dogs are also are fond of citing to CAVC “presidents” or the M21 1MR. Funny how they ignore the actual statutes and regulations or neglect to mention them considering that is where the legal answers lie. The problem is elementary. You need an Encyclopaedia Britannica to turn them into Veterans’ DickandJanespeak.

Well, folks, at Exposed Vet, I think John and Ray’s thrust is to find different, valid perspectives. Face it. You’d get bored with a constant diet of Broncoboy word salads which always end with telling you to call CCK Law or Kenny Carpenter. Shucks. I do business with Robert and Ken on a fairly regular basis but I use them for complex things like brain surgery up at the Fed. Circus-not tinnitus and pes planus. For everything else there’s  Mastercard™, right?

Now, don’t misunderstand me. I’m not suggesting you eschew attorneys in favor of VSOs- or agents like myself. One thing I know is a lot of Agents are not afraid to take on what we politely refer to as Unicorn cases. A lot of attorneys will refuse them. Regardless, I strongly suggest you use a National Org. of Vet Advocates (NOVA) atty. or Agent because of the high standard of training we pay dearly to get.

What I also strongly suggest is avoiding the new plethora of pop up ‘advisors’ who will do your claim based on their good ol’ five-fifty warranties- five months of your increase (including dependency) or not more than $50,000 dollars, whichever is larger.  Hell, that ain’t a warranty. That’s a guarantee they’re gonna soak you ’til you fingers get wrinkled. A NOVA dude doing it for 20% of whatever he can win is a chicken dinner winner…and far cheaper. If s/he loses, there’s no charge. The problem is usually finding a good law dog who isn’t a  claims cherrypicker. I’m sorry, Virginia but there is no Santa Clause in this business.

Face it. There’s uncomplicated, straight-forward musculoskeletal or disease claims. But then there’s §1151 claims. There’s §3.156(c) claims. There are SMC nightmares. Not everyone in this business has that intestinal fortitude for difficult cases. I’ll tell you what it feels like sometimes once you dig in. It’s that feeling you get down in your stomach when your pilot stalls the Porter 150′ off the top of the canopy (alongside a karst) and you see him silently mouth the words ‘oh.shit’.  I don’t feel that insecure anymore doing this but I can  say as I still don’t cotton to §1151 claims.

Exposed Vet is far more likely to acquaint you with real-time quirks developing in VA law. The guests will probably be far more hands -on, too. I’ve watched the guest speakers for the last 10 years or so, and, for the most part, I can’t see where you could go to get better advice. It’s funny. On one site I read occasionally, the Big Banana always exhorts newcomers to head to va.gov pronto and file! File! File! Who cares if the claim is meritless? Get out there and gum up the system, soldier. And be quick about it.

Conversely, the “pink site” should have a huge sign at the entrance saying “Abandon hope all Ye who enter here.” Their resident doctor (Ye Olde Medic) back in the day averred that all folks with the Hep C virus were parenteral drug abusers and unworthy of compensation. That one-size-fits-all mentality is a learned response-usually originating in 20-years-and -out lifers’ prefrontal cortex due to ETOH poisoning.

So, if the spirit moves you, tune in Thursday night at 1900 Hrs East and 1600 West. You won’t get Combat Charlie droning on about the chances of winning a HLR, The Three Stooges from VBN® or the seventeenth recital of how Tay Ninh 1970 won his SMC S pro se without an attorney. What you will get is some ol’ boys from the back woods of Kentucky or Tennessee with one hell of a country twang in their speech. If you can get by that, you’ll probably enjoy yourselves.  Be so kind as to mute your mic if you’re grazin’ the Fritos or the dogs are barking.

The call in number remains

(515) 605-9764

Dial one (1) (un)(nung)(duy nhứt) if you wish to enter the conversation and ask a question. Or, go on your computer, go to:

https://www.blogtalkradio.com/jbasser/12248813/connect/c019a8c5d0eea69aa642efb8e4703226ae07faa9

On behalf of myself and the rest of the crew, I hope we’ll pass the audition.

P.S., We’ll also be talking about my foray down to San Diego yesterday for a BVA hearing (video) with my client who has waited 4 years + for his day in the sun. The attached below was misconstrued as a desire to withdraw his request for said hearing. This illustrates what we are dealing with at the VA. Think about it. A GS 13 interpreted this Legacy document as an AMA docket. All AMA docket numbers are the date of your VAF 10182 NOD-e.g., 190707-31582 would be the 31,582nd VAF 10182 received in the year 2019 at the Board on July 7, 2019.

This is what a $143 BILLION dollar budget buys you -idiots.

redactWithdraw BVA Appeal No 1332498A

Posted in Exposed Veteran Radio Show, Tips and Tricks, VA Agents | Leave a comment

M 21-THE ORIGINAL AI–NO WONDER VETS ARE SCREWED

Posted on July 3, 2023 by asknod

I apologize for my absence here. The VA tasks me. They scheduled five hearings I’ve patiently waited four years for all at once. I’m racking up frequent filer/flyer miles at a stupendous rate but have no time to even answer the phone or offer advice to Vets. On top of that, my fourth grandchild Daphne was born last Monday and I was so busy writing appellate briefs, I didn’t get over to see her until the day before yesterday. Lots of news to share and very little time to do so. Here goes.

First off, I think everyone who doesn’t know it’s against the law to practice VA law without accreditation should be aware the bell will be tolling for you fellers shortly. I just received this from fellow agent Doug Haynes. I wondered how long it would be before someone geared up to combat this atrocity. Think about it. Even if you’re the most hotshit VA law dog in the universe, you’re still limited by law to charging no more that 33 1/3% commission on the winnings. I charge 20% and so do most others who authorize the VA to be their collection agency. Imagine having no accreditation whatsoever and soaking Vets to the tune of over 50% a pop for a win. Sucks, huh? So I was enthralled to read the Pels Group have decided to sharpen their spears and skewer these chuckleheads. Right on.  https://vadisabilityinvestigation.com/

Finally, after seven years waiting patiently for SOCs, VA 9s and VA 8s, my own day in the sun has dawned. Thomas Williams called me this morning from BVA VACO and asked me if I prefer tea or coffee while I wait in their  lounge on the 12th for my hearing with VLJ Lauren Cryan. There, the VLJ will entertain my plea for a larger greenhouse than the 10X15 visqueen shoebox w/ 60 watt lightbulb heating they originally proposed back in 2016. After appealing for a 24X28 and hydroponic gear, my entreaty was rudely rebuffed and the head of VR&E declared they were already being far too lenient in even granting entitlement to one. The trouble with that is the BVA was the one that granted it- after the AOJ VRE cowboys denied it for five years. VR&E folks have short memories or else they’re smoking some killer gunsha.

