BREAKING NEWS: VA Claims Victory over Old Backlog Claims
I just received news from VA that it has destroyed the backlog of claims that are older than 2 years. They will now move on to adjudicate claims older than one year.
So far, they have processed 97 percent of the old claims – claiming a “victory” of sorts. In two months, VA has eliminated 65,000 claims from the backlog.
“Over the past two months, VA has been dedicated to providing earned benefits to the Veterans who have waited the longest,” said VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki. “Thanks to our hard-working VBA employees, we have completed nearly all claims that have been pending two years or longer. We’ve made great progress, but know much works remains to be done to eliminate the backlog in 2015.”
“The success of this phase of the effort was due in part to the implementation of mandatory overtime for the Veterans Benefits Administration’s (VBA) claims processing staff, as well as the dedicated support of physicians from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), who expedited exams to provide medical evidence needed to rate these pending claims,” said Under Secretary for Benefits Allison A. Hickey.
Here is my million dollar question, “Where those claims decided correctly? Or, will they have a ridiculously high error rate?”
If you are a veteran with a recent decision – a grant or a denial – please email me your VA story. Read through the claim letter very closely and be sure they actually rendered decisions on all the claims you initially made.
Source: VA
I’ve been fighting since July 1973. Already been to USCVA once. Got screwed by the “VA Certified” lawyer. Got rid of him. Been on my own since. Been 8 years since USCVA remand. Thanks to the vet that turned me on to the Title 38 CFR. VA doesn’t have properly trained adjudicators for mental health cases. VA MH providers can’t help you get SC disability benefits (that’s what I was told by one MH provider), but they can put the spin on the facts to keep you from getting them. VA MH providers cannot document their opinion for SC in your file (that’s what I was told by one MH provider). Who told them this; where is it written? C&P examiners spin the facts too. Have thought of offing myself many times out of frustration with this broken system.
I’ve been waiting for my claim to be resolved since I filed it in2005!!!! Yep, that’s right. 2005!!!!
I filed my claim in MAY of 2012, I finally had a C&P in August 2013, after 17 MONTHS I am still waiting for the VA to finish my claim.
My name is Fred Wright, my claim was initially dated February 29,2012. I just checked my ebenefits page and it said that they had completed my claim and sent out a letter not packet in the mail that I am yet to receive. hopefully it will be in my favor , I had to sell my car to try to make ends meet for my wife is only one employed, I am still recovering from a total knee replacement due to an injury while serving in Germany.So I really hope this news I information about appeals and year old claims are true and have not been ill looked at .
I submitted a fully developed claim on May 14, 2013. I had my C&P exams (4) the end of July. I was awarded 80% as of Aug 9, 2013. That was FAST! 3 Months!
I was rated at 10% in June of 2009, and again in 2011 of June but because I went to the BVA hearing on the 23rd of August 2012 ,I’ve still yet to be compensated. I filed my claim in April of 2008 ;All I wan’t is to be awarded what has already been awarded to me.
I agree with Tyler, I have an appeal that has been waiting for a decision from a DRO since May 2011.
When does the VA wish to draw straws on malpractice and misdiagnosis of the disabilities in question? The VA still has a liability issue which no form of questionable “procedural capture” has addressed.
Yeah, right. They aren’t going to admit to malpractice or misdiagnosis in my lifetime. They will claim “immunity”, but the solution to that is to make them pay attention to it and maybe if we sued the claims examiner for his/her failure in civil court to rate the disabilities properly and then sue the doctors personally, but in civil court, and the cases will most likely be a lot easier to prove and the money will have to come from the employee and that will make them pay more attention to their messups!!!
what happens to those claims that were destroyed does the vet have to reapply?
The VA Central office stated thru an employee on their Vantage Point Blog that this does NOT apply to veterans on appeal. The reason why is VA cannot order BVA judges to do anything. They are appointed by the President, just as other federal judges are. They have no intention or incentive to change their ways. And, No, no one is working mandatory overtime at BVA. CAVC is the same. However, all CAVC and BVA remands are mandated by statute to get “expedited” treatment. See 38 USC 7112 (CAVC) and 38 USC 5109B (BVA remands). However, my last BVA remand in 2008 took the Bay Pines/St. Pete. VARO over 9 months to find my file, and didn’t get my ordered C&P exam until the following year, 2009. This assertion of processing 97% of claims over 2 years old is the biggest lie I have seen VA push off to the public. Its nothing a but a public relations scam consistent with all their lies in recent years past.
