Question VA Medical Benefits

[FL-JOE]

With the new PACT Act going into effect high blood pressure is now considered a presumptive condition if you served in Viet Nam. I went online and applied and it was very easy. I had just had an office visit with my cardio Doctor so I was able to upload that documentation on my VA application.

They are reviewing these apps in the order that they receive them so I would encourage anyone out there who qualifies to get your application in right away. If your disability is approved by the VA then they will give you back pay clear back to when the bill was signed, which I think was around 8-10-2022.

I am certainly glad now that Trajectory Medical didn't want to mess with my claim because I may have been paying them over $1,000 for something I did online in less than an hour.

 

[Lab00Rat]

Thought I'd provide an update as the time passes.
I used Trajector Medical for assistance in navigating the VA.
I would recommend their use if you are like me and have no clue what to do first or second when navigating the VA.
I would not recommend them if you are fine learning how to navigate the VA, and advocating for yourself.

I learned A LOT about navigating the VA from youtube and watching lawyer videos from Hill and Ponton. Basically, I wanted to understand the process. (https://www.youtube.com/@HillAndPonton)

There are many other plain-speaking video coaches on how, and what you need to do to navigate the VA successfully.
(https://www.youtube.com/@CombatCraig)

Unfortunately, all of them want money from you somehow if you use or sign up for their service. Although, youTube is still free, and there is a lot of useful information without having to pay up-front.

If you need to have a medical opinion or Nexus letter, I'd recommend using an advocate. Trying to get my non-VA doctors to provide an opinion or nexus letter was worse than pulling teeth from a duck. Fortunately, Trajector Medical did provide a medial opinion that I needed for one of my claims.

As I stand now, I've gone from 20% to 90% with two outstanding claims (still...) that "should" get me to 100%. My only take on looking back is that I should have done this a long time ago. My health has been sliding down for a long time, and not acting on the changes cost me time and $$.

I also learned that a lower rating from the VA puts you in a lower priority category for medical treatment. I'm sure someone will argue that it's not true, but I've experienced it first hand. If you have a deteriorating condition that you feel is not rated correctly, get it challenged or changed! Push for medical treatment from outside VA doctors if you feel that the VA is only treating your symptoms and not treating a diagnosis. VA doctors do not give diagnosis, they only treat symptoms. As in my case, it can cause many additional problems as the years go by from improperly treating a symptom and not the root cause.

 

[Neal]

Ask for it to be retroactive, that's how they handled mine. Nice chunk of change from that.