Appeals now higher than initial claims

[broncovet]

So much for the so called "backlog reduction", they just denied most and sent them to appeals.

http://www.vetlawyers.com/appeals-claims/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BergmannMoore+(Bergmann+%26+Moore)

Edited August 30, 2015 by broncovet

[Berta]

Exactly, it is all spin.

I wonder how they account for claims denied at ROs ,then the NOD has not been filed yet, so technically that claim has not been appealed yet.......and therefore is not counted as in appeals stats....but looks like it is finished at that point at the ROs and tyhey can take EP credit for it (End Product)

Odd how these new stats came out ...and meantime Ebenefits appeals status info there is buggered.....until September  ????

[Fat]

Hilarious if you ask me.

In police terms, "they are juking the stats".

This will remain a problem until veterans form a voting block and get the attention of congress.

Congress can force the VA's hand and make them accountable for the heavy number of initial denials.

Some regional offices are straight forward and judge strictly by medical evidence.

However some are so rigid and the "benefit of the doubt" regulation is never applied.

End all bonuses to administrators/supervising raters and I guarantee numbers will get better.

The incentive of money causes a lot of the problems in denying many claims (initial level and NOD level).

[MarkInTexas]

Wow....I never put 2 and 2 together......It is a strange coincidence that the eBenefits appeals status page is under construction into September and they are in a hurry to report progress on numbers in that period.  Sad....doesn't anybody in Washington care?

Mark

 

[Vync]

People in Washington do care. It is newsworthy item they can wear on their shoulder, rally for more funds, and leverage for their own job security and bonuses.

[highoctane]

Back from the dead...but this sounds about right. On my initial claim it flew through the process as my claim got close to the 90 day mark (BDD) and was complete in 89 days. Wow awesome right?  Not so much, my main contention (CAD) was denied for no clinical evidence, although it was thoroughly diagnosed and documented. They just denied what they weren't finished reviewing and completed the claim. I filed a reconsideration, four months later I had a VA C&P exam in which the VA doctor reported my current condition as warranting a 60% rating...decision in the mail 2 weeks later...10%,rater apparently used some old test results to rate me lower than the current VA exam. Getting a second opinion or follow up testing would have taken too long and hurt their stats. But in those cases where they need to rush a claim through,they don't give the benefit of doubt to the vet, they go with whatever allows them to rate the lowest. Unbelievable.

[jbasser]

I actually predicted this.

 

J