Time Table From Claim To Award Getting Worse

[RockyA1911]

I myself am on 18 months from the initial date of claim, simple claims with all the military medical and VA records, and C&Ps as proof. Should have been fast and easy. I do understand there are some claims that are complicated such as having to search for records or missing records or difficulty in finding info for nexus etc.

But instead of getting better at decreasing the lead time from effective date of claim to award is seriously getting worse, even thought the VA has reported they instituted procedures that now reduce the length of time to where the average claim is decided in 229 days.......Bull Hockey!!!!!!!

If a vet files a claim today and he has all the supporting documents needed to support the claim they can now assume 2 years from the date the VA receives the claim.

This is appalling! What can we do about this? Barrack Obama and Durbin have hammered them over the heads to speed things up and it is getting worse and taking longer for claims to be completed.

I called them again on mine today and was told it is still in the "Ready to Rate status" and has been in that status since June. They said they anticipate completion by the end of September so that is then 19 months if they hold true to there word. But then again I have heard this several times over the past 18 months.

We deserve better and the american citizens deserve better than this. No other government organization would be in business anymore with these statistics. There needs to be a total reorganization of the way they do business in the VA. There are government agencies and private agencies that do as much or more volume than what the VA process and a lot of them with more bureacracy than the VA and they still get the job done in a suitable time frame. It's called managment and oversight and the VA is not using those tools.

[Guest fla_viking]

Dear Fellow vceterans & friends

Until veterans relize the delays are by designe and the people who designe this system will not change it. We will cont8nue to suffer through this process.

If you are denied at this level it will take you 6 to 10 years go through the process. If they were to use the SSDI model for our claims. There would be allot less abuse of process.

Terry Higgins

[Berta]

I agree -you can complain to the Senate Committee on Veteran Affairs-

Send it Attention: Chairman Craig- Re: Backlog

And you can complain to the IG, your state Congressperson and Senators-

If you make the complaint in general this will not hold up your claim-

if you tell them that your claim, in some supports the points you made, the letter will go to your VARO and then the VA has to make something up in response to the inquery-

That can add months to a claim-if you tell them about your personal claims situation-

Unfortunately the Knight Ridder investigation is over- they got invrestigative awards for their excellent work on exposing the problems at the VA- however-

it seems to have fallen on deaf ears-

An IG survey of claims workers and DROs found that the majority claimed they were unable to do their jobs well-

it has become a mass production line- and claims are being breezed over.

Also when the VA fails to send a VCAA letter and this error is found by the BVA to have been a prejudicial error, the claim gets remanded -adding more time to it-

It is a scam-in my opinion- and I have been willing to write to anyone in Gov who will listen-

that these VCAA letters are deliberately not being sent to claimants before their initial denial- and the BVA Remand is already set up-and they at the ROs know that the claim will be stuck in the system for years-

because they are willing to commit this DTA error when they get many claims-

yet this deliberate error gets the claim out of the ROs hair possibly for years-

this happened to me-

I dont know about anyone else here but I am NOT putting up with the way my claim has been handled and am relentlessly pursuing every avenue of appraoch to get it resolved.

When I got tough in 1997, after 3 years of denials, the worm turned-

and bit them in the ass- and my claims were resolved to my satisfaction.

The process and award rate at my VARO is anywhere from 3 months to over three years- and many claims dont have a chance because they never get the VCAA letter-get denied continually, appeal to BVA and then get a remand- I am talking years here-

This is wrong and some veterans are accepting this. It is totally unacceptable to me as a widow of a vet.

And if you have a POA with thumbs up his rear end- you might have to complain enough to get a foot up there instead.

Some of these POAs are so dumb that they are letting valid claims go to the BVA without the proper VCAA notification- or they just dont care- and that is one more claim that they do not have to think about-

But every POA has a boss to complain to too-

The gov will not change the VA. Veterans have to change the VA.

(and civilians too like me)

see what I mean at the BVA web site-

[KennyJ]

My claim has been 17 months from onset to now with Remanded Appeals going back 2 years. I t took 16 months just to issue C&P exams which they scheduled 6 weeks apart.

[gatz]

does anybody in here know if the atlanta department of affairs handle your claim? If so how long are they backlogged

[Guest jangrin]

It would be nice if people would log on and just state their claim RO office and how long they have been waiting.

Just let each other know whats going on at the different RO's around the country.

RO= Oakland, CA - 6 months NO C&p EXAMS

Edited August 10, 2006 by jangrin

[olenavygoat]

It's all about the money folks. The longer they can delay the claim the more chance that people will get frustrated and give up trying and/or die. Your best bet is to get your claim information together spelled out to a "T" and send along the supporting documentation. Take away their excuses, then if they buck you go to your senator and agin with guns loaded, sit down and file a grievance. Not only does the VA have to answer, they have to act on your claim.

The delays will never stop, they will continue to get worse with the number of vets coming home. Had our government wanted to fix it they would have by now by adding more claim examiners and cracking down on the double talk you get back from the raters. So until we do something to hit their pocketbook we're hosed. The best thing we can do in addition to having our act together is watching the voting records and getting rid of our oppressors. We need veterans in all these seats, not people that have never done anything to support and defend their country.