Posted on Mar 23, 2016
There’s A Better Way To Help Vets Than Suing The VA Over New Claims Process
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Wouldn’t it be more beneficial to work with the VA to reach those veterans who may struggle with the change?
America has a lot of veterans service organizations. I would know. I work for one — The Bunker, a Chicago-based organization supporting veteran entrepreneurs and early-stage, veteran-owned businesses.
We should celebrate this abundance of people, both veteran and non-veteran, raising their hands to serve those who served us. And we shouldn’t be afraid to ask them for assistance when they are so eager to help.
So it follows that as the Department of Veterans Affairs undergoes big changes to improve and modernize its services to veterans — an overhaul that is long overdue — it will find plenty of willing partners ready to work with its employees and our veterans to help ease this modernization and support the streamlining of processes. Like, for example, filing a claim.
Hard as it to imagine, until last week, a veteran could take a scrap piece of paper, write down his or her ailment, drop it in the mail, and that would be considered the beginning of the claim-filing process. These intent-to-file claims, or “informal claims,” amounted to about half of all claims filed to the VA from 2009 to 2013, according to the Federal Registry.
The veteran, by filing the informal claim, would then be marking the point in time for which he or she would be eligible for compensation. If the formal claim is later approved, back pay would be provided from the day the informal claim was filed — even if that informal claim was written on yellow notepad paper or a napkin.
As of March 25, the VA is no longer accepting informal claims and now requires veterans filing a claim to do so online or over the phone, using a standardized form. This is likely to expedite the process for filing a claim, reduce the backlog, but perhaps leave behind those who aren’t comfortable filing online, or do not have easy access to the Internet.
For those of us who grew up online — nearly all of us post-9/11 veterans — shifting to a digital filing process seems reasonable, especially given the massive backlog the VA continues to struggle with. At the end of last calendar year, the VA reported nearly a quarter million unresolved claims, and that was an improvement.
However, several veterans service organizations — specifically, American Legion, AMVETS, Military Order of the Purple Heart, the National Veterans Legal Services Program and the Vietnam Veterans of America — have gone to battle, and filed a lawsuit claiming this change puts the onus on veterans to help the department reduce the backlog.
“Forcing men and women – especially those with serious mental conditions — to use a standardized form in order to get their benefits is a cold-hearted decision that betrays VA’s mission,” the national commander of the American Legion, Michael D. Helm, said in an American Legion press release. “Why on earth would (VA) Secretary McDonald approve a regulation change that invalidates about half of all disability claims being filed?”
MAJ Ken Landgren SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4" SSgt Obom Bowen CPT (Join to see) LTC Stephen F. SSG Warren Swan PO2 Ed C. SGM David W. Carr LOM, DMSM MP SGT SSgt (Join to see) CPT L SSP5 Michael Rathbun CW5 (Join to see) CW5 Charlie Poulton SMSgt Minister Gerald A. Thomas SGM Mikel Dawson CSM Charles Hayden SGT Benjamin Lindsey SPC Andrew Griffin d SN Greg Wright TSgt Hunter Logan
America has a lot of veterans service organizations. I would know. I work for one — The Bunker, a Chicago-based organization supporting veteran entrepreneurs and early-stage, veteran-owned businesses.
We should celebrate this abundance of people, both veteran and non-veteran, raising their hands to serve those who served us. And we shouldn’t be afraid to ask them for assistance when they are so eager to help.
So it follows that as the Department of Veterans Affairs undergoes big changes to improve and modernize its services to veterans — an overhaul that is long overdue — it will find plenty of willing partners ready to work with its employees and our veterans to help ease this modernization and support the streamlining of processes. Like, for example, filing a claim.
Hard as it to imagine, until last week, a veteran could take a scrap piece of paper, write down his or her ailment, drop it in the mail, and that would be considered the beginning of the claim-filing process. These intent-to-file claims, or “informal claims,” amounted to about half of all claims filed to the VA from 2009 to 2013, according to the Federal Registry.
The veteran, by filing the informal claim, would then be marking the point in time for which he or she would be eligible for compensation. If the formal claim is later approved, back pay would be provided from the day the informal claim was filed — even if that informal claim was written on yellow notepad paper or a napkin.
