Lufkin Texas/ Tx Veterans Commission

[vaf]

My husband and I are seriously considering a move across the state line to Lufkin TX/Lake Sam Rayburn area. When the veteran relocates to another state, are they required to relocate their claims to the new state VARO immediately, or can they wait until a decision is made? The reason I ask this is we've been waiting for a decision on a Board remanded appeal from the AMC for over two years, and the appeal is reportedly with the raters there. We don't want to do anything to delay it further.

I'm also looking for some general comments from anyone who lives in that area, if you like it, cost of living issues, if the state VSO's know anything about 38 CFR, if the VARO is more competent than the one we have here in Louisiana, etc. I understand that a new VA Medical Center is being built, is that correct?

My husband is retired military, and I've also got a question on Tricare. Is Lufkin in an encasement area, in other words, can we see civilian doctors, or would we be obligated to seek medical care at any local military base, if there is one, and pay higher prices if we choose to seek civilian care, instead? Where we are now, we've got a military base in our backyard, which means in the absence of other insurance, we'd be forced to go there for treatment, and they almost killed my husband when he was active duty. We wouldn't take our dog over there now, let alone ourselves.

All comments welcome, thanks!

[Pete53]

Lufkin is a great town. Its not real big but large enough to have almost everything that you could need. The people are friendly and if you are a church goer they will actually work hard to help you fit into the local scene.

As far as your claim goes if it were me I would wait for the decision just make sure that your mail is forwarded properly. After 6 months I would go ahead and change my address. I believe that Lufkin has to deal with Houston VARO which I think is a hair faster than Louisiana.

Another thought is that if your claim was remanded 2 years ago I would start poking at them. Maybe a letter or Iris asking what is up? You ought to consider a Writ of Mandamus as after 18 months they tend to bury claims.

Best of luck

[vaf]

Thanks, Pete! You know, we considered a writ. We didn't think our chances of being successful would be all that great, considering the fact that the remand is reportedly at the AMC raters. Plus, I hate the fact that attorney representation is not allowed at the AMC. We've been handling that particular aspect of his claims on our own. OK, well, that sounds like the only option left, and I've got the writ template saved for such an occasion.

Is the writ be directed to the Board, who originally remanded the claim, which was stated in the decision to have been handled "expeditiously," or does the writ get filed directly against the AMC?

Lufkin sounds great, we don't need the big city stuff, both of us come from major urban areas, have traveled around the world extensively, and we've already been there, done that, etc... The hubby is a big bass fisherman, so the attraction in Lufkin would be its proximity to Sam Rayburn Reservoir and Toledo Bend, plus our daughter just graduated from college and moved to Houston. I just didn't want to "goober up" as they say in this area, his appeals.

Thank you so much!

[Berta]

You mentioned a writ- I assume you mean Writ of Mandamus.

These writs are filed with the Court of Veterans Appeals.

A claimant must have exhausted all admisistrative proceedings to warrant a Mandamus writ being granted.

I am prepared to file a writ if a claim I filed in 2003 remains undecided in the next decision I receive.

I have evidence from RO that they would make a decision-they stated this twice in 2004 and 2005 but they never did.

They never have sent me a VCAA letter on this claim nor even mentioned it in any SOC etc-only in 2 letters from the VSM and she made legal errors in her statements regarding my other claims in the same letter.

It involves a legal question issue and should have been sent to Regional Counsel for a legal opinion.

I sent it to General Counsel myself and they replied-without the decision-or any request from RO -they have no jurisdiction-yet- over this legal issue.

In January 2008 -5 years will have passed after filing this specific claim with no decision at all.

My other claim could render this claim moot with a proper decision-

if that is not the end result I will make one more attempt to get a decision from RO and then will file a writ.

Writs of Mandamus must show an exhaustion of all administrative remedy and/or involve claims that VA has acknowledged but failed to provide any decision on at all-

for years.

[Pete53]

Berta I disagree somewhat what a Writ much show is that the VA is stalling and not doing its job. Alex used to say that after waiting 18 months he would write the VA and inform that that he was considering filing a Writ if the VA did not Act on the claim.

The Writ if executed forces the VA to act. I don't understand why it would not work at the AMC level as most know that the AMC will not really make a decision but they will remand it.

By the time the AMC gets the claim it is supposed to be in an expedited status anyway. The BVA hands it off and usually in the Opinion its tells the VA to hurry up.

The AMC started off pretty good till the Law Suit made them change their Mission. Remember that was when the BVA thought that they could have thier own RO the AMC and actually speed up claims?

[vaf]

Any chance the threat of filing a writ would put the remand back at the bottom of the pile or cause it to not go in the veteran's favor?

My husband's been calling the AMC on and off for several months. At one point, the AMC told him the remand had been rated, but the rater was "inexperienced," and they wanted someone who had been on the job longer to review the decision. Then today, Ernest answered the AMC phone and told my husband that the remand has been scheduled to go to the raters. So what the heck that means, we don't know.

That's why I'm wondering if at this point, we can consider the process "exhausted," or if it's not truly exhausted until the AMC does its thing, no matter how long that takes? The risk of screwing this up compared to the possibility of the Writ helping move it along. We just don't know what our exposure truly is.

[Pete53]

Its your claim and you have to decide. I did not file a Writ although came very close to it. The majority of people who have filed Writs that talked about it on Hadit pointed out these points.

Filing a Writ does not guarantee the answer that you want but it does get the VA off the dime and you will get an answer. The VA does not want to lose a Writ so in most cases if they can't get it dismissed they make a quick ruling as compared to a claim that has been sitting.

So in my opinion if your claim has sat at the AMC for 24 months and no one can give you a clear answer you should give serious thought to file the Writ. It simply gets a Judge to Order the VA to do their job.

I know that Berta has outlined how you should proceed but you have to get your ducks in order including notifying the VA of your attention to file the Writ based on the delays and conflicting information that you have gotten when you asked for help.

You have to show in your writ that you have done everything you can and the VA is doing nothing.

A claim should be afforded expeditious treatment by the RO or AMC. The law requires that all claims that are remanded by the Board of Veterans’ Appeals or by the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims for additional development or other appropriate action must be handled in an expeditious manner.

24 months is not expeditious and should be considered contempt in my opinion.

What I want to make clear is that filing a Writ in itself is not a winner its that usually it will force the VA to act before a Judge looks at it. When it gets to a Judge you almost have no chance at all.