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JIM STRICKLAND'S MAIL BAG: VOLUME #20 FOR 2008 --

Veterans' Advocate Jim Strickland answers

questions from VA Watchdog readers.

Veterans' Advocate Jim Strickland provides regular columns for VA Watchdog dot Org.

If you would like to contact Jim about his columns, you can email him here...

The archive of Jim's articles is here...

To find an answer to a specific VA benefits question, use the VA Watchdog search engine... click here...

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by Jim Strickland

NOTE:  Letters in my mailbag are reprinted just as they come to me. Spelling and grammar are left as is and only small corrections are made to improve readability, ensure anonymity or delete expletives that may offend some readers. This is not legal advice. You should always seek the advice of an attorney who is qualified in Veterans' law before you make any decisions about your own benefits.

Jim;

I have been filling you in on the latest status of my claim with the VA. I had my examination a few weeks ago from the private medical co. QTC. It was a real joke. The Doctors office that I went to looked like a back alley abortion clinic, and the people who worked there were very unprofessional acting. I was told not to bring any medical evidence, and that the VA would supply them with it. Well the VA had not supplied them with anything, and the doctor was in the dark about my case. What a waste of taxpayers money. Everything that they did at the QTC office had just been done at the VA. Doesn't the VA trust what there own doctors have recorded on my conditions ?. I'm now waiting for the examination results to get back to the VA for my final decision.

I have a question about social security retirement, and disability. I have worked hard all my life since grammer school age. Except the last year because of my medical problems. My last letter from social security (year ago) said that if I retired at 62 I would get close to $ 1,400.00 per month. It stated that if I became disabled I could recieve $ 1,775.00 per month. Someone told me that social security bases your retirement amount on how much you earned in the last year before claiming at 62. Now if I was unable to work full time because of my disability-does that mean that I get penalized, and my retirement amount goes way down?? This seems like a total rip-off to me. What happens to all the years credits that I put in working my ass off. Would this also effect the amount that they stated to me for disability.? I will be 61 this year, and won't be able to work much because of my service connected problems. I was thinking of filing for SS disability as soon as my final decission comes back from VA. At my personal hearing with the VA about 3 weeks ago. The ratings officer said he was going to rate me 100% unemployable, so this should help me with SS? (I hope). Should I file now for SS disability or wait until my final decission is back from the VA, which should be here within a month? Maybe you have a site I could click on to get some info that a person can understand. I get some real bone-head info when talking to SS about it, or going to their websites.

Thanks Jim for all your help. I always look forward to your mailbag article every week.

Reply;

OK...QTC is a joke. But, your secretaries of the VA are or were board members or fill or will fill executive slots within QTC and they're making a fortune from it so how could you complain of their good fortune? How ungrateful we veterans are. Hmm, conflict of interest you say? Nahh, they're all honest guys, right? They do all this to help you!

(A lady lawyer once told me that there are 3 great lies. [1] The check is in the mail. [2] Of course I'll respect you in the morning darling. [3] Hello, I'm from the government and I'm here to help you.)

Thinking of examinations, I got email from a guy a few days ago who went for a Social Security exam. Like your experience, it was seedy and dark. But, there was nobody there. He waited a bit and gave up. The next morning he called his local SSA office and told them. They had just received a fax from the doctor that he had showed up on time and the results from the exam were on the way!

What a business. It makes used car lots look like friendly, honest places.

You should file for SSDI right now. If you are approved for the SSDI, you get the higher amount you would get in retirement at the older age, not 62. Then when you turn 63, your SSDI converts quietly to retirement.

You need a lawyer. Not a local lawyer but an experienced disability lawyer. I wouldn't touch Social Security without a lawyer. You might as well have one who is practicing VA law too. You may need him if you're denied VA benefits. In the federal system, a lawyer doesn't have to be local to you. In fact, you may never meet him face to face.

In both a VA claim and a Social Security claim, it costs nothing up front to retain an attorney and nothing at all if you don't win. Fees are capped as a percentage by each agency.

Jim;

Excellent article! Thank you for your great work.

Though you should advise people to send correspondence to the DVA using Certified, return receipt requested, rather than Registered mail. Registered mail is used for mailing valuable items which cost more and requires the PO to log and separately lock-up the package at every step until delivered. Certified mail is used for letters and documents. As they most often do, your PO clerk used the more approbate and cheaper Certified mail when you asked for Registered mail. A very common misconception by the public.

