ptsd Va Ousts Managers For Claims Deception

[George Patton]

VA Ousts Managers for Claims Deception

A friend sent me an e-mail concerning the above article and my reply follows:

No, I had not seen that report, but I was aware of the situation in New York. Management apprised its workers of the New York problem several weeks ago and have indicated that they do not want it to happen at this office. They gave amnesty to employees that had mail at their stations too long. Regional Offices (RO's) receive a tremendous amount of mail and it is supposed to be processed within 7 days. However, rarely are RO's ethically able to meet that standard. RO's are understaffed and employees are under great pressure to earn their assigned credits / points. It is not difficult for me to imagine that when mail begins to pile up that some of it is "lost," "misplaced," or destroyed. No employee wants to be placed on a performance improvement plan--PIP, because if he/she continues to under performed that individual can be fired, reassigned, demoted, etc. The New York RO is probably similar to many RO's around the country; that is, you have managers setting arbitrary performance standards and goals without relevant stakeholders' input. I am always amazed when I attend a meeting and management wants something done, without first consulting pertinent actors to determine if such a thing is possible. It does not surprise me that there were managers instructing employees to mislabel documents. There are various methods that the VA employs to suggest that it is meeting certain bench marks. For example, if a particular RO had 10, 000 claims pending and it wanted to present an image that it was doing its best to reduce the caseload, it could work on the available EP 190 (widows seeking compensation) and postpone EP 110 (veterans' initial claim). EP 190 can be done relatively fast, while some EP 110 may take hours or days to complete.

There is a huge problem when an employee cannot go to his/her coach (manager) and explain that a certain claim required extra effort and his/her assigned quota should be waived for that day. My coach has indicated on numerous occasions that he/she does not want to hear it. The VA, or at least my RO, treats claims as if they are all similar--when in fact, they are not. Some veterans have military medical records that occupy 3-4 volumes and require a significant amount of time to review. However, with the time constraints in place, maybe one of those volumes wil be properly reviewed and the others--well, ignored or glanced over.

The New York situation is so upsetting because, to a certain degree, it confirms what some veterans have maintained for quite some time: namely, that they have submitted claims and the VA incidentally or purposely lost it. The date of receipt is so important because it establishes the effective date of an award if compensation is granted. For instance, one RO receives a claim February 2008; however, it does not date stamp it until May 2008. In that typical VA scenario the veteran will lose a considerable amount of compensation. I know of a veteran that submitted his/her claim in three different ways: USPS mail, hand carried, and faxed. He/she did not perform all three actions in a single day, but several weeks apart. As far as I know, only one method worked, which mean, in this true example, there was a 33% probability that his/her claim would be received.

I spoke with some workers and almost everyone may be inclined to ignore evidence--mail. If a rater has just completed a decision and someone in Triage brings him/her mail while the decision letter is done, that evidence may reverse his/her entire decision or worse the person may have to defer the claim in order to request a medical opinion. Raters at my office receive no credit for deferrals. Thus, that mail may be placed in the rear of the c-folder, which I have come across.

Additionally, some of the responsibility must also be placed with the citizenry. Yes, we "support" our troops with bumper stickers, yellow ribbons, and enjoy our annual day off from work. However, I am not sure many of them will support the troops by agreeing to a slightly higher tax increase or even allow veterans to be relieved, to some degree-- of taxes, healthcare and education expenses. The VA is under funded and understaffed and many of us know this already.

There are numerous problems with the VA: 1) not diagnosing PTSD; 2) shredding mail; 3) ignoring issues claimed by a veteran; 4) inadequate healthcare for veterans. I have read many reports where a veteran should have received compensation for a military related disability; however, the physician thought otherwise.

What's striking is the lack of interest and concern our government, VSO's, and even some veterans have shown concerning veteran issues.

At the very minimum, the Director of New York RO should have been demoted.

In any event, the VA reacts extremely slow. Agent Orange took 20 years to recognize (but saved billions of dollars) and I am quit sure there are other disabilities related to exposure. Gulf War Syndrome took 15 years to acknowledge. Haas (blue water veterans, mainly sailors) have already been told that they were not exposed to Agent Orange as their ship were not in-country in Vietnam. I wonder how some of those barrels of herbicides made it to VN: Cargo planes, yes; ships, more likely than not.

George Patton

[Berta]

"What's striking is the lack of interest and concern our government, VSO's, and even some veterans have shown concerning veteran issues."

