R i g h t a r d i a: Veterans Adminstration claims now take 8 years

The Veterans Administration has a very convoluted claims process. It was taking four years to process a claim and 12 veterans with mental disabilities committed suicide before their claims cold be resolved.

About 18 people in the armed Services commit suicide every day. The Ninth Circuit Court of appeals recently noted:

The "unchecked incompetence" in handling the flood of post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health claims is unconstitutional.

No more veterans should be compelled to agonize or perish while the government fails to perform its obligations," Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote for the three-judge panel. "Having chosen to honor and provide for our veterans by guaranteeing them the mental health care and other critical benefits to which they are entitled, the government may not deprive them of that support through unchallengeable and interminable delays.

Recently the major's wife called VA about the status of a claim that has been in remand for two years. The DAV National Service Officer in Washington DC said claims now take 8 years to be resolved rather than four in years past.

A four year wait is unacceptable. An eight year wait is a national disgrace.

The Bush administration created this backlog when it demanded that all VA disabilities, particularly those at 50 per cent and above be reviewed.

This created tens of thousands of manhours of unnecessary labor and the Bush administration left the Obama administration 813,000 claims in arrears.

Republicans, do, if fact, know how to torpedo a government program. The VA was on it knees when Bush left office.

How could the process be streamlined? First, get some manpower people to study the claims process to streamline it and eliminate redundancy.

The Social Security administration also does disability claims, but it gets them done in about half of the time.The Social security disability process is more automated. However, he VA is speeding it process up with the new online disability questionnaires (DBQ).

Also, veterans should be allowed to wave compensation and pension (C&P) physicals if they have provided competent medical evidence from a licensed MD.

The C&P physicians were created to evaluate veterans who did not have medical care outside of the VA. The major is retired and covered by Medicare and Tricare. He is seen by excellent private physicians.

He has letters from several board certified physicians on his medical conditions and doesn't need to be second guessed by C&P physicians who should be helping another veteran who doesn't have medical insurance.

One doctor who had worked for the VA indicated about 15 per cent of the claims are bogus.

However, the attitude of some VA staff would suggest many believe that all veteran claims need intense scrutiny.

The VA is supposed to be giving the veteran the benefit of the doubt, but more often or not, many of the VA decisions are adverse to the veteran.

In The Major's case, he has seen permanent conditions rated as temporary and had a serious medical condition lowballed. The VA also forgot to rate a condition that he was hospitalized for in April 2010.

The disability process in the VA regional offices (VARO) is deficient and if a veteran wants justice, you will be forced to appeal. The Major had good luck with the Board of Veteran Appeals and he has another de novo appeal with the lower level Decision Review Officer (DRO).

Unfortunately, every time you appeal add one to two years to the claims process.

The VA seems to be the "No Administration." The philosophy appears to stamp an automatic "no" on claims with the hope the veteran will give up and drop the claim.

Don't give up! File an appeal and get documentation from your physicians. The BVA judge and the DRO will give you a more objective decision that follows the intent of Congress.

The VARO, on the other hand, plays by its own set of rules and doesn't even consider current rulings from the US Court of Veterans Appeals (USCAVC).

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