Emails from VBA

[Lavish]

I wonder why the VBA can send an e-mail letting a vet know that they've requested VES to do an appointment for a supplemental claim, but can't update the claim information on their website or send e-mails to the vet to let them know when documents have been received or claim has been completed.

[brokensoldier244th]

They shouldn't have- it establishes a personal connection to the veteran, making that claim ineligible to be worked on by that VSR again, first off. 2nd, Email has not been cleared as an approved method of contact by InfoSec at any level. The reason the email address is listed on the 526ez is so we can put it into our system here, and it gets attached to the exam request as a method of contact so the vendors can contact you regarding exams. We- VSRs and Raters, are not supposed to use email as a method of contact. 

[broncovet]

Great question.  I have an answer, tho it is not likely the answer you want to hear.  

Here is your answer:

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The VA is very, messed up now, and has bad management.  Altho some of this has been going on for decades, its the worst its ever been.  Ebenefits/VA.gov are particularly bad, and experienced Vets advocates know better than to trust ebenefits.  Exception:  Letters section of ebenefits.  They have to get that one right, they dont want unrated Vets running around with a letter that says they are 100 percent P and T.  

 

[brokensoldier244th]

Experienced vet advocates have known (or should have) that Ebenefits has been getting shut down for over a year, now. They shouldn't have been trusting it anyway- if they are a legal POA they have access to VBMS anyway and there is no reason for them to use Ebenefits ever. 

[broncovet]

I appreciate Broken soldiers' input.  He pretty much said the same thing I did..in a different way:

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They shouldnt have.  

Even worse is VA's absolute refusal to communicate with Veterans, via email or the phone.  It makes things worse. Lots of times if we could simply talk to them many problems could be solved.  

Its a mutual trust issue...VA does not trust what Vets say, and most experienced Vet advocates know that not all employees can be trusted.  

[brokensoldier244th]

Like I said, until we are cleared to use it by National and the infosec people figure out whatever they need to figure out so as to make it a secure method of contact (HIPAA, etc), the only people that can use it are in Outreach, and some of the MST coordinators- but not for medical stuff. 

We have a whole group in our RO specifically for calling veterans about things, and we (individual VSRs/Raters) can also call directly if we need clarification of somethin. This is completely different than the phone bank people- don't know about the other RO's.

From personal experience over the last year and a half (wow) it would help if veterans would actually pick up the phone when I call them to ask and clarify something like "what arm are you claiming, left or right" or "what do you mean by 'body aches'- body aches isn't a diagnosable disability so I need some more info....", or "I can't read X,Y,Z on this - what years/place/whatever did you serve, or where did the event happen..." They don't, so I have to send them a letter instead, and then wait for them in many cases to ignore it and not respond.

 

Or the ones that do respond with sarcastic or profanity laden statements that are no help. Telling me to call the Taliban to get more information on your reported incident doesn't help you, or me, one bit- plus, it all ends up in your file. 

[Lavish]

2 hours ago, brokensoldier244th said:

They shouldn't have- it establishes a personal connection to the veteran, making that claim ineligible to be worked on by that VSR again, first off. 2nd, Email has not been cleared as an approved method of contact by InfoSec at any level. The reason the email address is listed on the 526ez is so we can put it into our system here, and it gets attached to the exam request as a method of contact so the vendors can contact you regarding exams. We- VSRs and Raters, are not supposed to use email as a method of contact. 

Brokensoldier244th,

I'm not saying the email should come directly from the VCR or Rater working on the file.  I'm saying the "system" should alert the vet of the status of their claim.   The e-mail I got came from veteransbenefits@messages.va.gov   and it said:

 

"Our records show that you filed a disability benefits claim and need to attend a Compensation & Pension (C&P) examination to complete your claim.

In the coming days, you will receive a phone call from VES. We have included all their contact information, along with how it will display on your landline device below, to schedule your examination appointment."

What I'm saying is this type e-mail should be sent to the vet when documents come into the claim file - just to notify the vet that the documents have been received and give an approximate time line for them to be reviewed.  Then when the file has moved over to the rater or back to evidence or whatever, it should notify the veteran by e-mail - just like it did in e-benefits previously (I don't know if it still does that or not since I haven't file any new claims - just supplemental).

I know dealing with the public can be VERY difficult.  I did it for almost 25 years in insurance claims - people speak to you like you aren't a human being.   I've always been very professional - even before hanging up on them in the mist of them calling me horrible names, I would let them know that I'm going to disconnect the call.  However, it does get to you and with mental health conditions, I just couldn't do it anymore.  The younger people say it doesn't bother them, but most of the younger people don't care whether they put out quality work or not either.  

I work in a job now where I mainly work with internal customers - which isn't great either, but I haven't been cursed out or called a bad name yet.  It's still production and sucks, but I'm just trying to make it thru the next 3 years, 5 months, 17 days, 3 hours, and 42 seconds till retirement.  LOL 

Edited October 22, 2021 by Lavish
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