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JIM STRICKLAND'S MAIL BAG: VOLUME #29 FOR 2008 --
Veterans' Advocate Jim Strickland answers
questions from VA Watchdog readers.
Veterans' Advocate Jim Strickland provides
regular columns for VA Watchdog dot Org.
If you would like to contact Jim about his
columns, you can email him here...
The archive of Jim's articles
is here...
To find an answer to a specific VA benefits
question, use the VA Watchdog search engine...
click here...
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by Jim Strickland
NOTE: Letters in my mailbag are reprinted
just as they come to me. Spelling and grammar are left as is and only
small corrections are made to improve readability, ensure anonymity or
delete expletives that may offend some readers. This is not legal advice.
You should always seek the advice of an attorney who is qualified in
Veterans' law before you make any decisions about your own benefits.
Jim;
I am currently rated at 30% for PTSD, I was told that to increase my
disability that I would have to receive treatment, is this true?
Reply;
Yes. In order to provide evidence that your PTSD is worse, you need to
show that you've been trying to improve your situation. That requires a
steady and continuing series of treatment, medication and records.
If you aren't in treatment, you likely have no evidence of increasing
problems and VA will assume you're getting along well and don't need an
increase.
Article continues below:
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Jim;
I am a Vietnam veteran with a 80 % rating for Agent Orange Diabetes ( Now
type 1 and on an insulin pump) and other related Diabetes problems. I had
a hearing with an RO in 2003 , concerning a claim for unemployabilty.
During the hearing , I advised the RO that I had a part time 16 hour a
week job.
She later commented the following "The only thing that I have to add is
that entitlement to Individual Unemployability is that it pays 100 per
cent rate so that it would pay you the same rate as though you were 100
percent. And marginal employment is considered anything under this years
poverty level, and 16 hours a week would certainly be considered marginal
and would not preclude entitlement to this benefit." I was later awarded
the benefit.
Because of declining health, I had to leave the 16 hour a week job on
October 1, 2005 and I remain totally unemployed. In 2004 I earned 16
thousand dollars and until October 2005, I earned nearly 14 thousand
dollars that year. In the middle of 2007, I received a form the VA asking
for the amount of money I earned in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007. I informed
them of my earnings for 2004 and 2005 and of no earnings for 2006 and
2007. I now learn that I earned in excess of the poverty level for those
years. Up until that time I had no clue as to what the poverty level was
and had went on the assumption that the RO knew what she was talking about
when she told me "16 hours a week would certainly be considered marginal
and would not preclude entitlement to this benefit.
The VA now has cut my benefits to 80 per cent and are asking for 55
thousand dollars in back benefits covering those nearly 4 years. Had I
known I was not eligible for unemployability benefits, I would not have
applied for them. That is why I asked the RO the question. Not once did
she ask about what I earned. Now the benefit money was spent with no
expectation of having to repay it.
I guess my question is, since the mistake was made by the VA and not me,
do I have an argument. It sure doesn't seem fair that I would have to
suffer when I tried to do everything by the book.
Thank You for your time.
Reply;
If VA errs, it's usually your problem, not theirs. In this case "marginal
employment" refers to dollars, not hours. You know that now.
However, you do have an argument that I believe is likely winnable. One of
the things you have to love about the system is that almost every step of
the way has an appeal.
You must immediately write a Notice of Disagreement (NOD) to your VARO
pointing out that it was their error. You begin by asking that the amount
be waived entirely due to the hardship it would cause you. Then you ask
for your 100% rating back. Many of these issues are resolved favorably if
you timely reply and engage them with a logical argument.
Jim;
I am writing this letter to see if you know any way of helping me. my boy
friend is 54 years old and has had hepatitis c since 1995. he is a viet
nam vet he has va medical but is a non service connected vet. he has
cirrosis and liver canccer. the va sent him to a teaching hospital they
sent him there for a scan the found liver cancer and told him that he was
not a candidate for surgery and n not eligible for a transplant.
now what I truly believe in this case is that the teaching hospital takes
their instructions from va of what they will pay for and what they wont.n
they told him because he had cirrosis he was not eligible for trans plant
this is not always the case I have researched and find that most liver
transplants arte performed for cirrosis and liver cancer. is is true that
va will n ot pay for transplant because the surgery is so costly and the
anti rejection drugs.
I even offered to be tested to be a living donor if I matched they still
said no. they say they don’t want to put a healthy liver in a diseased
body. this is crazy. my boy friend recently started receiving social
security disabilty but does not yet have medicare. he believes in va and a
lot of people have tried to convince him to get a second opinion but he
believes in va and thinks that they are trying to help him but with all
the news about how vets are not being taken care of properly I don’t think
va cares about his life one bit.they had him on a chemo drug that was
approved in 2005 for renal cancer and just approved for liver cancer in
early 2007 for liver cancer which they have now taken him off of saying it
is not working.
he is jaundiced and va did nothing to help him or made any suggestions it
is like they just don’t care. the fda info says it is n ot good to give
the drug nexavar to patients with liver disease. all I want is the truth
and if you could please give me any information you can find on this issue
I would be ally eternally grateful if you could help me .I don’t want to
see him die because of the va. please write me back
Reply;
I'll start by telling you that I'm a health care professional. I spent 35
years in hospitals and I understand how they work.
Today I'm deeply involved with many veterans...patients in the health care
system. My best friend here is sick with a cancer and in the last few
years I've seen him get his care from our VA hospital in Charleston, SC.
That VA is connected to the Medical University of South Carolina much like
your VA is to the local teaching hospital.
My friend has had 5 periods of remission and relapse. Each time he has to
have chemo and radiation. He's been taken to Vanderbilt in Nashville for a
bone marrow transplant. He's had numerous hospitalizations, CT scans, MRI
scans, PET scans and much more.
The VA system has never batted an eye at the expense. When it comes to
those vets who are very sick, the budget isn't considered. The bad press
that you heard of wasn't about the medical care for veterans, it was about
matters like convenience and sometimes things moving too slow.
The VA health system is maybe the best in the world. If he had private
insurance the company may be trying to cancel it because he's too
expensive and they need to make a profit. The VA has no such worries, they
don't ever think of a profit.
It's unfortunate but the best medicine on the planet sometimes doesn't
cure everyone. I can promise you that if a transplant would help, he would
be on the list no matter any expense.
There is a reason other than money that he isn't being considered. It may
be the Hep C...that can be a bad disease.
I'm afraid all you can do is trust that the system knows best. Again, I'm
confident he isn't being denied anything because of any budget.
Jim;
I found out about the University of Detroit going around helping Vets with
their VA claims.I found out about them being in Houston.Tx. after the fact
or I would have been there.Also was told they had a attorney training for
lawyers in Houston whom will be willing to help Veterans.I have tried to
get infomation on this with no luck.have you heard any thing about this
and whom I might be able to find out?
Reply;
Have a look here and see if what you need is in there...
http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfFEB08/nf020708-5.htm
http://www.law.udmercy.edu/about/distinction.php
To contact the Veterans Law Clinic for assistance, please call
313.596.0262.
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Scott
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