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Veteran - Presumptive Claims

Bryan2525

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Any vets have success making a claim for presumptive disability.
Particularly the exposure (long term 10+ years) to:
JP-5 - exposure to exhaust and fuel (on your skin, in the drinking water, water used to wash clothing and food you ate).
AFFF - a minimum of at least once a year for @ 10 years.
Jet RADAR coolant- @ 10 years.

I am interested in any resulting immune disorders that they may have covered.

I am not a Vietnam or Desert Storm/Shield or Afghan Veteran.

I am honorably discharged. At this time I have a 0 disability rating. The VA advises I make to much money to qualify for any help. The VA advised I need to divorce my wife, sell my home, move into a card board box under an overpass and then they could possible help.
 
Need more background man. The VA has definitely been prioritizing deployed to combat zone vets. The recent push has been agent orange, gulf war syndrome, PACT act, and TBI.

The VA never asked me about me about my civ salary. Also, in the reserve and NG, they can still draw VA while having a job, so civ job success isn’t a factor in determining disability. If your counselor told you that you need to find a different counselor.
 
The last I heard all veterans are eligible for "care" through the VA. What you pay for services is based on your income unless you have a disability rating, then it is changes according to your rating. I pay nothing for any VA health care because I am rated over 50%. Under 50 you may have to pay a co-pay depending on income for non service connected issues. Even under 50% all service connected issues are covered at no charge.
As for presumptive claims, I have one. Hearing loss/tinnitus. It still took years for them to recognize the claim.
 
300Whisper,
Thanks for your response.
As I noted I have at this time a 0 disability rating. Therefore, my income is very relevant to my ability to get care from the VA. This is per the VA representative I spoke with, took my application over the phone, summarily denied my application and sent a follow up letter to me.
I am currently working on getting a disability rating based on my initial military physical hearing test and my discharge hearing test. If I can get a disability rating for hearing loss things might change.

I have just reviewed the PACT Act and it appears I may be able to find help for my issue. I am in the process of filing at this time.

I am really looking for a veteran how has filed for a disability using a presumptive disorder.

Thanks,

Bryan2525
 
My understanding is 10% is max allowable for hearing loss. It is a start though. Unless the rules have changed I still think the person you spoke to is wrong. When I first went to the VA they were trying to get all vets to sign up. I had to pay a $20 copay for office visits and $8 per month for each prescription. That was based on income. I never heard of not being eligible due to income. Like I said, the rules may have changed since there are so many vets enrolled now.
 
For presumptive you just have to show from either your military or civ medical records when the disease started and how it has affected your life. The good news is that presumptive disease does not have to be proven that the military caused it. It’s assumed that the military has caused it.

You just have to show proof you have it and it’s negatively affecting you. If you have evaluations, awards, or job descriptions from your job in the service that shows it’s a leading cause for your issue then that only further helps your claim. The more documents you have showing the diagnosis, issues, and care treatment you’re on, the better.

The good news for 0% is that you are now in the VA system and they recognize that you have service related issues. It’ll be easier to re upload claims or start new claims. You essentially have to provide all the supporting documents to make the VAs research into your issues easy. If they have to do any additional work, they will deny it since they are busy and have a back log from the agent orange and PACT act veterans.

My brother did a presumption claim for a really rare nerve issue on the side of his head and got 70% for that one issue. He had to spoon feed the VA and waited 2 years for his approved claim. He got back paid 2 years though which was an insane amount of money. He’s a GANG officer, still in the GANG, and is very successful on the civ side so the VA did not take into account his personal success. Just the nerve issue.

I would go in person to a local VA counselor with all your medical documentation ready to go. I would not go back to whoever you have already worked with.

For tinnitus, it’s normally an automatic 10%, very easy to prove, and opens the door for more hearing loss exams. I’m rated 20% for hearing loss due to tinnitus getting my foot in the door.
 
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