manning01

HI I hate to say it but I assume when the Doctor sent in your DBQ a week later and it finally found it's way to your C folder/entry into thier system it was after the claim was entered and guess what bingo they can use the excuse you sent in info after the claim was accepted by them so now it's a regular claim. Also if you uploaded documents to your claim after it was accepted that could have kicked it back to a regular claim also. Now when I had my DBQ filed out by my doctor I told him I'd give it to the VA to avoid that from happening. The VA really has no compassion I swear they look for any reason to stick it to us.

I had the same experience also. The 80 year old C&P doctor that was a internal medicine by trade tried everything he could to shoot down my two IMO's I had from the highly trained urology surgeons (Mayo Cancer Center) that performed my surgery and follow up treatment for my cancer. The RO went with this goof ball that is not trained in what these guys know and do and said this C&P examiner has more access to my C file and military medical records. My surgeons I gave them a full copy of my SMR's and it was even in the IMO but the RO sided with a over the hill internal medicine Dr that didn't even fill out the right DBQ the first for that exam and I had to go back a redo the exam due to his mistakes.

Hummm sounds like they are fudging thier numbers and vets will pay in very bad ratings with these being done so fast. I sincerly hope some of our fellow Vets are getting some decient ratings out of this deal, but sounds like a lot of NODs will be coming forth soon..... http://www.nextgov.com/health/2013/05/va-halves-number-claims-backlogged-more-two-years/63536/

Almost forgot here is the article on where I got the claims timeline they are doing right now. http://www.nextgov.com/health/2013/05/va-halves-number-claims-backlogged-more-two-years/63536/

All I did was submit the 21-526EZ (FDC), 21-4138 (Statement), All Doctors records VA and my private doctors, The DBQ Form, IMO Dr form and after that submit nothing or it will be treated as a normal claim. I had to keep on them but they did do it. Now with the VA focused on doing all claims over 2 years till middle of June and then re-focusing on claims over 1 year from mid June for 6 months I can see FDC's will be really slow in getting rated. Flustrating since all they need to do is do a quick review if everything is there and send it right to a rater since we did all the work for them why hold them up. Keep up the fight and you will win!

Here is the .gov link to the PDF version of the form you can fill in on your computer. I assume it's the most recent verison but for some reason it's not on the va forms site I had to find it on the GSA reginfo government site. http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewIC?ref_nbr=201206-2900-001&icID=202598

Check this article out. Glad to see they are making them work more hours to work on our claims that have been sitting around collecting dust. Whether they accomplish anything more from this OT remains to be seen along with these so called provisional claims. At the same time as a DOD employee I'll be taking 11 days of furlough time off without pay starting in July till Sept while they do all this extra OT to make them look like they saved the day for us vets. http://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=2444 http://www.stripes.com/news/va-workers-told-to-work-overtime-to-clear-claims-backlog-1.221099

http://www.nextgov.com/defense/2013/04/va-eliminates-bonuses-benefits-officials/62901/?oref=top-story Senior executives of the Veterans Benefits Administration will not receive 2012 performance bonuses and the funds will be invested to accelerate elimination of the disability claims backlog, according to the Veterans Affairs Department. “Based on VBA’s organizational performance goals, senior executives will not receive performance awards for fiscal 2012,” VA Press Secretary Josh Taylor said in an email to Nextgov. He added, “We remain confident that VBA senior executives are dedicated to our nation’s veterans, and they will continue to lead our drive toward VA’s goal: eliminating the claims backlog in 2015.” That backlog stood at 882,023 claims on Monday. Nearly 70 percent of those claims – or 610,150 claims – had been sitting for more than 125 days. The Center for Investigative Reporting found last Friday that in 2011, despite the high claims backlog, the department paid VBA Chief of Staff Lois Mittelstaedt and VBA Deputy Undersecretary for Field Operations Diana Rubens bonuses of $23,091 each. The Center also reported that Michael Cardarelli, principal deputy undersecretary for benefits, received a bonus of $20,716 in 2011. Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, agreed that VBA officials should not receive performance bonuses, given the claims backlog. “VA employees and managers who fail in their jobs shouldn’t receive bonuses -- they should be disciplined or fired,” Miller said. He also said VA needs to scrutinize bonuses paid to senior executives in the Veterans Health Administration. “While VA’s decision to withhold fiscal year 2012 bonuses for VBA senior executives is a step in the right direction, it does nothing to ensure that poorly performing Veterans Health Administration officials will not receive bonuses,” he said. Ohio’s Dayton Daily News reported in March that Dayton VA Medical Center Director Guy Richardson received an $11,874 bonus last year even though the center’s dental clinic came under investigation for allowing unsafe sanitary practices by one dentist over 18 years. “In recent days, we’ve learned that multiple VA medical center officials have received bonuses even in the wake of patient deaths linked to mismanagement,” Miller said. “VA owes us all -- especially the families of those who died -- an explanation as to why the department awarded these bonuses and how they plan to eliminate similar payments in the future.” The department gave $2.3 million in performance awards in fiscal 2012, according to Taylor’s email. Senior Executive Service performance awards are normally paid out within 90 days after the rating period concludes, meaning fiscal 2012 bonuses would have gone out by January.