Though my request for VA disability took a total of 210 days from application to award (60%) I was fortunate in that I was injured several months before I was released and retired with 30 years service. I filed my application just three months after my release, well within the one year rule, and my case was documented with resent and readily available medical files. From what I hear and read the majority of claims I think are filed by guys who are trying to prove service-connection reaching back 20, 30, or more years. God help them.

I agree with you concerning using the DAV for claim purposes. Fortunately, as I was preparing to file my claim a friend told me about his misadventures with the DAV which convinced me to go it alone. Yes, I am a Life Member.

And I can not say this often enough, I would much rather have my health than the compensation!

Reply;

Thank you sir!

I'll be darned. I've likely been using certified mail myself all this time and for some reason it's locked in my brain as registered. I appreciate that you're alert and nothing is getting past on your watch. My work would be much less than it is if not for my readers keeping me on target.

Your comments about DAV representation are, unfortunately, typical. I hear a lot of that. I too was sold one of those life memberships with the hint that if I bought it, I would receive special attention from DAV. It was soon after I sent the check that they stopped returning my calls.

Jim;

I called the varo today and asked them about some claims that I sent to them about four months ago and they told me well we are in loop of processing one and I asked well what about the other three that I made? are you processing those yet and he told me that we only have one claim that is in our computers right now I told the guy to have a nice day and I hung up and I was polite.

Please don't tell me that they have lost the paper work jim I know that they got it because they signed for documents I still even have all the signatures oh yea I have some good news for you I decided to get rid of the DAV as my representatives and am now using a vso in a different county perhaps that will speed things along so here is a another question for you I have sent in a total of eight claims well four of them someodd one month ago arrived at the varo the other four were sent out four months ago now my question is do they do only one claim at a time or do they jumble all of them together and process them all at the same time if an individual has sent in more then one claim and I didn't put them all on one sheet I used eight different claims forms one for each I'm just so confused perhaps you can show me some light lol...... I won't be calling the varo anymore bugging them once is enough for me thanks.

Reply;

To expect any action at all in 4 months time is to ignore the reality of the backlog at the VBA. I'm surprised today if action is taken in less than 2 years.

If you read my stuff, you know that I tell people to never call the VARO to ask the questions you asked. You'll always get the wrong answer, it doesn't make anything go faster, it's upsetting to you, and it is a waste of your time.

If you read my scribblings, you'd know I constantly preach that if you mail your claims in using registered/certified mail, return receipt corrected, you can be sure that they have the paperwork. There is no reason to call and ask. If you got that little green card back, it's there.

If you read my work, you know that using a VSO won't make anything go faster. I only recommend a VSO for a veteran who can't use a computer or complete his own paperwork.

Finally...I've never recommended that a veteran file more than a single claim at a time. In my previous writings I've always said to file your big claim, wait until you're sure it's moving along and then file another. There are a very few instances that you want to file 2 claims...for example (1) diabetes and (2) peripheral neuropathy secondary to diabetes...but even then I recommend caution.

To file a huge load of stuff ("8 claim forms"!) is to practically go begging for a disaster. If you have a VSO and you switch to another VSO in the middle of your claim after you have filed your own claims, again you're begging for disaster.

If you think you're "just so confused", imagine how they feel at that VARO. Your claims are now scattered in with 30,000 others and they aren't sure who your VSO is.

Just this week I finished struggling with the VARO you use. This was a straightforward case with a single condition and as good of evidence as I've ever seen. It took 1 1/2 years to get it right and I had to enlist the help of a Congressperson to intervene.

I'm not sure what to tell you now. But, go back to the archives of my articles and read through to see how I recommend veterans file cases. That's a good start. Then, probably the best thing to do is to do nothing for the next 12 to 18 months. Don't call them, don't write to them, let them sort it out.

When your letters of adjudication decisions return to you, if there are denials, then you can retain a lawyer.

Good luck.

Jim;

just left the VA medical clinic at College Station and talked to the veterans rep and I was told that her boss in Waco told her that if you had claim filed in Houston that it could take as long as 4 to 5 years and that Houston was sending claims elsewhere to be processed. I was in a PTSD group when she came in and told all of us about it. That sucks because I have had one thru Houston going on a year next week. Just wondering if you have heard anything, thanks.

Reply;

Every VARO in the country is backed up. I haven't heard "5 years" though. The Houston VARO is suffering as bad or maybe worse than any because of Katrina. The impact of Katrina will be felt for many years to come.

You've reminded me that it's time to address the process of filing a claim again. I get a lot of email from veterans who want to know what's happened to their claim, why it's taking so long and what can be done to speed it up.

