broncovet

Meddac... Yes, many of my comments are negative toward the VA. You might be mad, too, if you lost your home because the VA "forgot" 3 out of 4 of your claims. If you re read what I posted, I did use the words "due to SC conditions", and the exact regulation is very similar to what I said: (Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501) ( :D It is the established policy of the Department of Veterans Affairs that all veterans who are unable to secure and follow a substantially gainful occupation by reason of service-connected disabilities shall be rated totally disabled. Therefore, rating boards should submit to the Director, Compensation and Pension Service, for extra-schedular consideration all cases of veterans who are unemployable by reason of service-connected disabilities, but who fail to meet the percentage standards set forth in paragraph (a) of this section. The rating board will include a full statement as to the veteran's service-connected disabilities, employment history, educational and vocational attainment and all other factors having a bearing on the issue.

Pittsburg is in the The midwest, home of the free and the brave and the worst service to Veterans of any area in the country. Ohio is famous for its terrible service, and its last or dead last ranking by the AG. Illinois was so bad, that Barack Obama, before he was president made a stink, and, for a while, if your RO was in the "Bottom 5" (lowest ranking Regional Offices by the Attorney General) , you could write in and ask for reconsideration. That blew over, like most things, and was just lip service, once Barack got elected as president. Midwest Veterans came out empty handed, with the exception of some mild improvement in Illinios RO. However, Ohio Veterans regurarly get the shaft and remain a "bottom feeder"..(a trash fish) Indiana is right down there about neck and neck with Illinois, and Ohio, and the new deal was supposed to prevent the disparity among states..it did nothing for Ohio, Indiana, and the rest of the midwest. I think Midwest Regional Office managers get together, have pow wows on how they can give even worse service to Veterans. Berta pointed out Buffalo RO is also in the midwestern "Shameful-treatment-to-Veterans-belt" Its too bad we cant "pick" our REgional Office, and then close the bad ones for poor service.

Yes, you can still send evidence, however, in theory it could be too late for it to be considered for that decision. In other words you send more evidence, then find out your claim has already been rated and a decision is on its way. If that happens, you can file a "motion for reconsideration" to have the "new" evidence considered.

Les I will venture a guess. The BVA made a decision, and they feel they are done, so closed it. It is up to the RO to "implement" the BVA decision. Unfortunately, this creates one more "loophole", that is, your RO "interprets" the BVA decision in a manner consistent with your RO's own agenda. Let me give you an example: I received an "award" from the BVA for a "complete grant of benefit sought". The RO "interpreted" this to mean I got a zero percent award on one benefit and to forget about all the other benefit sought. A "zero percent award" nets the Veteran exactly the same monetary benefits as a denial. Sure, you can appeal it, and then get on the "hamster wheel" again, but the RO even put a stop to that by "interpreting" my NOD as a claim for benefits. Bottom line: Watch out! The VA can/does "interpret" things in a manner consistent with their own agenda. For example the "favor the Veteran" rule = "forget the Veteran".

Berta... There is NO DOUBT that this is a retaliatory effort. The VA retaliated on me, too, because I filed a Writ of Mandamus, after the VA "forgot" to take ANY action on my 2004 NOD. In the Secretary's response to my writ, the RO manager stated that my NOD was "interpreted as a claim for benefits". They were "blowing smoke" and I am calling them on it..there was no evidence to support their statement. The VA HATES outspoken Veterans Advocates, and uses the system to manipulate us to "Shut up" other Veteran complaints. Like you, I will not shut up, and I applaud YOU for sticking up for us. The VA wants you to tell others, "Now, now, dont complain about the VA or you will loose your benefits..or never get them" They used this manipulation in boot camp..because it works. We went into a smoke filled chamber. It was a concrete building..with a carefully controlled smoking fire. WE had to put the fire out. We all had to do it. We had a hose..each man hung onto the firehose. One man turned on the water to put out the fire, but they didnt let us have any water in the hose for about 60 seconds. The smoke enters your lungs..you feel the heat. It is the scariest feeling I have ever experienced. They tell you that you MUST remain calm and breathe through your nose. One man panicked, started breathing through his mouth and choked on the smoke..and ran out of the building in a panic. We all felt like doing the same..we were all scared..have you ever been in a burning building? Then they make EVERY man do it again. Not just the guy who panicked, but EVERYone...because one panicked. WE all got hold of the panicker (fortunately it was not me!) and told him that if he panicked again..we would beat the crap out of him and send his bones to his mother..and we meant it, because it is very very scary. The pressure from all of us worked, and we completed it either the second or third try. This is exactly what the VA is doing to you. By retaliating against you, they are pressuring the rest of us to keep breathing the smoke the VA blows up our buts and not panic. Its the military way. Dont give in to them. I am standing here beside you and I wont let the VA do that to you either. I am with you!

