Hi Jim,

I only received the form (21-4140) in 2006, 2007, and 2008. The subsequent years I filled out my own when I did not receive one and gave it to my VSO who mails them in with his other papers. I heard that if the form is scheduled to be sent to you it appears as a "review" on the VA central computer. DO you know if this is true? If not could you verify this information? I have been 70% PTSD and P&T since 9/2001. I go to group, individual psychology, and psychiatric visits at VA regularly and am on meds. I recall about 2 years ago calling the 1000 number and was told I have a review in 9/2013. Could it just be the 4140 form being sent out. I worry excessively about everything and am hyper vigilant.

Last week a vet in my group who is 100% schedular since 1998 got a letter that he will soon be called in for a review. He is freaking out. He would lose his property tax exemption along with his wife's Champva if he gets lowered. When he went to his VSO with the letter he ran into 2 other 100% vets who are getting reviewed.

What is going on here? We are in our mid 60's. Why would they mess with us?

Please send me some reply.

Reply;

First and foremost...don't sweat it. I understand this isn't easy to do but it's what you should try to do.

The 4140 form is a waste of time for the veteran and the VA. In the past, VA has recognized this and stopped sending it. Different VA regional offices have also taken it on themselves to stop sending it and then suddenly, they've been told to start sending it again. The form is supposed to be sent to the TDIU veteran on the date of the anniversary of his TDIU disability compensation award.

The 4140 is back up for discussion again within VA. They're so far behind in their regular work that they have unofficially decided to stop sending the 4140 form again. There may be a VA regional office that still sends them out to TDIU veterans but it's because they haven't received word about not sending them.

The reason the form is a problem is because even when VA decides to penalize a veteran for not completing a form, all the veteran has to do is to write a quick appeal letter telling VA why the form wasn't sent. That's usually because the VA didn't send the form to the vet. Leave it to VA to have a rule saying they will send you a form that you must complete and then neglecting to send you the form. Then, because they didn't send you the form, they decide to punish you because you didn't return the form they didn't send. It creates headaches for everyone and really serves no useful purpose.

The 21-4140 form is supposed to identify whether the TDIU veteran has worked at gainful employment during the year prior to receiving the form. The more effective way to determine that is to cross check the veterans income tax report with the IRS. VA can do that easily and if the veteran has any work related income declared, then an investigation is appropriate as TDIU veterans aren't supposed to be able to work.

I've long recommended that vets get a copy of the 4140 form each year and complete it and mail it in. It can be downloaded on my blog at http://www.vawatchdog.org/tdiu-unemployability.html  You can mail this in yourself or if you trust your representative, you may ask him/her to do that for you.

If you are concerned, go ahead and print the form from that link and mail it in once you complete it. But don't let it cause you any distress. Even if VA decided to try to bother you because you didn't send it in, that's easy enough to fix.

I don't know why you are scheduled for a future review in 9/2013. Are you rated as P & T? Does your spouse get the CHAMPVA benefit? If your rating was assigned as temporary, you may be missing out on a lot of benefits. You can read more about P & T here http://www.vawatchdog.org/permanent-and-total---p---t-.html