Not sure where they are going with that statement but in their press release they are supposed to: Throughout this initiative, VA will continue to prioritize claims for homeless Veterans and those claiming financial hardship, the terminally ill, former Prisoners of War, Medal of Honor recipients, and Veterans filing Fully Developed Claims. Makes you wonder why the RO's basically do what they want and no one is accountable when they skirt directives. Must be nice to run amuck and get away with it daily.

I work for the DOD as a federal employee and I get my federal pay plus my VA disability. Not sure why they were saying that but yes you can get both. When it comes to FERS retirement and getting VA disability hopefully someone here can chime in and answer that one I'm not sure on that I need to know myself.

My experience on the FDC has been good also here in Pheonix AZ. After 2 1/2 years on my first claim to be decided I wanted to try the FDC program to see if it's all they say it is. So I submitted my FDC for 1 condition in Dec 2012 and 107 days later I was awarded an increase on a previous rated 0% SC to now 50% SC for migraines so now I'm at 70%. Ya it's alittle over their 90 day target but they are saying the FDC's are taking on average 111 days. So it does work just like they say don't submit anything after handing it in or submitting it online through VDC in ebenefits. One update the FDC 21-526AZ form just changed again in Jan 2013 so make sure you use that one instead of the Aug 2011 form so they don't have an excuse to reject it for using an obsolete application form. Just my 2 cents worth also

HI meghp0405 I remember you told me to keep you updated back in Dec so I thought that would post it instead of PM you. Kinda flustrating if one RO can do that but the one I have can't. It's still sitting over there wasting away and my VSO won't just simply ask his RO contact to see if they requested it back or not and why it's sitting there for no reason. I even have a friend at the central office in DC and it took the Phoenix RO over a month to respond to his inquiry on my FDC imagine that they are even ignoring their own people. He showed me the email traffic and they were asking around by email for two weeks does anyone know where it's at the RO or the VAMC and was it requested back and still no answer. What a bunch of disorganized misfits. Oh well what can you do....................

Here is my experience with this Fully Developed claim process at the Phoenix RO 94+ days and going. Back on Dec 27th 2012 I put in the FDC for a 0% SC for Headaches that they messed up on in my original claim that took 2 1/2 years. I put in the correct new FDC form, buddy statements, DBQ and IMO done 2 weeks prior by my outside the VA neurologist, headaches journals and new medical records since my original claim was decided. My VSO said it was perfect and should be done fast at least as fast as the VA will do it LOL. He also reminded me don't submit anyting else leave it alone or it will revert to a normal claim. So it took 1 month to get out of the mailroom then it sat in the develpment section till Feb 21st when a developer made the first mistake of sending it over to the VAMC for a C&P even though there was a DBQ etc Duhh. Then someone the very next day said wait it wasn't supposed to go there so they cancelled the exam request that was on Feb 22nd. So here it is Mar 31st 6 weeks later and my C file is still sitting over at the VAMC 3 blocks away from the RO. I did an IRIS inquiry and all they said was the usual line and that they asked the VAMC again on March 22nd if I needed an exam and they said no again duhhhh how many more times do they need to ask and the VAMC says no I don't need one. So the iris repsonse said they are waiting for the c file to return but never said they asked for it. Also they said that 90 day thing is just a target to shoot for. I assume on the April 22nd (2 month) wait is done per ebennefits someone will decide to get off their butt and ask for it back. So as you can see even when you do all the work for them, get everything they need to decide the claim they still mess it up. So when I hear on HADit that a certain other Ro all the FDC's are completed within 90 days 400+ claims that must be the exception cause it sure isn't happening here in AZ. So from my experience so far it looks like the usual BS nothings changed. Also on the FDC fast letter there is a email address at the end of it I emailed them my experience at this RO and they immeditely replied to me and forwarded it to their higher ups that oversee the FDC process. I flat out told them it's broken here in AZ and if the RO FDC coordinator was doing his or her job they would have caught this hold up per their fast letter requirements at the pre 90 and post 90 day checks. I doubt there is even a coordinator or if there is they sure are not reviewing the system to see when a FDC reaches the 90 day window and why it's not ready to be rated. Hopefully others that use this process have better luck but to me it's the same old smoke and mirrows stall as long as you can. .

