Alishape

I have gotten some movement in the last week or so. I got a big brown envelope that requested I fill out a an unemployablity form and a pension request form. I also got a call from a person at the VA who I assume is a rater asking me for clarifying information. I used to be soo jealous when I read a person got a call from a real live person! Ebenefits has been especially unhelpful during this same time frame though, strange claims opening and closing or old claims disappearing and reappearing. Hopefully you will get some movement soon too. Good luck! -Alisha

Hey, I'm in the same boat. I have a post on here where you can look up the most recent info I found online after an OIG audit/report concerning the backlogged claims. It just came out last month. I think you can find it if you look click on my name. Here is a link to the report in case you haven't read it yet : http://www.va.gov/oig/pubs/VAOIG-13-03699-209.pdf. According to the report, the interim VA Sec says all the provisional claims will be either closed or added back into the backlog so they can be tracked by Sept 1st. I haven't been able to get peggy to comfirm or deny this. I also spoke to my rep at the PVA, and there is a note in my file that says they hope to have the claim completed by Oct 1st. It's probably not true, but some kind of tracking would be nice. No one has done any work to my claim either. Oh, incidentally, my year was up in May of this year. Also I sent additional information in within a week of receiving my provisional rating in 2013.

New update, and possibly good news for us provisionals. Here is an article I found and the recommendations of an OIG investigation follow it (If you google reveiw of vba's special initiative to process rating claims you can see the whole thing): Over 7,800 of the unresolved benefit claims disappeared from the backlog after the VA issued what it called a “provisional rating,” a preliminary decision based on incomplete or outdated medical information in a claims file. It is a classification that requires additional work by VA staff to become a final disability or pension rating and cannot be appealed by veterans, the IG found. The department practice overstated the reduction in pending claims and progress toward eliminating the overall claims backlog, Linda Halliday, the assistant VA inspector general for audits and evaluations, testified to the House committee. “They were working hard — they had to try something to clear the backlog — but we feel it misrepresented the workload,” she said. Furthermore, the VA then “lost control” of the provisional ratings cases, which were pushed further to the back burner, where they were ignored. Some veterans might never have received final rating decisions if not for the IG investigation, according to Halliday. Recommendations 1. We recommended the Under Secretary for Benefits implement a plan to identify all provisionally-rated claims and ensure the proper controls are entered in the electronic system to track, manage, and complete them. 2. We recommended the Under Secretary for Benefits implement actions to include provisionally-rated claims in the rating inventory and correct the aging of provisional claims in pending workload statistics. 3. We recommended the Under Secretary for Benefits implement a plan to expedite final decisions on all issues in provisionally-rated claims. The Under Secretary for Benefits concurred with our recommendations and directed a complete review of all provisional rating decisions on June 2, 2014. Further, VBA established procedures to closely monitor and track provisional claims under end product (EP) 934. Finally, VBA has provided direction to VAROs on the review and finalization of provisional rating decisions. VBA anticipates completion of these recommendations by September 1, 2014.

I am still waiting too. I know the VA claims that only 5% of the ratings were provisional, but hell we are still people. The year is up on my provisional rating in May. I have written all my congress people plus the head of the veterans committee in the Senate. I wanted to find out what happens to my submitted info if the claim is still in the VAs office in May. One of them finally told me that since I submitted info before the time ran out, the deadline no longer counts for me. They "have" to review what I submitted, (which as in your case does not appear anywhere online), no matter how long it takes. Also my case is on some invisible list no one ever looks at. To be honest, I am not sure most people can see that list. When I went online to try and apply for an increase, the website told me I had no open claims though the provisional one is open and should count as such.. The problem I have with the congressman's assurances is that he referred to the original press release as his source of info and it does not say that anywhere. Plus I can't get iris or peggy to tell me the same thing. I have a feeling in May I will just have to appeal.

Well, I looked on ebenefits yesterday and I have a new apt scheduled for the end of the month. So that makes about five months since my original claim closed with the provisional rating. Not bad, really. at this rate it should be closed out by within the provisional year window (my lips to God's ears) with would make it three times faster than the original!

I got a provision rating from the fast track initiative. Now my original claim7/7/2010 is closed as off May 13. I sumbitted some new info and they didn't reopen it, they opened an administrative review claim with the same date as the original one. I had a VA rep go through my file to submit my claim so each and everything in it was in my smr's but they denied service connection for lot's of stuff with no C&P or anything. The VA is fudging the number on this one.

Anybody seen any movement since the original fast tracked letter went out?

Here with an update. I mailed some info for the denied contentions to my RO in Baltimore. I also faxed that same info to the RO in Hartford that had temporary jurisdication of the claim when it was closed. I did this at peggy's suggestion, and I hope I didn't complicate things unessecarily. Anyways, they received the packet on the 22nd of last month according to certified mail receipt. On the 6th of this month ebennies posted that they'd received it. When I checked the status this morning, the original claims still has a closed status, but there is a new claim with tthe original claim date. The status of that one says administrative review. So as far as timelines go, I got my fast tracked provisional rating on the 13th of May and one month later after submitting more info, (actually the original info that was in my smrs), I'm back under administrative review. Hopefully a real person is actually reviewing it. Also, Meghp people with provisional ratings do not need to do NODs and can't do them until the provisional rating is finalized. That would take me into the appeals process, which I heard was looonnnggg. Provisionals are given to people who have kinda complicated claims and/or are missing some info. From what I'm hearing in the news, half the backlog has been closed out (yeah right) and only 5,000 or so individuals got a provisional rating. I think that's why I'm having such a hard time finding info. I'll keep you all posted.

I don't have my packet with me here at work but it pretty much goes like this. (A helpful person at the VA hospital helped me with filing. Not sure what her position title is, but she's there to help vet's with claims and I had to make an appointmet and everything. Anyways she pulled everything except the MS out of my copy of my medical record, which is what I'm using to send in new info.) Oh and I have a couple of zero percents, too. Filed orig clam Jul 2010 C&P scheduled late 2010 Filed MS claim Nov 2011 C&P for MS and back Mar 2013 Claim moved from Balimore RO to Hartford RO Mar 2013 Prep for decision to VA letter 15APR13-13-May Multiple Sclerosis: 30% Degenerative disc: 10% Pituitary adenoma: Denied service conn Irregular heartbeat: Denied service conn Headaches: Denied service connection Gerd: Denied service connection

I am writing because I finally got my big brown envelope and I have some new info regarding the process. My claim was closed and I was given a provisional rating under the new initiative to close older claims. Several of my contentions were denied, but the letter said I could submit new evidence for a year before the rating decision became permanent. I had some info, but wasn't sure where to send it because according to ebenefits the claim was closed, leaving me with no electronic submission option. Plus the claim said to send the info to the address at the top of the letter. That's cool and everything except for two things. First, ebenefits also states that my claim is on the way to the scanning center and second, my claim was fast tracked at a different RO than my original RO. The address at the top of the letter was not the same as the one on the envelope. Of course being a good ex-sailor I followed the directions on the letter. I felt a little shakey about the whole thing so I called Peggy. Peggy said that he was going to put in a request to have my claim reopened. That means no lengthy appeals process, and access to electronic document submission if it gets reopened. He also suggested I fill out a VA form 21-4138 statement in support of claim to send in with the documents. I'll keep you all posted on how it goes, but so far I'm feeling pretty optimistic. I wanted to share because I know I had been looking for some info about this new initiative and others will be too. More later...