As for the M 21 and Artificial Intelligence, this will be a lesson on SMC in a roundabout way. It began with a serial stalker named Harry who snuck up on me during the ‘confinement’ pandemic in late 2021 and hornswoggled me into taking his claim for R1. Moreover, it metamorphosed into having to fight an incompetence allegation as well as an earlier effective date of 2002 for his SC for Parkinson’s under §3.816(c). To say this was a battle royale would be a masterpiece of understatement. Harry had arrived with a veritable suitcase full of problems. Harry is my kind of people.

Harry was granted a&a due to a plethora of problems.  Read his BVA decision down below this. Note how the VLJ wrote it. The need for a&a was based on “impairment” of extremities. Note she did not say the condition of loss of use of extremities existed. This is where the precedence embodied in Breniser v Shinseki  comes in handy. ‘Condition’ is the operable word. Note also on page three of the BVA decision that Harry was granted SMC S for Interstitial lung disease as the “anchor” 100% to the grant of SMC S. Thus it can be said Denis the Menace was in constructive possession of the knowledge that Harry was waaaay past severely 100%. What the hey? I got him advanced on the docket three times now off the same doctor’s note saying he’s terminally ill and expected to live no more than 2-5 years (circa 2022). https://www.va.gov/vetapp20/Files11/20075742.txt

I fought extensively for four months straight to get him his R1 and succeeded a few days after the New Years hangovers of 2022. During this period, I did some dumpster diving in VBMS and noted he hadn’t been granted the bumps we all get on top of the SMC L. He had been entitled to L 1/2 for several months and then an M for the lung disease up to his grant of R1 . As those who do this know, VA isn’t exactly forthcoming about all these 1/2 step and full step add-on bumps described in SMC P under §3.350(f)(3)(4). Surprise, surprise, surprise- in the immortal words of a TV Marine private. Purposeful it may be. Yessssssssssssssss.

So, being a perennial pain in the VA’s ass, I filed him for it. The Jedi master I learned this trade from said never to leave any money on the table. This is where it gets funky. I expect there’s no love lost between me and Denis. I’ve always pooh-poohed the old saw about VSOs chiding us not to be greedy or it’ll bite us in the ass idea or that they are always looking for a way to whack your rating and reduce you if you file too many claims. But this time, it appears true. Either that or Denis has a hard on for me. The funny thing is this is going to be easier to repair than trying to hit something with nape from 1000 feet ASL at 300 knots.

The BVA granted the bumps as I had expected but when it came time for the OAR in DC (VBA397) to write up the BVA’s decision, it went into cold storage. I found out why the other day. These bozos are trying to reduce him back to SMC O because the a&a was granted based partially on the Parkinson’s issues in all four extremities. Remember them? VA plumb forgot all about them for a year while I fought arduously to get him the R1. Now, they say they somehow forgot to retire the old 8515 and 8520 ratings they actually gave him in 2017-2020 and insert the DCs 5109 and 5110 for the loss of use. Kinda like the blind leading the deaf across the street against a red light.

So, their idea of how to fix it was not to apply the Akles rule and not examine all Harry’s disabilities in great detail to see if they could do a Buie “rearrangement” of the ratings such that the interstitial lung disease could be substituted for the a&a and he’d remain at R1. Oh, hell no. They went balls to the wall into “screw the Vet” mode and whacked him down to O. As an aside, if you wonder why VA can’t figure out SMC, part of the problem lies in the M 21. It’s riddled with errors on the subject and VA either chooses not to correct  it or is complacent and likes it the way it is. Keep in mind that §3.350(e) describes SMC at the O rate as the “maximum rate”. Yeah, right? Most of us would argue R2 or T is the maximum rate but semantics was never the VA’s strong point.

Redact bump and CUE reduction

Redact Code sheet for reduction to O

I figured I’d be getting that call with the “Another fine mess you’ve gotten us into, Ollie.” I did get the call but Harry said he trusts me to get it sorted. I will. It just seems like such a waste that I have to keep sweeping up the VA’s broken glass after they screw it up.

I reckon I’ll have to file a CUE claim and explain how §3.103, AB v. Brown and Buie v. Shinseki applies. Worse, these chuckleheads are using a BVA ministerial remand a la Encarnation v. McDonough as a vehicle to combine two disparate subjects into one. Seems there should have to be a proposal to reduce, n’c’est pas? Anybody down at the corner of Delay Street and Deny Avenue ever hear about §3.105? Due process? Oh hell no. They’re lost in space and happy as pigs in shit, folks. They have their M 21. What else do they need?

Happy 4th of July to all of you. Remember, there is no 1004 with hand grenades or fireworks so be careful. Notwithstanding my love of SMC, I like you with all your parts and pieces firmly attached whenever possible.

P.S. Enjoy the video from-who else- Ed the LURP.

Posted in 4th of July, Independent Living Program, Lawyering Up, Veterans Law | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

BVA–CLEANUP ON AISLE FIVE

Posted on June 17, 2023 by asknod

I’m sure we’ve all heard that one before down at Piggly Wiggly. Whoa there, hoss. That’s going to have to change. The name just drips fat-shaming and small airline seats. I’m sure  the wokefolks will be along directly to ask them to consider a more kind and gentle brand name. But that’s not what I called you here today for. Nope. Not for Father’s Day either. Below is one of those appeals that has never happened to me in my brief career using my new super power for the betterment of Veterans. Read on.

Back last summer, July 6th to be specific, I filed two disparate NOD 10182s. Both were for the same Vet but the subject matter was vastly different. One was for an earlier effective date ratings percentage. I’d already won the earlier 2002 date for the claim. We were just squabbling over the ratings percentage for his Parkinson’s.

The second NOD was a CUE. I hate to file CUEs. You just know it’s destined for the BVA if it involves SMC in any way, shape or form. I’d won the a&a and was merely “cleaning up” the assigned rating. It was a simple, straight-forward bump case under §3.350(f)(3) for two months and another eleven months up at SMC M (full-step bump under (f)(4).

I’m a silver-tongued devil at a HLR in most subjects but when you run into a booth bitch with no SMC comprehension who only sees you as a welfare cheat or trailer trash, that’s all she wrote. And boy howdy that’s pretty much what she wrote. I’m not sure what manual or book of CFRs she consulted but apparently, it/they didn’t contain anything on §3.350/§1114 . I got the 30- minute treatment. That’s how long it took to write up the denial and publish it in VBMS. I watched it happen in real time. It probably wasn’t even her personal best time either. This chick was ice cream brain freeze cold.

