Fdc Filed, But I Am Hearing Conflicting Info

[traveler]

I retired 1 August.

MY FDC was received by VA 8 August.

My county VSO told me that here in South Dakota, FDC are being finished within 106 days.

SO, I am on vacation, and waiting for a call for a C+P.

I called Hot Springs, which is where they said my C+P would be conducted, and they told me they have NOTHING on me.

So, I called and talked to h State VSO, and she told me it would be a LONG,LONG time before all is said and done, and that my C+P's could be out as far as January or February !!

Lastly, I go on to e-benefits, and my claim is under "gathering evidence". Why would they need to gather evidence, if I sent in a FULLY DEVELOPED claim ???? 10 items, and every single one is plain as day in my Military medical records

If I don't get a C+P before January, I think I may have to get a congressman involved.

Opinions?

[georgiapapa]

Don't get upset by what you see on Ebenefits. It is rarely up to date. If you filed for 10 different conditions, you may have multiple C & P exams scheduled on different dates so your claims may take longer than someone filing for 1 or 2 conditions. The 106 days finishing time quoted by your county VSO may be the average cited by the VA in South Dakota. Whether it is accurate or not is uncertain. The truth probably falls somewhere between what the county VSO told you and what the state VSO told you. Right now it us just a WAG. Depending on the complexity of your medical conditions, what you see as plain as day in your medical records may not be as clear cut to a rating official who has to determine the degree of disability of each claimed condition under the rating schedules in 38 CFR part 4. The rating officials would not be in a position to determine your ratings until they receive and review all of your C & P exam reports.

Although it is difficult, be patient for awhile. I would think your claim in South Dakota would go faster than claims in most states.

As far as contacting your congressman, some on this website will advise you that the action will actually slow your claim down. I have never requested assistance from my congressman so I am not sure.

Good luck to you and thank you for your service.

[traveler]

Thanks.

By the way, what is a "WAG" ??

[georgiapapa]

Wild ass guess.

[ctbenja1015]

On ebenefits it will stay in gathering evidence until after your C&P exams as they are part of the evidence. Once you get your exams it typically speeds up a little, but every VARO is different. Hang in there and thanks for you service.

[traveler]

thanks.

Yeah, I called the VA hospital and talked to the ladies who set up the C+P appts and they have "nothing" on me....so what does THAT mean?

[rootbeer22]

Traveler:

Frankly, it's the "luck of the draw" of who handles your claim, which Regional Office gets it and so many other factors that there's no real set date and all claims are unique. I submitted an informal claim in 12/13 to "save the date" (you can do that for your first claim now), and in June 2014 turned i n all of the SMR evidence including 14 DBQ's with no other evidence available to provide which made it an FDC. So, 100 days later, I got a "sorry we are late" form letter from the Regional Office. So much for FDC's being done quickly? Anyway, mine is still under "review" despite all of the efforts to submit a very "complete -final package" that could be adjudicated quickly? My advice is to find something that would help you cope with the long wait? I trully believe it's a training and resource issue and the raters just don't have enough. VBA is now discussing how they are finally chopping down the "backlog" but from what I've read, appeals are belived to be up 400% so in the end, any pressure on the VBA could be counterproductive for Vets anyway. So, keep the faith, hang in there, and hopefully you will get what you deserve someday. One bit of advice, for any orthopedics C&P, I would ask to have a witness with you at the exam. I had a nurse do mine and it was not done correctly according to the VA exam manual rules..she bent my back way past the point of pain for range of motion measurements but was supposed to stop bending when the pain started...anyway good luck...

Edited September 17, 2014 by rootbeer22