Anouther resigning: The top human resources official for the Department of Veterans Affairs has resigned and two other employees were placed on leave after an investigation into two conferences in Orlando found that department conference planners allowed up to $762,000 in unauthorized or wasteful spending and accepted gifts including spa treatments and entertainment. John Sepulveda, assistant secretary for human resources and administration for the Department of Veterans Affairs, stepped down Sunday, the VA said in a statement. The resignation followed by the agency’s office of inspector general an investigation into more than $6 million spent by the VA on two training conferences in Orlando last year. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/post/vas-top-hr-official-resigns/2012/10/01/248ad27a-0bec-11e2-bb5e-492c0d30bff6_blog.html

Check this out: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/26/17473926-va-honcho-to-step-down-with-parting-shot-from-congressman?lite VA Secretary Eric Shinseki's chief of staff will leave that post Sunday, saying "my wife and I decided it was time to retire," but the Department of Veterans Affairs honcho exits amid the sound of Capitol Hill criticism. John Gingrich, a retired Army colonel who commanded a field artillery battalion during the Gulf War, told VA staffers in a note that after 37 years of combined military and federal service, he had discussed his "transition" with Shinseki earlier this year, as the Obama administration began its second term. During that conversation, Gingrich and Shinseki "agreed to ensure a smooth transition and to set the conditions for an interim chief of staff, which will be completed by March 31," he wrote. "Over the last four years, I have had the tremendous honor to serve the Nation's Veterans, their families, and survivors as VA's Chief of Staff," Gingrich wrote to VA employees. "I will always be grateful for the opportunity that the Secretary afforded me. After a long career in the Army, and after four years of balancing my dedication to the department with my other responsibilities, it is time for me to shift my focus." Word of his departure comes six days after members of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America met with White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough about the chronically long claims-benefits backlog, which is managed by VA. The leader of that veteran's group, Paul Rieckhoff, called on President Obama to find an immediate fix for the backlog, adding the time had come "to go above the VA" on the problem. 'Lack of judgement' Also last week, Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, told NBC News "the president needs to take a personal interest" in the backlog. Miller, additionally, had called for Gingrich to resign in October after revelations surfaced detailing improper VA spending. Last fall, Miller condemned Gingrich’s approval of an $8 million budget for a pair of VA human resources conferences held in Florida during 2011. “Even though I deeply respect John Gingrich’s time in uniform and public service, the fact remains that his lack of judgment in approving a number of lavish VA events cost taxpayers more than $6 million and cast a lingering shadow over the department’s reputation," Miller said Tuesday in a statement. "The task at hand for the department is finding a replacement who will avoid repeating Gingrich’s past mistakes," Miller said. "In addition to being a good steward of taxpayer dollars, Gingrich’s successor must be willing to have an honest conversation about the challenges VA faces and its ability to overcome those challenges — qualities that are absolutely essential for every VA leader to have.”