I agree with you-

nothing has ever shaken up the VA claims infrastructure like the "October 2008 Records"Incident' shreddergate situation-

and I am sure more will be revealed-

still- the lack of concern from VSOs and even many veterans is appalling-

this is a final battle -in my opinion- for many veterans-

to win back the rights they are supposed to have in 38 USC.

Rights that the VA itself has manipulated and crapped on.

If sheddergate fades away, VA will continue business as usual-and vets will continue to die before they ever get a proper award on their claims.

Any vet or widow -whose evidence was completely ignored by VA, can make claim under the VA Fast Letter ,#08-41 that refers to the October Records Incident. There is considerable information at VA Watchdog as to how to shape the letter.

And if you were victimized by the VA's deliberate refusal to acknowledge your evidence-= whether it could have been shredded or not-

Write to your elected officials and

House Committee on Veterans Affairs

335 Cannon House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515

Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

335 Cannon House Office Building

Washington, D.. 20515

(same address but separate entity)

Department of VeteranAffairs

VA Office of Inspector General Hotline (53E)

P.O. Box 50410

Washington, D.C. 20091-0410

[yoggie2]

I hate to sound like a cry baby, I filed for SSA disability the same time I filed for an increase in July of 06 in Tampa. They way it worked out I had a reply from SSA in 3 weeks and a reply from VARO it wasn't till Mid November till I heard a thing from my VARO in Tampa on my written request for increase.

[Ron II]

Re: "For example, if a particular RO had 10, 000 claims pending and it wanted to present an image that it was doing its best to reduce the caseload, it could work on the available EP 190 (widows seeking compensation) and postpone EP 110 (veterans' initial claim). EP 190 can be done relatively fast, while some EP 110 may take hours or days to complete."

I'm quite familiar with that tactic. I once worked in a travel claim processing section that was expected to perform miracles. No matter how much overtime and weekends worked, we couldn't

make a dent in the on-hand balances each day. We needed more people--the claims were not as complicated as VA claims, but they required a lot of analysis and time. One of the employees came up with the idea to process several "multiple listing" type claims at the end of each day. The multiple listing was just one voucher, but might include 20 travelers who had the same exact travel and expenses. So...instead of getting credit for just one voucher, we got credit for 20 even though we had not done the normal work required to process 20 claims. The number of claims received of course, increased by 19 to account for the additional folks for which vouchers were claimed. The end result of all this was only eye-candy.

Dedicated and well-trained employees (many) are what is needed. JMO

[hotcoffee2]

dear george.....love your screen name. cool.

my RO had never adjudicated a 1151 claim. at the end of december, mine comes up for decision. the DRO who has the case i believe to be new to the field. i found the name of the RO's foia officer and i am going to ask two things.

1. How many foia claims have you adjudicated

2. How long has my DRO functioned as a DRO

3. Has this DRO previously handled 1151 claims

i searched the BVA for 1151 decisions. the leading case was passed off to the BVA. from a medical standpoint the case 200% showed negligence and favored the veteran. The BVA decided for the veteran. this poor guy waited two years for justice. this RO was trained by the OCG (or BVA) on how to adjudicate 1151 claims. this is plain stupid.

I have heard it said don't rock the RO boat. It is hard for me to refrain.

however, my 1151 claim has medical record falsification and collusion (sp?) regarding the falsification. i know i'm going to the board regardless. i needed the money.....but don't we all?

VA Ousts Managers for Claims Deception

A friend sent me an e-mail concerning the above article and my reply follows:

No, I had not seen that report, but I was aware of the situation in New York. Management apprised its workers of the New York problem several weeks ago and have indicated that they do not want it to happen at this office. They gave amnesty to employees that had mail at their stations too long. Regional Offices (RO's) receive a tremendous amount of mail and it is supposed to be processed within 7 days. However, rarely are RO's ethically able to meet that standard. RO's are understaffed and employees are under great pressure to earn their assigned credits / points. It is not difficult for me to imagine that when mail begins to pile up that some of it is "lost," "misplaced," or destroyed. No employee wants to be placed on a performance improvement plan--PIP, because if he/she continues to under performed that individual can be fired, reassigned, demoted, etc. The New York RO is probably similar to many RO's around the country; that is, you have managers setting arbitrary performance standards and goals without relevant stakeholders' input. I am always amazed when I attend a meeting and management wants something done, without first consulting pertinent actors to determine if such a thing is possible. It does not surprise me that there were managers instructing employees to mislabel documents. There are various methods that the VA employs to suggest that it is meeting certain bench marks. For example, if a particular RO had 10, 000 claims pending and it wanted to present an image that it was doing its best to reduce the caseload, it could work on the available EP 190 (widows seeking compensation) and postpone EP 110 (veterans' initial claim). EP 190 can be done relatively fast, while some EP 110 may take hours or days to complete.