Yes, it is a delay tactic. The VA hates the VCAA, and manipulates it to their advantage, when it was intended to benefit the Veteran. Yes, you need to send the VCAA form in or your claim will be delayed, probably indefinitely. You have pointed out one of their manipulations..."The Veteran never signed the VCAA letter" so we are waiting on more evidence. This is one of the problems with Pro-Veteran legislation..the VA manipulates it because they are mad at the very idea that they need to give Veterans good service, and, instead want it as "business as usual". I think the VA goal is to spend $10 in paperwork and administration for every dollar the Veteran gets in compensation. If this were a private non profit, they would be tarred and feathered and ran out of town, like other corrupt non profits that keep 90% of the money raised and only give 10% or less to the people they are supposed to be raising money for.

Oh, yes living rock. The VA often pulls this crap along with lowballing your other claims. For example, you get awarded 30% depression and you ask for TDIU, and have not had gainfull employment for 5 years. They "drop" your TDIU request because you dont meet that famous 60/70% minimum crapola. If you read the regulations, it is the VA policy to award TDIU if you are not substantially gainfully employed, AND they are supposed to give you "special consideration" for TDIU if you do not meet the 60/70 requirement but are still not gainfully employed, due to SC conditions. My experience is they just do not comply with this regulation. My recommendation, if this applies: Apply for NSC pension, as it is much easier to get than TDIU. Keep trying to get TDIU, but NSC pension may get you by for a time until you finally get TDIU. (NSC pension is about half of what TDIU is AND they "deduct" any other income from NSC pension..but if you have no other income, for heaven sakes take the pension, and keep working on the TDIU..remember that FAMILY income counts toward NSC pension, so if your wife is working, then NSC pension is useless). The VA will perform a "slight of hand" trick..if they can get you to "buy it". They award you NSC pension to shut you up so that you will forget about TDIU. Remember with NSC pension they are admitting you are unemployed/unemployable, but are contending that OTHER than SC conditions contribute to your unemployability, that is, you are unemployable, but only 30% of this is service connected, so 70% of it is Non Service Connected. However, what you need to do is to try to find out why they say you are 30% SC and "What is the other 70%"...that is, why you are NOT TDIU. Its a trick to get you to settle for half of what TDIU is..dont let them pull it off. In short, they are lowballing your depression to 30% and then giving you NSC pension, so they dont have to pay the full TDIU. DO NOT LET THEM DO THIS TO YOU. THEY want to to live in poverty. Also remember this: IF you get SSD and NSC pension, literally you wont get both: REason, SSD income will be deducted from NSC pension and there will be little/nothing left. The "net effect" to the VA is that you will get SSD, and the VA pays you zip. Its an often used trick to get you into poverty.

ADD YOUR RO TO THE DIRTY DOZEN LIST FOR THIS: Yes. This is a "secret denial" and it has happened to me. I think it is illegal, but that does not stop them from doing it. I recommend you first try the "nice" approach. Send an IRIS email "asking" the "status" on your claim for xxxx submitted on xxxxx. If they respond that the claim was dropped, then ask why this was done. This gives the VA a "chance" to say.."oops" and we will get on it right away. Dont hold your breath, tho. Next, send a Statement in Support of Claim..saying something like..I applied on 11/20/07 for x benefit and an IRIS email dated 06/04/08 says that x benefit is no longer active. If this does not yield any results, then file a "Special handling request due to mishandled documents" because, if there is no good reason for them to drop your claim without a decision, then you are assuming your claim evidence was shredded. My guess is that they will never admit to any errors, ever, however, the VA is a big place and there are lots and lots of people there with vastly different attitudes toward Veterans, and hopefully you get a Veteran friendly one. Frankly, this stuff happens a lot, and you have to keep the pressure on them to do anything. Lastly, you may have to wait until you get a decision on something else, and include this in your NOD. "I disagree with decision dated 02/17/09 for the following reasons: Said decision did not address claim made on 11/20/07 for TDIU, but it was dropped, according to IRIS email of 02.27/09..copy enclosed. This practice is sneaky, outrageous, frustrating, maddening, illegal, and done much more frequently than you think since many Veterans forget, dont keep good records, die, etc. Oh, yes, and there is no accountability for this either. Five years and several appeals later the VA MAY finally give you your money, but they will try to cover up their tracks through shredding of documents first.

