ptsd Veterans, I Salute You And Offer My Sincere Apologizes--you Deserve Better

[halos2]

George Patton

Wow what a name to use. You are tough and as one of us are able to assist us in the realm of what we knew was happening or not happening with our claim.

It is refreshing to have an insider tell it to the world the system is broken. Lets hope by informing more we will be heard and we will win what we deserve. Thanks a bunch

I am sending you the same information that I recently called and relayed to a staff member of the Chicago Tribune. This Monday, October 27, 2008, Senator Durbin and Senator Akaka will visit the Chicago VBA Regional Office for an inspection. Recently, it has leaked to the public that some VBA employees across the nation have purposely thrown veterans' mail in the garbage. This is a problem because, in most instances, a veteran's claim for compensation may hinge on the missing article. I have come across veterans that have assured me that they sent in documents pertinent to their claim, only to be informed that the mail was never received.

Well, the two senators will be visiting the Chicago VBA RO on Monday. However, I am afraid that they will be unable to detect problems within this agency, as everyone has been ordered to behave in a manner that exudes professionalism and commitment to the veterans.

The Chicago VBA RO has for years been scrutinized by Sen. Obama and Sen. Durbin in an effort to determine why Illinois’ veterans receive minimal compensation for their injuries--when compared to other states. This is alarming because our state has quite a large veteran population. The workload has been a great problem for this office as they continue to struggle to reduce pending compensation claims. This is due to being short staffed, as well as having managers who received their promotions by being friendly with those in power.

Here is a brief breakdown of the organization:

Triage: 1st Stage

At this stage, this is where a veteran's initial and subsequent paper work comes into the agency. At a minimal, the mail received in Triage (the mail room) should be processed in about seven days and placed in the appropriate claims folder. However, this is not the case at this office. Mail sometimes stay in the mailroom for four to six weeks and, in some instances, are misfiled or lost.

Pre Development: 2nd Stage

At this point, veterans service representatives (VSR's) are tasked with examining the veteran's claims folder and sending appropriate notice to the veteran. For instance, they are supposed to ensure that a letter acknowledging receipt of the claim is mailed to the claimant. It usually takes months for this correspondence to be mailed, usually at the request of the veteran repeatedly contacting the office and pleading with it to send the material. The document is important because it is proof (receipt) that the claim was received and the veteran does not have to be concerned that the claim has been “lost” of “misprocessed.” This receipt is also relevant because it explains to the veteran what is needed to grant compensation, as well as inform the veteran to submit private treatment records or other evidence they may help to establish the claim.

A major problem at this stage, the VSR's sometimes fail to identify all the issues the veteran is seeking compensation. Therefore, some exams that should have been ordered or not, and when the veteran finally gets his or her award letter, the person discovers that he or she must contact the VA, once more, for proper and complete adjudication. Once, the exams have been complete and the required documentation collected, the VSR reviews the claims folder to determine if it is ready for a decision. If it is, the folder is transferred to the RVSR—the decision-maker and evaluator.

Rating Board: 3rd Stage

At this stage, the claims folder is brought to the RVSR for a decision. In theory, at this stage the case has been properly developed and awaiting a decision. However, 50% of the time (and I am being generous) the claim is not ready for a decision. For instance, the VSR (2nd stage) may have failed to examine the received medical examinations thoroughly to decide if all issues needing a medical opinion have been provided. Hence, claims folders are passed to RVSR's missing exams, service treatment records, and DD-214. The case is not ready for a decision and must be deferred for other examinations or other items, delaying the veteran’s claim.

In some instances, Triage (the mail room) fails to adequately process mail. For instance, a veteran may have submitted additional evidence showing compensation is warranted. However, if this information is not entered into the database and the mail placed in the claims folder on time, the veteran's claim may be denied—and I have witnessed this quite often.

Production standards are another problem at this office that are contributing to an employee’s mistakes. For one, a VSR must process a certain number of claims per day in order to meet his or her quota. Sometimes they are only half-heartedly reviewing the claims folder. In reality, they are tasked with examining the service medical records and identifying in-service disabilities and conditions, private medical records and tabbing relevant information that will assist the RVSR in rendering a decision. However, when there are four volumes of military medical records, a person cannot possibly examine them all and make his or her arbitrary quota for the day.

The RVSR is also under arbitrary production standards. He or she must receive a certain number of credits to meet an irrelevant quota. You have evaluators missing / ignoring issues that should have been granted. It is not that they want to shortchange the veteran; the system is not set up to allow an evaluator to properly assess the entirety of the claims folder, which can be as much as four to five volumes.

At this office, the sentiments are not "do a good job" so that veterans may receive the benefits the US promised. Instead, in all my years, it has always been let's process as many claims as possible to get the backlog down and, if we miss an issue, the veteran can always file another claim.

