manning01

I submited two FDCs to the Phoeninx AZ RO and one took 92 days and the other 111 days. So if you do a complete package with all records, DBQ's etc up front then it should speed through relatively fast. But if you forget one thing or you ask them to get something guess what it turns into a regualr claim so beware ensure you give them everything they need at the begining. Both my FDC's had the DBQ's done by outside Doctors and were granted. I didn't want them to do one of thier shady C&P exam on me by some minimally trained trained PA that couldn't work at a real hospital on a medical condition they are not a SME on.

I did a A&A package for my mom since my Dad was also a Vet. Even though all my stuff goes through the Phoenix VARO I had to submit her A&A package to the VARO in St Paul MN per the directions on the website for A&A. If you give them all the paperwork and medical info upfront it's rather fast. Her A&A package only took 4 months from start to the 1st check direct deposited. That was not even 2 years ago. In fact I just put in for an increase once she went into assisted care and the increase came back approved in less than 2 months. So start off prepaired and give them what they need up front and it will go fast. There is a really good website on A&A and what to submit etc. I did everyting they said to do with no help from a VSO and had great results. http://www.veteranaid.org/apply.php

I see they didn't uphold her firing due to the mistreatment of vets at our local VAMC. I see they only got her on for taking gifts i.e. plane tickets, concert tickets, trip to Disney and some cash. Either way she was curropt and a shamefull Gov't SES glad they canned her.

Congrats!!!!

Same here it saved me a lot of money visitiing the Grand Canyon and few other locations last year.

This may clear up on who depending on where you live to what location to send or fax docs your documents to. I wish I knew about this earlier. I had my DRO conference a couple of weeks ago and he said to send a couple of items he needed right to the RO and then they would send it off to be scanned so he could review them before he reschedules a new C&P on my NOD. He could have had me fax or send them straight there to speed it up but no he doesn't let me know this new way of sending things in. If Location of Residence is: Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Puerto Rico, Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, Palau, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia. Then, send all written correspondence to: Department of Veterans Affairs Evidence Intake Center PO Box 4444 Newnan, GA 30271-0020 Or fax your information to: Toll Free: 844-531-7818 Local: 248-524-4260 If Location of Residence is: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Louisiana, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, Oregon, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Canada, Mexico, Central America, South America, The Caribbean, The U.S. Virgin Islands, The Philippines, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands. Then, send all written correspondence to: Department of Veterans Affairs Evidence Intake Center PO BOX 4444 Janesville, WI 53547-4444 Or fax your information to: Toll Free: 844-822-5246 Local: 608-373-6690

Thanks Charlie for all the great information you posted. I just printed this all out so I can complete my overall plan for the DRO meeting. I'll make sure to follow all your great suggestions.

I emailed Bob last week and I was just contacted by someone from the Phoenix RO. He said I was finally scheduled for my long awaited DRO hearing for this Nov 19th. Wow that was fast. BTW I didn't asked to be put ahead of anyone in line etc all I asked is someone from the VARO to call me and explain what my status was and correct thier error in the computer system on what I actually put my NOD in for. I put in for Kidney Cancer found within a month of retirement from the USAF and when they inputted the NOD in they put in lower back DDD not Kidney cancer wow what a dumb mistake. I don't have lower back issues not sure where they pulled that from. I couldn't have made it any clearer on the typed paperwork. Well we'll see what happens in a few weeks atleast I'll know if I need to push it to the BVA if the DRO denies it. Thanks for the contact info for Bob it really worked better than I ever expected.

Thank you.

I wonder if they are already doing it tonight. MyHealthy Vet is down for website maintenance this evening hummm.....

Congrats Tela. John

90% Congrats. Thank you for your service. John

Congrats

I forgot to add to my post about when I had my C&P for the renal cancer that the VA found in a CT scan within a month of my retirement. First of all the Dr was like 75years old and a retired internal medicine Dr that the VA contracted not a urologist. He said that my RCC was from smoking, drinking and being too fat and was not present while I was in the service even though it was found within a month of my retirement. RCC doesn't grow overnight or in a few weeks it take many months to grow. Anyways I was always under my max weight in the military 170lbs at 5'9", rarely drank and never smoked. It's in my SMR physicals etc to back up all that about me and he still wouldn't listen. So beware I noticed from other RCC denials they all tried that same angle of a accepted etiogy of smoking, obesity and alcohol to deny SC of the RCC. I guess that is how they look at us all as a bunch of fat drunks that smoke and trying to game the system to live off the gov't really sad to be profiled like that. That is why if you can afford to be be seen by an outside urologist to fill out the the DBQ do it and get an IMO from him or her if they will do one for you. Am I jaded against the VA C&P Docs sure I'am. I'll be the first to admit it since they have given me great cause to doubt thier qualifications and intentions to helps us vets.