Yes, I can see they are "on the ball"..but maybe you should wait to see if you get your benefits first...THEN you can sing their praises..I got phone calls, too, from the Roanoke RO..and had good service there when my claim was "farmed out" to Roanoke. However, Cleveland was worried that Roanoke would give me good service and approve my claim, so they insisted it be sent back to Cleveland for rating..they would only allow Roanoke to develop and delay the claim. Of course, Cleveland denied my increase. I had a good rapport with Roanoke..so, naturally, the VA sends it somewhere else to be rated. ALWAYS REMEMBER THIS: Whenever someone calls you, says they are with the government and they are there to help you, WATCH YOUR BACK!

Go Carlie! Yes, I found it exceedingly interesting that my most RECENT decision FROM Cleveland had a ST. Petersburg Cover letter on it. The VARO recently sent a second copy of my RO decision, and that Cleveland decision still ALSO had "St. Petersburg, Florida" as a cover letter. I think the corruption is much deeper than "just" NY Regional Office, it appears alive and well, and thriving in Cleveland, Detroit, and St. Pete as well. I am pretty sure the management of St. Pete and Cleveland share passwords, so they can deny legit Veterans and award large retros to friends and family of employees. Thank you for confirming St. Pete..that is about 14 "votes" for ST. Pete as one of the worst. I am going to allow your "multiple votes"...just in case you had 11 Veterans in your house, and because St. Pete is worthy of this "Veterans RO of Shame" distinction!

VSO's are the only group less accountable than VA employees. VSO's could take you in the back room, beat you silly, and then tell everyone it was your fault and it would be. VA employees are only a "little bit less" accountable, in that, about once every five years the VAOIG picks one "sacraficial lamb"...not just a crooked employee, but a VA employee that is crooked and wont share the spoils with management and THEN the VAOIG will go after them. Of course, organized crime is alive and well inside the VA management..even Hillary Clinton said the VA in New York is corrupt: http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfdec08/nf121008-2.htm When VA management is caught shredding documents, they dont get fired, they get promoted: http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfdec08/nf120408-1.htm

SSG magic.. Sent you a PM on some "Pro Veteran" docs in Ohio. Cant mention the names here..the VA fires docs if they think they are for the Veteran. Here is one example: http://www.vawatchdog.org/09/nf09/nffeb09/nf022509-6.htm

Ahhh, yes, Testvet..thanks for the oversight. Will correct and add Columbia, SC immediately. I think Illinois and Indiana are good candidates for the "bottom 12". (#1) is the worst..#57 would be best. 1. New York..management fired for fraud..faked dates..shredded claims..Hillary Clinton publicly said NY VARO is "corrupt" (to bad she didnt visit some of the other RO's) 2. Detroit...16,000 "lost" Veterans claims, bad service... 3. Cleveland..55 shredded claims..lowest ranking or second lowest by AG in compensation to Vets two years in a row...Cleveland RO manager promoted to Central Office despite horrible service.. 4. St. Petersburg.. 5. Columbia South Carolina.. We are on a roll here..nominate your RO for the "bottom 12" most shamefull treatment to Veterans by any Regional Office.

