Disability Claims with the V.A. Quick- or not so Quick

There have been several articles of late pertaining to veterans waiting very long times for the claims they have submitted with the Veterans Administration. Often, when the claims are completed, the VA either awards the veteran a percentage the veteran believes is wrong or denied.  Within the articles – the stories portray the veterans as being neglected or perhaps treated indifferently by the Veterans Administration.  Admittedly, many claims indeed take a long time while most are processed in a timely fashion.  Perhaps, the following will afford the reader some insight as to the story behind the story.  

I am neither an apologist nor defender for the VA.  Rather, through my work, I have learned how to best serve the veteran through advice and assisted many veterans with their claims for disability compensation or pension. And through my work, some claims have been adjudicated quickly and of course –some not so quickly.  What follows is rationale for the not so quick and the quick

The long, the delayed, the incomplete, the whatever.  There are so many reasons why a claim may take months, perhaps years to be adjudicated. Missing information will hinder the processing of a claim. A very real example- the veteran, prior to submitting a claim, may have been treated for the disability with a private medical clinic. If the veteran did not include copies of the medical care he received from the private health care clinic, the VA will need to request same. That process includes the VA sending the veteran a form for medical release. The vet needs to sign that form and return same to the VA. The VA then forwards the medical release to the clinic.  If and when the ever present gatekeeper of any clinic reads the request, the gatekeeper will either comply with the request or send the VA a notice that a copy of the records will cost .5o cents per page. The VA will reply that the VA does not pay for medical records. The clinic will reply and so on and so- This process alone may very well take several weeks. Also, the VA will schedule a Compensation and Pension exam for each disability claimed. The veteran is notified of that exam appointment. If the veteran cannot keep that scheduled appointment, the veteran must call and reschedule.  Should the veteran miss that appointment- the VA has no choice but eventually decide on the claim without the benefit of the examining physician notes.  When a veteran moves and does not notify the VA, that is a real problem.  Important information is always sent to the veteran.  When a veteran does not notify the VA of a change in address, that vet will not receive VA correspondence. (The VA does not utilize the endorsement for forwarding mail) The mail is return “Undeliverable”.  If the veteran does not include a narrative of an injury that occurred while on active duty, the VA will forward correspondence to the vet requesting same. If the vet procrastinates with a response, what is the VA to do?  These examples are merely a few. There can be so many different reasons why claims take so long and if the veteran is not truly involved in the process, it becomes clear why. Usually, a veteran will submit a claim without the assistance of an experienced VSO.  As such, the process can be very confusing and certainly frustrating.   How does a VSO ease the pain?  

The quick:  When a veteran seeks assistance from a (VSO) to submit a claim with the VA, there are several essential items that the veteran is informed of to bring prior to the VSO’s office for submission.   Separation document commonly referred to as the DD 214. It must be the original, complete DD 214 indicating type of discharge. Not a copy or fax.  The original military medical records should the veteran have those. Copies of private medical records pertaining to the disability claimed. Marriage license(s), divorce decree(s), birth certificate(s) and the children’s social security number(s) and either a checking or savings account number with the financial institution's routing number.  There are related VA forms that need to be completed pending upon the type of disability claimed. Should the veteran comply with all the mentioned essential items, the VA can process the claim quickly as every needed item will be included in the claim package.  We have noticed such prepared claims processed within 120- 150 days and a few as quick as 90 days.  The VA will ask for these items anyway- better to include all upon original submission. By the way- this type of claim is commonly referred to as the Fully Developed Claim.

There are three “must haves” for any claim to be successfully rated for the veteran.

A diagnosis of the claim.  Any person can state he/she has a certain condition.  The VA requires a medical diagnosis of that medical condition. That is why the compensation and pension exam is scheduled.

Is the diagnosed condition(s) current?  Is the veteran currently being treated for stated conditions(s)?

Is the disability service connected? Did the injury, illness or condition occur while the veteran was on active duty and is that condition recorded in the veteran’s military medical records?  Certainly veterans who were wounded in combat are, without doubt, going to be treated and compensated by the VA. The claims issues become clouded when the veteran submits a claim years after service.

 A VSO will explain the entire claim process, assist with the gathering of pertinent evidence, prepare the claim package with the veteran and become the advocate for the veteran throughout the process.

Certainly errors may occur. The VA personnel who process these thousands of claims occasionally commit some Heck- so do I!  Everyone does. No person is infallible. Ask any of the occupants at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.  Yet, when a veteran has the assistance of a VSO, those errors are mitigated and the claim process continued.  Perhaps the best reason for a veteran to seek the assistance of an Accredited VSO – the service is free for the vet!   Veteran organizations throughout the country, including all the various individual states Departments of Veterans Affairs, provide the service as a benefit for service to America.

I trust the above serves to clarify why so many veterans experience delays in the disability claim process and the assistance available for our vets.