HI KySoldier I was exposed to 21 years of hazardous chemicals on aircraft and even Hydrazine H-70 which is a known bad carcinagen. Even our technical guidence had lots of cautions and warnings about it being a cancer causing agent. We even had to rope off the area if there was a spill from an aircraft that the sign even had the cancer warning on it. I was doused several times all of this was in my records the VA still denied my SC for Renal Clear Cell Carcinoma (RCC). Even the surgeons when they fille dout thier IMO's said I had the RCC while in service. The VA found my RCC 1 month after I retired. Duh and they still denied it, the darn RCC was there for many months. I have a NOD/DRO review in for it now going on 1 1/2 years and don't expect an answer for a few more years since they are so backed up. I'd still get it in so you get the clock started. Get good IMO's if you have an outside the VA system urologist and have them also due the DBQ for Renal issues. Ifd you have any private DR records get copies don't let the VA request them or it will hold up your claim for a while while they request them under thier duty to assist BS. If you have all your ducks in a row do a FDC with all your required paperwork and objective evidence and submit. Have a strong case and if they deny get your NOD in quick so you can get in line for the long wait. Doing a FDC is the way to go I did two and both were done in less than 110 days from start to finsh here at the Phoenix VARO with 80% awarded.

Ebennies has been really slow for the last few days. I'm just tried and as I figured the VA letters etc are down for me also. Probibly they did anouther update this last week and it jacked thier whole system up again till they decide to patch it again.

Read Berta's post above she posted all the info you need for GW presumptive. I'm SC'd for 2 GW/OIF presumptive from when I was there in 2004 and 2007. Nothing was in my SMR's but they do see me for those issues and I told them I had the issues while in OIF. I backed that up that assertion with copies of my outside doctors medical records stating that I had these issues back to when I was deployed to Iraq and being seen since then so they had what they needed to enter it into my VA medical records. The reason I seen private Doctors is due to me being in the National Guard hence why it not in my SMR's. When I did my online FDC (claim) for both of them I was SC'd in less than 111 days at 80% but that's the Phoenix RO. Hope that helps.

I hope more VA employees come out and tell it like it is. I guess this make 3 a ER Physican there currently (ER Department director) just came out today with her stories of how really bad it is in the ER department. Read the story it's really enlightening how she told Helman and her leadership the issues they are having in the ER Dept when Helman first arrived last year and all they could say is it was her fault it is like it is. I hope the evidence she has given to the OIG is usefull. I use the VAMC Phoenix and this really saddens me to see what they have done to us here and lord only knows how many other places around the nation that do the same kind of things (gross mismanagement). Search for CBS 5 news a local news stations it's on there video etc.

I've had the same issue with them billing my BC/BS for SC appointments. I called the VA numerious times to report the billing errors and they say we'll investigate it blah blah blah. I called Blue Cross and not once has the VA contacted them for a reversal on a claim they sent them over the last several years. What a bunch of BS they are falsly billing my insurance provider when they are suposed to provide the SC care for free (80%). I only see the VA for my SC issues to keep myself current for the regional office SC. Now I wonder if it's even worth that since they like to rip Blue Cross off.

I'm here in Phoenix and they will probibly just move her again since she is a Senior Executive Service (SES) graded manager. So lets See Spokane, Hines, Phoenix and where next ????? The VA Gov't shuffle to keep people that mess up out of the spot light. Sad no accountability. Maybe with all the press and even the POTUS wanting an answer they will finally drop the axe on her and fire her and her cronnies that did this shameful act against our fellow vets. I liked how she came out a blantantly lied on CNN on how she didn't know why the OIG was there last year asking the same questions duhhhh.

