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Wrr posted:If you broke your arm in one place and the guy next to you broke his in two places, you still have a broken arm. More than one person can have PTSD at a time and there isn't a "You Must Have Suffered This Much To Ride the Ride" sign at the VA. Thank you. I also kind of got a general idea of where I might land on the percentages for each of the four things I'm claiming, I already knew tinnitus was 10% though. The rest of the stuff it's hard to know until I get there and they eval. I can guess on my scars for instance, but it's probably 30% at most. In fact my liberal estimate would be about 50%, which with two dependents will be a big help financially. But I'm not getting my hopes up. Appreciate all the help, everyone. My appointment is in an hour so I'll let y'all know how it goes.
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Mar 29, 2023 14:40
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On a lighter note, is there an organization that helps veteran small businesses (looking for tax help for my side gig- indie publishing house ). I feel like there's a ton of specific ones about MBAs and other but since it's niche....
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Apr 2, 2023 00:00
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Next question: waiting to hear back from my transfer school’s VA registrar/counselor, but thought I’d ask here. I am transferring to a university (from a small community college), and the GI Bill doesn’t cover all of the tuition. Does the yellow ribbon program just kick in automatically to cover the rest, or is that something I need to sign up for separately? Like, once I’ve switched schools and all my VA stuff is switched around to the new one, do I need to like, opt in or anything?
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Apr 3, 2023 02:13
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life is killing me posted:Next question: waiting to hear back from my transfer school’s VA registrar/counselor, but thought I’d ask here. I am transferring to a university (from a small community college), and the GI Bill doesn’t cover all of the tuition. Does the yellow ribbon program just kick in automatically to cover the rest, or is that something I need to sign up for separately? Like, once I’ve switched schools and all my VA stuff is switched around to the new one, do I need to like, opt in or anything?   https://www.va.gov/education/about-gi-bill-benefits/post-9-11/yellow-ribbon-program/
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Apr 3, 2023 02:43
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life is killing me posted:Next question: waiting to hear back from my transfer school’s VA registrar/counselor, but thought I’d ask here. I am transferring to a university (from a small community college), and the GI Bill doesn’t cover all of the tuition. Does the yellow ribbon program just kick in automatically to cover the rest, or is that something I need to sign up for separately? Like, once I’ve switched schools and all my VA stuff is switched around to the new one, do I need to like, opt in or anything? Do you have a disability rating greater than or equal to 20%?
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Apr 3, 2023 05:26
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Just want to chime in regarding the Foreign Medical Program: I submitted my request to be enrolled first week of February; called their number yesterday and a recording told me they are currently processing requests received on or before 4 Jan 2023. Lesson is if you think you're going to want it to apply ASAP.
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Apr 3, 2023 05:47
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life is killing me posted:Next question: waiting to hear back from my transfer school’s VA registrar/counselor, but thought I’d ask here. I am transferring to a university (from a small community college), and the GI Bill doesn’t cover all of the tuition. Does the yellow ribbon program just kick in automatically to cover the rest, or is that something I need to sign up for separately? Like, once I’ve switched schools and all my VA stuff is switched around to the new one, do I need to like, opt in or anything? Apply for FAFSA! If you made too much for a year that they're considering and had a loss of income (ie you became a student after active duty) you can file for an adjustment through your school on the year they look at for your taxes. Generally anything paid in grants or scholarships that don't go to your tuition go to your pocket, and big schools have big money. My state school covered my entire tuition on FAFSA if I hadn't been using a guard scholarship, so I got paid enough to comfortably live and to save some every semester.