I’m sure the article is true. However, most claims are more than likely not correct. A claim that I made a year ago was awarded and should have put me at 90%. VA math put it at 70% and ignored past awards.
Exactly. They may decide them and they may digitize them, but it doesn’t really matter if they are wrong!!! That is the problem I have been facing for 8 years. They refuse to admit they are wrong or that they made a mistake, when it is definitely clear that they have and they continue to deny, deny, deny and then deny again. I had to write the VA Director to get a couple of problems fixed, but still have others they haven’t bothered to address. It’s all about the money. The longer they deny you, the more money they save. The claims examiners/reviewers are not properly trained. You could have a person with only a high school diploma, no military service, no combat experience, with no disability, and no medical training deciding your claim. I asked for the information on their training, education level, etc., and they denied me that information, so I did a FOIA, but I am not hopeful. I asked to speak with a claims examiner that decided my claims but the reason I couldn’t was because I could develop a relationship with the person. Hell, I don’t want to DATE the person, I just want to know why they gave me the rating they did!!! Still, they won’t let that happen because it will be a bigger can of worms they don’t want anyone to see. If they won’t give it up when they are required to by FOIA, then they are most definitely hiding something. I think we need someone to crack the code and get some of these people to talk to us about why they gave us the ratings they did, but unless we have many, many, many Veterans doing it, they will continue to stonewall….
What a joke! I have claims that are 3 yrs running that keep getting remanded back to gathering evidence for bullshit because that’s what the VA does best. Delay, delay, & more delay!
My claim has been remanded three times in 8 years. I know they lie, cheat, and steal from veterans. Just the veteran is happy with the slogan delay, deny, and wait till we die. We need to stand up and tell them how it really is. After all the colonists defeated the so called tyrant England and now we must too defeat a tyrant, the US Department of Veterans Affairs.
I THINK IT IS THE SECOND BIGGEST LIE THE VA HAS TOLD, THE FIRST WAS THAT THEY ARE ACTUALLY WORKING. I BELIEVE IN HIS STATEMENT “Over the past two months, VA has been dedicated to providing earned benefits to the Veterans who have waited the longest,” said VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki. “Thanks to our hard-working VBA employees, we have completed nearly all claims that have been pending two years or longer. We’ve made great progress, but know much works remains to be done to eliminate the backlog in 2015. #### ”THE WORD HE USED WAS ‘NEARLY’ ALL CLAIMS” #### YEA WELL I NEARLY GOT HIT BY LIGHTING TOO!!!! — NO I DO NOT BELIEVE THIS ONE BIT & HERE IS WHY — According to the Undersecretary of Veterans Disabilities Gen. Hickey in the 20th of March 2013 House hearing she stated that the oldest claim in the VA system was 10 years old I sent a MSG to the Committee & they informed her in the hearing of my 11 (NOW 12) year old Remanded claim. THIS CLAIM CONTAINS 26 ISSUES INCLUDING A MISS-CODED CLAIM OF 35 YEARS. A FAILED 12 YO REMAND, A 6 YO FAILED REMAND & INSTEAD OF COMPLETING THE CLAIM AS PROMISED IT HAS BEEN RE-REMANDED BACK TO THE RO FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT, BS THE CLAIMS WERE FULLY DEVELOPED WHEN THE DRO FAILED TO DO HER JOB IN 2011. You would think they would be doing everything they can to get my disability cleared up, instead they are doing everything they can to delay correcting this 36 year disgrace & NOT by requesting a C&P exam on all 26 issues. May I remind the VA you have had my EXPEDITED Remanded Claims for over 17 months now & have accomplished only 1 out of the the actually 27 issues because they added sending a VCAA & actually have bragged in the General Counsel response to the Court in case 13-0912 in fact this is probably the most disrespectful letter I have seen yet from the VA, a pure joke of an answer.
$800.00 a month commin’ outa my check ! Help me find a CIVILIAN CLAIM REPRESENTATIVE to fight these DEBT MANAGEMENT people. [email protected]. Cell#352-238-1990 or Home#813-443-0498 HELP A DESPERATE VET PLEASE ?
They may have the back log done but it was at the expense of the veteran. Making appointments for veterans and mailing them the day before. Claims get settled with no increase and then veterans have to go through an appeals process now.
What about the backlog of APPEALS?