SSDI & VA

jdjohnson

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Registered Member
I was medically retired on 28May2013 for numerous medical issues. My main condition is Menieres Disease which is rated at 100%. The VA proposed ratings paperwork says that I will have a re-evaluation in the future but it does not give a date. So as off today I'm still waiting for my official ratings to be completed and I had a few questions.

I recently have been awarded SSDI and I was wondering if I should tell the VA now before they make my ratings official.

My next question is when I received my proposed ratings it did not mention any SMC. So I was wondering how would I go about applying for SMC while I'm waiting for my official ratings. I have looked at the Yuku VA discussion forum and noticed several people have been given SMC for Meniere's Disease. I tried contacting those people but I have not received any responses.

Any Thoughts?
 
Were you rated 100% P&T or just 100%? I'm assuming that you weren't rated P&T if they are requiring future exams. I believe that SMC only applies to P&T. As for the SSDI and VA, why do you feel the VA needs to know? It won't affect their decision, or play into anything with the VA in any way.:confused:
 
The disabilities VA can consider for SMC include:

loss, or loss of use, of a hand or foot
immobility of a joint or paralysis
loss of sight of an eye (having only light perception)
loss, or loss of use, of a reproductive organ
complete loss, or loss of use, of both buttocks
deafness of both ears (having absence of air and bone conduction)
inability to communicate by speech (complete organic aphonia)
loss of a percentage of tissue from a single breast, or both breasts, from mastectomy or radiation treatment
 
I was medically retired on 28May2013 for numerous medical issues. My main condition is Menieres Disease which is rated at 100%. The VA proposed ratings paperwork says that I will have a re-evaluation in the future but it does not give a date. So as off today I'm still waiting for my official ratings to be completed and I had a few questions.

I recently have been awarded SSDI and I was wondering if I should tell the VA now before they make my ratings official.

My next question is when I received my proposed ratings it did not mention any SMC. So I was wondering how would I go about applying for SMC while I'm waiting for my official ratings. I have looked at the Yuku VA discussion forum and noticed several people have been given SMC for Meniere's Disease. I tried contacting those people but I have not received any responses.

Any Thoughts?

Well, I would ask myself "what significant benefit would I achieve" from informing the DoVA about the recent award of SSA SSDI? What type of SMC did the previous Yuku individuals receive for their Meniere's disease?

Moreover, what was the SSA SSDI award based on as the primary diagnosis and secondary diagnosis? What did SSA state were the medically determinable impairments and its severity?

To that extent, please keep in mind that your DoVA disability claim may potentially be extended due to the introduction of new evidence into the current claim. Is this something that you are willing to accept prior to the potential determination of your DoVA official ratings?

Albeit whatever decision is made, please remain positively proactive throughout your interactions to ensure the best possible solution(s) for yourself, and your loved ones;positive thinking yields positive results. ;)


Thus, I quite often comment that "possessing well-informed knowledge is truly a powerful equalizer."

Best Wishes!
 
Well, I would ask myself "what significant benefit would I achieve" from informing the DoVA about the recent award of SSA SSDI? What type of SMC did the previous Yuku individuals receive for their Meniere's disease?

Moreover, what was the SSA SSDI award based on as the primary diagnosis and secondary diagnosis? What did SSA state were the medically determinable impairments and its severity?

To that extent, please keep in mind that your DoVA disability claim may potentially be extended due to the introduction of new evidence into the current claim. Is this something that you are willing to accept prior to the potential determination of your DoVA official ratings?

Albeit whatever decision is made, please remain positively proactive throughout your interactions to ensure the best possible solution(s) for yourself, and your loved ones;positive thinking yields positive results. ;)


Thus, I quite often comment that "possessing well-informed knowledge is truly a powerful equalizer."

Best Wishes!

I can share what happened to me on this issue. But remember, each case can be different....

I was awarded SSDI and rec'd my SSDI determination letter ONE MONTH BEFORE I rec'd the call from the VA Rep in charge of going through their list of everything wrong with me and BEFORE he set up all my C & P exams for the IDES process.

When I told the VA guy I had just been approved for SSDI, he asked for a copy of my SSDI determination letter (my SSDI application had to go all the way to the SSDI "Judge" who determined I was eligible for SSDI). So I faxed him a copy of that MULTI-page SSDI award document.

I don't really know what or if any impact it made on my VA award, but in the end, the VA DID award me 100% P & T.

As I understand things, the VA and Social Security have different and very specific criteria and guidelines to follow. And though this may be true, I do think the VA guy having a copy of my SSDI award letter - that that information may have been an assist to the VA rater in terms of getting things rated correctly the first time and not missing anything or underrating anything. Perhaps the SSDI information simply could have been used to further back up the medical evidence in my MEB/PEB files - or whatever the VA gets from the Army at that stage in the IDES process.

So I suspect in my case, the introduction of this SSDI letter may have served a very useful purpose. Maybe it helped to give the VA a "roadmap" to get to a more accurate and correct rating.

However, I can only surmise at this point.

But I don't think this introduction of my SSDI award letter hurt me in the least bit as I ended up with 100% P&T from the VA.

V/r,
nwlivewire
 
Deafness can often result from Menieres, which is why some may have had SMC. Or, they had some ED.
 
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