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JIM STRICKLAND'S MAIL BAG: VOLUME #15 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...

-------------------------

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;

My mother is receiving Aid and Attendant benefits. This year my aunt passed away and my mother inherited cash funds over the $80,000 limit. Will this make her ineligible to continue to receive benefits?

Reply;

It's very likely it will. You need to speak with a lawyer familiar with such. This can be very complex and VA can demand repayment of overpayment and so on. The lawyer must practice elderlaw. The lawyer doesn't have to be in your town or even state as this is a matter of federal law. You can use the Google search engine http://google.com  to seek an attorney who practices elderlaw and who is familiar with VA benefits.

Jim;

I have a Mailbag question about Special Monthly Compensation, SMC. I am currently rated at 100%, but the pension is not enough for me to hire people to help me prepare meals or maintain my home. I live in an expensive city and am not willing to move to a lower cost area in order to try to live on my Total Disability pension. I am being considered for SMC for a service-connected cervical spine injury (already previously rated) that prevents me from using my hands properly.

How does the SMC approval process work, do all SMC claims go to the VA Central Office for approval?

I am represented by a Veterans Organization, but I am wary of their allegiances (the VA first then the Veteran) because the VA provides all the infrastructure support to this organization (office space, phones, computer connections, etc...) - this presents a potential "conflict of interest" that makes me uncomfortable.

Reply;

The SMC & A & A benefits award can be a challenge. I don't believe that all applications must be considered at a higher level than your VARO but many are. I've experienced approvals locally but that was in a situation where I was using Congressional intervention to pressure the VARO in an urgent setting.

To my knowledge, the best support for SMC comes directly from a physician in the form of a nexus letter. The veteran's or veteran's family's statements usually won't bear enough weight. Even medical records often aren't enough as they don't clearly state the issues and causes.

A physician statement should clearly state that the veteran is unable to accomplish (x) activities (food prep, eating, laundry, personal grooming, etc.) because of the limiting factors of the SC condition. In other words, the vet can't prepare food because he doesn't have adequate strength to safely lift and use pots, pans, plates, a quart of milk or similar.

Often, it's helpful to note that the veteran must be supervised by a caregiver during meals to ensure the veteran's safety due to a possibility of food aspiration and choking. That applies to taking scheduled medicines too. A veteran may require supervision for grooming so to ensure that he won't fall, get burned by excessively hot water and so on. A factor VA looks for is the amount of time a vet is fully bedridden and/or homebound.

Again, any statement about such physical limitations should include phrasing that tells that the inability to perform an action has a clinical nexus to the SC disability. The best nexus letters are often written by the veteran or his advocate. The physician may then be asked to affirm that the statement is correct by affixing his signature to it. Physicians often don't have time to do the letter correctly and they often don't understand the importance of perfect phrasing of the nexus itself. Writing what is needed for the doctor is not improper so long as all the statements are strictly true and the expert M.D. agrees because he has personal knowledge of the veracity of the statements.

Many SMC's are won on appeal. I see very few SMC awards to veterans who receive them outright. Those that do are usually the severely combat injured who are discharged into long term care centers for therapy. The rest are more like what I assume your situation is, a long term disability that with time and age has finally come to be severely restrictive. The latter are usually easily denied by a VARO because of the lack of expert physician input. Then the appropriate verbiage is sought and it's won on appeal.

Jim;

You may recall that I stumbled across the idea of donating a Wii video game machine to my local VA Medical Center. I decided it would be a good idea to look into donating one through the VA Voluntary Services offices.

http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfFEB08/nf021108-5.htm

http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfMAR08/nf030408-4.htm

To follow up on that, I'm not trying to be a hero or anything, my wife and I went to our local Sam's Club last night at 10:00 PM and waited in line with about 20 others for 12:00 when the store had 33 Wii's for sale. We were able to buy 2 Wii Sports which we are going to give to our regional VAMC. I don't know why it has become so important to me, I don't know anyone that is a patient, works there or even lives in the area, but it has. We were able to get these Wii's for about $275 each which is about what we are planning on getting in the new tax rebate program, so it will not hurt us. I have talked to many of my friends and hope that they will also open their hearts and wallets to help. My son Brian is about to go back for his 3rd tour and I worry about him. I know how long I have suffered with depression and now am finding out that it may actually be PTSD. Maybe these will help some of these broken warriors find their way back to some level of peace. Talk to you soon. (Signed) Dave Young

Reply;

VAWatchdog reader Dave Young has given me permission to publish his name. Ordinarily I go to great lengths to ensure anonymity for readers but I wanted Dave to know on a personal level that his efforts are appreciated.

