Wait for DVA disability claims 10% longer
JP sends us a link to the Military Times article telling us what we already knew – that waits for disability claims at the VA is about 10% longer than it was just two years ago.
Ill or injured service members now wait an average of 394 days to move through the military’s disability evaluation process, an increase of more than 10 percent since 2010 and well off the goal of 295 days, according to the Government Accountability Office.
In fiscal 2011, just 19 percent of active-duty service members and 18 percent of National Guard and Reserve members completed the Integrated Disability Evaluation System, or IDES, process within the goal of 295 days for active-duty members and 305 days for Guard and Reserve personnel.
And at some installations, the average wait is nearly 18 months or longer. At Fort Belvoir, Va., for example, soldiers face an average processing period of 537 days, while guardsmen at Fort Carson, Colo., wait 651 days.
But, I’m sure that someone will tell us that it’s either better than the Bush years, or somehow it’s Bush’s fault. When I filed my claim in 1995, it took about 90 days, JP says that was his experience, too. So, I don’t what they did before all of these computer things, but if it was better then, than now, something is definitely not working.
Category: Veterans Issues, Veterans' Affairs Department
I retired on 1 April… filed my VA Disability through a joint Army-VA program called “Benefits Delivered at Discharge,” which claims that all claims will be tracked by the Army and processed not later than 6 months after submission. It was highly lauded to us by the retirement counselors as “reducing the chance it will get lost” and “reducing the time required to ONLY 6 months.”
Well, my VA claim was filed in December, and my VA-scheduled medical evaluations were all completed in January. So now we’ll see: 6 months from December = end of June, 6 months from evaluations = end of July. I have set my expectations arbitrarily low. If it’s done by 31 July I’ll be pleasantly surprised.
In either case: it takes the Army doing a good chunk of the work to get it DOWN to 6 months? And “reduce the chance it will be lost?” And this is considered a good thing?
When I went through the retirement process in 2010, the VA was right on time. Had my rating the day I left the service. Fast-forward to Feb 2011 (a mere six months later), had shoulder surgery on a service connected injury, out of work for ~90 days. (How the doctors found three tears that none of the military doctors found in over two years of looking is another subject.) VA admits they received my convalescent claim on 28 Feb 11. Still no determination. So yes, it has slowed down some, 451 days and counting. The worst part is no accountability. There is no one “up the chain” you can talk to and get an answer. The poor guy who answers the help line can’t refer you to anyone but your congressman, I feel sorry for him, I doubt they ever get a thank you call. Frustrating…
My original claim was when I got out of the Army in ’05. Filed and had answer within 90 days (but had to wait to receive a cent until my Army severance pay had been paid off)
Now, in Feb 2011 I filed for an adjustment as my condition has not improved, but gotten worse. Didn’t even have an examination until January 2012. Now personally, I can suck it up and deal with it. What concerns me is the guys getting out NOW, who need this shit done ASAP.
Not trying to be political here, but to top it all off, I have to constantly hear POTUS and his various eunuchs yammer on about how he has made the VA system so much better and efficient.
I retired in 1 Jan 2009 and didn’t have access to the BDD program. I filed my claim, using AmVets to assist, in April at the big VA HQ in Phoenix, AZ. When I was going through the system, there was a requirement for the VA to have the rating eval physical done within 30 days of the claim. I also had ALL my medical paperwork in hand from my career.
I had my rating by June 2009. Fortunately, I haven’t had to re-submit for any follow-on problems.
I highly recommend using one of the service groups to file and track your case. THEY know who to talk to.
The headline does say “average” and gives no clues as to what percentage of claims are not submitted correctly or lacking supporting docs or even bullshit claims made by those seeking a payday that will also clog up the system.
One of the biggest show stoppers when I was helping troops get through Fort Lewis eval was a lack of medical documentation of treatment, due to treatment received where paperwork was lacking or never made it to the unit for proper filing.
The article in the Mil Times is long on sympathy and short on details. They are also lumping the Active Duty medical system in with the VA, when they are separate entities and rate differently. Note that it is certain active duty installations that are the bottle necks. Looks like the VA is getting the hammer for all the services slowness.
I put in a claim for PTSD about three years ago, but I was denied for not serving in a combat zone. I was awarded an Iraq Campaign Medal, but most of what I did was secret squirrel shit, so the VA had no true record of it.
Last year, some of what I did was declassified and I could actually report it. However, because none of the declassed paperwork mentions the dustups I was in, they claimed that I didn’t qualify…
Recently, I had a shrink from the VA (with a security clearance) look into my files. He wrote up a paper making me sound like a man on the edge. (I’m really not.) Severe depression (without suicidal tendencies), high level of PTSD, and high anxiety (no, I’m not Mel Brooks). That was 60 days ago and just last week I received a letter saying that they are “reevaluating [my] case based on the most recent evidence obtained by [my shrink].”
