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brokensoldier244th
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Posts posted by brokensoldier244th
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1 hour ago, Mr cue said:
Well there are law and the va manual is to be follow and because ppl at the va feel they don't have to follow it or make up a better way of doing things is not how it work.
you keep trying to make veterans on hadit understand or have feelings or cry for the va.
The poster stated his experience and what is and happen in there case.
I have also experience the comp exam for conditions that are rated and have nothing to do with what I am claiming
Other veterans have stated the same thing on many other post about there cases. And these exams
If u have a problem with veterans tell there story or what happen in there case why are you here.
I like your info it show me what and how the va think and help veterans understand the process at the ro.
But
When ppl try to explain a problem so hard it mean to me they understand there a problem an in my experience use the problem also to get by.
Ordering unnecessary exams to not have to address the claim when it land on ppl desk.
Ordering a thousand exam for a claim.
Is the problem
Believe whatever you want, your mind is made up. You aren't the only person in the room.
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If your initial claim was for both legs (As bilateral), and you submitted an 040 for it then it would have been considered for both, as the claim was originally filed as a 'unit'.
Some of it is policy- there is more than just the M21-1 the defines and shapes what we can do, can't do, have to do, and won't do. Some of us, with time, are better than others at getting 'around' them to achieve a more optimal result- that just falls on the VSR and their personal motivation level. You know how that is, every unit has cruisers. So do we.
Part of the issue, from my POV of both sides is that the internet and instant communication is a megaphone- for bad/outdated information, veteran's disappointment and frustration, and stories about how it was 10-20-30 yrs ago that get re and re told regardless of whatever changes that we try to make. Sure its great to have instant access to information- and hey, the entire manual that we use is public info on the web- but instant access to info doesn't mean its all 'good' info. Everyone hears about the xxxx ups and no one hears about the stuff that is done to at least attempt to improve. Some of that is on the VSO's and POA's too. Lawyers have a vested interest in getting paid, as do some doctors that do IMO/IME.
Neither POA's or VSO's have to guarantee anything to you- and they still get paid anyway. I can't count how many times a week I have forms for your claims sent in by a VSO that are the right form from 4 yrs ago and are now outdated and have the wrong legal language on them because they couldn't be bothered to keep up with changes to things, for example. Same with exam request language on DBQs- I get those a few times a week, too- and that also means the exam is invalid because statutorily it is an inaccurate picture of the condition.
Veterans that get theirs sometimes post here, Reddit, VBN, FB, whatever- but usually more often its the frustrated ones. That does shape an overall perception of things. Others of you have been at this for years, for whatever reason, and i'm sorry it sucked for you then, or now, and I took this job in part because of all of you. I got a Master's degree so that I would be more attractive to them for hiring because I wanted to help veterans *shrug*. That being said, I also get appeals and claims from veterans/VSO's/POA's that haven't a shot in hell for what they are claiming- and they are on the internet, too, being just as loud, or louder, about it, and that brings us back around to the truth vs the perception, and the venn diagram where they meet in the middle.
At least if I screw up enough, whether through inexperience (happens, I admit it), malicious intent, apathy- pick an adjective- I can and will get fired. Sure, it takes time- they will try to force improvement, and there are rules for how that happens, but eventually crappy VSR's, whatever the reason may be for it, get fired- or leave. Older VSRs that do things the same way for years and don't keep up on rules or technology retire. Shedding that is probably the biggest improvement that could be made- all the way up the chain.
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6 minutes ago, deedub75 said:
I worked as a VSR for 2 years and I never experienced any of this. There was not anti-veteran sentiment and we did everything we could to help veterans. I never saw anyone purposely trying to screw over veterans. People don't realize how tough of a job it is and there are a LOT of errors made due to being constantly under the gun to get claims processed quickly and inadequate training.
I wish there was a better way to correct errors made other than having to appeal them.
So do I. I know that some stations are going back to the 24 or 48 hr rule for VSOs to review a decision before finalization but its not rolled out to all RO's yet.
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We've already reduced RFE exams to about half of what they were in the last few years due to analysis showing that many were unnecessary. I also agree that that they should inform the veteran if there is a need for a reexamination.
