Received Telephone Call From Regional Office On Weekend?

[georgiapapa]

I tried to post this topic under "Regional Offices" but I received a message in that forum which stated "you can not start new topic."

When I got home today I had a message on my answering machine from a lady who identified herself and stated she was calling from the Veterans Administration Regional Office in Atlanta. She stated she was working on my claim and wanted to let me know she had received my C & P exam report and the VA now had everything they needed to rate my claim. She stated no additional information is required and I would be receiving a letter in the near future. I checked the last number called on my caller ID and the call was from a telephone number in the Atlanta area.

Do the regional offices actually work on the weekend?

Is this unusual for a veteran to receive this type of telephone call?

Any thoughts or comments regarding this phone call would be appreciated. It has only been ten days since my C & P exam and I really find it hard to beleive they are about to rate my claim.

I was trying to decide whether to send in a new claim now or wait until they decided my pending claim. After receiving this phone call, I think I will wait a little while longer before filing my new claim. I am waiting for my cardiologist to call and tell me she has my DBQ filled out for a new claim I am about to file for IHD.

Georgiapapa...

[georgiapapa]

deanbrt & broncovet,

I checked my ebenefits today and had a disappointing surprise. An alert in bold letters stating "ATTENTION NEEDED More Evidence Required." I checked to see what evidence they were asking me to submit and it stated "More evidence is needed showing when your symptoms for multiple myeloma first appeared and when you first received medical attention for the condition." "More evidence is needed showing why you believe your skin condition is related to exposure to herbicides (agent orange)." "Evidence showing that your skin condition was being treated within one year of your last exposure to agent orange in Vietnam." Now it shows these requests were placed on my ebenefits on Saturday September 22, 2012. This is the same day I received the message on my phone stating no further evidence is required. The VARO has given me a deadline of October 24, 2012 to submit the evidence requested.

Now I am totally dumbfounded. First of all, multiple myeloma is not a skin condition. It is a blood cancer in the bone marrow. I think they believe I have melanoma or skin cancer. Apparently, they have not looked at the evidence in my claims file. Also, it is an agent orange presumptive disease which does not have to manifest itself within one year of last exposure to agent orange. I immediately sent a message to the VA through IRIS advising them of the September 22nd phone message and the September 22nd ebenefits evidence request. I was nice in my message but I let them know that someone has no clue as to what they are doing. Hopefully, I will receive a reply from IRIS before the October 24th deadline.

Any thoughts on this mess, please let me know.

Georgiapapa...

[Hollis]

I have the same thing listed on ebenefit.ATTENTION NEEDED "MORE EVIDENCE IS REQUESTED". I copied it from the eben page and took it to my local VSO. He said it was just a common input to delay things. I summited a claim for PTSD back in May, and this as for as it has gotten. Oh there ars dates on it that said 10/14/12 or 4/14/13. So I guess I just have to wait on 2013 before a decision is made.

[georgiapapa]

Hollis,

The estimated completion date on my claim is 08/12/2012 to 01/13/2013 but I have lost all faith in the VA doing anything correctly or on time. I think every veteran waiting for their claims to be processed should also have a legitimate mental health claim as a result of the stress imposed on them by the VA. I am going to call my psychologist tomorrow to see if I can possibly get an earlier date for my next appointment. I need to vent and I want my venting to be well documented.

Georgiapapa...

[tugger50]

Do you think that might make the evening news?

HEADLINE: Delays and incompetence at the VA cause veterans filing for disability and compensation claims to go crazy!.

Works for me.

I apologize for the sarcasim, but they give us the ammo for it.

Edited September 25, 2012 by tugger50

[Chuck75]

I believe that this is a statuatory thing that the VA does. The choices are usually something like - - reply with I have no more evidence to provide, or I will submit evidence by a date.

You can also reply with I have no more evidence, please adjucate the claim using the evidence previously supplied/existing evidence.

deanbrt & broncovet,

I checked my ebenefits today and had a disappointing surprise. An alert in bold letters stating "ATTENTION NEEDED More Evidence Required." I checked to see what evidence they were asking me to submit and it stated "More evidence is needed showing when your symptoms for multiple myeloma first appeared and when you first received medical attention for the condition." "More evidence is needed showing why you believe your skin condition is related to exposure to herbicides (agent orange)." "Evidence showing that your skin condition was being treated within one year of your last exposure to agent orange in Vietnam." Now it shows these requests were placed on my ebenefits on Saturday September 22, 2012. This is the same day I received the message on my phone stating no further evidence is required. The VARO has given me a deadline of October 24, 2012 to submit the evidence requested.

Now I am totally dumbfounded. First of all, multiple myeloma is not a skin condition. It is a blood cancer in the bone marrow. I think they believe I have melanoma or skin cancer. Apparently, they have not looked at the evidence in my claims file. Also, it is an agent orange presumptive disease which does not have to manifest itself within one year of last exposure to agent orange. I immediately sent a message to the VA through IRIS advising them of the September 22nd phone message and the September 22nd ebenefits evidence request. I was nice in my message but I let them know that someone has no clue as to what they are doing. Hopefully, I will receive a reply from IRIS before the October 24th deadline.

Any thoughts on this mess, please let me know.

Georgiapapa...

[Hollis]

well I have a meeting with the head phy co next week. I will also vet my anger at the VA. BTW, I have summitted all I have, and they know that,total BS on the VA to delay.