Hello All, Did Not Know I Had A Appt

[barryfish]

Hello my name is barry, I was in the army and previously was medically discharged dec 1st 2011. I started a job and can't get off work without getting into trouble so I have been waiting for my job to let me off so I can go to the va. I got a letter Friday that says I missed a c&p exam and something about my claim will be denied. Well I never knew I had a appt. I never got any kind of notice. Will the va now take my benefits due to me not knowing I had a appt? Please help!! What can I do to save the heart ache and stress??

[sharon]

Send a letter to the Regional Office stating that you never got your appointment and ask them to reschedule the appointment. You can also send an IRIS request.

[broncovet]

Its a common denial trick. Yes, get on the phone, iris, etc. and tell them you missed the appointment as you did not get notice and try to get it rescheduled. If you dont say anything this denial will "stick".

[barryfish]

Will a phone call do to reschedule? Also what exactly is a denial trick? Sorry just don't understand lol. So because I missed the exam that I was unaware of. Does this mean they are going to stop paying me? Does this also happen a lot, I mean people not getting notification of a exam and then miss it? Thanks again.

[barryfish]

So this is exactly what it says.

Dear mr. Barry borcherding,

Our records indicate that you did not keep or cancelled the following scheduled appointment/s:

THURSDAY SEP 27, 2012 9:00AM C&P FW PSY WALLACE CLINIC

Compensation and Pension does not reschedule no-show appointments. Your claim has been cancelled and your file has been sent back to the regional office. Please contact waco @ 1-800-827-1000 if you wish to have your request resubmitted.

[carlie]

http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?c=ecfr&SID=eff9de409a7b08e6cba0b4f9a693b968&rgn=div8&view=text&node=38:1.0.1.1.4.2.73.206&idno=38

3.655 Failure to report for Department of Veterans Affairs examination.

(a) General. When entitlement or continued entitlement to a benefit cannot be established or confirmed without a current VA examination or reexamination and a claimant, without good cause, fails to report for such examination, or reexamination, action shall be taken in accordance with paragraph (b) or © of this section as appropriate. Examples of good cause include, but are not limited to, the illness or hospitalization of the claimant, death of an immediate family member, etc. For purposes of this section, the terms examination and reexamination include periods of hospital observation when required by VA.

(b) Original or reopened claim, or claim for increase. When a claimant fails to report for an examination scheduled in conjunction with an original compensation claim, the claim shall be rated based on the evidence of record. When the examination was scheduled in conjunction with any other original claim, a reopened claim for a benefit which was previously disallowed, or a claim for increase, the claim shall be denied.

© Running award. (1) When a claimant fails to report for a reexamination and the issue is continuing entitlement, VA shall issue a pretermination notice advising the payee that payment for the disability or disabilities for which the reexamination was scheduled will be discontinued or, if a minimum evaluation is established in part 4 of this title or there is an evaluation protected under § 3.951(b) of this part, reduced to the lower evaluation. Such notice shall also include the prospective date of discontinuance or reduction, the reason therefor and a statement of the claimant's procedural and appellate rights. The claimant shall be allowed 60 days to indicate his or her willingness to report for a reexamination or to present evidence that payment for the disability or disabilities for which the reexamination was scheduled should not be discontinued or reduced.

(2) If there is no response within 60 days, or if the evidence submitted does not establish continued entitlement, payment for such disability or disabilities shall be discontinued or reduced as of the date indicated in the pretermination notice or the date of last payment, whichever is later.

(3) If notice is received that the claimant is willing to report for a reexamination before payment has been discontinued or reduced, action to adjust payment shall be deferred. The reexamination shall be rescheduled and the claimant notified that failure to report for the rescheduled examination shall be cause for immediate discontinuance or reduction of payment. When a claimant fails to report for such rescheduled examination, payment shall be reduced or discontinued as of the date of last payment and shall not be further adjusted until a VA examination has been conducted and the report reviewed.