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Apr 3, 2023 10:58
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Ha, I’m a dork. Thank you for the info I was absolutely capable of looking up for myself but didn’t think about doing. Grip it and rip it posted:Do you have a disability rating greater than or equal to 20%? No, the disability rating is pending, at the moment I’m not eligible for VR&E but I am eligible for the yellow ribbon program. rifles posted:Apply for FAFSA! If you made too much for a year that they're considering and had a loss of income (ie you became a student after active duty) you can file for an adjustment through your school on the year they look at for your taxes. Generally anything paid in grants or scholarships that don't go to your tuition go to your pocket, and big schools have big money. My state school covered my entire tuition on FAFSA if I hadn't been using a guard scholarship, so I got paid enough to comfortably live and to save some every semester. I mean, I did just get laid off and was accepted to a school that doesn’t offer online class options, so who knows. If I can replace my income completely, then I won’t need to keep looking for work. As it stands I don’t even think I could work full-time and attend school full-time when the only option is physically attending class.
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Apr 3, 2023 12:54
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life is killing me posted:I mean, I did just get laid off and was accepted to a school that doesn’t offer online class options, so who knows. If I can replace my income completely, then I won’t need to keep looking for work. As it stands I don’t even think I could work full-time and attend school full-time when the only option is physically attending class. I worked part-time at around 28 hours a week to afford gas to commute to my first school. Once I became 0 efc FAFSA eligible I was getting about 8k a semester of just grants and scholarships to my pocket from FAFSA and my state school's other programs. I just attended full-time. Not super comfortable but it's doable depending on your living situation, and you can always work the summers if you don't want to do summer classes. Working full-time and physically attending in anything close to a difficult program is just not feasible. My CS program had me between 40 and 60 hours a week of classes, studying, and project work alone.
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Apr 3, 2023 23:03
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Had to reschedule my psych eval for this week since the original date was bupkis because I had two flat tires. Went this week and it was…interesting. No idea what to expect there. I had tinnitus in my claim, but the medical didn’t mention it and I haven’t heard from the VA or VES (the medical contractor the VA is using here) about scheduling anything related to that, and I think it may be holding up any decision on my claim. Should I email the DAV and ask, or call VES? rifles posted:I worked part-time at around 28 hours a week to afford gas to commute to my first school. Once I became 0 efc FAFSA eligible I was getting about 8k a semester of just grants and scholarships to my pocket from FAFSA and my state school's other programs. I just attended full-time. Not super comfortable but it's doable depending on your living situation, and you can always work the summers if you don't want to do summer classes. Working full-time and physically attending in anything close to a difficult program is just not feasible. My CS program had me between 40 and 60 hours a week of classes, studying, and project work alone. Yeah and I have responsibilities as a father to my two small children, too. Still torn on what to do there. I may pitch the FAFSA thing to my wife and see if we can put our heads together.
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Apr 28, 2023 14:12
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Well I see on the app they awarded me 10% for surgical scarring, but said “nope” on my claims for lower back pain and tinnitus. Which is funny because they never examined me for tinnitus, and I was around helicopters loving DAILY. Lower back pain only appeared during service, but they are probably assessing based on my allowed range of motion. I plan on appealing both. I haven’t yet received any kind of rating for my depression and anxiety claim, nor has it been mentioned in the status. No idea what to do there. I guess I just have to wait? They said there’s a decision letter available but I can’t find how to access it, and on the website they show my claim is still active so I’m assuming that’s because they’re still processing my mental health claim.
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May 11, 2023 17:27
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life is killing me posted:Well I see on the app they awarded me 10% for surgical scarring, but said “nope” on my claims for lower back pain and tinnitus. Which is funny because they never examined me for tinnitus, and I was around helicopters loving DAILY. Lower back pain only appeared during service, but they are probably assessing based on my allowed range of motion. I plan on appealing both. Go to https://www.va.gov/track-claims/your-claims Click "View details"  Click "Get your claim letters"  Click "Download <insert date here> letter (PDF)"  That'll have all of the details for what has been awarded and why the VA came up with that decision. Hekk fucked around with this message at 19:05 on May 11, 2023 |
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May 11, 2023 19:02
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Following the steps listed in the Voc Rehab Survival Guide (https://www.disabledveterans.org/vre-survival-guide) I have FOIA'd my counselor, both via letter and via VA Form 28-10212. ITT I will catalogue my journey in getting my records from these motherfuckers and getting them to pay for me to get a PhD so I can become a Political Scientist, as per DOT code 051.067-010 and ONet (https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/19-3094.00). Stay tuned for learning how hard they try to gently caress me and how I'm gonna make em squirm to get my benefits over the next year or next couple of years. IDK how long I'll be in the fight for but I will loving win. I'd bet money on that.