So, having struck out in St. Pete’s DROC, I headed up to the BVA with it. My mistake was in filing them both one right after the other. Both showed up a few days later in VBMS as having been received but I only got one AMA letter saying “it” had been docketed in the direct venue. I decided to cut bait and wait. Big mistake. Being pretty busy, it slipped my mind. Well, at least until December of 2022 when the other BVA appeal popped back up in the infeed with a remand. As you can read below, the VLJ noted there was another appeal docketed and pending, but in the new AMA, the VA can’t possibly digest two appeals at the same time without getting the vapors.

redact BVA 12.22 remand

I began pestering them in March that my boy was terminal and reminded them he was advanced on the docket. I got a nastygram from the BVA Litigation and Support krewe saying “We already decided that one, dummy.” and enclosed a new copy of the December remand. At some point I think I may have sent my own nastygram inquiring of their possible wolf parentage and suggestions to check in with Ancestry.com™.  The commo went dark for a while and then I shotgunned one of those emails off with a cc: to the VLJ who wrote the decision (the Honorable Ryan T. Kessel) mentioning the CUE was still pending. Boom Shaka laka laka. That did it.

 The BVA apologist called back and said they were flat ass on it. I couldn’t see it in CASEFLOW so I started throwing rocks at the CASEFLOW window. Wonder of wonders. In this now-AMA world we live in, this July 2022 NOD had segued into a Legacy NOD and was hiding in VACOLS. I attach it here below. Check out the Docket No. -23-00 162. I read that to be the one hundred sixtysecondth cleanup at 425 I Street NW this spring.

redact BVA grant for ^ SMC M

All’s well that ends well. Harry got his just deserts in this, his last CUE and we have the one last matter of being desirous of a rating which renders a decision granting every benefit that can be supported in law while protecting the interests of the Government. The VA examiners get a little too hasty after they grant a claim. SMC, being an ancillary benefit, simply doesn’t come up on their radar unless you whack ’em upside the head and remind them. Even then, I frequently end up having to go up to the Big House to find legal minds who can read with greater comprehension.

As for old retros back to 2002, we all understand VA’s recalcitrance about conceding such a large error. It really isn’t that much money in the scheme of things. I heard a few days ago in a congressional hearing they (VA) allowed as they disremembered where they put $3.4 billion last year. That’s a shit ton of disremembering in my book but maybe I’m just one of them small-minded thinkers who doesn’t get the big picture.

redact filed 10182 5.26.2023

Happy Father’s Day to you who procreated. Oh what the hey. Happy Fathers Day to all of you who identify as a ‘father’. Did I get that right?

 

Posted in Appeals Modernization Act, BvA Decisions, BVA Referrals, SMC, VA special monthly compensation, VBMS Tricks | 5 Comments

PCAFC–EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

Posted on June 13, 2023 by asknod

Well, let’s qualify that. Everything you’ll need to know about the questions you’ll be asked if you wish to apply for PCAFC. PCAFC stands for Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers. I think they should just call it VHA A&A. Or How about A&A Type II? VA is already an utter miasma of acronyms. To the uninitiated, it could drive you to tears listening to VA litigators discourse using all these terms. I find a new one every day in VBMS trying to decypher VA Rater’s notes. 

 

Anyway, here’s the document that I refer to above. I hope it informs  and aids any of you in your pursuit of caregiver benefits.

WorkshopSession3_VA PCAFC Veteran Functional Assessment Instrum

On another note, I recently had a Veteran approach me and ask for advice on their SMC aspirations. I gave him a Padawan’s introduction to SMC using Breniser v. Shinseki. George Breniser’s case is a wonderful stroll down SMC Lane and explains what you need to prevail and proceed to the higher  levels of O, R1, R2 and T.

The thrust of Breniser is simple. Pyramiding was the primary argument in the Georgemeister’s appeal. He wanted A&A for his loss of use (LOU) of his legs. He lost because you only get one L, M or N  coupon for each “condition”. He legitimately had LOU  of the lower extremities and was awarded LOU under §3.350(b)(1). All well so far. The appeal hinged on George’s interpretation of how this SMC gig works. The key phrase is incorporated in §3.350(e)(1)(ii)- i.e., “no condition considered twice”. The Georgester reasoned that because he had a condition (lou), he  was thus entitled to a&a because he couldn’t do shit like all the rest of us.

So, where do we get this laundry list of ‘conditions’? Why §3.350(b). SMC L inaugurates a Veteran into the higher levels of SMC. SMC K and S are minor awards in the financial scheme of things. You can’t “build” higher SMCs off of them. The five conditions entitling you to SMC at the L rate are:

1) loss of use of lower extremities (feet)

2) lou of a foot and a hand

3) blindness at 5/200 or 5 degrees or less of concentric  field of vision.

4) the need for aid and attendance of another

5) Bedridden

And that’s all she wrote. If you have two of these conditions and they are not related to the same “disability”, then you are in high cotton. If one is for a&a, then you’re really on Bucks Boulevard.

In the case of the gentleman asking me about his entitlement, he had been awarded a&a for his cardiomyopathy which caused him to have shortness of breath and a host of other goodies. VA might call this the index disease-that which is so severe it provoked the need for the a&a of another in and of itself. At 100%, this definitely entitled him to the a&a under §3.350(b)(3) back in 2019.

Fast forward to last month and the LOU of his lower extremities due to service connected DM II peripheral neuropathy. So, the DM II is an endocrinological issue under §4.119 DC 7913. The PN is a neurological side effect of the DM II under §4.124a DC 8520 but it’s not separate and distinct to be truthful. The cardio is under §4.104 under DC 7020. So, two different anatomical different body functions. Get it?

My inquiring Veteran also has a high-powered and well-known law dog who disagrees with him (and me) on whether he has enough of these Breniser conditions. The law dog maintains he was granted a&a for all his disabilities but it doesn’t work that way. The actual decision awarded the a&a strictly for the cardio and, in a rush to disenfranchise him of of any future SMC at the O rate, and the jump up to R1, graciously gave him the “bump” under §3.350(f)(4) to SMC M based on the 100% rating for lou of his feet. Poof. There went the R1. That’s VA FM for you.

The actual 2019 decision granting a&a said the 1/2 step bump was specifically for his other disabilities which were separate and distinct from the heart condition- including… (wait for it) his  bilateral 40% ratings for his lower extremities. Note this was declared separate and distinct and attributed to the DM II. So, it  had nothing to do with the a&a and the heart issue (read a&a condition).

So, our boy has two awards between L and N, no condition being counted twice. Bingo. SMC O. And, since one of the conditions is a&a, under §3.350(h), he should advance to R1 automatically. Mr. Big JD attorney says no- the loss of use of the feet has been “used up” by the 40% bilateral lower extremity PN disability. Here’s the error in that logic. You can’t award a&a for a loss of use condition. If you have lou, you have loss…of…use. Sound it out like Phonics™. Plain and simple. Sure, the lou may make doing certain everyday things like getting on and off the toilet dang near impossible but getting on and off the toilet is not a loss of use of anything. It’s an inability to do something.

