This sums up some of it for VA and VHA

[Meddac]

http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2016/04/17/newt-gingrich-veterans-administration-grievously-sick/

I'm not real in-tune with the VHA side of things, but I do know that it is severely broken. On the VBA side of the house I agree that the Appeals backlog is huge as reported in the story. If VA shifts resources to address it then the claims backlog will once again skyrocket. The see-saw of priorities goes on and the taxpayers are funding it.

In the VA they literally refer to all of this type of news as "job security", and it really is just that. The Union protects employees, but too often it's the wrong employees. The internal process is so far gone that I don't think it can ever recover. Not even a complete sweep of management will solve the VA's problems because it goes much higher and lower than that.

I could spend all day on this forum trying to educate, inform, and expose.....but I don't want to be on some TV show with my wife telling the world how I failed to get stuff done around the house!! 

 

Edited April 18, 2016 by Meddac

[Berta]

The VHA is full of problems, as well as the VBA side of things....I could write a book about that...oh I forgot I promised my daughter I would...

she wants to know the real story of dad's death and my FTCA case because she was in the military when VA settled all that.

I wonder if the title should be "Death By VA"

I got an email today (probably from Ben Krauses site,) that said the VA cops are monitoring a Facebook site to see if it appears the vets there are going to plan some sort of protest.

Years ago the IG monitored hadit and any other vets site to see if we were telling vets how to scam the VA. Of course they found nothing of the kind here...we should in fact be a training program, for the VAROs.

Heck I bet every vet and their survivors wants to protest against the VA sometimes but one of our oldest members here ( Pete S from Texas, always said 'getting vets to join together to do anything is like herding a bunch of cats. ' That is often so true yet 77,000 apparently have signed a Blue Water Navy petition.( Blue Water vets who claim they were exposed to AO during the Vietnam War and whose ships are not on the AO Ships list yet. or wont be put on it aka Danang Harbor vets)

 

 

 

[bobbyq]

I am so pissed off at this system.  I have a vet who filed an appeal and after about a year we are waiting for a hearing and he dies.  So all the work the VA did in preparation for this hearing goes out the window because his wife files as a sustaitute so now we have to start all over again.  Also the vet was S/C so the wife was listed as a dependant.  Now because of the substitute, they want her to file a 686 showing her being a dependant.  What a crock.  Where does this end? 

[Berta]

Here is the link to Ben's news on the VA cops and Facebook thing.

http://www.disabledveterans.org/2016/04/18/dhs-va-police-monitoring-va-is-lying-facebook-group/

Bobbyq- don't get discouraged.....years ago my husband died with his 1151 in process. He asked me hours before he suddenly died to continue that claim if they killed him.

I had to start from  day one on the 1151 and his PTSD claim for higher rating.

This should not be an issue in this survivor's case. Because of the substitution regulations.

They will need a lot more than the 686.

Is this for DIC?

Edited April 18, 2016 by Berta

[broncovet]

I appreciate Newt sticking up for Vets..but he has no solutions, just problems.   The problems are so big, and so widespread, it probably will take legislation to fix it.  I think at the root of it is the unions, which sues VA whenever someone gets fired, so it makes it so difficult to fire people they just keep moving them from place to place to place.  

It reminds me of the old Catholic Church.  When a priest was suspected of molesting, they moved him to another area.  Very, very bad idea, and when it caught up with the Catholic Church it was very very bad.  

Its the same thing with VA.   You dont want  to relocate your problems you want to fix them.  The union largely prevents that.  

Im a pro union guy...voted for the union in my company, tho it was defeated.  The VA needs to be able to trim dead wood, especially when its wormy dead wood infecting the whole forest.  

[broncovet]

Berta, 

   I would like to see you write a book, even tho it would take time away from here.  

[bobbyq]

Hey Berta, thanks.  Short story is we are claiming he got Hep C from air guns, the ship was quarantined for Hep C, later down the road his SMR shows Hep C and the VA says it is not s/c.  Led to cirrhosis of the liver, and finally hepatocellular carcinoma cancer and killed him.  He had his wife on the 40% SC claim and then now that we are doing the appeal they want a 686, and they already know he was married and had a dependant so why the 686 now?  On top of all this their daughter was murdered in January, so the widow has her hands full.  The VA still has not paid death benefits from Sept of last year.  He was being treated at the VA hospital but in the denial the VA basically said THEIR doctor was better than his private doctor. He did NOT have a private doctor.  Any ways...........just PO'd