As of March 25, the VA is no longer accepting informal claims and now requires veterans filing a claim to do so online or over the phone, using a standardized form. This is likely to expedite the process for filing a claim, reduce the backlog, but perhaps leave behind those who aren’t comfortable filing online, or do not have easy access to the Internet.
For those of us who grew up online — nearly all of us post-9/11 veterans — shifting to a digital filing process seems reasonable, especially given the massive backlog the VA continues to struggle with. At the end of last calendar year, the VA reported nearly a quarter million unresolved claims, and that was an improvement.
However, several veterans service organizations — specifically, American Legion, AMVETS, Military Order of the Purple Heart, the National Veterans Legal Services Program and the Vietnam Veterans of America — have gone to battle, and filed a lawsuit claiming this change puts the onus on veterans to help the department reduce the backlog.
“Forcing men and women – especially those with serious mental conditions — to use a standardized form in order to get their benefits is a cold-hearted decision that betrays VA’s mission,” the national commander of the American Legion, Michael D. Helm, said in an American Legion press release. “Why on earth would (VA) Secretary McDonald approve a regulation change that invalidates about half of all disability claims being filed?”
MAJ Ken Landgren SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4" SSgt Obom Bowen CPT (Join to see) LTC Stephen F. SSG Warren Swan PO2 Ed C. SGM David W. Carr LOM, DMSM MP SGT SSgt (Join to see) CPT L SSP5 Michael Rathbun CW5 (Join to see) CW5 Charlie Poulton SMSgt Minister Gerald A. Thomas SGM Mikel Dawson CSM Charles Hayden SGT Benjamin Lindsey SPC Andrew Griffin d SN Greg Wright TSgt Hunter Logan
There’s A Better Way To Help Vets Than Suing The VA Over New Claims Process
Posted from taskandpurpose.comPosted in these groups: 
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
Disabled Veterans
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Disabled Veterans
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 5
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The problem is that the ONLY way to get the VA to listen is to take them to court. There is no "working with them."
"They" don't care. PEOPLE within the Organization care. The ORGANIZATION itself does not. The ORGANIZATION is a machine that takes in claims and spits out claims. It wants to do that as quickly as possible. It doesn't care whether the claim is approved or denied as long as it is done in a "timely" manner and the approval/denial will stand up to an INTERNAL audit.
Remember, we are looking at a BUREAUCRACY first and foremost.
The VA does three major things. Burials, Education, and Health. It does TWO of those VERY WELL. The reason it does the first two well is because everyone is treated exactly the same. There is no "thought" involved. Everyone is processed like a "cog."
The last one the VA is horrible at. The reason the VA is horrible at, and has ALWAYS been horrible at, is because it must treat every veteran differently. It must treat us as "Individuals." That is not something MACHINES are good at. That is not something GOVERNMENT is good at.
These changes are designed to make Individuals more "cog-like" in nature. The closer you can treat everyone the same, the better the machine (bureaucracy) operates. It's really that simple. However that doesn't mean Veterans will get better care.
CC COL Mikel J. Burroughs
"They" don't care. PEOPLE within the Organization care. The ORGANIZATION itself does not. The ORGANIZATION is a machine that takes in claims and spits out claims. It wants to do that as quickly as possible. It doesn't care whether the claim is approved or denied as long as it is done in a "timely" manner and the approval/denial will stand up to an INTERNAL audit.
Remember, we are looking at a BUREAUCRACY first and foremost.
The VA does three major things. Burials, Education, and Health. It does TWO of those VERY WELL. The reason it does the first two well is because everyone is treated exactly the same. There is no "thought" involved. Everyone is processed like a "cog."
The last one the VA is horrible at. The reason the VA is horrible at, and has ALWAYS been horrible at, is because it must treat every veteran differently. It must treat us as "Individuals." That is not something MACHINES are good at. That is not something GOVERNMENT is good at.
These changes are designed to make Individuals more "cog-like" in nature. The closer you can treat everyone the same, the better the machine (bureaucracy) operates. It's really that simple. However that doesn't mean Veterans will get better care.
CC COL Mikel J. Burroughs
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I concur with you my friend SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL. Filing suit against the VA is like shooting ourselves in the foot.
