The "dirty Dozen"

[broncovet]

The VA has at least a dozen UNDERHANDED ways they deny claims, please add yours to the list:

1. The Veteran never applies..they make it hard for the Veteran to even know he is eligible for benefits.

2. Shredding the Veterans claim or evidence is effective at denying.

3. Ignore the claim, or parts of the claim and secretly deny it. (We dont have record of your claim for.......)

4. Delay the claim indefinately until you die or give up.

5. "Award" you zero %, which is just a back door denial.

6. "Horn swaggle you" by asking for multiple C&P exams to doc shop and deny you by finding one doc in a dozen who will give them the opinion they want, and cite that opinion in their denial. Or, they can just send you for a C&P with a doc that they know will give them evidence to deny.

7. Issue you a letter of denial..even if you have good evidence.

8. They can deny you, then when you appeal, they can deny your appeal by "interpreting" your NOD as something else, like a claim for benefits.

9. "Farm out" your denial by sending your claim to multiple Regional offices until it gets lost. Then they can blame other RO's for loosing your claim file.

10. Even if your appeal makes it through the system, the RO has to implement the BVA or CVAC decision and they Fail to implement the appeal

11. "low balling" your claim, and then use the "fuzzy math" to pay you even less.

12. "Fake dates," for example, by saying you appealed past the one year period when you sent the NOD in and they shredded it.

Please add your methods of how the VA denied you.

Edited March 6, 2009 by broncovet

[71M10]

Here is the one they got me with in 1988. I filled a claim for recurring back injury and asked for a stress test, EKG and Chest x-ray because of multiple chest xrays and the need for a consult to internal med/cardiologist before the physician would complete my seperation exam.

I should clarify this all happened when I thought the VA was thier to make sure you were all-right/taken care of after the DOD was done with you! Ah youth .

I was given service connection for a "Bone Condition" at 0%.

I was told I had a bone condition, I had chronic thoracic strain and arthritis at the age of 22. If VA followed thier rules in cases of arthritis they are supposed to examine each major joint and minor joint group. They only looked at the T spine.

The doc heard my story about the seperation physical and the abnormal ECG in Korea took my BP once and said nothing to worry about.

I didn't know that in Korea two years earlier I was diagnosed with Hypertension and the evac hospital's treatment orders were ignored by battalion aid station.

I am fully convinced that VA listed "bone condition" because they knew telling me I had arthritis at 22 would have had me ask questions/appeal.

I just got a rating for hypertension last fall and am fighting for my heart enlargement. Does anyone think that my request for ECG, stress test and chest xray in 1988 might qualify as an informal claim?

So I guess GIVE THEM A 0% RATING AND NOT TELL THEM WHAT IS WRONG WITH THEM should be added to the list.

Best regards,

Tyler

[Testvet]

my favorite was when they told Senator Craig then Chairman of the Senate VA Committee that I had agreed to drop all my other claims in exchange for 100% P&T for PTSD they round dated it on a seperate piece of paper and they dated it Dec 7 2005 trouble is they should have checked the calender here in South Carolina disabled vets don't go to Assembly street on Wednesdays because you can't see a service rep because they are in BVA hearings and on Fridays they don't see vets either becuase they need one day a week to play "catch up" yea right

Why would I agree to drop my claim for heart problems which was filed a year prior to my PTSD claim and I have had 7 heart attacks, a stroke, 2 failed stents, 25% ejection fraction and I have numerous IMO's that show it is more likely than not related to my service since the storke happened within a year of discharge after Desert Storm and I had Hypertension in my SMR in 1981 and 1982 which they failed to treat.

I orginally filed my claim in Nov 2002 I just had my first BVA hearing on Feb 4th. I wonder how BVAhandles all of the RO's lies?

[broncovet]

Thanks everyone..I did not know the "Dirty Dozen" had soooooo many friends. But there is room for more, so just post your underhanded VA denial and join the Dirty Dozen now renamed the "Dirty Dozen Squared" thanks to Snave.

Please add this underhanded denial to the list:

...(no number..lost count) ...RO's rating specialsist's INABILITY TO READ leads to Underhanded denied decisions. ..

I think Rating specialists should be required to read at the second grade level, or above, instead of the way they do it now. Also, someone should replace the rubber stamp, "Claim denied" for "Claim Approved", as it will probably take the VA a couple years before they figure out what happened and why so many claims are being approved, and to "cover up" allegations of rubber stamp denials.

Edited March 6, 2009 by broncovet

[Meddac]

I do not want to instigate anything here... Yes, there are numerous reasons for denial, and they do get used often.