A&A is awarded because you cannot accomplish one or more activities of daily living. It will never have anything to do with lou. Impairment, yes but not lou.  If you’re lou, you can’t be given a&a in lieu of it. If the a&a preceded the lou, and the lower extremity PN was separate and distinct and used for the §3.350(f)(3) bump, then you get another L separate and distinct from your a&a L. You have acquired a new condition. Sure in the VA world, they’d probably say “Okay, ya gotta cough up the 1/2 step because your 40% turned into 100% and that would be pyramiding. So we’re gonna give you an M instead of the L 1/2 for the extra 100% for the DC 5110 LOU”. Yeah, but the combo of two Ls takes you way past L 1/2 or M to O so that whole argument becomes moot on its face.

Think conditions. Think no condition counted twice. That’s the whole secret to this. Remember, it’s not the degree of disability but the extent of your functional loss. If you have a heart attack and you’re boobs up, then you need a&a. And if the COPD gets so bad you need oxygen to make it to the shitter, then you need a&a for that, too. Two different conditions. Don’t let anyone ever tell you that a 40% rating for a leg under DC 8520 (or even bilaterally) is “used up”  or tantamount to lou under §3.350(b)(1). It isn’t. It’s 40%  for DC 8520 which is a far cry from 100% under DC 5110 for lou of the lower extremities (LEs).

SMC is a jungle full of possibilities. How you assemble them is the key to whether you’ll advance. If you’re not careful, a lot of disabilities will be combined that could be exploited individually to reach another a&a award. And because every case is horribly unique, each Veteran will need to be mighty careful in how he or she allows VA to bag ’em and tag ’em. Cheating you out of SMC S is often the worst example. VA will combine everything you have to give you a combined 100% rating when they could grant you one 60% or 70% as a stand alone TDIU and then combine the balance to attain SMC S.

In closing, I’m going to discuss the absolute insanity of seeking advice at a Veterans Help site. It’s akin to buying week-old sushi at a 7-11. Imagine our boy, now with all the ammo for R1, sashays over to VBN-the Peggy-loving pink site and asks for advice on whether his SMC calculations are correct. Hold on to your hats. Considering not a single one of them is accredited or possesses so much as a law degree, virtually every one of the Grand Poobahs pooh-poohed the idea that R1 was for application. Read some of this drivel. “Do you realize the dissent is not what is president [sic] here?” I think he was trying for precedent.   “I worked for 30 years for VA and I know this shit.” No, sonny. You let the M 21 figure out your shit for 30 years. Garbage in, garbage out. Seeking good advice for your claims-especially SMC claims- in the absence of a claims file or access to the Vet’s VBMS efolder would be like entrusting your claim to the village idiot. Imagine a hearing for SMC with a VLJ and you saying you know you’re not entitled to SMC _____. The Judge asks you why not. You say because a VA claims expert named Rotor Head told you so…

Here’s another one. These chowderheads almost talked this ol’ boy out of pursuing his R1. Who, in their right minds, would try to help defeat a fellow Veteran? The concept is so alien, it defies the imagination. Worse, they laughed about it.

Considering VA has a 74% documented error rate, a VA employee, former or otherwise, dispensing advice lacks that Je ne sais quoi I’d expect to encounter.  Not a single one of these Poohbahs have any legal training. Most haven’t litigated much more than their own claims. Cupcake said the dead giveaway is no one is using his or her real name. So how  would you check Cruiser’s bona fides?  You can’t. He could say he was a Veterans Law Judge or Winnie the Pooh for 30 years and be equally credible. I noticed a lot of the big guys also put up montages of their medals. I’m surprised there aren’t a lot more MOHs up there with all the bravado.

To be credible in this business you need a name, rank airspeed and tail number. You need truth-not braggadocio. Vets need a curriculum vitae they can use as a measuring stick. We use real world examples here. I offered advice using asknod until I became accredited in 2015. I don’t need to hide behind it any more. I’m now 20-year protected and bulletproof. You can find me on the VA’s OGC accreditation list. Granted, that doesn’t make me smart. It just makes me accountable and trusted to do VA claims.

This is how it’s done. Game. Set. Match. There simply is no mystery to this nor is there any Voodoo involved.

redact r1 12.17.2

redact BVA SMC K win 1.6.22

redactR1 RD 1.4.2022

And that’s all I’m going to say about that.

Posted in PCAFC, SMC | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 23 Comments

MEMORIAL DAY 2023–STILL IN SEARCH OF THE OTHER 81,000

Posted on May 29, 2023 by asknod

LCPL Story

Being a voracious reader (and a Veteran + advocate), I gravitate toward military stories of old MIA/BNR Veterans. Note that I capitalize Veteran and always have. Veterans served our nation whereas veterans are longtime employees of an organization. One of these days I would hope that the VA might begin capitalizing it as well. I note with satisfaction this morning the recovery and final identification of U.S. Army Corporal Luther Herschel Story who was lost in 1950 in Korea. That leaves 81,000 more we still need to bring home.Perhaps, even closer to home is the loss of any of the Veterans I represent. Just because I may win their claims, the obligation of representation doesn’t end there. Whenever possible, I try to preassemble a DIC folder for those who are severely disabled with active diseases or injuries that put them at risk of a sudden demise. It isn’t a Boy Scout motto like ‘Be Prepared’. It’s a commitment to the surviving spouse as well.

Twice now, since the advent of the new year, I’ve had Veterans pass away out of the blue. While I do lose four or five each year, most are already on their last legs and it doesn’t come as a surprise. Given my VA law practice focusing on SMC, most who come to me already have one foot in the grave or a reasonable assurance they aren’t long for this veil of tears. Sadly, this year is beginning to shape up very differently. I would hope it’s not a harbinger of what’s to come.

The latest casualty was a Vietnam Dustoff medic. I became friends with Bruce Almighty, a four-tour Dustoff medic who introduced me to the world of the Independent Living Program (ILP). From there, it was only a hop, skip and a jump to filing for a greenhouse due to my porphyria. My skin doesn’t do well out there in the sun so a sheltered greenhouse would protect me as well as allow me to grow all year around. The Vietnam Dustoff Association invited me to their reunion in 2013 to give a speech. I’ve subsequently been designated the go-to guy for VA matters which is how I came to represent John in his quest for 100%.