As for the rest, the assumption that exams are ordered casually just to make the process take longer that's bullshit- any need for an exam has to be justified somewhere, and its all discoverable in court. I'm not trying to 'change minds' or apologize for the VA- Im not the one that needs to apologize for anything, I can only do what I do in my little part. I will, however, correct incorrect assumptions borne by being on only 1 side of things, whereas I have seen and been involved in both sides. It doesn't make me an expert, but it does give me a little more perspective.
Im out of this conversation for awhile- work, and a furnace to replace tomorrow. See ya, gents.
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No, YOU just say that. Many people see a problem with it. Just because it hasn't changed fast enough for you doesn't = it not being a problem. That being said, if you want claims decided based on DBQs that don't address all the issues adequately just because reexams make it take longer, well....
That's why there are reexams. We can't just schedule them arbitrarily. You make these sweeping assumptions about how you think it works that are not always correct and then get upset about it.
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Ebenefits is not going to be fixed. It is going away. Completely. Last date I heard for sunset was March 22nd. Everything is supposed to be at VA.gov and the only few remaining things at Ebenefits that DO work are only because some veterans have their claims still proceeding that were originally filed under Ebenefits and it hasn't been moved yet.
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Id start with a urologist- they can look at/deal with some of the sexual function issues plus them handle things like vascular problems in the corpus and emissary veins, etc, and can check your prostate- which can be an indicator of a whole host of things that you might consider to be related. Even a GP can prescribe stuff for "Wednesday nights at 1030 after the kids go to bed" to help with that, and write the referrals that your VA or private insurance may need to get started.
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What, exactly, did you claim, and on what form? If you originally had a bilateral claim that was partially denied then reopening it would likely garner an increase exam for the right anyway since it's to your benefit - which won't hurt you- along with the re-examination of the left. That said, was the exam request created correctly or did the examiner screw up- without seeing the exam request there is no way to know.
You cant be penalized right now, ratings wise, for cancellations and no shows due to covid or fear of, and you get 1 "gimme" as of 1 Jan for exams that were originally scheduled on 1jan2022 or after and missed, before the exam request has to recreated vs just rescheduled so not going too it doesn't penalize you right now except for time.
Did you file your reopening within a year of the original denial? if not then there is no contentition for back pay to 2008 for the left leg unless you have new or relevant evidence that they didn't see at the time that they should have seen.
Send in a 4138 very specifically explaining why you refused the exam, because, if it wasn't completed, then you did, the examiner has "completed" (with notes on the diagnostic report) or "not completed" as options from their end.
Do you have a VSO? They can look this stuff up and see the actual notes and exam request- phone people aren't cleared for that.
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Benefits is not VBMS, Its set to close completely in March last I knew, which was a month ago that I checked. Take little that you see of it to be up to date. Pretty much everything has moved to VA.gov.
As for the rest, that's not a function that VSRs or raters do. That's part of fiduciary, so without seeing the letter who knows? Right now you just have a generalization off what he said the letter said. Here is the most current on fee agreements
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17 minutes ago, allansc2005 said:
Morning folks,
A veteran friend of mine was just diagnosed by the VA with severe obstructive sleep apnea.
She's TDIU with 90% scheduler, and has SC PTSD.
So what are the steps, requirements, documents., to get her sleep apnea secondary SC to her PTSD?
New claim? Supplemental Claim..?
Thanks,
Allan 2-2-0 HOOAH!
If she has not filed for it before it would be considered a new, non-original claim. Supplementals are for appealing a prior denial at the local level. You/she can file on a 526EZ. You need a solid connection between HER ptsd and HER sleep apnea with rationale as to why the doctor/specialist thinks why. They can cite other things but unless they explain why study X or whatever applied to HER condition it doesn't have as strong an evidentiary value. Studies and appeals are good references for what is possible but unless it was your appeal or you were in the study it doesn't apply directly to you, unless you have a doctor do the connection between you and the information and explain why.
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I've read that report a few times, it's part of why we are doing what we're doing now.
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44 minutes ago, Rivet62 said:
Oh wow. That's a sub-group for sure.