There are some that aren't listed, though, and they may not be popular:

1. Failure to report to multiple exams that we schedule.

2. Saying that you "want to claim PTSD", and then never sending us the 21-0781 or any kind of statement whatsoever.

3. Claiming exposure to chemicals that haven't been used in nearly 100 years.

4. Not sending in medical evidence at all.

5. Sending medical evidence that has absolutely nothing to do with your claimed conditions.

6. Being foolish, ending up in prison, then making claims.

7. Not having any diagnosis.

There are lots that cut both ways. You have to keep that in mind. I cannot speak for the entire VA, but I can speak for what I do: Send me the evidence, make the exam, and fill out the form... I WILL go to bat for you 100%. Yes, there are some bad apples (maybe more than just some), but I deal with faulty claims on a daily basis as well.

Heck, there are people that have never even been in the military that manufacture DD-214's and make claims. They take time away from the veterans who need assistance. They help drive timeliness through the roof.

BTW, I do not consider "5. "Award" you zero %, which is just a back door denial" to be a denial. Whan I applied for VA help, I only wanted someone to care for me. Thats all I got at first (0%). My condition was bad, and I was just happy that my family did not have to endure further medical costs. I didn't need money...I needed help, and I got it. That got my foot in the door.

Now I receive both. That's not denial to me. The picture in my profile will show you that the money wasn't important. Without free medical care for me, where would that boy be?

[Jayg]

Meddac, I take you at your word. But be aware, you are one of the few, the very few.

Much of what you say is true. However, I question that applies to most of the people here. Most folks here are desperate to succeed and are interested in what they, we have to do to make the system work. Its when after we have done all we can do that the dirty tricks dept cmes in that we get griped.

My pet peeve is that it should take an IMO from an outside physician, costing maybe thousands of dollars an ailing vet can't afford to get what he deserves. If the C&P exam could be a blind honest test, then we wouldn't be here.

One example is that I have feet problems causing secondary conditions. I claimed secondary conditions. The C&P examiner was specifically instructed NOT to look at any secondary conditions. He examined my feet and feet only. But based on that, they denied everything.

I do not want to instigate anything here... Yes, there are numerous reasons for denial, and they do get used often.

There are some that aren't listed, though, and they may not be popular:

1. Failure to report to multiple exams that we schedule.

2. Saying that you "want to claim PTSD", and then never sending us the 21-0781 or any kind of statement whatsoever.

3. Claiming exposure to chemicals that haven't been used in nearly 100 years.

4. Not sending in medical evidence at all.

5. Sending medical evidence that has absolutely nothing to do with your claimed conditions.

6. Being foolish, ending up in prison, then making claims.

7. Not having any diagnosis.

There are lots that cut both ways. You have to keep that in mind. I cannot speak for the entire VA, but I can speak for what I do: Send me the evidence, make the exam, and fill out the form... I WILL go to bat for you 100%. Yes, there are some bad apples (maybe more than just some), but I deal with faulty claims on a daily basis as well.

Heck, there are people that have never even been in the military that manufacture DD-214's and make claims. They take time away from the veterans who need assistance. They help drive timeliness through the roof.

BTW, I do not consider "5. "Award" you zero %, which is just a back door denial" to be a denial. Whan I applied for VA help, I only wanted someone to care for me. Thats all I got at first (0%). My condition was bad, and I was just happy that my family did not have to endure further medical costs. I didn't need money...I needed help, and I got it. That got my foot in the door.

Now I receive both. That's not denial to me. The picture in my profile will show you that the money wasn't important. Without free medical care for me, where would that boy be?

[Meddac]

I may be one of the very few...whoever they are?? I am a veteran just like you. I served just the same. The only difference is that I am on the inside. I am still the same person.

"My pet peeve is that it should take an IMO from an outside physician, costing maybe thousands of dollars an ailing vet can't afford to get what he deserves."

Why? Why is that all it should take? What does the vet deserve? I have seen 2 physicians in the past three years who are probably gonna lose their license to practice because they accepted "thousands of dollars" to manufacture IMO's for some veterans. Are there more out there? Possibly. There are always 2 sides, Jayg... In war, in peace, in love. marriage, and life. There are 2 sides with veterans and the VA as well. There are some out there who are not genuine....on both sides.

Want me to tell you why the examiner was "instructed" not to look at your secondary problems... Think I'll admit that on here? That they purposely don't look? That we "instruct" them in not doing so? OK, that's fair. I'll tell you.

Did you say that you are S/C for your feet? Tell me the exact things that you claimed (everything), and I will tell you something that I guess is not common knowledge on here. Maybe it is, but from what I read and see, it's not.