Congress Orders Va To Fix It

[Berta]

“Unanimous Senate Vote Tells VA to Use Texas Model to Speed Processing

This morning we share especially good news for our Veterans and families: On November 29, Senators voted unanimously to order Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) to produce a plan to end the delays processing Veterans’ disability compensation claims. Too many veterans have suffered too long through VBA’s delays and denials.

Here is how this important development unfolded in the past two months. On September 21, under harsh questioning by Representatives, VBA testified before the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing that there is no public, comprehensive plan to end the lengthy delays Veterans face when seeking VBA disability benefits.”

http://vetlawyers.co...a-claim-crisis/

The September backlog hearing they refer to in this blog from Bergmann and Moore is here:

http://veterans.hous...rike-force-team

There are certainly things VA can do to alter the backlog. TheTexas Model has been viable but I have some suggestions to the Texas model that I hope the Texas Veterans Commission will consider.

In my opinion, no one is minding the store at many ROs, when a denied claim is certified to the BVA.Many BVA transfers need not even occur,if probative evidence has been ignored.

Denials that totally ignore probative evidence in the decision and Evidence list are not being challenged right away by vet reps and VSO or by the claimants themselves.

But a claim that lacks the evidence the specific evidence that the VCAA letter calls for, will still languish in the long appellate process, although the denials might come faster, if the backlog is reduced.

I am anxious to see the "plan" VA comes up with and wonder how long that will take to prepare.

We, as claimants, need to realize the VA cannot handle a lot of rhetoric in a claim or a response to a SOC.

State things as briefly as possible and refer to enclosed evidence to support your point.

And by all means challenge a decision that contains a legal error by asking them to call a CUE their decision.

This wont stop the NOD clock but this tactic saved me probably a 3 year wait when I used it last year and it produced my award letter very fast.

I used it again, as well, a few weeks ago.

I canvased some vet reps who never thought of doing this but I found that it can work.

In my experience the VA will call a CUE on themselves if they are requested to do that by a claimant if the VA has committed a legal error in a decision during the appellate process that would manifestly change the outcome and the decision , if the error had not been made.

As with a traditional CUE claim filed on a denied and unappealed decision, the medical evidence must be clearly established as this tactic relies solely on legal error in a decision with appeal period still pending.

Edited December 6, 2012 by Berta

[WVSERVER]

Well said Pete in the end the VA answers to no one. I personally believe that it’s a money problem. A 70% has to come off the list before they can add 70% and so on. Same thing with the delay in MGIB payments. A-C gets paid on this date the rest later. They are some how robbing one account to pay the other. Just my opinion.

[71M10]

I honestly think that the RO's actually try to help us out. i do believe that the C&P doctors (mostly all are PA's) are the ones that really screw us. Case in point. My RO sent an exam back to the C&P doc. She asked if ANY previous injury could have aggravated my injury due to a tank rollover accident. he opined that it couldn't. The initial wording should be if the tank accident caused the injury. This RO took it upon himself/herself to assume that there may have been an injury before enlistment that was adversely affected by the tank accident. She/He actually helped me determine how i am going to pursue my NOD. Just my opinion.

Dearman, I am not sure you fully understand what it is that your RO is trying to do! The C&P doctors are receiving instructions from the RO on what questions they want answered, and they put constraints on those answers. A for instance, the RO on a C&P exam sent C&P instructions to the doctor to address my radiculpathy in my right leg, as wheter it was caused by problems in my cervical spine. That sounds all fine accept that I had asked for SC due to the disks that were compressing the spinal cord in my Thoracolumbar spine. The C&P Doc followed the instructions the RO gave him and I had a C&P exam with a medical conclusion that the radiculapthy was not caused by my cervical spine arthritis.

The RO is trying to 1, indicate your problems are from a previous injury. 2, The C&P doctor then has to be able to specifically identify why/how the tank injury excaburated those injuries. 3, your compensation is then limited to the actual increase caused by the accident.

Do not make the mistake that this RO is on your side, only let him in the perimiter fully escorted!!!!

[SpcDearman]

Dearman, I am not sure you fully understand what it is that your RO is trying to do! The C&P doctors are receiving instructions from the RO on what questions they want answered, and they put constraints on those answers. A for instance, the RO on a C&P exam sent C&P instructions to the doctor to address my radiculpathy in my right leg, as wheter it was caused by problems in my cervical spine. That sounds all fine accept that I had asked for SC due to the disks that were compressing the spinal cord in my Thoracolumbar spine. The C&P Doc followed the instructions the RO gave him and I had a C&P exam with a medical conclusion that the radiculapthy was not caused by my cervical spine arthritis.

The RO is trying to 1, indicate your problems are from a previous injury. 2, The C&P doctor then has to be able to specifically identify why/how the tank injury excaburated those injuries. 3, your compensation is then limited to the actual increase caused by the accident.

Do not make the mistake that this RO is on your side, only let him in the perimiter fully escorted!!!!

thank you for the heads up because i did think that the RO was on my side. I wont let him past the wire though. :)