Iris Response About Nehmer Claims Imapct

[JHawks]

I asked my Senior VSO who's office is inside the Atlanta RO if the rumor that all claims are stopped while they work just on Nehmer and AO claims. She responded quickly and put the rumors to rest. Here is her email:

There is a special team that does handle the Nehmer claims, but the rumor that these are the only claims that are being worked are not true. There is a priority to complete older claims first.

Janice xxxxxxxxx

Claims and Appeals Officer

SDVS

phone# 404-

fax# 404-

[bakerkd]

Approximately 140,000 existing cases. Found it myself

[SLEDGE]

I believe the standard policy is to work messed-up claims as a priority.

Nehmar would fit this classification.

However, in my case, the effective dates on my claims precede Nehmar.

Claims should be adjudicated in the order that they were received in the first place.

However, I realize that there are circumstances in which the priority rule does not apply.

If a knowledgeable person recognizes a CUE in an old WW11 claim, that CUE should be processed before my stuff.

Common sense and logic goes a long way with veterans.

sledge

[jbasser]

The new Nehmer conditions are taking precedent as they are effected by the Beverly Nehmer decision. This puts them in head of the line status since it was a court order.

Nehmer claims are number 1, Court remands and vacated decisions are number 2 as the courts prioved they can step in and slap the VA on the hands and even jail them for farting around with court ordered claims.

BVA decisions are next in line as they are still judge decisions and get priority.

The gulf era and OIF and OEF vets were given preferential treatment by Congress and last but not least the average disabled Veteran Joe who does not fit into any of the above categories.

That is my take on the situation.

J

[maine1963]

It is my understanding that the larger number of Nehmer claims that get put through a VA Facility - the more funding they get to hire on additional personnel... not sure if this is true or not, but it came from a source close to hand.

Greg

[JHawks]

Discussion Thread Response Via Email (Department of Veterans Affairs) 02/17/2011 09:42 AM Dear Mr. xxxxxxxx:

This is in response to your inquiry to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), dated February 16, 2011.

Thank you for your response. We apologize if you feel the timeline we provide is outdated, but we are instructed to provide these time frames. Although this is based on 12 month old information, it is the statistical data we have to work with at this time.

VA began making decisions on Nehmer claims on October 30, 2010. These claims are processed on a priority basis, which takes precedence over all other claims. This is not only at the Atlanta Regional Office, but VA wide. Various regional offices have stated the impact has caused an increased backlog.

Please let us know if we can be of further assistance.

Thank you for contacting us. If you have questions or need additional help with the information in our reply, please respond to this message or see our other contact information below.

Sincerely yours,

E. J. Kruse

National IRIS Response Center Manager

RW

[Tbird]

Well there you go, thanks for sending IRIS this email. As in most organizations things are not communicated properly and thoroughly through out the whole organization which is why we may be getting some folks on the 800 number that say something different than this.

I think emailing IRIS is a good idea. That way you have a hard copy from their official office with their response, which in my opinion is more helpful than my SO said this or the 800 number said this. Just my 2 cents. Thanks JHawks.

Discussion Thread Response Via Email (Department of Veterans Affairs) 02/17/2011 09:42 AM Dear Mr. xxxxxxxx:

This is in response to your inquiry to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), dated February 16, 2011.

Thank you for your response. We apologize if you feel the timeline we provide is outdated, but we are instructed to provide these time frames. Although this is based on 12 month old information, it is the statistical data we have to work with at this time.

VA began making decisions on Nehmer claims on October 30, 2010. These claims are processed on a priority basis, which takes precedence over all other claims. This is not only at the Atlanta Regional Office, but VA wide. Various regional offices have stated the impact has caused an increased backlog.

Please let us know if we can be of further assistance.

Thank you for contacting us. If you have questions or need additional help with the information in our reply, please respond to this message or see our other contact information below.

Sincerely yours,

E. J. Kruse

National IRIS Response Center Manager

RW