The VA Staff - the Real Problem

2014-05-08T23:38:32-04:00

So, I went to see my VA Rep as I begin my final transition into retirement. I tried to hand her a CD, containing my medical records in .pdf format. She tells me I can't give her a CD because it "might contain viruses".

She then tells me that I need to print out my medical records - preferably single sided so she doesn't have to flip the friggin pages.

I am somewhat taken aback, but tell her I'll bring the records by Thursday (today).

I go home, look at my records, and realize, that I have almost 780 pages of medical records!

No way in hell I'm printing that at home. I go into work this morning, and use a computer at work to print ALL 780 +/- pages.

I then take this STACK of papers that weighs about 10 lbs, and drop it on her desk. She doesn't bat an eye.

THIS, is waste, and abuse. That the VA can't or won't accept .pdf documents is ridiculous.

People want to know why the VA was 18 months behind???!!!! THIS is why the VA was 18 months behind! When probably more than 60% of retirees have a stack of health records that outweigh a city bus. THIS is one reason why the VA has a horrible reputation. THIS is why people don't like dealing with the VA, because they HAVE IDIOTS in charge that MAKE DECISIONS that mean you have to drop a ton of paper onto some flunky's desk in order to file a disability claim!

Oh, and I still have MORE records to give them as soon as I get them in the next month or so!

IDIOTS!

Rant over...

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made May 8 at 2014 11:46 PM

2014-05-08T23:46:19-04:00

My friend told me they did that to him as well and then said they didn't need it. geez

Response by SFC Dr. Joseph Finck, BS, MA, DSS made Sep 27 at 2014 3:33 PM

2014-09-27T15:33:32-04:00

SFC Marc Wayman,

The VBA (the part of the VA which decides your claim) seems to be mis-managed, takes little to no responsibility for oversites, and fails to see the extra added stress created on service members as they transition (already stressful) from the military to retirement and civilian life. I have had a plethora of experiences, mostly bad, with the VBA during claims processing. One claim took 31 months to process and it was "FULLY DEVELOPED." I was informed someone in the VBA forgot to "check the box" which let the rater know it was ready for decision.

Veterans Service Officers from the DAV, VFW, Wounded Warrior Project or other organization provides significant assistance and makes sense of many things which otherwise would frustrate the service member to no end.

Your story does not surprise me, it saddens me, that we who have served with honor are treated this way by an organization which was created solely to provide benefits to us!

I am certain many people have had good experiences, and I wish and hope yours will be now that your 10 pounds of paperwork has been turned in.

Good luck,

SFC Joseph M. Finck USA (Ret)

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 27 at 2014 7:53 PM

2014-09-27T19:53:28-04:00

The VA has my medical records from 1991-2010, so do I. When I started my transition leave, I copied about 300 additional records from the time I returned from deployment up until my last day at work in April 2014, and turned those copies to my VSO. I roughly have 4 1/2 volumes of those green medical records jackets to include my dental record as well. Yes I do have them. I can make copies anytime I need, just waiting for the dvd version of my medical files.

Response by PO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 27 at 2014 10:05 PM

2014-09-27T22:05:23-04:00

SFC Private RallyPoint Member I hear this a lot from veterans. I'm not going to defend the VA, per se, but maybe give you a different perspective on what you were asked for. Typically, under current agreement between the VA and DOD nearly all records are transferred over to the VA at some point after retirement, discharge, etc. Key word is typically. It's easy to think the VA would be ready and eager to accept your disc - but be realistic. Most businesses won't take your data off a disc - not because they can't but because they WON'T. Business owners, managers and supervisors are all working from the premise of lowest common denominator - people. People make mistakes. The request for single sided copies; Really? can it be that hard to figure out why they insist on that? These pages get fed into a hopper, the hopper feeds a machine that copies the page, makes an electronic version of said page and moves to the next page. It does these in batches - your 780 pages was one single batch. No one monitors the batch, no one turns over a previously copied page to get the other side. Properly run, your 780 pages took less than 2 minutes to copy, electronically flash and catalog. Who do you know can turn over 390 pages in less than 2 minutes? The people running the machine? Not someone that makes a decision over what page has been copied and which one that has not been copied. The person running the machine probably doesn't even look at what's been copied to make sure it looks good on the screen - assuming they even look at what's on the screen as it flashes by.

CD's have had virus issues. Hell, emails have viruses. So, you're ticked off cuz the VA won't take your CD - get over it. Which do you want - a relatively slower process or a completely shut down process because some jacka$$ didn't run a computer virus scan on his CD and the virus shuts down the entire electronic intake system for a Region, which basically shuts down any new processing until the virus in the system is found, isolated and quarantined - unless the entire system has to be rebooted from the beginning...which could take months. Then once the system is back online they have to figure out what "restore point" they can go back to .... everything after that has to be re-entered, from scratch. It's simpler to just avoid things like thumbdrives and CD's altogether. I know of agencies that have literally physically either removed or blocked access by thumb drives and CD's because of the issue on some of their more sensitive systems.

Frankly 780 pages, one sided, is not that much, unless of course you're the one paying for it.

I get your rant. I appreciate your candor. The VA system is far, far, far from perfect. Trust me, I deal with it a lot more and much more often than you do.

One final thought, get yourself an advocate. There are several dozen to choose from. Use a VA form 21-22 and elect one. Of course, I'm prejudiced - I like the VFW. I have a great deal of respect for all the other choices you have for Veteran Service Organizations with Veteran Service Officers. Some of them have actually helped me learned "tricks of the trade" so to speak. Get an advocate. By having an advocate you now have someone that can actually look at your claim as it goes through the processing. If there's an obvious issue, the advocate can even call you to urge you to fix the problem and even help you with the fix.

And NO, you don't have to be a member of that organization to get help from a Service Officer.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Never Deal With the VA ALONE!

Response by MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca made Sep 28 at 2014 10:22 AM

2014-09-28T10:22:55-04:00

The VA like many government organizations and the local DMV are GOVERNMENT run organizations which are underfunded, understaffed and under-enthusiastic about change due to the 2 aforementioned factors. The irony is that these organizations have sheer volumes of people to deal with so you think they would get the fiscal financial attention they deserve instead of funding rockets to Mars. Unfortunately the people employed by these organizations have become as strict and narrow minded as the antiquated doctrine, regulations, technology and bureaucracy they are forced to adhere to and uphold. Technology-wise because of funding, their systems are years outdated and nowhere near the current technology forefront which makes dealing with these organizations even that much more difficult. Blame the perpetually elected hypocrisy for these messes, they're the one's who won't get any of it fixed. Instead our elected officials blame the leadership of the organizations whose hands they themselves tie.

Response by SPC David Shaffer made Sep 28 at 2014 2:41 PM

2014-09-28T14:41:51-04:00

You can't really blame those working in lower offices in any organization. It all has to be blamed on the leadership (and there is always someone) who is on top and makes the decisions. Most of the lower offices are just doing what they were told to do or following the rules set in place by the top office. It's also the tops job to make sure these workers act appropriately to those they serve. The top sets the rules.