Current C & P info from CCK

[Berta]

Excellent video about how Covid has affected veterans C & P exam.

 

[deedub75]

Still waiting on my exams.  LHI keeps saying they can't find a provider to conduct the exams.

[jonnyohio]

Still waiting to hear about mine being scheduled to receive my rating which was granted by BVA in February.  I keep seeing people posting about getting their C&P exam done and getting scheduled, but nothing but crickets for me.  It'd be comical if I hadn't just spent a full week in bed last month and off work.  I guess there's no rush to provide a rating, it's more important to schedule C&P exams for people with P&T status.

[deedub75]

Well, I just called both LHI and Peggy.  LHI still can't get my exams scheduled and Peggy says the exams are what's holding up my claim.  I also have a higher level review to correct effective dates on a recent grant of claims that I filed back in 2010.  I had requested an informal conference for the HLR and Peggy says that it was supposed to be completed by June 6.  

I asked an old co-worker from my VA days who is a rater now and he says that there is a huge backlog in exams for all of the contractors and the VAMC.  I also think I read or heard somewhere that the exams backlog has gone from 100,000 to 300,000 since this pandemic began.  

It's unfortunate but we're going to be waiting a while for our ratings.  

[Vync]

@deedub75 and @jonnyohio,

Some exams can actually be performed over the phone and others require in-person examination. I seem to remember the VA recently pulling the public-facing DBQ's because they claimed to have a worldwide network of contracted personnel to perform C&P examinations. Due to the current situation, perhaps they should reconsider that plan and put them back out there.

For what it's worth, I had a heart exam one week ago. My claim was submitted back (on the correct form) in April 2020. A few days prior to the exam, I received a letter from LHI describing the deal and it had a special confirmation number, however it did not tell me the exact date/time the examiner would call. The LHI examiner contacted me over the phone, but did not need to do an in-person physical exam because I had a full work up and nuclear stress test done just before the coronavirus shut everything down. The examiner called me from a 202 number (Washington DC). The LHI examiner completed the DBQ and opinion and submitted it back to the VA on the same day. I was able to get the medical opinion details from my VSO earlier today. My LHI examiner also failed to follow the instructions provided the VA.

 

[deedub75]

Unfortunately, mine have to be do in person. I call every week and they tell me they are trying to find an examiner. I think the VA has an exam backlog of around 300,000 when their normal inventory is around 100,000. 

[jonnyohio]

Still waiting for a C&P exam to be scheduled.  I've heard nothing yet.  No changes to the status of my appeal in va.gov, no appointments scheduled in myhealthevet that I wasn't notified about.  I'm waiting until end of next month and then I'm going to start inquiring about the status.  I know they are behind, but this is quite a wait to be schedule for an exam.

UPDATE:  Just got contacted by LHI and they are working on scheduling my exam.  Now the next wait begins.

 

Edited August 3, 2020 by jonnyohio