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RBrogen

Chief Petty Officers
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Everything posted by RBrogen

  1. I hear you brother ... I'm so glad you got yours! If you could sign and share that petition around that would be awesome!
  2. I hear you brother ... I for one, am at my wits end and the only way to address this after being forced to danced the dance with the VA alone. I tried multipe VSO etc etc only to be told a month or more later that they hadn't even filed the claim which f'd up my potential effective date and when you are talking 4k+/mo that adds up quick. I decided to learn the process and take it myself and a few months later went from 1 condition rated 20% to 23 conditions rated - 100% P&T without the help from a single VA resource. I used resources like HadIt.com and militarydisabilitiesmadeeasy.com before they began to charge. The militarydisabilitiesmadeeasy.com site was probably the most informative and helpful when it came to just looking at 38 CFR, how and why things are rated the way they are. It was a super easy to follow layout and helped me navigate my various conditions and educate me on what to look for in my C&P reports. For instance, I didn't even know I could file a claim for scars and was obviously never told about it from the VA or any of the doctors doing C&Ps. Things like that add up to I would guess the majority of veterans not be fully rated for all of the potential conditions they qualify for. So, I am now a dog with my bone and I will not stop until I get legislation on the books that mandates that the C&P reports go out with the decision letter. I really want as many signatures as possible on the petition so when I do meet with my senators that I will have that as additional supporting evidence.
  3. Hey BroncoVet, Thanks for the insight and I haven't had any issues with the ones I received in 2018-2019. My point is that if the exam results are not made avaialable to the veteran once the decision letter is generated, they are seriously impeding the ability for the veteran to have a proper appeal. As you know, without this information you have absolutely no idea as to what the C&P doc said, rated your severity as nor any other issues they may have documneted/opined on that could potentially assist you in getting a proper rating. This is in direct violation of the VA's mandate of duty to assist. Bottom line is it should not matter where the C&P originated from, once the raters have the data in order to make a rating decision, that same data must me made available to the veteran so they can make an assessment on their appeal options within the time required. The process should automatically include a copy of the report going to the veteran no matter if it is VBA or QTC.
  4. Yes this was/is my understanding as well ... for over 20 years I was at 20% for my low back and they would only treat me for that.
  5. Congrats! I've been waiting since July 2020 for a my hearing to be scheduled.
  6. My 75 y/o vet friend is going to go to the VMAC with release form in hand to see if that will work. According to this page on va.gov you should be able to: https://www.va.gov/boston-health-care/medical-records-office/ I'll keep you posted and thanks for the advice Bronco!
  7. Exactly! However, it doesn't benefit the VA to have informed, prepared veterans.
  8. Hey T, I've just got back on after being off for quite a while getting life things sorted out. I'm a former Chief Technology Officer with decades of programming and technology experience. I know own my own professional photography studio but would like to help out if I can find something that I would be able to do and fit into my schedule. Let me know if you are still looking/need/want assistance. Best, Randy
  9. Here's the petition that I created on change.org to start. Be sure to sign and share. Here's a link to a petition that will be used in conjuntion with meetings with congressional leaders to show support for a law to require that the VA automatically provide veterans with the C&P results in a timely manner so that veterans can properly assess their options for appeal. Change.Org Petition: https://chng.it/bDh8TstdFk
  10. Here's a link to a petition that will be used in conjuntion with meetings with congressional leaders to show support for a law to require that the VA automatically provide veterans with the C&P results in a timely manner so that veterans can properly assess their options for appeal. Be sure to sign and share!!! Change.Org Petition: https://chng.it/bDh8TstdFk
  11. As an FYI - when I submitted my FOIA, they denie my claim incorrectly using FOIA Exemption 6 which protects from the release of sensitive information. Unfortunatetly for them, I found the actual law on the DOJ website and promptly informed them that the part of the law they "left out" on my denial letter plainly stats that they could not invoke Exemption 6 for any information requested by the person in when the information pertained (e.g. me requesting my own information). Treating Requesters Alike A more subtle yet highly significant aspect of the Court's opinion in Reporters Committee is its pronouncement that a FOIA requester's identity can have "no bearing on the merits of his or her FOIA request." 109 S. Ct. at 1480. In so declaring, the Court made it unmistakably clear, once and for all, that agencies should treat all requesters alike in making FOIA disclosure decisions. The only exception to this, as the Court specifically noted, is that of course an agency should not withhold from a requester any information that implicates that requester's own interest only; making a disclosure to a "first-party" requester in such a circumstance "is consistent with . . . denying access to all other members of the general public." Id. Put more colloquially, an agency will not invoke an exemption to protect a requester from himself.