Lol, it has its days. I'm buried in NCIS/CID/Police reports and veteran self statements, etc, all day, Same with searching for behavioral markers.
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1 hour ago, Rivet62 said:
Which is why you have to be careful which path you take in a VA career. Maybe IT is better. I don't know. When I worked at a VAMC (not even 2 years), I encountered a networking guy who I went to school with (I bombed out) and he seemed really happy like he was calling the shots. I know networking is different from IT generally speaking. I'd say VA employment is just stressful, and where it shouldn't be stressful they make it stressful.
We had that independent employee assistance program line too, but the amount of variables you deal with just wasn't in my position. I was basically employed by VA under the Schedule A hiring authority and so they were extra nice, and nice I got a job in the first place...but stress...It's just baked in the VA cake I guess.
What are MST claims?
Military sexual trauma. I'm on a tiger team, of sorts, with different training. We're a subgroup, there about 15 of us in my RO, and about the same at 5 others. We do all the mst claims in the system right now. All Mst all the time on every channel.
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1 minute ago, Rivet62 said:
Yes. I have realized that now.
LMAO...and gets them nowhere. They don't understand what you're dealing with...lol.
I might be better off not knowing what's in there and do what my psychiatrist suggests. Just live a happy life and find things I enjoy, because that sounds like a mess...lol.
It is a mess. There is a reason that a VSR does one of a few things- doesn't make it past the first year (3-4 months training, a month or 3 of handholding, then off to the races), promotes out of it to something else on another path like supervisory or trainer or sometimes to a different federal agency, or gets carried out on a stretcher after 15 or 20 yrs (figuratively- they retire just like everyone else). Ive been here almost 2 yrs- I haven't decided which direction im in, since I have IT training, and also an Ed degree. I could pivot within VA in a few directions I just haven't been here long enough to get quite to that point. Most of those beginning opportunities start opening up around GS10 which won't happen for a few months.
There is a also a reason that there is an Employee Assistance Program with MH people available, too. I work in MST claims exclusively. We have access to a phone number to call 24 hrs a day thats independent of the crisis line (unless its that bad) but also independent of management. VSRs in general can call EAP for guidance to services for helping to process some of the stress that some people develop. Plus, there are many of us that are veterans and we have our own issues that are baggage also.
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VSO's and POA's have access to VBMS and can see what's in there, but they aren't going to spend hours plumbing your Cfile for scanned PDF's. They can't keep up with the hundreds of cases at a time that they have. If you know exactly what you want then some might try to find it for you, but its up to the individual VSO or POA. A lawyer is going to take a lot more time in discovery (you'd think) but honestly a lot of them pawn it off on us by sending threatening legalese letters demanding that we drop everything and look for that "1" document (that they can't describe, either, because many of them aren't vets and have no idea what you are looking for either).
They aren't all neatly housed in file folder by what they are because the scanning system for intake can only go by form numbers that it can read, or descriptions from official record sources like NPRC or one of the services. Thus, your Cfile is a jumbled mess of things submitted by you, automatically generated (letters, decisions), Service stuff, returned documents from private doctors fulfilling scanned document requests, etc. A Cfile maybe 50 or 100 links on a page, each link representing 1 page or hundreds depending on what was uploaded and if it was a batch or individual pages, with multiple pages of links that encompass the entire file. The more claims a veteran files, the more stuff is in there, some of the duplication of things like notification letters is required by law. Appeals, remands, POA documents, IRIS/Phone notes, all of it- is in there.
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4 minutes ago, Mr cue said:
I can't seem to be able to post the remand for my loss of use but it is on hadit.
It was remand for a exam because a examiner gave all the evidence.
But they didn't say I have loss if use on the report.
So after 8 comp exam a specialized loss of use exam.
They order more exam.
What is the law on how many exam the va can order. Is it unlimited.
You said yourself- they didnt answer whether or not it was loss of use. The Ratings schedule says 'loss of use'. Raters are not legally allowed to pass medical judgements. If the exam asked for X and the examiner didn't put it on there, then the exam is not sufficient because it didnt answer the fundamental question. So, yes, we order more exams, or a different examiner, because the laws say we have to.