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May 24, 2023 17:57
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TheWeedNumber posted:Following the steps listed in the Voc Rehab Survival Guide (https://www.disabledveterans.org/vre-survival-guide) I have FOIA'd my counselor, both via letter and via VA Form 28-10212. ITT I will catalogue my journey in getting my records from these motherfuckers and getting them to pay for me to get a PhD so I can become a Political Scientist, as per DOT code 051.067-010 and ONet (https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/19-3094.00). Stay tuned for learning how hard they try to gently caress me and how I'm gonna make em squirm to get my benefits over the next year or next couple of years. IDK how long I'll be in the fight for but I will loving win. I'd bet money on that. My counselor is loving spinning out rn. I have never seen passive aggressive emails and demands made of me in such a short time. Just an hour after the FOIA she got some poo poo to say. Lmfao.
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May 24, 2023 20:27
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Gents, I'm finally nearing putting in babby's first disability claim, and while I am working with a VSO, I wanted to ask you gents and the collective knowledge here - for an initial disability claim, can secondary conditions be claimed, or do I need to have a disability established before applying for secondary conditions? I've got sinusitis from inhaling burning trash on deployment and get headaches due to it, so my brain thoughts say "ok, the headaches are secondary to the sinusitis", but hell if I know if that's the way to handle it on an initial claim. Any guidance appreciated, thanks.
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Jun 5, 2023 02:34
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maffew buildings posted:Gents, I'm finally nearing putting in babby's first disability claim, and while I am working with a VSO, I wanted to ask you gents and the collective knowledge here - for an initial disability claim, can secondary conditions be claimed, or do I need to have a disability established before applying for secondary conditions? I've got sinusitis from inhaling burning trash on deployment and get headaches due to it, so my brain thoughts say "ok, the headaches are secondary to the sinusitis", but hell if I know if that's the way to handle it on an initial claim. Any guidance appreciated, thanks. I too am starting babby's first disability claim (for myself anyway). When I started my intent to file last week, I put in the things that I intend to claim, including secondary issues. When you put in an issue it lets you categorize it, if you select secondary to another service-connected issue it'll give you a dropdown to pick from your other claimed issues. I don't know how it works beyond that, I would guess that the primary injury/whatever would have to be evaluated and considered service-connected before they would evaluate the second. Anyone have any advice for someone doing it while still on active duty, or generally in the guard (traditional drilling status)? I am doing it under the BDD program which I didn't know existed until last week and am intending to base my future career decisions on the results of the claim.
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Jun 5, 2023 03:24
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I went to give advice and remembered I retired and got my rating over a decade ago and there is 0% chance my experience is useful. I’m trying to think of what GiP folks we’ve had transition out in the last year and all I keep coming back to is Elviscat.
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Jun 5, 2023 15:47
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I think the VSOs are usually the best bet to ask. We all have mostly dealt with our own claims, so our experience is usually zero or one claim.
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Jun 5, 2023 16:40
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LtCol J. Krusinski posted:I went to give advice and remembered I retired and got my rating over a decade ago and there is 0% chance my experience is useful. Similar. I am '06 and want to help folks but I realize things change. I spun a Veteran up regarding benefits and college and there were significant errors in my knowledge. It worked out pretty well but I'm keeping my old mouth shut.
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Jun 5, 2023 19:02
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You can claim a secondary off the bat, but unless it's a rock solid primary, you can run the risk of it getting denied. Apocryphally, I've seen that it may be better to file your primaries first, see what the decision is, then file secondaries after. If there are any issues requiring an HLR or something, you don't want a secondary to be denied, and potentially later refused, because of VA bullshittery. YMMV, of course. Talk to your VSO and see what they say (assuming you have a good VSO to ask.)rifles posted:Anyone have any advice for someone doing it while still on active duty, or generally in the guard (traditional drilling status)? I am doing it under the BDD program which I didn't know existed until last week and am intending to base my future career decisions on the results of the claim.
