Dependency Claims (Changes In The Works)

[harleyman]

Well as some of you may know General Allison Hickey Under Secretary of the VA, has been making her rounds to many of the VA Regional Offices and conducting a few hour presentation to the VA employees about thier current work in progress and future changes.

One of the interesting changes the General informed VA employees in her recent visit are the changes currently being implemented in how the VA handles dependency claims.

Evidently, the VA is training the phone/ call center people on how to add dependents into the computer system right over the phone. Resulting in a rapid approched in adding dependents to Veteran's awards. There are some call centers that have implemented this as a satilite program in about 30% if their dependency calls. It seems to be working quite well and they are starting to make the changes at more call centers as we write, thus eliminating the majority of dependency claims, except for those where there are financial administrative issues involved and it takes a person to intervene.

The General stated she did not understand why Veteran's have to jump through so many hoops to simply add their spouse or thier child to their award. She related her experience in the military when you walked up to the window and told the pay clerk you got married or you had a child born, and they added them onto your pay right then and the next payday you had the increase on your pay check. She said our Veteran's are fully capable and be trustworthy and competent enough to tell us if they are married or have children, and there is no reason why dependency claims cannot be handled over the phone with instant computer entry.

I don't know about all of you, but I like this General, and I see some good changes in store for Veteran's in the next 1 to 3 years as VA goes paperless. Hang in there everyone I see clearer skies ahead. As I have time I will try to share more of the things that were presented by the General. By the way, we all found her to be very practical and engaging, but straight forward and she states she had a desire to get rid of the dead weight of some of the processes that were implemented through "fear" by VA, rather than in the spirit of granting benefits to disabled Veterans.

If there is something you want to see changed I will be happy to submit your ideas. (serious ideas for implmenting changes only please) :) harleyman

Edited August 24, 2013 by harleyman

[harleyman]

SSDD

Each time the VA makes new promises, I yawn and say, "How about delivering on the old promises you made and maybe then I will believe your new ones?"

I understand your frustration and your uneasyness about the VA promising to make things better. There are changes being made that I agree with and there are some that disagree with, so WE are in agreement that VA still has problems.

We have been hearing about "positive changes" at the VA for at least 5 years, while the backlog grows and grows. Many of those "highly touted" new VA "programs" wind up being abandoned, or Vets wish they would have been dropped.

I hve not been hearing changes for he past five years, I have been hearing changes for the last maybe 2 years. I have seen very positive changes in the last year.

They have been shouting "grant if you can, deny if you must" also, for even longer. The truth is, you have to have all the I's dotted and all the T's crossed before you get benefits, and, even then, most of the time you have to appeal.

Yes, grant if you can and deny if you must, this is the mantra; However, when you hear it from the top it makes more of an impression on the bottom. We Veteran's, want raters to GRANT. And yes, there are raters I work with all the time that say to me, I don't beleive the Veteran had this happen to him, or I don't think this doctor knows what PTSD is, this guy wasn't even in the area where the combat was, We need people like General Hickey rattle some cages, like she said, we are not JUDGES we are adjudiators.

Vets are very, very tired of hearing promises to reduce the backlog, including dependents, where the VA is very short on delivering those promises.

We have claims and we have appeals. VA processed over a million claims each year for the past three years. We have just come off a 10 year war, and have added many NEW claimants. VA has hired many many new employees who are just now coming into their own, and are released from training after a year or two of supervised work. We spent the last two years with over 30% to 40% of VBA employees processing NEHMER claims for the 3 new AO conditions for RVN Veterans and their famililes. We just processed all claims over two years old and we are about 45% completed processing claims over 1 year old. The backlog has begn to go down we are at the claim level we were at in 2011, before NEHMER and before the OIF/OEF Veterans claim came pouring in. Claims are going down.

My dependent claim was started in 2009, they lost or shredded it, I resubmitted it in 2012, and I will still have to appeal. Thats 4 years. Hickey was in charge for at least a year of those 4, and Shinseki was in charge for all of them.

I don't know what happened to your dependency claim. I really don't know your situation, so I cannot speak/write addressing it. Dependency is pretty cut and dry. Either you have dependents or you don't and you are 30% disabled or more or your not. The effective date is when you were either rated at 30% and a claim for dependents was recevied within one year of the grant of 30% or it is the date the claim for dependents was received if it was after the one year since the 30% grant. I am sure there are extenuating circumstances in your case, or you wouldn't have an appeal. If you want to PM me and share I might be able to offer some advise, or direction about the dependency claim.

[harleyman]

TO ALL:

Special Note: When VA is talking about CLAIMS that does not include APPEALS. We have claims and we have appeals. We do not address Appeals by calling then claims. Appeals cases are Appeals.

General Hickey did say they are in the process of implementing some of the changes they have started with the claims, and they are now planning to initiate those policies and changes in Appeals. So they are starting to move in the direction of the Appeals backlog.

Please also note: The AMC is not a special office somewhere off by itself. The AMC is right there at the RO. At my RO the appeals (AMC) is across the hallway. C-files go back and forth between appeals and claims processing all day long. AMC people are Appeals VSRs/RVSRs who were moved to the Appeals team to process Appeals at each RO. When the BVA sends your file to the AMC, he is simply sending it back to the RO from whence it came, except instead of going to the claims teams it goes to the appeals teams. - Just on FYI

[harleyman]

Boomer said:
I currently have a claim in for dependency which I do not understand because when I look on ebenefits it shows me married. Why can't they look at the same info.
Harleyman
Is the St petersburg RO one of the ones doing the phone thing?

Boomer, I don't know what call centers are doing the dependency "over the telephone work". You appear to be only service connected at 10% according to your Hadit profile. Normally, the spouse and any children are added into the system if the Veteran is service connected at 30% or more, or if the Veteran is in receipt of NSC pension, or there is an award for spouse A&A. Since it appears you are only 10% service connected there is no reason to add the spouse into the Veteran information pay screen at this time. In paper files the info was held in the file for future use.

That being said, the new paperless system called VBMS where eBenefits pulls some of it's information may have had you spouse info scanned into the system. If this is the case, then eBenefits will pick up the information as general information, and eBenefits could very will "list or show" you as married. In the paper system the information is filed down into the file until it is needed add to the pay screen.

Remember the contractors are scanning thousands of files, some which actually are printed on "onion" paper. The scanning is going to take some time to get everyones complete c-file in the paperless system. Ebenefits premium, will be a good tool for veterans in the future, but right now it is NOT accurate. If you have a claim for dependency or for dependecy for any other reason such as helpless child or parent's dpendency, fill out the VA Form 686c and upload it into the eBenefits and I would also mail it to your RO certified.

Edited August 25, 2013 by harleyman

[jbasser]

It doesnt take 10 minutes to add a dependant to a claim.

That is my point also. I have been very outspoken to others on this issue.

They need to get it done. Why make kids wait for food??

J

[boomer2]

Harleyman

Sorry! should have stated that I was just recently rated at 30% and have an appeal or really a DRO review in progress which should put me at 50%.

Anyway, When I first registered with the VA I told them I was married so, it should be in the records.

[joeyjoeyb]

My dependency claim was put in may of 2011 and granted in oct 2011. I still have received no retro from may till oct 2011. DFAS h did the audit in dec 2011. We are talking 455 bucks. Have no idea when and if I will ever get it!!