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3 minutes ago, Whodat said:
Doesn't make any sense. The VA will spend tax dollars and order many exams. Paying tax dollars for exams. Down the road the vet won the appeal, the VA wasted tax payers money.
The frequency of requested exams, whether C&P or re-examinations is considerably fewer now than it was 5, 10, 20 years ago, as records have become electronic (tens of thousands less). Some veterans claims fail because you literally can't read their records and neither can the examiner- either because they deteriorated or because corpsman don't know how to write in English, much less readable English. Sometimes the examiners themselves that get the claim are not well trained, or outside of their specialty. There is a finite number of examiners and VA can't just make them work for VA.
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3 minutes ago, Mr cue said:
I understand your are fine with the way thing are working now I am not.
This doesn't address anything for a veteran.
It even gives the va a chance to say your claim does even have evidence to order a exam.
It really seem one sided.
If the va find it necessary what if the veteran find it to be unnecessary.
a claim for disability compensation, VA will provide a medical examination or obtain a medical opinion based upon a review of the evidence of record if VA determines it is necessary to decide the claim. A medical examination or medical opinion is necessary if the information and evidence of record does not contain sufficient competent medical evidence to decide the claim, but:
Then I guess you will have to change a whole host of federal laws, Cue. You want disability benefits, there are the rules and hoops. Do I agree with all of it? No. Do I think its bloated from over 100 yrs of veterans receiving compensation, and laws and regulations being added on top of laws and regulations? Yes. What do you want to hear?
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No, because depending on when you separated your personnel file and medical records are stored in separate places, and not always together-they aren't just sitting in the RO somewhere. 20+ yrs ago, sure, but not now. Now they are housed in the national archives and scanned and sent to us when we request them.
You can get your personnel records anytime electronically through milconnect https://milconnect.dmdc.osd.mil/milconnect/public/faq/Documentation-DPRIS/PaperDocs
Your STRs are stored at NPRC which has several locations, and all operating at various levels of opening or staffing depending on their local conditions. We have to wait months for them, too. I started in March 2020 at VA and there are a few veterans that have come back across my desk that I can't work on because of waiting for personnel records to help verify stressors and/or duty locations- and in some cases for me its been almost a year or more that ive seen them come back around. https://www.archives.gov/veterans
Now, this is only for records that are not already in your Cfile. If you've filed claims in the past then they have already been pulled in, probably multiple times (in the case of troops that start the process before they outprocess I usually end up with two or three versions of their personnel file because their service keeps adding to it, sometimes even after they have already gone through the gate). For whatever reason Janesville takes forever to do Cfiles, I don't know why. Your existing stuff that has already been pulled into your Efolder is processed there.
You can get VAMC records through MyHealthVet and download to your heart's content, though it only goes back 3-4 yrs, maybe, and is only for VAMC treatment, not service stuff.
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The requirements for the exam are clearly spelled out on the exam, and the requirements for what is an inadequate exam are in M21 and CFR. There is not "VA says its an inadequate exam because....reasons......maybe I mad at my cat today". Come on, Cue- Is it a perfect system? No. Are you manufacturing 'rules' that VA has that don't exist based on whatever your personal opinion is? Yes.
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1 hour ago, john999 said:
If wants wants you to go for an exam I would go by all means. If you don't go that gives them an excuse to deny you.
It's not really an excuse if the information necessary for the rating is needed and the vet doesn't go. Thats on them.
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The reason for the denial is clearly stated in the denial letter. If there isn't enough evidence and then the veteran doesn't go to the exam, it says that. (?) That's why its generally in the best interest of the veteran to go.
If you have had 9 exams for the same condition- have you asked "why?" The notes in VBMS would likely say something about that and the reasoning. Your VSO can look it up, and the phone people can see the notes portion, though they cannot see the entire claim. Without knowing why they have sent you 9 times I have no idea. Ive not seen that many before.
VBMS vs. Ebenefits is their a timeline when ebenefits is updated?
in VA Disability Claims Research
Posted
The whole page is going away. It's all moving in some form or another.