John passed away this last week after a relapse from what we had hoped last year was the remission of  his non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He had fallen and was in a recovery nursing home recuperating from an injured hip. His death came as a complete shock to everyone. He developed a nasty blood infection and it 86’d him in no time flat. Shit happens but it shouldn’t happen to us as Veterans. With what is often touted as the best medical system on earth for us, it might appear the truth is far short of that advertized. Considering they dang near killed me several times over my 14-month, all expenses paid vacation at the Seattle VAMC,  I wouldn’t take Pickles there even if it was a world-class veterinary clinic, too.

John and wife Gail

One of the sore points on lost service members has always been Laos in my book. We were field stripped of all ID. I mean everything. It was called sheep dipping or going black. Like all assigned in-country, we reported to the military attaché annex several blocks from the US Embassy when we arrived at Wattay airport (L-08) in Vientiane. We were required to wear civilian clothes for our arrival from Udorn. There, we coughed up our wallets and they put our Geneva Conventions card, our state and military drivers’ licenses, our military ID and anything else indicating military affiliation in a lock box for storage.

In their place we were issued US Agency of International Development photo ID and a Laotian driver’s license. My USAID ID identified me as a French teacher. If we were shot down, we were executed on the spot most times. It didn’t really make any difference if we ditched our weapons and raised our hands. Worse, and what provokes this memory today, chances of recovering the body were between slim and none.

I knew a lot of AAm folks who wore large gold necklaces solely for use to buy their freedom in the event of capture. Most of us followed suit for what it was worth. Hell, I still have mine. But with nothing more than bogus ID, we weren’t going to be herded into POW camps and repatriated come the end of the war. The Pathet Lao’s respect for human life was below their respect for their water buffalo. POWs were considered a liability regarding food or supervision/incarceration. Buffalo earned their keep. We didn’t.

One of these days, the media will announce the last living survivor of the Vietnam War. God, I hope it isn’t me. I’m not a parade kind of guy and I don’t want the attention. Happy Memorial Day to you all.

Posted in Memorial Day, Milestones, Vietnam War history | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

EXPOSED VET RADIO SHOW THURSDAY 5/18/2023–EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT SMC A&A

Posted on May 16, 2023 by asknod

Yep. Just got the Bat signal in the sky over my hacienda to report for duty to the John and Jerrel show this Thursday evening. Show starts at 1900 Hrs on the East Coast and, by deducting 3 hours from that, a body can interpolate that it will transpire simultaneously at 1600 Hrs on the Left Coast. As there is much disagreement about aid and attendance, who can get it, who cannot, and what the requirements are, I will be glad to clarify the subject.

I would note that the M 21 disagrees with my understanding of it. (IV.ii.2.H.8.b). But then the M 21 and I diverge on many subjects. I’ve engaged in HLR review informal conferences and the assigned reviewer always informs me I am in error. However, upon arrival at the BVA, I am assured, both by the clarification of the Veterans Law Judge, as well as the BVA decision granting a&a, that my interpretation is still correct.  See attached on page 4 in highlighted yellow for the latest confirmation of the proper interpretation. BVA R1 Win & cite to a&a redact As for when the VA will correct their misinterpretation and inform the rest of VAkind, I cannot say.

The show will attempt to explain it in far simpler terms and more clearly than some Veterans Help Sites I visit. Some sites follow VA’s lead and will insist you need 100% or TDIU to even get in line. Some feel if you apply for it, VA raters will put you under the microscope and you risk being reduced to dissuade you from ever attempting it again. We’ll attempt to dispel these old wives’ tales.

Bust out the suds, chardonnay or a single malt and mute the microphone if you plan on munching chips.

The call in number remains

(515) 605-9764

Should you so desire, you may connect using the link here:

https://www.blogtalkradio.com/jbasser/12227725/connect/ea7224790aa6adbea66f0dca1d97bccf5588b901

I look forward to helping you achieve this SMC benefit -always assuming, arguendo, you are entitled to it.

Posted in Exposed Veteran Radio Show, How to Qualify for VA SMC, SMC, VA special monthly compensation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

FORT COURAGE– DUMPSTER-DIVING IN THE VBMS

Posted on May 11, 2023 by asknod

I love the VA’s computer. It can show you mistakes made back in the dawn of time. They’re just sitting there waiting to be found. Sadly, VA won’t do these claims expeditions in search of repairs. Hell, they’ll come after you and try to reduce you but being proactive in your favor is not in their toolbox. Which is exactly why I named this blog Fort Courage after the old 1965 western comedy show F troop. 

 

I was almost finished with this Veteran’s claims and got him his TDIU but decided to make one last high-sided pass to make sure I didn’t miss anything. And there it was- a glaring mistake in 1983. Wayne had filed for a blown left knee and they never located his old service records. In spite of the duty to assist error, they denied.

Fast forward to 2006 and the knee was mega-worse. This time they managed to find the records and one astute rater observed that §3.156(c) was going to be implicated. They ignored her and proceeded to grant with an effective date of 2006 anyway. And that’s the way it sat until I spotted it this January. They graciously conceded their error and promptly granted him a 0% from ’83 until the 10% in 2006. But Wayne had gone to see a doctor. He’d filed the report and it explicitly mentioned the condition. So much for all that “rule out” crap. This doctor said it was a hot mess.

Six months later, the HLR babe finally calls on Tuesday and says “Ready for your HLR informal conference or would you like to schedule it?” Well, hell yeah I was. So we chewed the fat for about 30 minutes and I gave her a little education on how §3.156(c)(3) and (4) are applied after you grant the old date. Thirty minutes later, her new revised rating came out granting 10% back to May 1983. I’m still not satisfied. I think he’s probably entitled to another 10% for lateral instability.  Maybe 20%. Once you open this can of worms, it’s like we climbed into the DeLorean and are now back in 1983. We have a year to complain and get a supportive IMO with a good retrospective opinion of what the knee was then all the way through to the eventual grant in 2007. VA hates when that happens.

So here’s the history for those of you thinking about how to do this. It’s like fishing with hand grenades.

redacted

redact knee dx 83

redact 7.18.84 RD knee

redact RD CUE win 5.09.2023

redact CS 5.09.2023

Posted in 3.156(c), Earlier Effective dates | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

5/07/1975-2nd PLACE–SEA WAR GAMES

Posted on May 7, 2023 by asknod

May 7 is an anniversary event for me. That’s what psychologists call a particularly bad hair day you went through in the war. May 7th embodies an ignoble day of a not-so-special time in our military history. Win. Place. Show. Every gig we’ve ever done in our history was an unmitigated Win. Granted, we sometimes took our sweet time accomplishing many of them but we got ‘er done.

But never in our history up until Vietnam had we ever tucked tail between legs and beat feet on such a massive scale. Never. I heard some tales from AirAm brethren decades after the war about how they had to literally drop their tools down at Tan Son Nhut among the revetments and run for their lives. They were tasked with the impossible project of disassembling and packing hundreds of Porters and like-new Bell 204s and 205s ahead of what looked like an impending rout.