Thought this was very interesting.... http://www.federaltimes.com/article/20130320/DEPARTMENTS04/303200003/VFW-defends-VA-official-despite-continued-backlog?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE Veterans of Foreign Wars, the nation’s largest organization for combat veterans, has stepped up to defend the Veterans Affairs Department official responsible for processing disability benefits claims, even as some lawmakers have lost patience with the big and growing backlog. Under fire is Allison Hickey, VA undersecretary for benefits, whose management is being blamed by some lawmakers for the department’s inability to reduce the growing pile of benefits claims, which now totals almost 900,000, including almost 630,000 more than 125 days old. Hickey told the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee March 20 that the oldest claim she is aware of is 10 years old and that slightly more than 4 percent of claims are older than two years. The size of the backlog could be cut more quickly, she said, if VA let older claims sit while processing newer ones, but her decision was to work on the oldest claims first. She also said, as VA has said many times, that the answer to managing the tidal wave of claims will be a combination of new processing procedures, electronic claims, and streamlined application and approval processes. One of her chief critics is Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., the Veterans’ Affairs Committee chairman, who said he doesn’t see the progress. “The more people VA hires to process claims, the worse the department’s productivity is,” Miller said. “VA’s demonstrated history shows its inability or refusal to forecast problems and anticipate its needs, and the only people paying a price … are the veterans.” But Robert Wallace, executive director of the VFW’s Washington office, said in a statement that his group supports Hickey, believing she is “an integral part of the solution to finally breaking a backlog that previous administrations and Congresses helped to create by underfunding the critical areas of automation and staffing.” The group “strongly believes in holding public servants accountable, but Allison Hickey was handed a tremendous challenge less than two years ago.” Still, considerable doubt remains about the likelihood VA will be able to meet its goal of eliminating the claims backlog in 2015, with a pledge to complete all initial claims within 125 days with 98 percent accuracy. “I question whether this very, very, ambitious goal is achievable,” said Rep. Michael Michaud, D-Maine, the veteran’s committee’s ranking Democrat. “It would require VA to complete approximately 3.4 million claims in two and a half years. To accomplish this goal, the VA must start averaging the completion of 1.36 million claims a year; this is a 33 percent increase in productivity.” That may not be easy. In a written statement, the American Federation of Government Employees said the VA workforce has low morale and high turnover. For new employees, training has been reduced from one year to just eight weeks, putting people on the front lines of claims processing before they are fully prepared, AFGE said.

Very Disturbing to hear this see below: http://www.nextgov.com/health/2013/03/va-gives-tranquilizers-30-percent-ptsd-patients-despite-warnings/61936/?oref=river The Veterans Affairs Department treats more than 30 percent of veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder with tranquilizers such as Xanax and Valium, despite clinical practice guidelines issued in 2010 warning against their use, VA’s National Center for PTSD reported. The 2010 PTSD clinical practice guidelines, which also apply to the Defense Department, cautioned providers against using benzodiazepines to manage PTSD due to “the lack of efficacy data and growing evidence for the potential risk of harm,” the PTSD center said in in the March edition of its research quarterly publication. Research shows that treatment of PTSD with benzodiazepine drugs “may interfere with the extinction of fear conditioning or potentiate the acquisition of fear responses, actually worsening recovery from trauma,” the center reported. This, in turn, may interfere with “first line” treatment such as exposure therapy, in which a trained therapist helps a veteran relive traumatic events. More than 50 percent of combat veterans diagnosed with PTSD also suffer from alcoholism or substance abuse, and treatment with benzodiazepines can lead to addiction, the center said. Broken Warriors is an ongoing series on mental health issues in the military. The number of veterans with PTSD treated by VA nearly tripled from 171,000 in 1999 to 498,000 in 2009, as troops who served in Afghanistan and Iraq entered the VA health care system. At the same time, benzodiazepine prescriptions for veterans with PTSD dropped from 37 percent in 1999 to 30 percent in 2009, as the VA started to use selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors such as Zoloft and Paxil for PTSD treatment. Despite this reduction, the VA told Nextgov last May that it had purchased $72 million worth of benzodiazepines from Oct. 1, 2001 through March 31, 2012. The PTSD center urged VA to continue to cut back on the use of benzodiazepines for treatment of PTSD. “The decrease in benzodiazepine prescribing to 30 percent is encouraging yet the frequency of use remains high and suggests that minimizing benzodiazepine exposure is a vital policy issue for the VA,” the report said. This fits in with a policy from the Army Surgeon General last April that warned regional medical commanders against the use of benzodiazepines to treat PTSD. The Army determined, like VA this month, that treatment of PTSD with benzodiazepines could intensify rather than reduce combat stress symptoms and lead to addiction. In September 2011, the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury almost shouted its warning against benzodiazepines, emphasizing the guidance in bold-face type on its website: “There is evidence against the use of benzodiazepines in PTSD management as it may cause HARM. Strongly recommend against the use of benzodiazepines for treatment of PTSD.” The PTSD center concluded its report on benzodiazepines by urging VA to find alternatives for PTSD treatment, noting that “mounting evidence suggests that the long-term harms imposed by benzodiazepine use outweigh any short-term symptomatic benefits in patients with PTSD.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 31, 2013 Disability Claims Initiative Reduces Processing Time, Adds Convenience Medical Records Review Can Eliminate In-Person Exam Requirement WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs has launched a new initiative that could eliminate the requirement for an in-person medical examination for some Veterans and shorten the time it takes to process Veterans’ disability compensation claims. The initiative is called Acceptable Clinical Evidence (ACE). This initiative was developed by both the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) in a joint effort to provide a Veteran-centric approach for disability examinations. Use of the ACE process opens the possibility of doing assessments without an in-person examination when there is sufficient information in the record. Under ACE practices, a VA medical provider completes a Disability Benefits Questionnaire (DBQ) by reviewing existing medical evidence. This evidence can be supplemented with information obtained during a telephone interview with the Veteran – alleviating the need for some Veterans to report for an in-person examination. “ACE is a process improvement that will help us meet our goal to eliminate the claims backlog and provide more timely benefits to our Veterans, their families and survivors,” said Undersecretary for Benefits Allison A. Hickey. “The initiative also saves Veterans the inconvenience and costs associated with attending a medical examination.” When a VA medical provider determines VA records already contain sufficient medical information to provide the needed documentation for disability rating purposes, the requirement for Veterans to travel to a medical facility for an examination may be eliminated. If VA can complete a DBQ by reviewing medical records already on file, it will use the ACE process. This would then expedite the determination of disability ratings – in turn eliminating the wait time to schedule and conduct an exam from the claims process. During a 15-month pilot test at one VA regional claims processing office, 38 percent of claims submitted were eligible for ACE. The ACE initiative is a part of the VBA’s agency-wide Transformation Plan – a five-year, multifaceted organizational change that is based on more than 40 personnel, process and technology initiatives designed to improve claims processing. The goal of the Transformation Plan is to eliminate the claims backlog and process all claims within 125 days with 98 percent accuracy in 2015. To learn more about VBA Transformation Initiatives, visit: http://benefits.va.gov/transformation/.

