What is the best method to solve a problem at VA?

[broncovet]

Im asking this question especially for Meddac, as many, many Vets have an unsolved glitch in their benefit claim.  

A great example is what to do about an unreasonable delay, where little or nothing is happening on your claim for an extended period.    Some possible optiions, for example, if your claim is more than a year old and never adjuticated:

POSSIBLE WAYS YOU CAN SOLVE A PROBLEM AT VA: 

1.  IRIS email.  Ask status of your claim, and inquire why, when Alison Hickey resolved to get one and two year old claims completed, yours has not been completed.  Be respectful and dont "attack". 

2.  Send a 21-4138 asking for status of claim.

3.  Contact your VSO.  (This is not easily done, as many simply do not return Vets calls). 

4.  Call your RO.  Again this is often an exercise in futility.  "Calling Peggy"..the 1-800 number is so useless I dont even have the number anymore. 

5.  Check ebenefits.  Make sure you dont even think that ebenefits is accurate or reliable.  

6.  Email Bob, or the undersecretary who filled in Allison Hickeys position. 

7.  Contact your congress critter.  Most Vets advocates say this rarely works. 

8.  Berta has a list of many phone/fax numbers for various RO's.  

9.  I personally have the email of my RO director, referred to by Allison.  For me, it was pretty much ineffective.  He did push some things along, but pretty much nothing positive came of it.  It mostly resulted in denials, but it was at least finally went to the Board.   Even a denial is better than endless delay..at least you can appeal, and get somewhere.  

10.  Go to your RO.  This was also largely ineffective for me, but others have gotten things at least moving by showing up.  

11.  File a Writ of mandamus at the CAVC.  This drastic measure should only happen if everything else is tried and fails.  

12.  Something else not listed above.  

 

Edited April 30, 2016 by broncovet

[THOMAS89031]

On ‎4‎/‎30‎/‎2016 at 4:54 PM, Meddac said:

You've listed a number of options for dealing with unreasonable delays at VA.

1. Being respectful and not attacking is a good one because so many different hands (or eyes) touch a claim nowadays (and it's not usually the IRIS people). In our conference calls with Allison Hickey you would have been amazed at the defunct crap that she said constantly. She once suggested that we take individuals from the RO and go sit in each department of the VA hospitals to make sure that the waiting rooms were full and that people were being seen. That idea would have taken resources away from the Regional Office (although now some ROs are overstaffed and could do that with ease). She also suggested that VA orthopedic exams should be completed by video. When asked how the doctor could get accurate results especially on ROM she got angry. She never came up with any ideas on her own. They were always suggestions from people outside her office.

2. A 4138 asking for a status will likely not get answered. It gets scanned into an electronic file, and there could be 30 people who see it and say "someone else probably answered".

3. VSO is a good choice if your VSO knows what they are talking about. I am currently assisting a Veteran who's VSO said they are unaware of any way to get a local hearing requested when your case has just gone to BVA without notification, and you actually wanted a DRO hearing.

4. You can call the RO if you have a good number for someone. Most of the employees simply don't answer the phones if they don't recognize the number. And yes, the 800 number is mostly operated by people who read from scripts and have little idea of what you are talking about.

5. eBenefits is what I'd refer to as the Tinker Toys that keep Veterans busy while "Mommy and Daddy" talk. It's hardly ever accurate, and only really serves to raise anxiety levels.

6. You can email Bob's office. You MIGHT get a spark from that. Don't hold your breath though. I have dealt with Bob, and my opinion of him is very low where Veterans are concerned. You can also try the Acting Undersecretary, Danny Pummill, but good luck there too. He seems to be embroiled in the scams going on in the upper management involving "moving expenses" for Kim Graves and Diana Rubens. The Deputy Secretary, Sloan Gibson, will also do no good.

7. Congressional Inquiries... I hold no dog in the political fight, but I can tell you first hand that this is truly futile. They still want your vote though after you get a canned reply from their office that says "VA is diligently working on all claims in the order of receipt" or "VA is attempting to gather all needed evidence to make an accurate decision on your claim". BS....all of it.

8. Berta may be your best suggestion of all.

9. The RO Director is, in all of my experience, a political hat. We had one that might have actually looked into your case but he has long since retired into private life. The current Director here is honestly a waste of space with all of his talk and absolutely no action.

10. Going to the RO in person is a shot in the dark. Some live too far from their RO for one, and you never know exactly who your going to deal with when you do go.

11. A Writ of Mandamus... If you have an Appeal pending and a private attorney then the threat of one of these will some action. May not be what you want, and it may not end up to your satisfaction though.