I would like to compose a list of the 12 Worst places to live for VA benefits. If your RO has "done you wrong" post it, and why..I think this list should be turned over to Bob Filner, Mr. Hall, Mr. Shineski, and, yes, Mr. Obama. I propose these terrible RO's head the list: "The Veterans list of the 12 Worst Regional Offices: 1. New York 2. Detroit 3. Cleveland 4. St. Pete I want these to be like "power ratings" for the NFL..except in reverse, kind of like the least likely teams to win the next superbowl of being Veteran friendly. My reasons for the "Terrible 3" of NY, Detroit, Cleveland being the worst are largely due to the AG's report of Veterans shredded claims, as well as my own experience in Drew Careys neighborhood. Please add your RO to this "12 worst list", if you feel your RO is deserving, as we can use it to pressure them to "get off this nasty list" by good Veterans service. Also a factor is The AG reported disparity among states, where some RO's compensate Veterans much higher than others. Cleveland, Indiana, and Illinois are 3 states at the bottom of this list also. I want to pressure the VA to stop "low balling" and start treating Veterans right by putting the worst offenders on this nasty list. A "good list" may also be in order, with the top "Veteran friendly" RO's. Thanks for your input and helping other Veterans to get benefits they deserve.

My 2 cents worth: The VA likes to hear the words, "The Veterans condition is at least as likely as not related to military service" Since your doc did NOT say that, but, I will admit it is close..maybe even "close enough for the government" if your pain condition is SC'd..however it does leave the door open that other conditions could be also causing your pain. I think it depends on the sympathy of the rater, and the RO, and how they interpret the "favor the Veteran" rule. My experience has been the "favor the Veteran" rule is interpreted by the RO as "forget the Veteran", but others have had a much better experience than I have. IMHO if your RO is Cleveland, New York, Detroit, or St. Pete..make plans for a LONG LONG fight and a denial. However, if your RO is Maine or New Mexico, start looking at new cars for your Retro payment, as the last two states RO's are very liberal at approving Veterans claims while the first four are Veterans "Christmas Busters"..the Terrible 4 RO's.

Yoggie.. Even Nuclear weapons dont motivate DRO's to "hurry". My suggestion is you find something else to occupy your time..your grand kids, fishing, playing golf, chess, church, etc, and take your mind off of it. "Watched Pots never boil" anyways, so dont even wait for the mailman. The VA has taken enough from you already, so dont give them any more of your sanity than they already got. JMHO. Broncovet

I agree with Hoppy! I dont think it should be this way, tho! A Veteran should be able to get a "fair shake" from his/her C&P examination. The obvious problem is that "so called doctors" at the C&P are compensated by the VA by QTC, and this is a conflict of interest with the usual result being that the Veteran is the Victim. Doc makes money, QTC earns huge profits charging the VA $499 for an exam that should cost about $100, and the Veteran looses his benefits. Obviously, the VA makes money..for $499 they can "shut up" the Veteran and deny his benefits based on "medical opinions". In the SSD industry, I can pick my physician, and, as Hoppy pointed out, my lawyer could direct me to a physician known to be Pro-claimant. The only way to right this injustice, IMHO, is for the Veteran to pick the C&P examiner, NOT the VA. It is just too large of a conflict of interest for the VA NOT to take advantage of this, and they do, regurarly. This is a lot of the reason why more deserving Veterans are denied benefits, and less deserving Veterans are awarded benefits, in many cases.

I would like to add this: The VA system is supposed to be Pro-Veteran, with things like the doctrine of equipose and the "favor the Veteran" rules. Of course, we know the VA is an expert at circumventing these and other Pro-Veteran rules, and manipulating them to serve their own purposes. However, if the VA wound up paying huge attorney bills WHEN they do this manipulation in order to deny a Veterans benefits, then maybe they would be forced to rethink their "rubber stamp denial" concept..if that cost em big bucks, and Veterans would be the winners of such change. I also think the VA should pay the Veteran INTEREST on Retro's..why should they get out of this when everyone else has to pay interest? If you and I dont pay our bills, we have to pay more when they sue us..late charges, interest, penalties, etc, so why should the VA get off scott free? No wonder they delay our claims..it pays them to do just that. WE have to pay INTEREST if we dont pay our copays on time, so why dont they have to pay us interest if they dont pay our benefits on time?

Shark I appreciate your posting this. Please do not take this as gospel, but is it not possible that, assuming you "win" your case, the VA has to pay your attorney fees? In the "real" world, that is the way it works...if you wrong me, and I sue you, and win, they you have to pay for my attorney. I don't know if it works that way in the VA, but I think it SHOULD work that way. After all, this would force the VA to start making good decisions at the RO level, or pay up. Why should the Veteran pay for the attorney when the VA messes up? I wonder if it is just a case of the attorney not asking..in other words why should the attorney care who pays the attorney fees, as long as the attorney gets his money. However, I would be VERY mad at an attorney who is paid to represent MY interests if he did not at least ASK the judge for the VA to pay my attorney bill. JMHO.