(4) If within 30 days of a pretermination notice issued under paragraph ©(1) of this section the claimant requests a hearing, action to adjust payment shall be deferred as set forth in § 3.105(h)(1) of this part. If a hearing is requested more than 30 days after such pretermination notice but before the proposed date of discontinuance or reduction, a hearing shall be scheduled, but payment shall nevertheless be discontinued or reduced as of the date proposed in the pretermination notice or date of last payment, whichever is later, unless information is presented which warrants a different determination. When the claimant has also expressed willingness to report for an examination, however, the provisions of paragraph ©(3) of this section shall apply.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501)

Cross References: Procedural due process and appellate rights: See § 3.103. Examinations: See § 3.326. Reexaminations: See § 3.327. Resumption of rating when veteran subsequently reports for VA examination: See § 3.330.

[55 FR 49521, Nov. 29, 1990; 58 FR 46865, Sept. 3, 1993]

[Capt.]

Hello All,

My apologies to the board as I have been gone for a while and trying to stay healthy and make doctors appointments and planning new test.

Carlie this is disturbing news looking at this C and P mess. As both you and I know it can end a Veterans Benefits program especially if the Veteran has not received notice from the VA Regional Office. What I also find very disheartening is that there is nothing in place to stop this behaviour from happening again and to the same Vet. Should the veteran miss another appointment according to subpara 3, the Veteran would be in a very hopeless position. The VA tried to say that they had me a scheduled and missed a C and P but after further talking with them several years ago it was decided that I did not miss one.

I would also like to point out that the VA scheduled a C and P Exam in San Antonio on another occasion for me and did not send a letter of any kind. I received a phone call and a message saying it was canceled. But only 3 days from the appointment I knew nothing about that one either. No letters whatsoever. The VA then sent letters for C and P exams, the next week, 2 of them and guess what. They tried to do it again. Gave me 3 ....yes three days from the letter to when the actual exam took place. Now suppose the Veteran is gone to see Grandma in Lexington Kentucky or Snakes Naval, Idaho to see Ex wife and Mom in law. You see my point. Fortunately I made them both without any other surprises. So Barryfish please do not think it is only you. It does happen and more than we probably know.

As Bronco says this is a favorite ploy and easy trick to stop the money to the VET. I wonder how many times this has happened to more our members here.

Sharon , I love watching your post here and you always have a great answer and sound advice but I am curious if an Iris really can carry enough weight to beat the regulations that Carlie posted. I am so cynical about the VA and tricks they pull on us that the letter to Regional would not get read until maybe 6 months. If that happens then the machinery of reduction of benefits has aready started the ball to roll. I sent my first IRIS last week concerning my C and P Exam reports and why we still have no copies after the lawyer has made numerous attempts . Why I have not received them from Feb 2012 .And you know what..........They say they must respond in 5 days .....been 6 days oh yes Columbus day might make it short one. But tomorrow will be over 6 and no reply to me. So I am already redfaced on the IRIS method.

I believe this problem is one the RO has figured out works well and certainly has added to our huge backlog and large time frame to decide a BVA appeal , which is probably where some of these absurd mistakes had to end up to get settled.

Barryfish, YES , This happens alot. Most of the time it takes lots of work to stay on top of it and even then it will cause you frustration. I would definetly make sure you keep your paper trail return correspondance and their answers so that you can try and fight this at another level should it not get resolved. I have been in your shoes and its frustrating to say the least. They have tried with me and with you , so really we have some others that have had something similiar happen to them. Just think if some of our Veterans are not mentally capable or having a bad day as many of us have. It is so easy to have your position with the VA gone and lost in months , yet years of trying to get it corrected. Or even worse ......a veteran just says .... thats it I give up.......which many do ,,,,,Barryfish. My advice to you is .....God Bless you , keep fighting and NEVER GIVE UP. C.C.

Edited October 10, 2012 by Capt.Contaminate