How Is The Va Doing?

[Pete53]

http://www.ipsnews.net/print.asp?idnews=39731

[yoggie2]

I feel for this feller, I am fortunate to have family and welfair to help me from being in that shape, among other thing. I if you have kids you do ever thing if takes I mean every thing. Get the story in the paper, man you get help in weeks not months and years. RC

[danang_1969]

Great story ending. How many deserving vets are there out there, many homeless, who do not have the resources and the mental and educational capacity to not only find find the correct forms, but fill them out? How many vets still have all their military record documents or know how to obtain them, and have the patience to endure the process. The knowledge that it is very important to confirm receipt and acknowledgement of received files. Have all the things that are required and do all the things neccasary for success. Many need help from some knid if source. I am thankful for the access of resources that I have been blessed to have through my processes.

Danang_1969

[JENNABEAN]

Great story ending. How many deserving vets are there out there, many homeless, who do not have the resources and the mental and educational capacity to not only find find the correct forms, but fill them out? How many vets still have all their military record documents or know how to obtain them, and have the patience to endure the process. The knowledge that it is very important to confirm receipt and acknowledgement of received files. Have all the things that are required and do all the things neccasary for success. Many need help from some knid if source. I am thankful for the access of resources that I have been blessed to have through my processes.

Danang_1969

I feel so bad for the guy in this story. I have been feeling jipped by the VA, but at least I have my kids with me, and a roof over our heads. Its sad that you have to be homeless to get the VA to do your claim quickly, and even more sad that they took a long time to take care of this guy.

dangang- what resources have you found to help you through the process?? i am needing to find some!

[Chuck75]

I'm glad that he succeeded in his effort to get the VA to do what it should have done in the first place!

I believe that the VA needs to change from a "How can we deny" to a "how can we approve" mentality.

http://www.ipsnews.net/print.asp?idnews=39731

[Pete53]

I'm glad that he succeeded in his effort to get the VA to do what it should have done in the first place!

I believe that the VA needs to change from a "How can we deny" to a "how can we approve" mentality.

One of the proposals out now is to approve and than deny later if not justified by evidence. I think even the hack just leaving Sec Nicholson was for that.

[cloudcroft]

Yes, when I was in the process of my claim, I also thought I was getting the runaround, too, and that the VA was just trying to save money by denying me. But I wasn't sure how much of that was actually the truth and how much was due to some possible desperation and/or a paranoid reaction on my part (real or imagined). As it turned out, maybe the merit of my claim was not as "obvious" as I thought it was. Even so, it was also true that had the VARO gone by its own regs, I would not have had to go all the way to the BVA. So it was probably both our faults.

But was there some "dark conspiracy" involved here to make me wait that long due to arbitrary denials along the way?

I can't say there was.

I know it may still seem that way to some of us, maybe even a lots of us, that the VA is out to "jip" vets in order to deny them of any benefite due (not including the false or no-merit claims, that is, which SHOULD be denied), but I believe the delays/problems are mainly from the overwhelming workload/backlog, inexperience of new VA employees, not enough VA employees to meet present needs, and some degree of flat-out error re: decisions...rather than any planned, official or unofficial VA policy of "screw the vets."

And until I see a smoking-gun memo that someone smuggled out of some VARO or VA-HQ saying there really IS such a policy -- probably from the top (i.e., the White House or the Secretary of Veterans Affairs) that orders all VA employees to deny rather than grant, use delay tactics so the vet gives up or dies -- regardless of the merits of the case or deny in order to save money -- then I can't presently believe there is any VA conspiracy against veterans. Screwups, yes, but not any deliberate policy to mess with vets.

Now if such a memo ever comes to light, then I will be first in line to nail the SOBs against the wall and the "leadership" responsbile should be jailed...but it's been DECADES now that these "VA misadventures" been going on and no such memo of any such "dark orders from the top" have surfaced. So I have to believe it's just the whole PROCESS -- claims process, claims backlog, employee training & experience, VA getting funded properly, etc. -- that is the problem, not that the VA is really out to get vets.

-- John D.

Edited October 22, 2007 by cloudcroft