What Tricks Has Va Used To Deny You?

[NavyWife]

What tricks has VA used to deny you?

It seems that VA has a group of tricks they commonly use to deny claims. If you carefully read and reread the denial section of the rating decision you can break down word by word what they are saying.

1. Misdirection---they deny you based on something that has absolutely NOTHING to do with the rating schedule. Another vet here posted he was denied on migraines because he did not meet the "economic inadaptability" criteria to get to 50%, even though he had the required number of headaches for the rating. The denial said that because he was going to school, he did not qualify. Hello! Students don't make any money!!! economic inadaptability means you have difficulty holding a job.

In another example, a vet was denied because he still had his drivers license. having a drivers license is not in the rating schedule.

We need to carefully read the denial paragraph, and compare it to the rating schedule. Then cross reference both of those to the evidence listed in the rating letter and read EACH piece of evidence they used.

2. Pretend they can't get your records--in one of hubby's 4 denials, they denied his request for increase saying they could not get the records from the VA medical center he was treated at. I had NO PROBLEM getting those records a few months ago. Oh, and big surprise, the records had the proof that he needed for the increase!!!

3. Ignore their own VA C&P exam--they will disregard their own C&P exam and instead use a random note pulled from your medical file to deny the claim.

We should write up a big list of these common maneuvers VA uses, so other vets can recognize them and know that they need to appeal the incorrect denial. Or if we are feeling adventurous & bold, submit a "Go CUE Yourself" statement based on Berta's instructions in the CUE forum.

that saying, "you don't know, what you don't know" really applies to many of these denials. unless a vet knows every damned regulation and statute that applies to their case, they don't even know they have been wrongfully denied. They just accept the word of the VA. This makes me sad and pissed off at the same time!

Edited April 22, 2014 by NavyWife

[Slowlane]

BS walks and money talks......You must pay to get your message across to the public. The Wounded Warrior Project would be better off to tell lies like "How we fought VA to help Veterans" instead of buying them a 2 dollar crutch and pocketing the rest.

They are bagging 20 bucks a month to display people hobbling around and crying and never making mention of the VA Atrocities.

If we had commercials running nite and day something would happen. We might collect enough money to buy a representative.

I feel this thread will die a slow death..........I forget who said something like "getting Veterans organized is like herding cats".

[john999]

The Wounded Warrior Project is making some guys rich. The fact that such an organization exists is a shame and a direct slap in the face of vets. Why should disabled vets be getting charity when they have a claim on the USA treasury. Everything the WWP is doing should be done by the VA. I think the public really wants to show appreciation to vets, but they don't know how. They believe the VA is taking care of us. They don't know or believe their own government systematically lies to them about almost everything. This is not Dem v Republican. This is both parties that are controlled by money.

You either have to flood Washington with a few million vets, or flood Washington with money like the .01%. This is how it works in Amerika.

John

[Berta]

"I feel this thread will die a slow death..........I forget who said something like "getting Veterans organized is like herding cats"."

I remember our astute moderator here, Pete 53, saying that in the old Prodigy BBS on line in the late 1980s or early 90s.

He is right.

Unlike many other members of our nation, who can organize well , based on often one single ideology or philosophy or gripe, the very fact that many if not most veterans have disabilities , as well as a loss of income due to their disabilities ,and that makes it very difficult for them to physically unite.

But our best unification is the Internet,in my opinion, ......I have no doubt that VA is well in tune with the pulse of the electronic veteran's community....which grows by the day.

John is right:

"What is sad is that the young, hurting vet who still believes in the system often gets screwed to the wall."

My daughter is a OEF vet and her sole VA claim was for her Chapter 35 Certificate of Eligibility.

Those mo..... rs (opppps ) tried to screw her out of 7 years Chapter 35 Edu benefits.

She is very smart and works for DOD in DC but said the letter (awarding her only one month instead of 7 years)seemed so official, that she was very upset , but almost believed the VA's rationale , at first ,

because it was from the VA.

We got that award fixed fast and I said to her "Welcome to my world!"

I have no doubt that many of the OIF OEF vets with service injuries , are getting the same treatment ,by being denied or lowballed, or dealing with RO employees who cannot or are unwilling to

read.

Edited April 25, 2014 by Berta

[carlie]

Personally I feel everything starts with the one and only submission of

an ORIGINAL claim and the issues and evidence contained within.

Then the hamster wheel starts with the first denial or lowball -

we get the decisions - get pissed off - many say - F it and walk away . . .

when in reality they never got past the Evidence and Reasons and Bases Sections -

which pretty much tell you right there - exactly what is required to succeed.

Then come back years later - no timely NOD was submitted - they have not kept up

with continuity of care and have no paper trail filled with N&M evidence to re-open.

I know and surely agree none of us should have to become lawyers . . .

but when we file ourselves - or get a non committed VSO just plugging in claims,

I feel that even with all of that - ultimately WE shoulder some of the burdens of

claims failure also.

Hell - I've seen so many 526's that basically stated something like -

I fell off the back of a duce and a half while stationed at Ft Benning, Ga.

back in 1963 and my shoulder has hurt ever since then.

It just burns and aches all the time and I think it's related to that fall.

I really need the help and appreciate your attention to this matter.

Now that might sound like horse poop - but anything like that true story -

we are not doing our part.

I see so many claimants just fueled with fire about their worthless VSO -

do we not bother to read and research what we do and sign on our own behalf ?

We GIVE these VSO's the legal right to DO or NOT DO, whatever the heck they desire.

