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- General Hickey says there are only 565,000 claims pending. There are over 900,000 claims pending. You can see your self at http://www.vba.va.gov/REPORTS/mmwr/index.asp
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- Boys yall have no idea just how crazy it can get. Just to touch on some of it, after my third c&p we the wife and I found out that the examiner wasn't even a medical doctor. Go figure. And boys you need to know that they have confused me for some-one else and sent me their medical records and social security numbers, along with my denial for my claim the first couple pages would be mine then it would turn to theirs, so I figure that if they are doing it to me they got to be doing to some-one else. Now understand that the regional office did this and then the hospital sent me some-one elses medical info so I got to wonder just how FAR MY RECORDS have been made public knowledge to other vets. They have broken the privacy act and then turned around and used some-one elses records or info to deny my claims... Then they tell me just re-submit. Nuff of that let me tell ya something even more insulting. My wife takes care of me,I'm 100% and if she didn't I would be in a nursing home. Well I have 5 Doctors who say that I need Aid & Attendance, we still can't get it, anyway I've fell on my wife getting out of the shower-bathtub I'm 438 lbs and it collapsed her colon to make a long story short she had to suffer for 11 months before she had surgery and still had to take care of me and our 14 yr old boy. My family is missing out on life because of the VA Administration is so inept. All because I told on a Dr. who happened to be the Asst. Chief of Staff's wife!!! What did she do you say she only just about let me DIE TWICE in ONE YEAR!!! If it wasn't for the persistance of my wife knowing something was severly wrong and taking me to a civilian hospital twice I would be DEAD DEAD DEAD... There's much more to this little tale but I think this is enough for now except that I think the problem in Va system is cutting corners and hiring people who will close their eyes to doing right and follow along like BLIND DUCKS. I even had a Doctor quit the Va system because he said (they would not let him treat the vets the way he that was needed to get them back to their full potential.} If we all fight as hard together as we did to get back home from all wars we will WIN guys, what we are entitled to . Good Luck my fellow Vets and Families. THANKS FOR YOUR SERVICE.
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- The VA backlog is not anything new. Check into the history of the VA and you'll find that it began with the creation of the Court of Veterans' Appeals back in the 80s. The VA had to keep reworking claims due to decisions of the Court which gave specific directions as to how claims MUST be considered. With these constant "re-considerations" The VA kept falling further behind in the hole of timely claims processing. While some Court decisions were significant, the majority just added to the red tape.
Also, in the 90s there was a major reclassification of VA grades which resulted in combining the duties of a claims processor with that of the service representative. This resulted in people who mostly failed to master the highly technical claims processing job yet they were paid at a higher pay grade for supposedly being proficient at two jobs. Workers who did not change over, mostly claims examiners, stayed at their old pay grades and kept doing their same tasks. Yet they out-performed the new category of workers. In the end, after many years of trying to make it work, they went back to the old system but still kept the pay grades intact. This has surely cost the taxpayers and left the VA with less resources for the veterans due to the unjustified pay scales. A desk audit should be conducted to determine whether the current duties warrant the pay.
Concerning the claim for 65 disabilities; think of all the medical records the veteran has accumulated during his military career of at least 20 years and consider that every page has to be reviewed to determine when each claimed disability occurred and how it was treated. I bet he claimed every hang nail and blister. Sure, a rating specialist can spend several days only working on resolving all the issues but what about the other claims which have been pouring in meanwhile? This type of claim only serves to create a greater backlog in the VA system without providing any satisfaction to anyone, the veteran or the VA. Claiming so may issues is considered as "fishing" for a higher evaluation in order to collect higher benefits. Instead, claims should be filed for issues which actually result in DISABILITIES permanently affecting the veteran's functioning in everyday living. The VA employees are only too happy to grant benefits. Its a lot harder to turn down a veteran. Unlike some people's opinions, the VA's stance has always been "grant if you can, deny if you MUST"
I left the VA many years ago and am afraid that the system has not gotten any better. Unless there's a major change in how they perceive and evaluate "disabilities" there will continue to be problems in that department. - Reply to this comment
- Maybe the next time they have a war for whatever reason that gets thought up not many will be so willing to show up for it seeing now that American government and the VA can no longer keep it's promises to it's people, citizens, soldiers and veterans that the chickenhawks, cowards and conservative politcions send off to do their fighting for them...for control of oil and other resources for private U.S. corporations.