Ken Just my two cents worth if your going for an increase and your having the Dr fill out a DBQ why not use the FDC form VBA-21-526EZ for the increase. Submit everything up front i.e 21-4138, 21-0960A-1, buddy statements, new material medical records, surgery records/post op, tests etc since your claim was last decided for that condition. That way it will go through the FDC program and skip the gathering evidence phase since you submited everything up. But remember if you do this don't submit anything after submiting the FDC or they will get change it over to the slower normal claim process/duty to assist time waits etc in a heartbeat. I'm using this process for a single increase and things are moving much faster than the traditional route. John See this link for the FDC process: http://benefits.va.gov/transformation/fastclaims/ FDC Fast Letter: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CEQQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vfwilserviceoffice.com%2Fupload%2FFL%252012-25%2520Fully%2520Developed%2520Claims.doc&ei=8BtGUdWrIMGM2gWe6oCQCQ&usg=AFQjCNEI_oxfxJ06Kw7_I7gcR1xhqi7rlA&bvm=bv.43828540,d.b2I&cad=rja

HI Meghp0405 Well in less than 20 days it will be 90 days and all they say is it's over at the VAMC for a C&P exam that has yet to be scheduled the VAMC has had it for 2 weeks. Even though I handed them a FDC with a properly filled out DBQ, IMO, 4138's, all my new medical documents etc etc IRON clad as my VSO said. But they have chosen to take the slow route for my increase. Yes it still shows as a FDC and I have not submitted anything after the claim was sent in. Currently I'm 40% and I retired two years ago. So far it looks like Phoenix is the exception this will be way longer than 90 days very sad I actually bought into their hype of 90 days with a complete FDC where they didn't have to do anything but review and rate.

What kind of aircraft? I was a F-16 Crew Dawg 21 years SMSgt Ret 2010! Good to see a fellow crew dawg on the site and in the same area of AZ. Kidney cancer humm guess what I was diagnosed with it a month after I retired Sept 2010 by the VA. Funny it took the VA to find it but I had it on my right side Stage 1 RCC. Had robotic partial nephrectomy since it was only 2.7cm but it was RCC grade 3 really nasty kind that grows fast. More masses on the same side but seeing private Urologist/Oncologist to follow those. Tried to connect it to my hydrazine, JP-4/8, chemical exposure but was shot down Dec 2012. The VAMC Phoenix C&P examiner said it wasn't connected and no real proof in his research that the exposures we had causes this type of cancer. So I'm going to appeal. X020574 has a good idea I'm going to check on some VBA results for others similar to us. It will be a fight but worth it if we win. There has to be a connection both of us had it so something we were exposed to did it, not random chance.

Awesome great news!!!!!!! Congrats.

The VA just never seems to stop amazing me with their utter acts of stupidity. Rdawg I really hope they will correct it after your phone call to them, you deserve nothing less. Keep up the fight sir.