MORE SMOKE AND MIRROS FROM THE BVA

[pacmanx1]

What is going on with the BVA? I know the BVA said that they can no longer guesstimate on any legacy claim time frame, but this seems odd. I posted that the BVA was working on January 2018 on July 4, 2021, then it jumped to February 2018 around July 23, 2021, and again it jumped to March 2018 around August 17, 2021, and then on August 28, 2021, it jumped to May 2018. Around September 3, 2021, it then jumped to June 2018, and finally on September 24, 2021, it jumped to July 2018. Then on October the 1, 2021, it moved back to June 2018, and on October 8. 2021, it moved back to May 2018, and it has not moved since. So, between October 19, 2021, to present the BVA has completed over 1000 claims, but they are still sitting on May 2018.  Movement in processing claims but no movement by month and we are to believe that they are still working on the oldest legacy appeals as they are docketed. That means that it has been close to thirty (30) days, and they are supposed to be still on May 2018 and what ever happened to June and July 2018.  Where did all these new claims come from? They stopped on July 2018 and all of a sudden, they had to jump back to May 2018 and as of today no change and no going forward to June nor July 2018.

You can't follow the VA.gov web site.

The BVA Metrics is way off or my appeal is lost, and you can't even call the BVA number because it rolls over to the National Call center and even if you speak to a person it is like talking to an automatic machine and they begin to recite their pre- written blah, blah, blah and you know you lost and it is nothing you can do. 

 

Edited November 4, 2021 by pacmanx1

[broncovet]

This is par for the course at VA.  One example:  SENATOR Barack Obama (from Illinois) noticed that the average percent rating for disabled Vets was "much lower" in the midwest, than in most of the other states.  So, he complained.  VA responded:  They no longer publicly post the comparisons between state disability compensation levels.  

In other words, they did not fix the problem, but they fixed the media which reported it, cutting them off of information.  After he became president, we heard nothing more about the "disparity" between states approving Vets for VA disability compensation.  

The same thing happened with shreddergate.  In October, 2008, the VAOIG did a suprise inspection of VARO's and found that at least 5 VARO's "had Veterans evidence in the shredder bin waiting to be shredded".  

There was a big hooptodo, and the VAOIG no longer conducts inspections of the shredder bin (or at least, they dont publish that information to the public).  They did not solve "mysteriously disappearing documents", but they did stop the inspections so it now goes unnoticed and unreported.  Most Vets have no idea the VA destroyed some of their evidence..and VA likes it that way.  It takes 2 accurate and complete copies of the cfile, on different dates, to confirm this, and this happens only rarely.  (Mostly because there is rarely such a thing as an accurate and complete copy of the cfile.  I have had 4 copies of my cfile, and NONE of those were accurate and complete.  The electronic files, aka efiles, or VBMS file, is no better). 

This of course, was supposed to be solved by scanning in the Vets files.  The theory was that employees can't delete online files.  Yea, right.  I filed a claim online, had a receipt for it, and VA had no idea where it went...all this after VA allegedly solved the problem.   They did not solve the problem..they just got better at covering it up.  

[pacmanx1]

Update:

 The Board is currently reviewing appeals from June 2018 or older.

[Vync]

On 11/4/2021 at 9:17 AM, broncovet said:

In October, 2008, the VAOIG did a suprise inspection of VARO's and found that at least 5 VARO's "had Veterans evidence in the shredder bin waiting to be shredded

I filed in 1995 after leaving the service. Due to bad VSO advice to not file for anything else, I found Hadit in 2008 and @carlie recommended I file for new disabilities. Some were granted and others were denied. After requesting a copy of my c-file, I found that their copy was missing some of my STRs. I submitted those back in and the DRO granted them on appeal in 2013. I would not be surprised if some of those missing STRs were placed in file 13 so that someone could close my case and go home early.

Edited November 9, 2021 by Vync

[pacmanx1]

I filed my first claims in the 1990s and most to all of them are now service connected after the VA had denied them. I have already had the BVA grant one disability back to 1998 and that particular claim is still pending for a corrected percentage rating. This claim has been in appeal for close to two decades even though I have been rated 100% scheduler over half of that time. 

I like your signature: 

"If it's stupid but works, then it isn't stupid."
- From Murphy's Laws of Combat

[Vync]

@pacmanx1 It was the same deal here. Rubber stamp denials on about 90% of all my initial disability claims since 1995. Of course, 80% of those were corrected mostly due to VA errors.

Is your appeal stuck above the BVA level? With the BVA claiming they are working legacy appeals from 2018, yours should have been done a long time ago.

 

Thanks for the signature comment! When I was processing classified material at Fort Meade, MD, the sergeant in our mail room posted Murphy's Laws of Combat which had a long list of fact-based humor: "Tracers work both ways", "The most dangerous thing in the world is a Second Lieutenant with a map and a compass", "Beer math is two beers times 37 men equals 49 cases", and "If the enemy is within range then so are you".

[pacmanx1]

11 minutes ago, Vync said:

Is your appeal stuck above the BVA level? With the BVA claiming they are working legacy appeals from 2018, yours should have been done a long time ago.

The problem with this particular appeal is that it has been around the world from VA to BVA back to the VA then back to the BVA and them to the CAVC then back to the BVA where they granted it but failed to assign an effective date and rating percentage. So, my claim went to the VA where they lowballed my rating and after I filed an NOD the VA increased my rating and gave me a new effective date. I filed a new NOD requesting a corrected effective date and the VA reduce my rating and set a new (wrong) effective date and my appeal went back to the BVA where they set my effective date back to 1998 and forced the Regional Office to restore my higher rating and correct my final percentage. The Regional Office did everything except granting my final percentage to match my final effective date. So, my appeal is now back at the BVA waiting and it says "Decision soon". The issue here is that each time an appeal is sent back to the BVA it goes in line as first in first out.