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Here's my problem with this: While I agree that you should use a standard form, and that there are many ways to get help filling out this form, the VA is slow to respond to anything, if at all, and does not provide enough help to those who need it.
Case in point: I filled out paperwork (a notice of disagreement) last year, in July, for a problem that I have with my eyes, thanks to LASEK the Army performed on them.
The VA is saying I've had the problem all my life, which is not true - I never needed eye drops, or eye meds prior to the surgery, and now I do. Additionally, when I filed the paper work, it took over three months for them to acknowledge that I had filed a disagreement with them. Then to top it off, nearly 8 months after I submitted my notice of disagreement, I get a letter saying that they are removing the disagreement claim because I filed it using the wrong form. Now, I want you to keep this in mind: PRIOR, to 1 Sept, 2015, the FORM that I did NOT file, the one that the VA claims I needed to file my Notice of Disagreement on, did NOT exist!
Basically, the VA created a NEW form, and then, any and all previous claims that were filed PRIOR to the requirement for filing on the new form, were considered INVALID!
It then took another six months for them to NOTIFY me that they had changed to the new form and I would NOW need to start the process all over again!
This, is crap - a big steaming pile of it, from a horse's rear end!
It is absolutely no wonder that the VA is a crap organization. Many of the VA employees mean well, and want to help Soldiers, but there is TOO MUCH red tape, there TOO MANY requirements, and there are NOT ENOUGH people who really care about the Veterans who need their help! The rules change from month to month, you can't get answers quickly. If I file a piece of paper, the VA should be able to update it's online system stating that they received said paper within a week, not THREE MONTHS!
The VA's problems are not just that they're overburdened. The VA's problems are from it's absolutely poor leadership, and the bureaucrats who are only punching their meal ticket, unwilling to fire those who are a hindrance to the problem, and unwilling to hire those who truly care about veterans. The government doesn't give a damn, and isn't really forcing change in the VA, because face it: As one VA employee (who shall remain nameless as she was truly trying to help me) told me once: "Veterans, while we are glad for your service, are just a drain on the system. Veterans, don't provide anything to the Government anymore (no matter how much they sacrificed previously), so the Government doesn't give a damn about the Veteran". Also, a change in President is unlikely to change the situation with the VA.
Case in point: I filled out paperwork (a notice of disagreement) last year, in July, for a problem that I have with my eyes, thanks to LASEK the Army performed on them.
The VA is saying I've had the problem all my life, which is not true - I never needed eye drops, or eye meds prior to the surgery, and now I do. Additionally, when I filed the paper work, it took over three months for them to acknowledge that I had filed a disagreement with them. Then to top it off, nearly 8 months after I submitted my notice of disagreement, I get a letter saying that they are removing the disagreement claim because I filed it using the wrong form. Now, I want you to keep this in mind: PRIOR, to 1 Sept, 2015, the FORM that I did NOT file, the one that the VA claims I needed to file my Notice of Disagreement on, did NOT exist!
Basically, the VA created a NEW form, and then, any and all previous claims that were filed PRIOR to the requirement for filing on the new form, were considered INVALID!
It then took another six months for them to NOTIFY me that they had changed to the new form and I would NOW need to start the process all over again!
This, is crap - a big steaming pile of it, from a horse's rear end!
It is absolutely no wonder that the VA is a crap organization. Many of the VA employees mean well, and want to help Soldiers, but there is TOO MUCH red tape, there TOO MANY requirements, and there are NOT ENOUGH people who really care about the Veterans who need their help! The rules change from month to month, you can't get answers quickly. If I file a piece of paper, the VA should be able to update it's online system stating that they received said paper within a week, not THREE MONTHS!
The VA's problems are not just that they're overburdened. The VA's problems are from it's absolutely poor leadership, and the bureaucrats who are only punching their meal ticket, unwilling to fire those who are a hindrance to the problem, and unwilling to hire those who truly care about veterans. The government doesn't give a damn, and isn't really forcing change in the VA, because face it: As one VA employee (who shall remain nameless as she was truly trying to help me) told me once: "Veterans, while we are glad for your service, are just a drain on the system. Veterans, don't provide anything to the Government anymore (no matter how much they sacrificed previously), so the Government doesn't give a damn about the Veteran". Also, a change in President is unlikely to change the situation with the VA.
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