The VBA accepts claims as they come in. Yours doesn't have any priority over the next guy except in 2 instances. First, if you're a WWII veteran who has reached an age where a delay may mean you aren't likely to survive a lengthy delay, your claim should head to the Tiger Team for somewhat speedier processing.

Then, if you're a veteran of the recent Iraq war, your claim should get to the front of the line. This has happened because of the bad press that VA & DOD received during the Walter Reed scandal. We're right back to putting lipstick on the pig again. http://www.vawatchdog.org/07/nf07/nfDEC07/nf120707-1.htm

In my opinion, all the speedier processing for those special veterans is window dressing and it's unfair to others. What I've observed is that it does speed up your claim a bit...that means you receive your denial faster than many of us. The appeal of your wrongful denial isn't moving faster so it soon becomes a moot point. Overall, the process remains deeply flawed...getting faster isn't getting a better result.

You often ask me, “Where's my file? All I get are these stupid letters requesting evidence that I've already sent them.”

Your file is in a holding pattern, circling the runway along with 400,000 others, waiting for clearance to land. Those letters are sent to you to fulfill the requirements of the VBA's “duty to assist”. They are notifying you to send evidence, a lot of evidence. At this stage of the game, the amount of evidence you've sent in hasn't actually been looked at. All anyone knows is that you filed a claim. That's in an ancient computer and that's about it. Your claim is stacked with tens of thousands of others waiting its turn in the line.

There is nothing you can do to make it faster except to be very sure that your initial paper is as perfect as possible. The slightest glitch today will cause you a lot of grief in the future. You'd be amazed how many guys forget to sign or something as simple as that.

Let me repeat that...There is nothing you can do to make it move any faster. Nothing. Zip, zero, nada...nothing.

Oh sure, you can call your Congressional representative. That office will inquire about the delay. Your file will get pulled out of the heap and sent to the office that does that stuff and given a quick glance. Your representative from Congress will get a letter that says it's in process and that's it. Then your file is loaded back into a cardboard box with a hundred others and sent back...to start. While your file had its vacation to the Congressional inquiry people, others have moved ahead of it. You're now further behind than you were earlier.

There are times that a Congressional inquiry is appropriate and it may help. More on that in a future article. Trust me that if you're just cranky because it's taking too long, your representative can't help you.

Your file is likely to languish for months before a responsible human sees it. Once it's in the loop, it will proceed through some 100 plus steps to get to a rater. Evidence is compiled and fact checked, medical records are sought, obtained and reviewed and you have to get your C & P exam done.

Finally...it's at the rater's desk. Yours is 1 of 5 for the rater today. The pressure of the quota system makes it impossible for that rater to read and comprehend it all as well as it should be. The majority of the cases that will be adjudicated by that rater that day will have major errors. You'll likely be sent a denial or a rating that is half of what you know you deserve.

No, that rater isn't a moron. It's likely he's a veteran who is experienced and well trained. He wants you to receive your benefits. But with the mess that your VBA is in today, he doesn't have time to do the job as well as he wants to do. If he had time to make phone calls, if he had time to understand how you can explain your story, if he had time to get all he needed, your benefits would be secured then and there.

But he doesn't. If he isn't meeting his quota, the guy who takes his place will.

I'm telling everyone that if you file at any VARO today, it's likely to be 2 years before your case is decided. There is a 75% chance that the first decision will be wrong and you'll have to appeal. Add another 2 years for the appeal. By time the dust is settled, 5 years may be about right.

If your case is settled in less than a year or two it's because you made it easy for that rater. If you do the work up front that you need to do, you're going to be way ahead of the pack.

If your benefits are settled quickly, your application was complete. You wrote truthful commentary that was easy to read and easy to comprehend. You were courteous and respectful to the reader. Your commentary was brief, pointed and polite. You supplied evidence and VBA didn't have to write to your doctor begging for a file. You were on time for your C & P exam and you knew what to say and do. You didn't call your VARO each day, you didn't email and you didn't drive over so that you could bitch and rant at them in person.

More than anything else, you won your award because you deserved it. You weren't one of the guys that write to me daily complaining that the disability claim you filed for the undocumented back injury (or that pilonidal cyst, broken finger, ingrown toenails, upset stomach, pimples, heartburn, dandruff, weight gain, etc.) of 30 years ago isn't going well and you want them to hurry because you need the money. You didn't gild any lilies and you provided evidence to prove your claim beyond any doubt. Your award was decided quickly and fairly because you aren't a faker, pretender or a wannabee.

If your claim was settled quickly and fairly, the VBA didn't give you those benefits, you earned them.

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posted by Larry Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org

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