They ran out of time and bugged out for Clark or Taipei with the last of the 130s they were going to pack all the aircraft in. The new owners scored bigtime- probably bigger than this latest fiasco in Kabul. I don’t get it. We are the biggest and mightiest force on earth. Or were. I worry about America. What we see these days is emblematic of that era. No deposit. No return. Or is it what we don’t see because we’re too busy looking down at our phones?

Up is down. Men can become women just by summarily announcing the fact. They’re invited to use the ladies’ room… by politicians who won’t be using them themselves. Men can now chest feed and menstruate. Science has been wrong since the dawn of time. I disremember in all of my 72 years that I’ve ever seen Mr. Red Robin and Miss Sally Blue Jay get married and live happily ever after… with tons of grandbirds in their old age. Or two bucks bond for life. I have much to learn. I’m not angry. I’m not depressed. I’m curious how all this is going to play out and damn glad I won’t be around to see the eventual aftermath.

But one thing I knew early on from my Dad in ’65 was that this dustup in Vietnam was going to be a dead end and an unmitigated disaster. When he arrived as V/C of 7th AF in June 1966, we were already almost out of 500 and 1000 lb. MK 82s. 250 pounders were like firecrackers and you had to drop four to even make a good dent in the earth. Hand grenades and 5.56 were also having supply chain problems. We were flying old F 100s and  F 105s as our front line fighters. The F4 was just arriving and didn’t even have internal guns. Who needed them? We had Sidewinders and Sparrows. Our gunships were leftover C 47s and dollar 19s. C model Hueys were so underpowered they took the doors off  their gunships to take off with a full load of ordnance. Some would do hot refuels and top off the tanks. They had to sit and wait for some of the JP4 to burn off before they could pull pitch.

McNamara, the Ford whiz kid, loved to tamper with production. What he’d envisioned for Vietnam was a test run. The M 16 and the M 60 were going to be vetted and refined. The C 130 was going to be upgraded frequently to expand payload and range. Everything was calculated out dang near to the last CBU 26. If this worked out as predicted, we’d drop the last of the ordnance and Jane Fonda’s best friends forever-  Ho Chi Minh and Co.- would throw up their hands in abject surrender. The word ‘If” was the operable conjunction. Sadly, McNamara grossly underestimated their resolve and by Tet ’68 we finally had to acknowledge all the body counts in the world were not going to be the metric of success.

Funny how that didn’t work out. When we ran out of 1000 lb. MK 82s, we started buying them back from the West German Air Force. We gave them away in ’45 to rebuild their post-WW2 Air Force and then were forced to buy them back at $900 a pop plus shipping for several years until we cranked up production at home. But what I really can’t understand is how we could repeat the identical same fustercluck fifty years later at Kabul Airpatch.

The safe-sex prophylactic to keep your barrel clean.

I saw a horrendous amount of waste over the fence up north. Frequently, we ran out of cargo chutes to drop pallets with chickens or pigs or .30 cal M1 Carbine ammo. The ammo we didn’t kick out. We had to land and unload it. The chickens and the pigs had to learn how to fly and they weren’t very adept at it. I guess that where the old tag line- “Pork. It’s what’s for dinner” came from. The Meo never complained. They just had to rearrange the dinner menu on Mondays and Thursdays when we were out of chutes.

Those smaller chutes were also good as makeshift body bags to transport the recently departed back to their home of record for burial. In addition to 450 Kip per month, they got the full meal deal-a burial plot and Taps if they were unlucky enough to run into some of that Pathet Lao “microaggression”.

When my son reached 18 or 20 in ’08, I finally hit 100% Permanent and Total. Buckwheat became entitled to Chapter 35 DEA college benefits on VA’s dime. It suddenly began to dawn on him this largesse came from my service. He began to ask all manner of questions about the War and my part in it.  I’d never told a soul all those years in between-not even Cupcake. Nobody was much of a history buff when I returned in ’72. Cupcake’s dad was the same way following WWII. He never discussed it with his family either. The most I ever got out of him was that he’d gone ashore in the second wave at Omaha Beach in June 1944 and went from Corporal to 2nd Lieutenant in less than 90 minutes. End of story. Nothing much to see here. Move along.

My Uncle Jay was captured at Corregidor and did the 67-klic fun run up to Camp O’Donnell with a round through his ankle. All he’d tell me as a child was they had to drink each others’ urine to stay hydrated. He escaped three times in his 3 and a half years there. That explained the three fingers missing from his left hand. He said little else about it. After Vietnam, it all made sense to me.

My son kept at it and asked me quite frankly if I’d ever seen dead Pathet Lao soldiers. Then one day if I’d ever seen dead American soldiers. And finally a year later if I’d ever killed anyone in those two years. I recalled what one of the more gung ho pilots I flew with once said.  My reply was “The first one will cost you, son- you’ll burn in Hell. Fortunately, the rest are free.” I left it at that. If I knew, I might get PTSD.  Having a 40% casualty rate puts a damper on small talk. Truth be told, I was too busy to ever count when we did the bomb damage assessments after each pass. What possible good would it do to know? It reminded me of the Roman Colosseum and the Gladiator era-Lions 5, Christians 0.

So, here we are fifty years later and engaged in the same tom foolery of abandoning our military assets- and often our own citizens- and bugging out. We’re no better than the ARVN in the last days shedding their uniforms and boots and leaving the civilians to fend for themselves. On numerous occasions, Cupcake has remarked that she is relieved that her Dad isn’t alive to see what has become of our beautiful country. I feel the same. While we may have come in second place in RVN, I feel we kept our pride and professionalism. I’m sure all those folks who served in Iraquistan have similar sentiments.

We don’t do politics or religion here at asknod. We help Veterans. But at some point, it would seem that our Government would start helping them too. Golly. If they did there wouldn’t be any need for all of us litigators. Considering the Veterans Administration has been around since the Revolutionary War in some iteration or another, you’d think they’d have this cat in the bag by now. Oddly, with every new war they create more Veterans and have less money for them. But boy howdy, look at the VA rosters and they have Yoga instructors now. If you’re feeling stressed out from 0900 to 1000 hrs, you can do stress reduction classes with Lisa on Zoom right there at your desk. Yeppers. She’s a GS 12 and probably is pulling down $82 K/year. Johnny Veteran is pulling down a 70% rating without TDIU = $1804/month or $21,648/year. But wowser-he gets free VA medical and acupuncture for his chronic back pain instead of oxycontin. The yoga classes, however, are reserved for those needy VA employees.