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Jun 5, 2023 19:19
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Ok well what the hell. My Dad got 10% for tinnitus due to serving on a carrier and I thought I'd give it a shot. I honestly do have a mild case, was issued the defective 3M ear plugs, and was around aircraft/small arms/artillery. Who do I go to to start everything? I am guessing find a VSO first.
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Jun 5, 2023 21:56
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Woof Blitzer posted:Ok well what the hell. My Dad got 10% for tinnitus due to serving on a carrier and I thought I'd give it a shot. I honestly do have a mild case, was issued the defective 3M ear plugs, and was around aircraft/small arms/artillery. Who do I go to to start everything? I am guessing find a VSO first. Yeah I went with the DAV when I retired and while the folks that helped me with my claim weren’t much for small talk, they were really good at digging through my records and telling me what claims I need to make. I will always recommend people use a VSO. You and I go through this process once. Their reps do multiple claims a day. They know this process inside and out.
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Jun 5, 2023 21:59
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TheWeedNumber posted:My counselor is loving spinning out rn. I have never seen passive aggressive emails and demands made of me in such a short time. Just an hour after the FOIA she got some poo poo to say. Lmfao. Does anyone know what it takes to qualify as a paralegal? Because I feel like I am earning hours to that sorta qual loving with these motherfuckers rn.
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Jun 7, 2023 00:25
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I just signed up for a free year of LinkedIn premium. Hope it helps someone. https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/a518653/linkedin-for-veterans-free-premium-career-subscription-and-eligibility?lang=en
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Jun 7, 2023 05:01
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Evil SpongeBob posted:I just signed up for a free year of LinkedIn premium. Hope it helps someone. https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/a518653/linkedin-for-veterans-free-premium-career-subscription-and-eligibility?lang=en I did the same when I was looking for my current position. I'm not sure it helped though. Curious to see what you think of it.
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Jun 7, 2023 12:56
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When it comes to the VA and maintaining your rating, with regard to PTSD, the VA can only go with what you tell them, correct? I'm aware that it is hard coded to be revaluated by the VA with in 5 years to see if your conditions are improving or worsening. When I'm eventually summoned to the local VA clinic, if I say hey, the PTSD and insomnia I claimed isn't improving, how likely is it that they will fight me on that? I'm real concerned about having my rating reduced. Maybe I'm overreacting, but it's certainly on my mind.
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Jun 7, 2023 13:29
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When I was reevaluated for my 70% rating for PTSD they sent me to some guy 80 miles away that I had never seen before. I was nervous as hell and un-prepared; uncomfortable and unfamiliar with the process and with the evaluator. I was apparently supposed to sum up the last 5 years of my life in a one hour session, and check all the boxes required to keep my rating. I inevitably missed some of those boxes, and about a month later received my letter with a notice to reduce my rating to 50%. I appealed the reduction and asked my own psychologist that I see from outside of the VA system to fill out a DBQ form. Since this guy had been dealing with me for several years, he knew how to appropriately evaluate my condition. Within another month I received the appeal decision and my rating was increased to 100%. If you have a private psych doc go ahead and find the DBQ form for your claimed condition and get it filled out ahead of time. You may not even have to do the VA evaluation if you get this turned in. If you don't currently have a private psych doc, start getting your condition documented within the VA system itself. Schedule some mental health appointments and tell them about your worst days, and leave out the details of your good days. Look up the rating conditions for PTSD and make sure you hit all the salient points. They don't coach you what to say in my experience, so if you have trouble in crowds or sleep disturbances or intrusive memories or any of the rating conditions, make sure you speak them aloud and they get written down. If you prepare all this ahead of time you'll have nothing to worry about. It's a really lovely system that makes you rehash terrible memories several times with several different people. I eventually stopped using the VA system for counseling because I had to start over with 3 different therapists in one year because they kept quitting.
