Success so far in Phila, but more questions

[mbrnich]

With the help of this wonderful website, I applied for A&A for my 87 yr old WWII vet father with Alzheimers.  It took a long time to get everything together but I followed all the instructions given on this site and my claim was rec'd by the Phila office on 1/11/12 and we rec'd notification that he has been awarded the full amount, including COLA on 1/28/11.  We will be making a donation Debbie, and I wish it could be more because this website is invaluable and we wouldn't have gotten this far without it.

For the retroactive entitlement payment, they enclosed forms 21-0516-1 and 21-8416 which I will complete and return.  It also states that we need to "furnish a medical statement covering the findings, diagnosis and prognosis of medical treatment or examination by a licensed physician in your state" reflecting information about his medical condition from the prior year.  It goes on to list specifically what this report should include such as "# of hours in bed, posture and general appearance, daily activities, effects or advancing age (e.g. loss of memory or balance), restriction of use of limbs etc. My question is -- Do I just ask the doctor to write something confirming that for the prior year he did have Alzheimers and was in need of assistance with routine tasks, or is there a VA form I should use for this?

Thanks for any help.  I also have a question about the next step on the incompetency finding but I will save that for a separate post.

[vetadmin]

Congratulations!!  This is quite the morning getting two posts of successes, and I could not be happier or more humbled in knowing what I do made a difference for your loved one.

From the sounds of the letter, they may be considering giving the prior 12 months if the Dr's statement shows he meet the need of assistance for the previous 12 months, so yes, I would have the Dr. put everything that is relevant.  No promise here, but in the event, best to try.

I appreciate the considerations of a donation, and please know that no donation is ever too small.  Anything received helps to keep us running.  We have a long way to go in getting this to a national level of awareness.

Thanks for sharing your experience, and again, so happy for your Dad.

[mbrnich]

Debbie, yes, thank you!  This is truly amazing news for our family and we couldn't have done in without this website.  Yes, in addition to approving him for A&A award, they are saying he may be eligible for benefits from an earlier date (one year past) which would be really great, and his condition and medical expenses were exactly the same last year so I am daring to hope we may be able to get this.  I was just not sure what they mean by a "medical statement" and wondering if there was a form or if the doctor could just write something for me, but you answered the question so I will be in touch with the doctor to ask them to put the relevant info for the dates requested in a letter, and then include that with forms 21-0516 and 21-8416 and let you know what happens.