I have worked at the Chicago VBA RO for over five years and am a veteran myself. If I was seeking compensation, I would want my claim handled appropriately and given the proper amount of time to render a fair and balance decision. Unfortunately, that does not always happen at this office.

There are some great employees in this office, and many go beyond the call of duty, often staying late to complete a claim. Nevertheless, management (at this office and those at the national office) continue to place unreasonable pressure on employees. When this occurs, it is no surprise that veterans are being harmed.

There have been recent reports that some psychologists and psychiatrists are refusing to diagnose PTSD when the finding is warranted, with some administrators instructing medical staff to make the veterans come back several times before giving away the golden goose. This is not the way we treat our veterans. They demand our deepest respect, sincere thanks, and an authentic pat on the back.

I am contacting the national media and local media in the Chicago land area, as well as veterans organizations with anticipation that Monday’s visitors will be greeted by genuine people concerned about veterans’ compensation.

Please help me spread this message to others who care about veterans. If you are not able to come out Monday call the director's office and voice your concerns.

[Tbird]

welcome aboard george

got your email and saw that you posted it it on the board, great! this is the best way to get eyes on it.

i look forward to more posts from you.

[tssnave]

Berta,

I haven't had any of the problems you listed in your letter to the VAOIG.

However, since they are looking into the VA would it be appropriate at this time to write them and let them know that:

1. My claim was initially denied service connection even though there was a treatment report for a psych eval AND I had letters from the military psychiatrist and military psychologist that treated me on active duty as well as treatment reports for the ensuing years since active duty.

2. Upon appeal they gave me a C&P and the examiner stated there was a lot of evidence to connect current symptoms to military service, that my bipolar was severe since military and rendered me "100% social and occupational disbabled" - and then the VA rated me 50% because "it doesn't affect your ability to live independently" even though the answer to that question on the C&P exam was "yes".

3. Appealed rating and submitted IMO and was finally awarded 100% P&T after a 3.5 year battle with the VA.

Berta, I got a copy of my C-file and everything was in it (and nothing of anyone else's was in it) but at every turn the VA did not follow their own regulations or the opinion of their examiner. If it would help for me to write the VAOIG about these problems that may be outside of the current scop of examination but attest to the way the VA actually drags out the claims process by not following thier own regs, I would be willing to do so.

Please let me know if we should write if we've had other problems with the VA or if we should stick to the ones being examined.

Thanks,

TS Snave

[Berta]

TS -I dont know how to advise you-

The OIG is fully aware of how claims are dragged out and how raters have to skim through stuff- their own OIG report of 2005-still at their web site shows they are aware of these problems-(I posted it here at hadit too)

Countless RO employees told them anonymously in 2005 that they were under severe pressure to reduce the backlog (which the itself has caused)

and were forced to ignore evidence and could not make accurate decisions.

By 2005 VA had turned into a production line- the major vet orgs all knew this too- quantity not quality was the order of the day.

This problem was not addressed by VA at all so now if a RO employee gets far behind- obviously some of them just destroy or hide the evidence or the actual claim or both-

Vet orgs and advocates were outraged by the OIG report-

as revealed in their testimony before the H VAC at the time-but there wasnt enough of an outrage-

The OIG has to hear from claimants with personal experiences that their stuff was destroyed or removed, the claim denied and suddenly put back into the C file-or it never showed up again.

This is in my opinion part of the Retiree DFAS problem too-

and will get bigger.

I appreciate "George's" posts but the OIG needs names and eye witness accounts from inside the ROs as well as specific facts from claimants who-in my case-could sure name some names.I have the documentation to back it up.

But if you feel your letter will help By all means write it to them.

I dont know what to say to you and sure appreciate you are willing to even write to the OIG.

I gave documented instances of years of victimization by the Buffalo VARO- involving my husbands claims and then my own and I blew the whistle on the little elves I think who helped them -in my case--

(meaning of course my POA)

There was not enough of an outcry from vets and widows over the last OIG report in 2005 on VAROs.

I know vets who are trying to get onto the hearing roster and to testify before the H VAc on Nov 17th-in front of Peake, the OIG and the other VA talking heads (deputy Sec etc-) who have allowed this recent disaster to occur.

Edited October 27, 2008 by Berta

[purple]

Nothing is going to change in the VA until it is overseen by an outside agency.....it's very simple.

my 2 cents worth.

[john999]

Never take the VA's word for anything, and persist above all else. Persistence is what separates the winners from losers. Good claim or bad claim you have to be a persistant son of a gun to win with these guys. You know the VA is going to screw up your claim at least once or twice even if it is perfect. You just have to hang in there and keep fighting and insisting on your rights until they get sick of you and grant your claim. It is a mess, and has nothing to do with justice or anything else. The graveyards are full of vets who died without a dime because they gave up.