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Jun 7, 2023 14:04
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Woof Blitzer posted:Ok well what the hell. My Dad got 10% for tinnitus due to serving on a carrier and I thought I'd give it a shot. I honestly do have a mild case, was issued the defective 3M ear plugs, and was around aircraft/small arms/artillery. Who do I go to to start everything? I am guessing find a VSO first. Start by looking here for your MOS: https://bluecordpatriots.com/duty-mos-noise-exposure-listing/ If you're on there, you're pretty much guaranteed of getting the tinnitus claim. As for filing a claim, you don't need a VSO for something like that - if you have more claims, then yeah, maybe you want to request assistance in getting your claim together. Assuming you're just claiming tinnitus/hearing, you can go to VA.gov and set up an account. Once you're in, there is a ink to filing a new claim- start a claim ASAP so you get the full backpay from that date (you have a year from that date to fully submit your claim). Now that you have an Intent to File (ITF) you'll want to gather any corroborating medical evidence showing hearing loss (if you have anything stating that.) Proof that you were issued the defective earplugs would be helpful as well (letter from the lawsuit, etc.) If the tinnitus causes other problems (migraines, depression, etc) you will need to list them as secondaries (i.e. the tinnitus causes debilitating migraines, as well as insomnia.) Once you've collected that stuff, upload it as supporting documentation - the site will walk you through everything. Upon submitting your full claim, you will, at some point probably get a third party (maybe the VA) request to do a hearing exam. Someone will set up a Compensation and Pension (C&P) exam with you (or a couple if you have more than one issue), and you will go to this appointment and tell the examiner what is going on. Be specific and give examples of how it happened ("I was deck crew on a carrier and issued faulty ear protection.") and how it affects you now ("I have a constant high-pitched squeal in my head that dives me absolutely bonkers.") Once your C&Ps are done, you'll get mailed a travel check and your claim will make it through the labyrinth that is the VA. Sometimes it's fast, sometimes it's slow. It's fun not knowing, right!? Anyway, at some point, a decision will be made on your claim(s) and you will get a letter stating you are now considered xx% for a service connected disability and will receive compensation from the day you initially filed your ITF (this is why it's important to get that in ASAP.) Once you get into the system (even at 0%) you are eligible for VA healthcare (should you desire that) and are "in the system" as the kids say (probably.) If your condition ever gets worse, or you have related issues (again with the migraines, etc) you can claim them as well Good luck!
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Jun 7, 2023 14:46
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lite_sleepr posted:When it comes to the VA and maintaining your rating, with regard to PTSD, the VA can only go with what you tell them, correct? I'm aware that it is hard coded to be revaluated by the VA with in 5 years to see if your conditions are improving or worsening. When I'm eventually summoned to the local VA clinic, if I say hey, the PTSD and insomnia I claimed isn't improving, how likely is it that they will fight me on that? As long as there is a history of documentation, even if they screw you down, the appeals process is your friend. Which reminds me, back when trump was in office, and he had those joker friends of his basically calling the shots at the VA, I got summoned for the 5 year check. It was a bit early, which people told me was odd. So I go in there with my wife, and he basically takes a history, and said cool, thanks, good to go. Nothing about current state, improvements or poo poo getting worse. Literally just a history of what turned my brain into mush. A few weeks later, got the letter saying that my TBI rating got janked from 100%, to 10%. That dog won't hunt, monsignor, so I got the rep to look at it. He's like yeah, that's sketch, put in the appeal. This appeal goes on for literally years, because COVID. Then I get a call from the rep out of the blue. He says, yeah, that guy wasn't even a doctor, he was some dude trump's people put in the west palm beach VAMC to kick down people's TBI ratings because of something he said on TV. His paperwork was basically empty, it was completely indefensible. So I guess they decided to save themselves some work, spoke to some of my doctors, and at 7 years in gave me a permanent and total rating. TLDR; SMDFTB trump you piece of poo poo, and always be appealing.