Next war, just don't report for it....en masse...just take the uniforms off and walk out the gates in droves. Let the senior NCOs and officers fight it out, they seem to like crap like this because they'll always show up for a warfight...anytime, anywhere.
Next draft, just ignore the instructions, burn the cards. To hell with warmongers.
The only war that is justifiable is a proven attack on the U.S. and nothing more.
Why should ordinary Americans die for another country or even Israel ? - Reply to this comment
- First remember the VA is insulated. We cannot just call and talk to someone about our file. Second everything about the va is MONEY! The drugs you can get are limited. Third you will be told "we have limited resources and we must make sure to treat everyone." I would counter that this should have been considered PRIOR, to using chemical weapons on me! Your individual narrative means NOTHING!
But maybe someone will get a kick out of this: My case starts in Thailand in 1966 yes that is over 46 years ago. For over 43 years the DoD denied that Agent Orange was used in Thailand. Then in October 2010 they changed the story. Were any Thailand Vets notified NO! Because I have a litany of diseases associated with Agent Orange as well as two sons with birth defects also associated with a parent being exposed to agent orange. So in February of 2011 I submit a claim so far, nothing and counting. But if you served in Thailand the red headed step child of the Vietnam War. You must ask the VA to determine if you were exposed. But before they will even consider answering the question they must gather all of your medical evidence. HOW STUPID! THIS IS A FACT IF YOU SERVED IN THAILAND YOU CANNOT RECEIVE ANY BENEFITS UNLESS THE VA TELLS YOU YOUR JOB HAD YOU WORKING NEAR (NOW WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?) THE PERIMETER. THAN, WHY WASTE 16 MONTHS AND COUNTING TO DECIDE? Because that is just simply how it is done. Your congress people are no use. It may be the amount of paper but it is really creditably poor management! Here is an interesting question why does the VA have a legal department? Answer because they are willing to fight you all the way with taxpayers money in order to deny what we earned. This delay is also known as "Deny until they die". If you really are in support of "the troops" tell you representatives this is unacceptable treatment of our troops. Fix it now no excuses do the right thing! But it will stay the same and paperwork has very little to do with it! - Reply to this comment
- Elect Romney President so that we can fight wars with Iran, N. Korea and whom ever else he decides is an enemy of America. More innocent young men/women sacrificed. What did we gain in Vietnam and Iraq except more than 60,000 young military personnel lost and hundreds of thousands injured with their lives destroyed. If they survive the wars, they end up coming back home to a Federal Government that deny or unnecessarily delay claims of benefits that these service people have earned. Most service people feel that the Federal Government appears to be indifferent to their needs.
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- Who do you believe and where do the number come from? Is it 500, 000 or more than 1,000,000? The problem with the rating system are not the line staff but managers who themselves are not capable of understanding what they are doing. It is the blind leading the blind.
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- This is exactly what will happen to healthcare if the federal gov. takes control of it.
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- How I love to see politicians wrap themselves in the flag and say "God Bless the Men & Women who served". Once back in Washington it's a whole new story. The V.A. has never been funded to the levels it needs to be. We as the Vets, whom most were put in harms way by our Country, know that we are expendable. VOTE FOR ME! 1970-74 Active Army, 1978-83 Active Reserve. That concept of "We take care of our own" went out the window in the early 80s.
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- To borrow the old line, "It's the VA stupid".
People think the VA exists to help service members when actually, it's just the opposite. They exist to minimize the Govt's costs. Period.
Some day, after all the BS, paperwork, rules, cross examinations and a million other boxes of red tape have been gone through, they dole out the care. Maybe. That's if the Govt. doesn't retroactively change the laws and take away your benefits after the fact (which they did in 2003).
Good luck with the VA guys. You're going to need it. - Reply to this comment
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