There is a huge problem when an employee cannot go to his/her coach (manager) and explain that a certain claim required extra effort and his/her assigned quota should be waived for that day. My coach has indicated on numerous occasions that he/she does not want to hear it. The VA, or at least my RO, treats claims as if they are all similar--when in fact, they are not. Some veterans have military medical records that occupy 3-4 volumes and require a significant amount of time to review. However, with the time constraints in place, maybe one of those volumes wil be properly reviewed and the others--well, ignored or glanced over.

The New York situation is so upsetting because, to a certain degree, it confirms what some veterans have maintained for quite some time: namely, that they have submitted claims and the VA incidentally or purposely lost it. The date of receipt is so important because it establishes the effective date of an award if compensation is granted. For instance, one RO receives a claim February 2008; however, it does not date stamp it until May 2008. In that typical VA scenario the veteran will lose a considerable amount of compensation. I know of a veteran that submitted his/her claim in three different ways: USPS mail, hand carried, and faxed. He/she did not perform all three actions in a single day, but several weeks apart. As far as I know, only one method worked, which mean, in this true example, there was a 33% probability that his/her claim would be received.

I spoke with some workers and almost everyone may be inclined to ignore evidence--mail. If a rater has just completed a decision and someone in Triage brings him/her mail while the decision letter is done, that evidence may reverse his/her entire decision or worse the person may have to defer the claim in order to request a medical opinion. Raters at my office receive no credit for deferrals. Thus, that mail may be placed in the rear of the c-folder, which I have come across.

Additionally, some of the responsibility must also be placed with the citizenry. Yes, we "support" our troops with bumper stickers, yellow ribbons, and enjoy our annual day off from work. However, I am not sure many of them will support the troops by agreeing to a slightly higher tax increase or even allow veterans to be relieved, to some degree-- of taxes, healthcare and education expenses. The VA is under funded and understaffed and many of us know this already.

There are numerous problems with the VA: 1) not diagnosing PTSD; 2) shredding mail; 3) ignoring issues claimed by a veteran; 4) inadequate healthcare for veterans. I have read many reports where a veteran should have received compensation for a military related disability; however, the physician thought otherwise.

What's striking is the lack of interest and concern our government, VSO's, and even some veterans have shown concerning veteran issues.

At the very minimum, the Director of New York RO should have been demoted.

In any event, the VA reacts extremely slow. Agent Orange took 20 years to recognize (but saved billions of dollars) and I am quit sure there are other disabilities related to exposure. Gulf War Syndrome took 15 years to acknowledge. Haas (blue water veterans, mainly sailors) have already been told that they were not exposed to Agent Orange as their ship were not in-country in Vietnam. I wonder how some of those barrels of herbicides made it to VN: Cargo planes, yes; ships, more likely than not.

George Patton

[hotcoffee2]

Berta......I have contacted congress to no avail. and right now i am so sick (it might be thyroid mass)/or other. it is all I can do to keep myself distracted and put answers on the board. how wonderful for all of us that god has given you this wonderful gift of caring for vets and the energy to keep us up to date on the topical issues. happy thanksgiving kiddo.

"What's striking is the lack of interest and concern our government, VSO's, and even some veterans have shown concerning veteran issues."

I agree with you-

nothing has ever shaken up the VA claims infrastructure like the "October 2008 Records"Incident' shreddergate situation-

and I am sure more will be revealed-

still- the lack of concern from VSOs and even many veterans is appalling-

this is a final battle -in my opinion- for many veterans-

to win back the rights they are supposed to have in 38 USC.

Rights that the VA itself has manipulated and crapped on.

If sheddergate fades away, VA will continue business as usual-and vets will continue to die before they ever get a proper award on their claims.

Any vet or widow -whose evidence was completely ignored by VA, can make claim under the VA Fast Letter ,#08-41 that refers to the October Records Incident. There is considerable information at VA Watchdog as to how to shape the letter.

And if you were victimized by the VA's deliberate refusal to acknowledge your evidence-= whether it could have been shredded or not-

Write to your elected officials and

House Committee on Veterans Affairs

335 Cannon House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515

Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

335 Cannon House Office Building

Washington, D.. 20515

(same address but separate entity)

Department of VeteranAffairs

VA Office of Inspector General Hotline (53E)

P.O. Box 50410

Washington, D.C. 20091-0410