May 7 should be Vietnam Remembrance Day. VA recognizes the period of 1/09/1961 to 5/07/1975 as the period of war. Where in Sam Hill did March 29th come from? Was it a leftover or did they usurp National Butterfly Appreciation Day for it? Whoever’s in charge of handing out days stepped on their necktie. Considering there aren’t too many of us left who were there, it seems we’d get a vote on the subject. I think I speak for all Vietnam Vets when I say we’d be happy to give it back to the Butterfly enthusiasts when we’re gone.

What the hey? In 20 more years, there won’t be any of us Vietnam Vets alive anyway…well, with the exception of all those VFW combatants who insist they were SOGs and sailed up the Mekong in a Destroyer on a secret mission. Ask them which fork of the Mekong and they’ll give you that 1000-yd. stare. It’s priceless. Gosh, you mean there’s more than one? Who woulda thunk it?

I thank all of you who did serve there. I just think we deserve to own this day as much as anyone does. We have VE Day. We have VJ Day. We celebrate the 4th of July as the birth of our nation. I guess the Big Guys in DC aren’t too proud of  screwing up and prefer to disremember some of our peccadillos. What we don’t have is RVN Day. Maybe it would help us to avoid more of the same in the future. And that’s all I’m gonna say about that.

Posted in Complaints Department, Food for thought, Vietnam War history | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

HLR–BUILDING AN IMO FOR THE FUTURE

Posted on May 2, 2023 by asknod

I finally won a TDIU for a Vet I’ve written about many times. He was riding shotgun just south of Quan Loi in April ’71 when the Zipperheads command-detonated a monster IED in the road. They were Number 2 in the column and the explosion not only blew their 18-wheeler off the road completely but cut the column off from the lead gun trucks. The rest of the vehicles in the convoy were trapped behind the hole in the road-and it was a daisy. It must have been at least a 250 or 500 lb. MK 82 dud. It plumb messed up  the driver and threw Stuart and his pig clear of the cab. He woke up a few minutes later and dragged his buddy out of the cab which was now almost fully engulfed in flames. And then the shooting began in earnest.

Stuart got a Purple Heart for this. He also got a raging case of TBI with a side of bent brain that never resolved. A week later, he had to report for a toothache and one of his best friends took his place on another convoy. Best Friend was picked off by a sniper and Stuart has been living with that for the last fifty four years. I know exactly how he feels but don’t feel like talking about it any more than he does. It leaves a hole in your mind- the what if… syndrome. The guilt is overwhelming at the time and will never resolve. I’d say whoever says time heals all wounds never was in combat.

So I was appalled over the last five years of repping him that VA just flat out dug in their heels and gave him the bum’s rush every time. No matter what I filed him for, it was always “What part of ‘no’ don’t you get, Graham? I finally was able to get my foot in the door with the TBI by showing these dicks what combat looks like close up. Stuart had pictures of the event.

I edited them and inserted  type-face to identify the  event… and bingo. I resubmitted them as a supplemental claim with a 4138 and VA went back and looked at his STRs. Sure enough, he’d reported to the field aid station for the gash on his head and a ‘scrip for Valium to take the edge off his bent brain. In war, you don’t get to yell Olly Olly In Come Free. Each night begins a new day. All 365 of them.  You strap on the airplane every morning and fly over to kill ’em right back. You get even in your  own mind… until the next friend is KIA. Pretty soon, you quit making friends. Too bad your brain won’t quit making nightmares.

After winning the TBI and headaches, I tackled the Bent Brain syndrome. You’d think with a PH, this would be a cake walk. Well, not exactly at VA. They don’t do cake walking. Apparently, he didn’t measure up. Stuart’s old world. He showered, shaved and put on his good suit to go to the c&p. He dutifully answered all the questions truthfully and tried to rein in his emotions. I get that. Nobody wants to appear like a weak-minded pussy. Men are strong. They don’t cry in public. Or at least those of us who have seen shit we wouldn’t even tell our wives about don’t. The shrink said he had some issues but boy howdy they sure didn’t involve Quan Loi and sent him packing.

Shucks. That flat ass pissed me off. I sought out my specialist psychologist in PTSD and had her do an extensive workup on him in a Zoom call. Sure enough, she dx’d him at 70% and listed a litany of issues the VA shrink blew off as him faking it. That tells me a lot about VA medicine. I’ve spotted this phenomenon frequently. The reason most Vets are denied for PTSD is simple. They dutifully attend these Vet Center Kumbaya meetings and the Kumbayameister with a bunch of initials after his name-none of which say Psy.D- tells you that you have the depressive disorder. You file with it and get the denial that says “Unfortunately, you lack a diagnosis of PTSD.” WTF, over? Your Kumbaya dude already dx’d you with it, right? What happened?

Welcome to the “you can’t get there from here” club. VA has fenced you out unless you want to go off the c&p reservation and get a truly independent opinion from a non-VA expert in bent brains. You will never get that diagnosis once you’ve done the c&p and been identified as someone who has bent brain but it isn’t service connected. They’ll tell you you were abused as a child by your father and that caused it. What the hey? When you had your c&p, they asked you all about your early childhood before military service. You gave them the ammunition to shoot you down.

I can show you a thousand PTSD DBQs that all read the same. “Vet has a megacase of major depressive disorder stemming from events (before) (after) (choose one) service.” With Stuart, I was flummoxed. He had the PH so he should have been a shoo-in.  This is what made it so incredible to see him get shitcannned.

After I filed him this time, the VA pukes came unglued. Sorry Charlie. We don’t accept private IMOs from Vets. It has to be one of our own who decides if he has a psychosis. Well, yes that’s  true. But in the real world of winning VA claims, once they deny you, going off the reservation to get a real independent medical opinion is the only way to win. Why VA raters say otherwise is simple. They have an agenda. If you believe them, you lose. And you’ll keep on losing if you keep sending in “proof” that you have it from folks with MSW, MHS, MHW and about a hundred other cute acronyms which don’t include Psy.D or Ph.D or whatever.

 

The same thing applies to TBI. You need a neurologist to say you have it. A regular doctor with MD or GP after his name doesn’t have the finesse VA neurologists have to deny you. Besides, you may have sought out one of the doctors on VA’s Shit list of bogus IMO people. In that case, you’re doubly screwed because then you get the moniker “faking TBI” added into your file. Credibility is your currency in trade. You never want to be branded as a fake. That’s one of the biggest claim killers in the book.

Now, the subject line of this blog is important. When your private Psychologist or Psychiatrist does his/her assessment on you after your denial, they get to write up a DBQ . Certain parts of the document are going to be the quintessential elements that determine a) service connection and b) how high you’re rated. VA doesn’t advertise what they are. Shoot. Neither do the shrinks. It’s secret squirrel shit as far as I can tell. So, I’ll take you on a tour of the document. Here’s a 100% rating for an example. This Vet is purely a MDD claim for depression due to his blindness. If he had a TBI comorbidity, it would endorse that, too.