  12. Yeah basically the local district court is a last resort ... I had gotten to that point with mine in 2019 but then found the FOIA Public Relations director and got my entire c-file in 1 week.
  13. That's because internally, VA raters have a quota and a time clock and thye needed to get stuff finished by end of year for thier reviews for promo and salary
  14. Here is information about VA Requird FOIA RESPONSE TIMES: V. Response Times All federal agencies are required to respond to a FOIA request within twenty business days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. This time period does not begin until a perfected request (information requested is clearly stated, request is signed, and there are no pending fee issues) is actually received by the FOIA office that maintains the records sought. An agency is not required to send out the releasable documents by the last business day; it can send you a letter informing you of its decision and then send you the documents within a reasonable time afterward. Some offices within VA, such as our Administration Headquarters receive thousands of requests each year. Many of these requests require a line-by-line review of hundreds or even thousands of pages of documents. Although VA makes every effort to respond to FOIA requests as quickly as possible, in some cases it simply cannot do so within the specified time period. This may be due either to the size of the request or to the fact that the center has a backlog of previously received requests that are waiting processing. The FOIA office may extend the response time for an additional ten business days when: • the office needs to collect responsive records from various directorates and offices, • the request involves a "voluminous" amount of records that must be located, compiled, and reviewed, or • the office needs to consult with another agency or other VA offices that have a substantial interest in the responsive information. When such a time extension is needed, the FOIA office will notify you of this in writing and offer you the opportunity to modify or limit the scope of your request. Alternatively, you may agree to a different timetable for the processing of your request. If a determination on your request is not made within the applicable time period and you have not agreed to a different response timetable, you may file suit in federal court to pursue a response. If, however, the court concludes that you have unreasonably refused to limit your request or to accept an alternate timetable for response, the court may find that the component's failure to comply within the statutory time period is justified. The court may excuse the lack of a timely response if the component demonstrates that it has a backlog of requests that were received before yours, that it processes its requests on a first-come/first-served basis, and that it is making reasonable progress in reducing its backlog of pending FOIA requests. In such cases, the court may postpone its consideration of your lawsuit until the agency reaches your request in its processing backlog. Alternatively, Executive Order 13392, dated, December 14, 2005, provides FOIA requesters the opportunity to request that an agency’s FOIA Requester Service Center(s) check on the status of their FOIA requests. As mentioned above, the Department of Veterans Affairs has established such a center for each of its management offices, with a FOIA Public Liaison named for each, whom FOIA requesters may contact by telephone if they are dissatisfied with the response of the center's FOIA Requester Service Center. FOIA requesters are strongly encouraged to make use of these new services. Exactly my point, this is the VA process which is exactly why I am going to be pushing my Senators to get a new law in place.
  15. Ok, so go to the link I posted earlier, and the very first contact is the FOIA Public Liaison for the VA contact information. Send her an email or fax and explain that you sent a FOIA, the VA did not provide the information within the 20 days and it has been X amount of time and you would like to ask for assistance getting your C&P reports in order to properly review your claim decisions. If asked how you got the info, it was a search on VA.GOV which is wher ethe info comes from.
  16. If you fiile FOIA and they haven't responded you can use the link I posted here earlier to contat the FOIA Director. If asked how you got her info, it was a search on VA.gov.
  17. Hey Broncovet!!! Long time no speak. So if I had my 75 y/o buddy go to the VAMC, say his primary care location, and request it then you think they may provide it?
  18. You are referring to getting your c-file correct? We are talking about getting copy of very specific C&P exam(s). The c-file would definitely take longer.
  19. Correct but the 75 y/o Vietnam vet I've been working with has been stonewalled. Nothing has been uploaded and now his appeal clock is ticking because he got the initial decision letter with final decision deferred on very simple scar ratings. He has contacted VA numerous times to no avail.
  20. Yeah the only way to get the VA to cooperate is to change their rule book. They have beaten down veterans for so long and made them believe they have to just keep doing the same shit fighting the whole way to get what is rightfully theirs. However, if we can get our representatives to get a bi-partisian bill to require the VA to provide all documents automatically to any veteran going through the claims process.
  21. I think if we begin contacting our congressional representatives and demand change, our collective voices would be able to bring about the necessary changes we need but it has to be a lot of people.
  22. Awesome ... lemme know how you make out? Basically are there any rules/laws for the VA to provide/upload the C&P results up to myhealthevet Blue Button records?
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