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Jun 7, 2023 17:19
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not caring here posted:As long as there is a history of documentation, even if they screw you down, the appeals process is your friend. Did you get backpay for that?
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Jun 7, 2023 18:17
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Naah, when you appeal they keep your rating the same in the interim.
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Jun 7, 2023 21:26
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not caring here posted:Naah, when you appeal they keep your rating the same in the interim. Seems like the VA posted:"Error in a previous decision: would apply?
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Jun 7, 2023 23:13
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Oh, original rating was already 100%, went down to 10%, they kept paying at 100% while on appeal. So nothing actually changed. Sorry, I think I worded that poorly
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Jun 7, 2023 23:41
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berzerkmonkey posted:Start by looking here for your MOS: https://bluecordpatriots.com/duty-mos-noise-exposure-listing/ If you're on there, you're pretty much guaranteed of getting the tinnitus claim. Thanks. Great I'm rated as highly probable... 
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Jun 7, 2023 23:52
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Woof Blitzer posted:Thanks. Great I'm rated as highly probable...
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Jun 8, 2023 00:02
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berzerkmonkey posted:You're good. WHAT? I'M FOOD? Still not sure how exactly I'm going to prove issuance of the earplugs. Maybe simply being assigned to a post with a CIF issuing them is enough?
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Jun 8, 2023 00:07
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There is a guarantee I'll be reevaluated, isn't there. It's baked into the PTSD/Insomnia rating.
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Jun 11, 2023 16:35
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Is anyone familiar in any way with Compensated Work Therapy (CWT)? I had an appointment with the local VRE folks to try to beg some housing stipend to go back to school this fall, and the counselor wants me to go thru CWT first. They described working part time in housekeeping at the local VA hospital for minimum wage, which makes me feel really down about the decisions I have made in my career life lol
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Jun 16, 2023 20:39
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US Berder Patrol posted:Is anyone familiar in any way with Compensated Work Therapy (CWT)? Yes - but CWT is separate from VR&E. CWT = part of the Veterans HEALTH Administration - the medical and clinical side. CWT is for those experiencing significant substance or persistent and severe mental illness, or some major psychosocial barrier to employment. This is like rehab, but for work/vocation. VR&E is part of the Veterans BENEFITS Administration. Both VA - but distinct missions and little day-to-day operational connections. quote:I had an appointment with the local VRE folks to try to beg some housing stipend to go back to school this fall, and the counselor wants me to go thru CWT first. They described working part time in housekeeping at the local VA hospital for minimum wage, which makes me feel really down about the decisions I have made in my career life lol https://www.va.gov/careers-employment/vocational-rehabilitation/programs/ This is what you're looking for. If you didn't apply through here, make sure to do so, if you meet eligibility. Check whatever Track makes the most sense for more info on eligibility. I recommend connecting with a local Veteran Service Officer (VSO) to help do this, especially if someone from the VBA / VR&E actually told you to go to the VHA CWT program when you've been requesting admission into VR&E benefits. These are often confused, so it is possible without knowing more, that you were talking to someone at VHA. This stuff is nuanced, so get yourself an advocate in a VSO: https://nvf.org/veteran-service-officers/
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Jun 17, 2023 00:38
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Queer Grenadier posted:Yes - but CWT is separate from VR&E. Thanks for the advice. Yes, I applied for Ch 31 VRE benefits and the appointment I mentioned was with a VBA VRC for VR&E. He told me to go through my mental health provider to get referred to CWT and that they (the local VRE folks) would only really help me with an education plan after I had done a deal with CWT. I actually started my community college night school and job hopping saga the past couple of years bc I didn't like my job... in environmental on a hospital campus. I'm a bit hesitant to sign myself up for the same job at a poorer institution for way less money and also have shrinks ask me about it every week. I am struggling to find work I can stick with (a psychosocial barrier to employment stemming from persistent and severe mental illness, if you will), but ultimately this program doesn't seem like a good fit for me. I was trying to avoid burning the very last of my Ch 33 benefits, but I guess I've just reached the end of the money printer.
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Jun 17, 2023 01:28
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