12. Is there actually something "not" listed?

When I was in a tight position with a claim that I could not get moved personally (from another team) I would simply give out an email and phone number to someone located at Central Office. They weren't a high ranking person, but they would get tired after about 2 or 3 calls, and an email would come down from CO to move a certain claim along as swiftly as possible. I also made certain not to give that number out if the end result at that point would be detrimental to the Veteran.

I still have access to plenty of numbers and emails as well as indirect access to the VBMS system that VA uses. I believe I can still have requests made through DPRIS (Defense Personnel Records Information System) which is what VA uses to obtain personnel files for Veterans who were released after certain years.

The short answer is that if you are having an unreasonable delay with your claim at VA then there are very few things that can be done short of being listed as Terminal, having ALS, Winning the Medal of Honor, or being a Former POW. I can't even guarantee that those things will move your claim along anymore. I know for sure that being Homeless is losing effectiveness.

As I said in one of my shows, there is no "Magic Bullet". If your RO is the Waco or Boise office then I have direct ties that I can try in order to help out. I can help with the other offices too, but in a little more limited capacity. The VA is not in the business of helping Veterans anymore. They are in the numbers business. It's a song and dance game now , and one of the reasons I got out when I did.

I now I have notes on legal pads all over my little home office (third bedroom) that I use to constantly help Veterans. For now I am batting a .600, but there could be a slump at any time.

 

 

 

MEDDAC and BERTA :   You two are so right on and up to speed on VA regs and the issues

within the VA.   Wished we had folks like YOU TWO in all RO's.

 

[broncovet]

Buck the reason I got such a fast denial is because I emailed Allison complaining that my appeal from a 2008 decision (where I first applied in 2002) was still pending.  That is, its been 14 years.  She pushed it through.   

As Alex has explained, its rare to get the VARO or even BVA to award six figure retro's.  Its simply above their pay grade.    So, they simply deny.  The idea was to get it to the CAVC where they can at least render a decision, as both Alex and I felt the CAVC had to award or remand.   The same thing happened to Alex.   Im actually greatful, BVA denied rather than remanded.  The reason is simple.  A BVA remand would simply be a denial that takes longer after a trip onto the remand hamster wheel.     

I could get a CAVC decision in 6 months, possibly less.   The worst result, for me, would be a remand.  

If I get a denial, then I can go to the Federal Circus.  When it involves large retro, a remand amounts to a ticket to the hamster wheel.   

[Buck52]

OIC

So if your denied at CAVC it would be in your favor to let it be decided by FC?

If it takes remands and denial for years to get a claim adjudicated....does a veteran have to all this before he can go to the Federal

Court?

I understand about the three signatures required for a retro of 25.000 or more but never knew it required the Feds for approval,

I'd be affraid the CAVC would remand back to RO and your back in the hamster wheel. 

[Chuck75]

On 4/30/2016 at 6:29 PM, THOMAS89031 said:

BV, I agree with what you said 100% "Bob" is there for the Veteran.. But he's only one man dealing with the same people we do...  Only when he says "jump"  they do.   If we had a "Bob" at each RO,, there would be no backlogs.

Actually, there is staff that handles the Bob emails. But, since they have the sec's office and authority behind them, generally, things get done.

Decades ago, I worked for GE in a divisions engineering department. We had a serious failure problem in a linear motor control.

The motors were split between baggage carts and the tracks. When the control failed, it usually caused a cart or carts to accelerate more than intended.

End result? derailed carts in the middle of a very major airport's baggage handling and routing system. This meant that the system had to be shut down, and 

people had to crawl onto the system tracks to re rail and unjam the carts.

The chief engineer was required to report to GE's board chairman at least once a week, and daily when required.

What was the problem? Another division of GE produced a solid state switching device that was used, and was failing, and in the process turned into a very crispy critter, thus defying cause analysis.

The problem was finally identified by measuring electrical leakage vs temperature in the device. When the leakage/temperature curve had a higher than normal slope, the device was likely to fail in service.  The cause then was identified by electron microscope analysis, which was only possible with a device that had not yet failed.  (Impurities in the semiconductor elements was the final finding)  

 

[Meddac]

20 hours ago, Buck52 said:

I understand about the three signatures required for a retro of 25.000 or more but never knew it required the Feds for approval,

I'd be affraid the CAVC would remand back to RO and your back in the hamster wheel. 

Buck, it does take three signatures to do a "Concur" on an award over $25,000, but those same three signatures can be used on a 6 figure award as well. I have signed off on at least 8-10 awards in my time with VA management that were between $100,000 and 550,000. Actually, I think the largest award I "Concurred" was for $552,000.

[Buck52]

Roger That Meddac.