MDD DBQ for A&A

Note that part 3  on  page 3 where I highlighted it. Each box from “no mental disorder” to “total occupational and social impairment” is a percentage. No MDD means denied. Each one after is the rating from 10 to 100.  Now scroll down to page 6 of 8. Note in Section III SYMPTOMS, it says “for VA rating purposes, check all symptoms that apply to the Vet’s diagnosis.” Certain of these symptoms will determine if you get 50, 70 or 100%. In addition, if “intermittent inability to perform activities of daily living, including maintenance of minimal personal hygiene” is checked off, it means you need aid and attendance.

I don’t know why others who write VA blogs like mine don’t reveal this information. The VA tells you in §4.130 in haec verba what they use to determine the ratings percentage:

VA PTSD ratings 

100%

Total occupational and social impairment, due to such symptoms as: gross impairment in thought processes or communication; persistent delusions or hallucinations; grossly inappropriate behavior; persistent danger of hurting self or others; intermittent inability to perform activities of daily living (including maintenance of minimal personal hygiene); disorientation to time or place; memory loss for names of close relatives, own occupation, or own name.

70%

Occupational and social impairment, with deficiencies in most areas, such as work, school, family relations, judgment, thinking, or mood, due to such symptoms as: suicidal ideation; obsessional rituals which interfere with routine activities; speech intermittently illogical, obscure, or irrelevant; near-continuous panic or depression affecting the ability to function independently, appropriately and effectively; impaired impulse control (such as unprovoked irritability with periods of violence); spatial disorientation; neglect of personal appearance and hygiene; difficulty in adapting to stressful circumstances (including work or a worklike setting); inability to establish and maintain effective relationships.

50%

Occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity due to such symptoms as: flattened affect; circumstantial, circumlocutory, or stereotyped speech; panic attacks more than once a week; difficulty in understanding complex commands; impairment of short- and long-term memory (e.g., retention of only highly learned material, forgetting to complete tasks); impaired judgment; impaired abstract thinking; disturbances of motivation and mood; difficulty in establishing and maintaining effective work and social relationships.

30%

Occupational and social impairment with occasional decrease in work efficiency and intermittent periods of inability to perform occupational tasks (although generally functioning satisfactorily, with routine behavior, self-care, and conversation normal), due to such symptoms as: depressed mood, anxiety, suspiciousness, panic attacks (weekly or less often), chronic sleep impairment, mild memory loss (such as forgetting names, directions, recent events).

10%

Occupational and social impairment due to mild or transient symptoms which decrease work efficiency and ability to perform occupational tasks only during periods of significant stress, or symptoms controlled by continuous medication.

0%

A mental condition has been formally diagnosed, but symptoms are not severe enough either to interfere with occupational and social functioning or to require continuous medication.

The regulations say you must suffer from some –but not necessarily all- of the symptoms listed for each ratings % in order to receive that ratings %. See? That wasn’t so hard. But be forewarned that you aren’t going to get away with blowing smoke up the psychologist’s butt. They have many ways of cross-testing you as a quality control check to weed out the fakers.

And now for the clincher. When I have a private psychologist do my IMOs for my client, I ask them to include a synopsis on what his or her employment future looks like based on the diagnosis. Can s/he still work? Can they function well enough to sell time-share condos from their own living rooms and make $12,000 bucks a month in a sedentary physical work environment?   Or might they be prone to explode and to tell a potential customer to f— off and die because they (the potential customer) didn’t want to buy the condo?

By prepositioning this information into the IMO, you solve the next problem. If your Vet is only 70%, VA isn’t going to get all warm and fuzzy and grant TDIU. They’ll say he has a dynamite future in real estate and can still work. With Stuart, I had my psych add in what appeared to be an innocuous statement saying  he was trained in welding and did that for 30 years. Then his significant other came down with cancer so he switched over to the role of caregiver until she died. And, outside of that, his employment potential was now nil.

When I got back from DC and Orlando, I had the HLR informal conference with a 22-year retired Vet and DRO. He said he just didn’t see enough in the file to warrant TDIU. I pointed to my Psych’s comment saying he was never going to get rich in real estate. Bingo. TDIU. Of course, the Purple Heart didn’t hurt nor did the TBI shit.

redact RD 4.26.23

redact Code sheet 4.26.23

I use this technique with other IMOs where I ask the IMO author to opine on other residuals of a disease like Hepatitis C. Those of us who were early users of Interferon come down frequently with DM II and a host of other shit. I have the author connect these to the disease  process and then file later for them and reuse the IMO a second time.

I don’t charge for my knowledge. I don’t monetize this game. I help Vets-just like they’d help me if the shoe was on the other foot. Welcome home Stuart. I’m sorry it took so long. And that’s all I’m gonna say about that.

P.S. Resident 51st Inf. LRRP Edd sent me this. Ouch.

Posted in PTSD, TBI, TDIU, Tips and Tricks | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

EXPOSED VET RADIO SHOW THURSDAY–4/27/2023

Posted on April 25, 2023 by asknod

John emailed me last night and asked if I was over my jetlag yet. Heeeeell no. I woke up this morning at 0400 and was up and at ’em. It’ll abate but I’m headed back to DC on July 11th for my long-awaited Greenhouse hearing. I filed for ILP on May 18th, 2011. The Judge granted it in June ’16 and the VRE Bozos reduced it down to the size of a shoebox with visqueen walls, a 60 watt bulb and a water spigot sans sink. But that’s not what we’re gonna dwell on come Thursday night. 

I’d like to talk about some of the news from the legal conferences I just attended in Orlando. It was the biggest shindig they’ve ever done. It was both live and virtual for those who couldn’t be there in person. Could be having Disneyland next door was a bit of an attractant for some of them.

Anyway, we’ll do some case dissection of some of my recent stuff and some of the new legal tricks we pick up. VA law is not like any other kind of law. Going to college and getting a JD is valuable, I suppose but it’s expensive. Once you get the degree, you have to learn a completely different set of statutes and regulations from scratch. Agents have to learn it, too-but before they get their wings. Attorneys get to do OJT immediately with no knowledge whatsoever. Scary huh?

The Show is Thursday night at 1900 hours on the East Coast and quite obviously 1600 Hrs out here in the wild west. The call in number is still

(515) 605-9764

Via computer, follow this link.

https://www.blogtalkradio.com/jbasser/12221049/connect/ee205c90596885cd3dd893c1c331ea45f983ea0a

We hope to see you there.

Posted in Exposed Veteran Radio Show, Tips and Tricks, VA Agents, Veterans Law | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments