AMA change in notification process

[GeekySquid]

So on my threads about my first claim under AMA I stated I put this here to track time and the AMA process.

My claim for Voiding Dysfunction was filed on May 8 2019  and closed June 16th 2019 (according to VA.GOV)

so basically 36 days.

I was denied, and will start writing my NOD.

What is new besides the speed, is that on Ebenefits yesterday I noticed a new entry under my listed Disabilities.

It will be good for others to start tracking this to see if this remains the standard.

It was marked Pending Claims.

Today after visiting VA.Gov and seeing my claim closed I went to Ebennies and looked under Disabilities and the DENIED claims are already showing.

This is a change in process. It used to take some time to get Ebennies updated. usually at least 10 days.

today however, the day after VA.gov says the claim closed, I see the following

It will be good for others to start tracking this to see if this remains the standard

I am tagging in a few people who I know are active here and may have recent claims under AMA.

@paulstrgn

@vetquest

@shrekthetank1

@Buck52

@jamesriley1990

@richard1234

@Oceanbound

@Richard1954

@Amazing Becky

hopefully you all will help track this change. It can alleviate some of the "wait time" stress as we look for the BBE in the mail. If you all see someone asking about processing time for a claim please ask them to track for this notification under Ebenefits Disability link.

Rated Disabilities

Disability	Rating	Decision	Related To	Effective Date
bilateral hearing loss	0%	Service Connected		08/20/2018
tinnitus	10%	Service Connected		11/30/2012
post traumatic stress disorder with bipolar II disorder (previously rated with major depressive disorder, psychotic features )	100%	Service Connected	PTSD	08/16/2018
benign prostate hypertrophy		Not Service Connected
urinary incontinence		Not Service Connected
erectile dysfunction	0%	Service Connected		08/20/2018
benign paroxysmal positional vertigo	30%	Service Connected		08/20/2018

[paulstrgn]

I faxed in a supplemental claim/review for an earlier EED for ED on 6/11/2019. There seemed to be a system glitch where I lost my February intent to file date and instead game me my filing date of 5/15/2019. This claim as geekysquid knows was filed. C&P and approved in 20 days. I am hoping the EED claim goes just as quick.

No matter what I will post the time frames for this supplemental claim/review.

@GeekySquid  thanks for starting this thread.

[GeekySquid]

3 minutes ago, paulstrgn said:

No matter what I will post the time frames for this supplemental claim/review.

@paulstrgn

Thanks Paul.

The more information we have the better off we are.

Until now the prevailing logic has been to NOT check statuses daily or more. That seems to change with this apparent new notification on Ebenefits.

Until we understand it I hope we all push new claim filers to check both VA.gov and Ebenefits under Disabilities on a regular basis.

As you noted here and elsewhere your ED claim was on a rocket docket but they F'd you on the EEd.

I suspect this "new" notification is part of that upgrade in AMA and now we need to verify it with experience and tracking.

I just hope we all get on board and start suggesting people check both sites on a regular basis to track this.

[broncovet]

This isnt just good news, it may be great news..It may mean RAMP aka AMA is working.  However, I remain skeptical.

No offense meant, but because "your" claim was completed in 36 days, does not mean others will be complete then.  Its called "generalizing on too small of a sample size" and its a logic error.  A sample of that logic error is to state:

Quote

I have 3 rocks.  All of those are round.  Therfore, all rocks are round.  

A much better sampling is the BVA chairmans report, where an average time is posted for all Vets in a given year.  

Its perfectly fine if you want to "track your claim time", but my RAMP claim was started August 20, and not completed until Feb. 10, about 150 days, or more than 4 times what yours took.  

Frankly its highly unlikely that, if you put in a claim today, it would be complete in 36 days.  Your claim must have been delivered by rocket ship and processed by the rocket man himself.  

Thirty six days process time is the second shortest I have ever heard..one Vet said she got her claim done in 3 weeks.  And I have been here more than 11 years.  

https://www.bva.va.gov/Chairman_Annual_Rpts.asp

  

[GeekySquid]

26 minutes ago, broncovet said:

This isnt just good news, it may be great news..It may mean RAMP aka AMA is working.  However, I remain skeptical.

I agree it is potentially great news and being skeptical is a smart choice. I am skeptical and frankly see a tangential problem considering the push by VA to get its contractors to hire anyone with an MD to do C&P's. My last one was done by an idiot as I have mentioned a dozen times in other posts.

28 minutes ago, broncovet said:

No offense meant, but because "your" claim was completed in 36 days, does not mean others will be complete then.

No offense taken at that part of your post, but no one has claimed that 36 days will be a norm. It is just a data point.

The reason for this particular forum, the AMA forum, is to document these changes and time frames.

The harsh reality is that I suspect, as more quacks are hired to give C&P's, the faster the denials will come in.

Further, this particular claim, voiding dysfunction, is as I started the original thread saying, a simple claim.

More complex claims will realistically take longer.

That does not mean we should NOT track the time frames.

30 minutes ago, broncovet said:

A much better sampling is the BVA chairmans report, where an average time is posted for all Vets in a given year.  

In 2020 that might be a valid statement. This process, AMA, started Feb 19, 2019.

WE Veterans need to track the times from jump street. If you don't like that fine, just don't try and impede others from doing so.

31 minutes ago, broncovet said:

but my RAMP claim was started August 20, and not completed until Feb. 10, about 150 days, or more than 4 times what yours took.  

This forum is about AMA.

RAMP is dead and closed to new entrants.

Trying to compare the two is a fools choice.

32 minutes ago, broncovet said:

Thirty six days process time is the second shortest I have ever heard.

@paulstrgn had his done under AMA in 20 days.

That it is the "second shortest "YOU" have ever heard" just demonstrates that your broad attempts to disparage are based on your limited experience with AMA.

Just like everyone else here, AMA is new to us and apparently can be significantly different than past performance under different VA programs.

 

33 minutes ago, broncovet said:

And I have been here more than 11 years.  

while that is nifty for you, it is completely irrelevant to AMA.

Unless YOU have a claim opened under AMA you don't have any personal experience with the AMA process.

Being combative, and trying to imply that since you have been on hadit for 11 years you have some experience or insight into AMA, is a simplistic strawman falsity. It amounts to self-aggrandizement and stroking your own ego. 

YOU know exactly what everyone else knows about AMA since it started on Feb 19, 2019. Nothing more nothing less.

You can choose to help us build reliable information on AMA or you can be obstructionist.

[HONDOII]

6 hours ago, GeekySquid said:

So on my threads about my first claim under AMA I stated I put this here to track time and the AMA process.

My claim for Voiding Dysfunction was filed on May 8 2019  and closed June 16th 2019 (according to VA.GOV)

so basically 36 days.

I was denied, and will start writing my NOD.

What is new besides the speed, is that on Ebenefits yesterday I noticed a new entry under my listed Disabilities.

It will be good for others to start tracking this to see if this remains the standard.

It was marked Pending Claims.

Today after visiting VA.Gov and seeing my claim closed I went to Ebennies and looked under Disabilities and the DENIED claims are already showing.

This is a change in process. It used to take some time to get Ebennies updated. usually at least 10 days.

today however, the day after VA.gov says the claim closed, I see the following

It will be good for others to start tracking this to see if this remains the standard

I am tagging in a few people who I know are active here and may have recent claims under AMA.

@paulstrgn

@vetquest

@shrekthetank1

@Buck52

@jamesriley1990

@richard1234

@Oceanbound

@Richard1954

@Amazing Becky

hopefully you all will help track this change. It can alleviate some of the "wait time" stress as we look for the BBE in the mail. If you all see someone asking about processing time for a claim please ask them to track for this notification under Ebenefits Disability link.

Rated Disabilities

Disability	Rating	Decision	Related To	Effective Date
bilateral hearing loss	0%	Service Connected		08/20/2018
tinnitus	10%	Service Connected		11/30/2012
post traumatic stress disorder with bipolar II disorder (previously rated with major depressive disorder, psychotic features )	100%	Service Connected	PTSD	08/16/2018
benign prostate hypertrophy		Not Service Connected
urinary incontinence		Not Service Connected
erectile dysfunction	0%	Service Connected		08/20/2018
benign paroxysmal positional vertigo	30%	Service Connected		08/20/2018

Hey GeekySquid,

 

Did you file your AMA via eBenefits?  If so, is it just an option you can select when completing the online application?  I actually need to submit one for voiding dysfunction as well.  Did you submit a private DBQ with your claim in the supplemental lane?

 

*Edit* Oops. Guess I should have just read VA Form 20-0995 for instructions.  Assuming you mailed the form into your processing office?  How long did it take to show up on eBenefits?

Edited June 18, 2019 by Mrpdbo

[GeekySquid]

49 minutes ago, Mrpdbo said:

If so, is it just an option you can select when completing the online application? 

Voiding Dysfunction itself is NOT a category that Ebenefits /VA.gov claim form default to allowing.

If you have a rated GenitoUrinary Condition it would be secondary to that condition.

You can type it in as voiding dysfunction but as my display shows the VA put it as secondary to my PTSD which is beyond me why.

If you you have BPH I would be interested in you responding if the C&P includes an attempt to SC your BPH too. For some reason the VA letter to the C&P asked them to SC BPH and I cannot imagine how you would do that.

I only put in this claim because my claim for ED awarded SMC(k) and the VA wrote in that decision that I might have a claim for Voiding dysfunction. Otherwise I never would have thought of filing for it.

54 minutes ago, Mrpdbo said:

Guess I should have just read VA Form 20-0995 for instructions

This was NOT a supplemental claim. It was an original claim via Ebenefits.

If you have already been denied for Voiding Dysfunction then you would put in the Supplemental Claim.