We are a smart bunch - even when we are sick, we need to put time and effort and education

into our claims / issues FROM THE GET GO.

This is just one of my thoughts and things I too have learned the hard way - and I do not mean

offense to anyone.

Filing claims in some ways to me - is like crossing a busy street . . .

Look left - look right - then left again - look to see what just might hit you AND WHY - before you send it in.

Block a poor decision from the get go.

I feel many times we get caught up on - hurry up and submit that claim to get your effective date

locked in - well if your going to do a poor job on the research, gathering of evidence and submission

of the claim - that earlier effective date may not matter for decades and having to fight the VARO for years,

then the BVA and maybe all the way to COVA.

Yes, we are a smart group and in working and teaching together - I feel we get better results.

I'm a bit exhausted tonight and hope this came out in an understandable way.

[Chuck75]

"the problem with contacting our reps and congressman is THEY HAVE NO REAL POWER OVER THE VA."

That's not really true! The VA is a creature of congress, part of the executive branch, and so forth.

Politicians, over the decades fully realized that the VA had to continue, much as a sacred cow.

On the other hand, somehow, someway, it was made clear that the VA was not to spend any more than it had to

for direct payments to disabled veteran's.

I believe it was made clear that every dollar sent to a veteran was a dollar that the VA could not spend internally.

Then, there was a legacy inherited from past incarnations of what is now the VA. At one point in time, before WWI,

many of the recipients, to hear the VA tell it, were totally fraudulent, and possibly part of a scheme to buy votes and support.

Then there is the bureaucratic tendency to pick apart any situation that might result in making a decision that will result in a government payout to a citizen or veteran.

The VA, because of it's fairly unique situation, for more decades than I've been around, has done it's own thing.

When serious questions, etc. arise, the VA seems to respond, then quietly go back to it;s old practices.

Actually this is not much difference from the way other parts of the government operate.

I've run across this in DOD, for example. When a organization in DOD finds that it's feet are fixing to get burned, what to do?

Reorganize, that's what! That helps destroy and obscure any individuals responsibility, and allows the successors to say that

they had nothing to do with the problem, and didn't know about it. It also delays things, with the hope that the issues will just blow over,

and business can then continue as before.

The problems with redoing the VA's unique system boil down to one group that wants the VA to treat veterans properly, when it comes to benefits,

including medical care. Other groups oppose this, citing expense, "cheating", and so forth. Seldom mentioned is that money spent on the VA

is money that politicians cannot spend elsewhere, perhaps on things that are local concerns for their supporters.

I always felt that dealing with veteran's needs is part of the costs of war. It's certainly possible to determine an applicable percentage of DOD funding and expense

to "set aside" for the veteran's needs. DOD would likely be even worse than the VA in providing services and dealing with veteran's needs, so something else is needed.

A decade or so ago, the VA started an effort to sign up veterans, even when the VA did not have the capability to provide the medical and other services that they were obligated to provide.

Why would they do this? The answer is money, money,money. The VA could then go to congress with the enrollment figures and say, see we need more funding, facilities, workers, etc.

(Allowing an already bloated bureaucracy to continue to grow.)

It would take a book to begin to list the things that are wrong with the VA and decades overdue for change and improvement.

When I worked in part of the USAF's logistics sections, we still struggled with bureaucratic regulations that had roots in horse buying by the army well over a hundred years ago.

To top that off, accounting basically ran the show. They insisted on using procurement methods that, while allowed under the regs, resulted in major difficulties.

1. Time - a procurement administrative process that takes days in a corporation can take years.

2. Cost - the administrative labor costs involved become astronomical.

3. Dichotomy - one side of the logistics scheme was to follow an adaptation of the industrial "just in time" supply scheme, which results in less long term investment and shorter delivery times. The other side of the scheme adhered to a "two year" (or more) process that resulted in a total delay of, in some cases, five years.

Edited April 26, 2014 by Chuck75

[Berta]

Carlie, you are absolutely right!

Every denial and SOC contains the clues to succeed.

The Evidence list is crucial as well.

If they got something probative and didn't even mention it in the evidence list, they have committed a CUE already and right there our rights are crapped on unless we fight back.

You said "Filing claims in some ways to me - is like crossing a busy street . . .

Look left - look right - then left again - look to see what just might hit you AND WHY - before you send it in."

Absolutely. Find the potential land mines before the VA does.

And don't live under any illusions that your vet rep or even any lawyer can perform a miracle.

Carlie is right. on this point too...the claim has to be carefully stated right ,from the git go....

and from day one, the claimant has to think about gathering the evidence they will need.

I had a flashback preparing my reply. I used to help vets from the local VAMC in my home.

Years ago I had a vet pull into my driveway very fast and he ran up my deck with his decision in his hand and came into my home cursing and telling me I gave him lousy advise and the VA denied his claim.

I had recommended he get an IMO and the IMO followed the IMO criteria step by step. It was excellent.

I was shocked because I didn't expect him to get a denial.

He shoved the 'denial' in my face and said read this!

I read the VA letter, shoved it back in his face and said to him" You dumb F--k! This is an AWARD letter!"

He had only picked out a negative part of the decision regarding the C & P exam, as soon as it arrived ,drove over here, and had never read the whole thing.

I used to get angry like that over VA decisions, but that is exactly what the VA wants us to do....get so angry, like this vet did ,that we cannot even think straight or see straight.

Within a few days the vet got his retro by mail and apologized to me.

His IMO was well geared to overcome the lousy C & P exam and it did.It is not unusual for VA to state both positive and negative evidence, even in an award letter.

Edited April 26, 2014 by Berta