I’m not holding my breath and am still working my go-nowhere janitor job (the only one I can get because I am over-qualified to perform the job the Army trained me for and that I did for nine frakking years) while I wait for the government to get off their ass.
I am going to wave another type of flag here.. it is called the BS Flag. Who knew Squirrel Shit could smell so bad… must be because it is Secret Squirrel Shit!
There are so many holes in that story we could drive a few semis through it.
What Unit were you assigned to?
For those who do not know… VBA has a Full time Liaison working at Special operations Command whose sole purpose in life is to sort out claims of Veterans who took part in classified operations, and whose claims rely on verification of those Ops. They have access to al Spec Op Units and even Alphabet Agency records pertaining to Spec Ops involvement.. if you were there it is easy to verify for that Liaison.
Awards are not denied based on an Operation being Classified or not…
A shrink at the VA does not have access to your Service record, especially “classified’ portions of it… I think I covered who does above, but again it is just that one Liaison for VBA.
Shrinks at the VA outside of those seen for C&P Exams do not investigate claims, or take an active role in anything but treating the conditions of their patients. Even those conducting a C&P Exam are making a diagnosis not a determination of did you or did you not take part in some classified Operation. They don’t really care.. they only care about a diagnosis based on what you told them happened. The paper trail sits with the VBA to sort out. (see above again)
I work at the VA, I am a Service Connected Disabled Veteran, and I am calling Bull Shit on this story…
I’ll second RB’s comments and I do believe a few others here will also be waving the BS flag or they may even be driving those aforementioned Semi’s thru the holes in your story. 🙂
I was assigned to 1 DET HHC 2/162 INF our of the Newport Armory. I was not assigned to deploy with my unit, but I accumulated at least 90 days in country. I was never there, according to the paperwork, but I have a DD214 and a DD215 that shows my Expeditionary medal taken away and my Campaign Medal awarded. I can scan them in and send them to admin@thisainthell if you would like. I have nothing to hide.
I was never with SF or any of that shit. I was just one of the few people in my battalion in the Rear that had a security clearance high enough (according to what I was told in my first debrief). Most of the shit was going over to escort documents and a couple of other things I can’t talk about thanks to said security clearance. I didn’t go over and Chuck Norris anything, I was mostly a frakking delivery boy and message boy.
I have been fighting through bullshit since I got out of the guard back in ’09. Everything from “doing the seven funerals for the members of your unit who died can’t have given you PTS or Depression” to “there is no record of you doing anything like that, even though you have the awards.”
The shrink at the VA I was speaking with was a member of the National Guard with ORMilDep (Oregon Military Department). He looked the shit up. It was part of what I needed to file the claim review, according the the DVA person I talked to. As for whether he did or did not care, you might want to take that up with him.
As for calling BS, I am ready, willing, and able to send my DD214 and 215. If you still want to call BS after that, fine by me.
I had friends who got back off deployment from Afghanistan who had filed claims as soon as they back for tbi among other injuries. Because he filed for unemployability his decision to over a year and a half. He got social security in less than six months due to the wounded warrior program. For a long time the guy and his daughter was living on less than $1000 a month. There was no doubt about his claim it was just a matter of time. In cases like his if there was a provisional approval until full approval, but of course there is always potential issues with that.
What awards are you referencing when you say they prove you did what you say? you said you only had an Iraq Campaign Medal… how would that prove you did classified operations?
Or did you just handle classified material? Seriously you are not helping your case much.
You need to go ahead and forward your shit as you said. I do not doubt you served, but do doubt you did any classified ops. hell you could have PTS from your time in Iraq for all I know..
I am not buying the Doc thing, if he did that he violated a number of rules doing it. Classified is classified and there is a procedure for obtaining the records as I pointed out.
I am thinking you did some courier duty carrying some intel reports… You were not a door kicker.
Sounds like some major embellishing. Rocket J Squirrel you are not..