Dave has done what I wish every veteran would do; Dave has accepted the mission of making the effort to directly help another veteran. Nobody asked Dave to do this. I didn't suggest it to him, he developed his goal and saw it through himself.

That doesn't mean I expect that you run out and spend money to purchase a Wii machine. What it does mean is that one of the most positive ways to solve some of the problems that face us is for one veteran to extend a hand to another.

I've come to believe that the most effective way to accomplish this is through the Veterans Administration Voluntary Services program (VAVS). http://www1.va.gov/volunteer/

Donating your time, even if only a few hours, is invaluable. Saving books and magazines for VAVS means that vets who are waiting for treatments will have something recent to read. Visiting the veterans who are in a nursing home or extended care facility will ensure that a veteran will know that somebody cares...many veterans don't have family or even friends who let them know how important they are.

When you give VAVS money, you know that nothing is skimmed off the top to pay an executive a high salary as happens all too often. http://www.vawatchdog.org/07/nf07/nfJUL07/nf071507-5.htm

Of course, if you want to donate a Wii game machine, there is a need. I suggested that Dave write a note to the director of the VAVS and she replied to him;

“Mr. Young,

First let me say, thank you for your service to our country and second, the notion of donating to fellow veterans is commendable! Last year, we received more than $59 million in cash and item donations within VA...When an organization or individual donates to VA, 100% of the donation goes to veterans, there is no overhead.

So, I have a list of stations who have requested a Wii. If you want the Wii to go to a certain facility, please let me know and I can make arrangements to give you the contact information. (There are) facilities (that) have indicated they would like a Wii to assist in the rehabilitation, if not diversional activities for the veteran patient.

Thank you once again for your offer!

Laura B. Balun
Director, Voluntary Service Office”

By the time you read this on VAWatchdog, veterans will be enjoying the generous gift that Dave arranged for them.

It's been said that actions speak louder than words. The ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius had a better way of saying it, “The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.”

From all of us: Thanks Dave!

Jim,

I have an appeal that's been remanded twice. My claim for "IU" has been ongoing for eight years now. I had to resign from my job in Dec 1999 due to my serviced connected disabilities only. (70%). I filed for "IU" and SSD. Received the SSD in June 2000, back dated to Jan 2000. In Oct 2007 I was told by my AL rep that they had all the info needed to process my claim. Last week I called and was told more med records had been requested. This is not the first time this has happened. It seems they have the updated info and let the claim sit for months in the file room and request more info. Is there any way to stop this cycle and get a decision. I've also been through Voc Rehab and classified for independent living. Any advice would greatly appreciated.

Reply;

Delays are part of the ordinary when dealing with VBA. VBA doesn't feel that it's required to explain a delay nor even acknowledge your question about a delay. All too often it's because they simply don't
know an answer.

I almost wish I could tell you that there's a vast conspiracy to deny and delay. If the VA could conspire to delay it would at least mean they were coming up with some sort of plan. The truth is that delays, lost files, incorrect responses to queries and clearly flawed adjudications of claims makes it very clear that most of our problems are caused by faults deep within the system.

However, that your case has dragged on this long is unusual and you don't seem clear on what's happening, there are actions you should be taking.

But first, you must get organized to determine just why there's been a delay that's gone on this long. You must comprehensively review all of your submissions of applications and evidence to determine when and why it's gotten off track. That means getting your files organized, developing a time line of what's happened over the years and so on.

Only after you understand for yourself the details of why your case has seen this sort of delay will you be able to resolve it with VBA.

-------------------------

posted by Larry Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org

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