I agree with rpowell01 I contacted my senator and all they did was pull my claim out of the pile to make up a fancy report to the senator of information I already knew. All it does is tie up a person to generate the detailed update report and mail it out to him or her and then your file goes back in the pile. Your senator can't do anything to speed up a claim etc I assume it's against the law since they have to process claims in order as recieved and no politician can have undue influence on them.

http://www.nextgov.com/defense/2014/03/va-fails-set-registry-troops-exposed-burn-pits/81007/ March 21, 2014: Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Tom Udall, D-N.M., slammed the Veterans Affairs Department for failing to set up a registry of troops exposed to toxic pollutants from trash burn pits in Afghanistan and Iraq, as required by legislation they sponsored. The law, signed by President Obama on Jan. 13, 2013, gave VA one year to develop, create and maintain an open burn pit registry of service members and veterans who may have been exposed to toxic chemicals and fumes from open air burn pits. Some of the sites measured acres in size and burned all kinds of trash, including chemical-laden batteries, electronics and plastics. Troops living or working nearby have said the fumes sickened them. VA, in the burn pit section of its public health website, maintains that exposure to smoke or fumes from the trash sites does not correlate with long term health problems, based on research conducted by the Institute of Medicine in October 2011. Corker, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Udall, a member of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations subcommittee, asked VA Secetary Eric Shinseki why the registry has not yet been established, three months after the deadline, in a letter sent Wednesday. “This delay is deeply concerning, particularly when similar registries exist within the United States government,” Corker and Udall told Shinseki. VA, for example, has operated for decades an Agent Orange Registry for veterans exposed to that toxic defoliant in Vietnam. The two Senators asked Shinseki to “provide Congress with information on the current status of the Open Air Burn Pit Registry, an accounting of problems that have arisen during the development of the registry, detailed information on remaining benchmarks to be completed before the Open Air Burn Pit Registry will become fully operational, and any information on how Congress can help to expedite the implementation of this critical program.” Nextgov asked VA similar questions. “The registry launch has been postponed until spring 2014 to allow adequate time to develop and test the software and hardware as well as to ensure data security and accessibility,” spokeswoman Victoria Dillon said in an email reply. She did not give a firm date for startup.

http://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/threatwatch/2014/01/software-vulnerability-accidentally-leaked/722/ VA hacked again -- Software upgrade bares beneficiary medical and financial data Accidentally leaked credentials; Software vulnerability Was Navy veteran Sylvester Woodland hitting the refresh button incorrectly on the Veteran Affairs' E-Benefits website Wednesday night? “It gave me a different person's name, each and every time I came back," he told ABC. Woodland said he called the Defense Department, the VA, and North Carolina Democrat Sen. Kay Hagan's office, but he didn't get any response until Thursday morning. Then, the website went down and an email arrived from Defense requesting that he send digital images of the few pages he printed out. "Already I see the blame game going. It's the VA. No, it's the DOD. It's going to bounce back and forth, but can you prove it's an isolated incident?" Woodland said. He had signed on to the system to track down his own history for a bank loan. Instead, windows kept popping up displaying other veterans' health and financial information. "When you click on these hyperlinks here, it takes you to the bank account, the direct deposit, bank account, last four, what bank is it for," Woodland said. "I'll bet he has no idea that I'm sitting here in my house with his information." The VA issued a statement to ABC11 Friday: “The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) takes seriously our obligation to properly safeguard personal information. Wednesday evening, during a process to improve software supporting the joint VA and Department of Defense benefits web portal eBenefits, VA discovered a software defect. During that limited timeframe, some Veterans and Service members who had registered and logged into eBenefits were able to see a combination of their own information as well as data from other eBenefits users. VA took immediate action upon discovering the software defect and shut the eBenefits system down in order to limit any problems. VA is conducting a full review to be certain the underlying technological issues have been resolved before the system is returned to operation. VA's independent Data Breach Core Team (DBCT) is reviewing this issue and believes a relatively limited number of Veterans have been affected. Once the DBCT determines the number of users impacted, their identities and other pertinent facts, VA will take the appropriate response, which may include free credit monitoring for the affected individuals, consistent with VA's standard practice.”

Yes you can still get an GW registry exam please see the two links I provided. One is background on the exam etc and the second is the list of GW environmental health coordinators. Find the one listed at your VA hospital and contact them directly to set up your exam. I did that and had an exam within 3 weeks. http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/gulfwar/benefits/registry-exam.asp background on the program http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/coordinators.asp use this page to find your coordinators name, phone and email to set up your exam with them. Hope this helps.

I'll sound on this one I'm a Vet from OIF and DS and ended up having Kidney Cancer (RCC) on my right side. The VA found it the same month I retired from the USAF in 2010. Yet the VA says there is no link or proof it hapened in service duhhhh. Geez they only found it the month I retired when I went in to get a physical and to start my VA healthcare. Luckily I had a decent VA PCP and she seen my history and ordered a CT of my chest and Abdomen and there it was plain as day. She saved my life it is a silent killer I had no idea I had it.