Biggest Problem With Va

[broncovet]

I was thinking about this the other day. What is the VA's biggest problem. Certianly in the "top 10"are things like credibility, the backlog, errors, indifference, etc.

But which is the worst problem? IMHO...drum...rolll.....the number one problem at the VA is......

1. The Veteran has no realistic way to "fix" glitches. Dont expect Peggy to do it, and her sister, Iris is also useless, as are your local congressman. Shinseki ignores emails from Vets, as does Brad Mayes. Nope...we just stay in "glitchland" forever until we are homeless or worse.

The BVA should not be a 4 year glitch repair. This is unacceptable. We need to have a hotline to call a real person who can actually fix our problem, and IRIS does not do that. Anyone else? I doubt the Va is listening, and I doubt even more that they care. But at least they could pretend like it this close to an election.

The VA has a way to fix employee glitches in pay. We dont hear about VA employees getting paychecks 1, 2, 5 or even 10 years late. Never. They have a way to fix THOSE errors. But Vets? Nope. Vets are expected to wait..forever...

Edited October 26, 2012 by broncovet

[Teac]

Just saying Some of the people we are griping about are veterans themselves. Jmho

As of March 31, 2010, over 90,000, or just under 30 percent of VA's 301,891 employees are Veterans. Over 74,000 of these employed Veterans are preference eligible, and 26,366 are disabled. VA ranks first among non-Defense agencies in the number of Veterans hired.

http://www.va.gov/OC...eo/100415WH.asp

Thats all fine and good.. but I am retired from civil service and I can tell you I saw many veterans who also worked as civil servants.. and many of them were just there to make a pay check no matter how much or little they got away doing..

In fact many a day we sat on our ass with nothing to do.. and at 5:00 we started on overtime ... now tell me if were sitting on our ass all day long, why are we working overttime?... I'll tell you why... because the money for overtime was requested long before it was needed so use it or lose it... No one cared that nothing was accomplished in the day time because there was no work, but everyone care about extra money for overtime.. talk about fraud.. it was rampant.. and more than half the guys I worked with were veterans, and if you said anything to anyone... forget it you were gone.one way or another......so if you had a family, you just did what you had to do to get by and not attract attention,,. I suspect va employees are the same way....

[Chuck75]

In my humble opinion,.... Government employees really care less what we think about their services..

Even if we could get damages and back intrest payments for claims that were not handled properly.. why should they care its not their money, ( even though they act like it is) and it sure would not motivate them to make better decisions.. in fact I think it would have the opposite effect and that more claims would be improperly denied...

my self, when it comes to claims... I think the government hires the most anti-veteran and incompetent people on earth...

It's the VA's money if it came out of administrative funds and bonuses. (Fat Chance!)

[Chuck75]

It's been my experience that the government hires primarily based upon "paper" qualifications, not real world accomplishments or experience base qualifications.

"Get all the boxes checked, and come back"

As a result, it's not uncommon to see contractor personnel at many government sites, doing work that the government employees don't or can't do.

I should know, since I spent twenty five years in such environments.

Edited October 29, 2012 by Chuck75

[JT24usn]

This seems to be a moot point. Be pissed.

[VADDS]

First of all, I have never stepped foot inside a regional or central office. I am a 30-years USAF retired, 80% sc. I have had my own very valid claim for cancer service connection held up in a Central Regional Office for 18 months. I have spent my entire 34 years in dentistry serving military personnel, and now veterans. It is a privilege and an honor. I think I have standing to express an opinion on this topic without being labeled. My service prides itself on performing accurate, timely C&P exams. VHA, where I work, has no control over the rating process once the exam is submitted to VBA. The overwhelming majority of veterans I treat and the majority of veterans I examine for C&P are rightfully compensated for inujury or diease related to military service. But, in my position, I also see the waste I posted about, and I see the effects it is having on the processing of everyones' claims, including mine.

[71M10]

VADDS,

I work at a university with a former VA Doctor, during a conversation he confirmed a long held suspicion I had. He indicated the worst doctors were assigned to do C&P's, "they did less damage there". I have had 8 different C&P's in every one of them except one, the doctor stated something that was clearly contrary to an established medical fact. One of the most glaring ones being "no evidence of right ventricle hypertrophy". Wow the VA cardiologist and technician that did my heart Echo made up the enlarged right ventricle? The Private cardiology practice's echo and opinon stated the same thing! Both are in the C-file, yet the C&P doctor who signed the exam said she reviewed the C-file and all medical records. That indicates either the physician lied or is incompetant. Neither is acceptable, but it is excepted and continued practice.

Best regards,