I too have a disability claim floating around in limbo. I’m just thankful I don’t have any disabling conditions that keep me from working because I’m not sure what I would do then. It’s almost like the different states and hospitals don’t communicate with each other. I was told to file my claim with the state from my HOR despite my telling them that I was going to college in another state within a year of returning home. I finally began getting my C&P appointments when I moved so while my new state was quick on setting up those appointments my old one also kept making them. I called my old state to let them know I’d moved. They told me I had to talk to the Regional office to change my address. I did, and they changed my information (which apparently wasn’t updated despite getting C&P appointments in the state I moved to), but told me I needed to call the VA in my HOR back and talk to a specific office because they in fact DID need to change their information or I would continue to get appointments there. For months after this my parents kept getting phone calls and letters for me about the VA and my claim despite my updated information. My first C&P appointment was at a VA hospital I’d heard horror stories about, but tried to make the best of it. Since I’d never been there before I left early enough to ensure I would arrive an hour before my appointment. Unfortunately the enclosed directions made no sense (half the town didn’t even have street signs and tried to take me through a local college campus for no reason), and if I hadn’t had my GPS I probably never would have found it. Once I arrived there I quickly realized none of the buildings were labeled, there was no map, and none of the VA employees had any idea where I needed to go for my C&P claim. I ended up walking into every building so I could find out what they did, and… Read more »
I’ve asked friends of mine from different units, branches, MOSes, and who have gotten out before or after I have. My experiences are apparently pretty typical. Some have actually said to hell with finishing their claims. But we all seem to be on the same VA brochure mailing list since even the guys get the ones about the programs tailored to meet the needs of women veterans.
Basically Flagwaver you were a gofer with a Security Clearance nothing more. You played courier and accumulated time in country without actually being in said country for any more time than was absolutely necessary and then you were on the next flight home.
Basically you NEED to use a VSO or call your congressman or both.
With that said I just passed a year waiting for my first rating…so keep your head up and keep fighting. If the rating is not what you think you need to fight it. I recently had a VA doctor tell me that (after 2 surgeries, nerve damage in neck 2 slipped disks [walked around with 2 slipped disks for 8 months and still have 1] unexplained weight loss vomiting etc etc) my only health issue is arthritis in my neck….
Not everyone can file claims before they get out when they get a surgery 2 months before their exit date and are still receiving critical care. Not everyone has the comfortableness to claim certain brain injuries or injuries when they will go straight to their unit and ask questions.
Just keep fighting and be prepared to fight and escalate with VSO, congressmen or even a lawyer.
RB, I never claimed to be a door kicker nor did I claim to do “classified operations” beyond the fact that I cannot even say that I went over there. I can’t say that I was in an IED explosion that left me with a partial plastic kneecap, I can’t say that I damn near lost my head to a sniper shot that spider-webbed an uparmored HMMWV window, I can’t say that I provided bodyguard duties for someone from Oregon when they toured Iraq. What part of “I didn’t go over and Chuck Norris anything,” did you not understand. I can’t say what I did, but most of it was courier with a couple of exceptions. It’s those thrice-damned exceptions that screwed me up.
As for my awards… Here is what my block 13 says:
Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal w/ M Device, Army Service Ribbon, Army Good Conduct Medal.
My DD215 revokes my Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and adds the Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal and the Iraq Campaign Medal. A previous 215 added the GWOTEx.
Tomorrow, I will scan in my 214, my 215, and a couple of other documents and will send them to the admins. Hopefully that will be the end of this bullshit.
OEF, for the most part, you are correct that I was a gofer. However, that is not all that I did. I can’t talk about what the hell I did over there, thus the “secret squirrel” moniker I hung on it. I didn’t kick doors or personally lead commando raids or any shit like that. I can’t even tell you if I discharged my weapon or got injured.
Erm, not to make a pronouncement before the facts are in, but if you aren’t supposed to say that you went over there then why are you saying you went over there?
Up until recently, I couldn’t even say that I went over. However, they declassed a couple of things that now prove that I did go over. However, most of the crap I did that I can’t say is what is screwing up my claim.
typing from seattle, got a claim 660 plus days old. what a sham! never thought it was going to be this friggen difficult?? i as well did SSS but i had no problem telling them everything because most of it was illegal and we were told to look the other way and just do what we were tasked to do. that wasn’t good enough for me, i wanted answers and action to get someone to acknowledge the slave trade and human traffiking. conex boxes would arrive on huge russian aircraft full of humans, some dead some alive. thats why i have ptsd! now finish my damn claim so i can move out of this unstable country!!
I have many schrapnell wounds and va surgery showing removal of such but the va is about to put me in jail because they lost my military med records they may prove my wounding my military records show allmostno overseas time so im a fraud i wont say where i wahit i told them they didnt believe it so they took away my 50% ptsd even with tree drs s diagnose ofptsd
A va counsiler got me a purple heart award back in 2005 but there is no record of it when the ig arrested me i said whatever they wanted i wanted to talk to the va rep to get some answers but he was dead of cancer well i had a nervous breakdown and tried to commit suicide like the other guy im no herothough i flew 1000hours as search an rescue crew chief on marine hueys they only want there money i just want my health and mind back ive had four back surgeries one they gave me a staph infection after surgery i had no feeling in left leg been in wheel chair since 1997 hip replacement failed im on a dozen meds for heart condition i was exposed to bad water at camp lejune my wife an i both have diabities and nueropothy of face and hands but va will put me in jail an save some money