It is unclear to me why Veterans groups appear to be so dead set against this. Frankly, I do not give a rip if some insurance company or the VA pays my medical costs..as long as I dont have to. I am not going to get into a tizzy about the profitability of some insurance companies..their executives can worry about whether or not they make money. There may be some real benefits to having the insurance company pay...after all, that would be more money for the VA, would it not? It would appear to be a "painless" way of increasing the VA budget..by having insurance companies foot part of the bill. There is no doubt that insurance companies would hate this with a passion, but I really dont care if they like it or not. Who knows..maybe insurance companies have been given a free ride for so long, they expect it to be free and dont want to pay the "toll". Why dont these Veterans groups focus on something that means something to Vets..like, say, it taking 6months to many years for us to ever receive our Veterans compensation? Isnt it more important to worry about wether or not a Veteran can pay his bills and keep his house rather than argue if VA or his wifes insurance is going to pay their hospital bill? JMHO

Ruby IMHO you probably need to get another doctor. There are "Veteran Friendly" docs..and there are docs like yours. It will be tough, very tough, to "over ride" this docs opinion, but it can be done. Medical Literature may not help you unless it convinces your doc to change his mind.

I agree with Stretch..the same thing happened to me. The life insurance division is on the ball, and you are used to dealing with C and P. Raise your standards, then lower them back down after you get your life insurance and are dealing with C and P again. The C and P bad service will come right back to you..you dont need to worry about C and P giving good service like VA life insurance. C and P has a reputation to live up to, and they sure wont blow it by giving Veterans good service.

I agree that Dr. Bash is too expensive. I recommend you get another doc to do the same thing. Tell him you need for his IMO to say, "Veteran X's medical condition most likely occured while in military service" If he does not want to offer that opinion, then get another doc who will. Remember Dr. Bash just merely reads your file, and offers an opinion. He is giving an opinion of other docs medical exams. It would make sense for you to get a medical opinion WITH AN EXAMINATION by a local doctor in your neck of the woods. You can tell the doc the opinion you need, if he does not agree with you, then tell him you will keep looking for a doctor whose opinions coincide with yours. That is, go "doctor shopping"..the VA does it. I have had ten or more different VA doctors..and which doctors opinion do they cite in my denials? The one that I have seen the most? No, they site the doctor whose opinion is that you should be denied..they are doctor shopping, so you can do the same thing.

I agree that your IRIS response is inaccurate, but have noticed that neither IRIS responses, nor call center reponses are accurate. Come to think of it, the VA RO decisions are not accurate either..and neither are there reports of errors, according to the VAOIG, the RO understates the error rates by at least 10%. I have learned to take IRIS responses with a grain of sand. You can't "appeal" an IRIS response, so, of course, there is no accountability with IRIS either. ONE time I did get a "good" IRIS response when I stated: "Please answer carefully and request a supervisor if you dont know the answer." THEN I asked my question and got a decent answer, which, by the way, was in conflict with an earlier IRIS response. In summary, YOU CANT TRUST IRIS, YOU CANT TRUST THE CALL CENTER, YOU CANT TRUST RO DECISIONS..but there is something you can count on. Whenever the VA makes mistakes, you can count on them trying to cover up their errors and not admitting their mistakes.

Fletch This is precisely what a lot of Veterans are complaining about the VA. It isnt so much as how much we get paid, it is when we get paid. The Va does not care that our bills are due..they get their paycheck regular as clockwork, or they would fly off the handle pronto if their paycheck was late..even a few days. However, they somehow think it is ok for a Veteran to get his due whenever the VA gets around to it, which is always later rather than sooner. There is no reason why a Veteran should be compensated any slower than an employee, we deserve our compensation just as much as any government employee, if not more so. We Veterans have already been "hired"..some draftees were "hired" involuntary, others of us went through the military screening process, and did everything we were told, voluntarily. Either way, Veterans do not deserve lesser treatment than VA employees, their pay should arrive at the same time we Veterans compensation arrives. If they changed rules to make that happen, lo and behold, if their paycheck depended upon getting our compensation out quickly, we would see compensation checks in days instead of years.