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JIM STRICKLAND'S MAIL BAG: VOLUME #1 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...

-------------------------

by Jim Strickland

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.

Jim;

You once made the statement (VA Watchdog dot Org -- 04-03-2007 #4 ) that if there are multiple claims on one form and one of the conditions are ruled on, that the VA is not required to report the status of the other claims. I have also heard it stated as: If you have multiple claims on one form, and you receive a letter from the VA that one of them has bee denied, that they have no obligation to notify you regarding the other claims on that same form submission, and you should consider them as denied also. Can you tell me if my wording/interpretation is correct, and if so, where I can locate any VA document that supports this. Thank you for shedding any light on this matter that you can.

Reply;

The M21-1MR at http://www.warms.vba.va.gov/M21_1MR.html#3v  is where your answer lies. It gets very complex but that's correct, VBA isn't always required to notify you of denials.

Look at M21-1MR, Part 3 - General Claims Process, Subpartv - General Authorization Issues and Claimant Notifications, Chapter 2 - Award and Denial Authorization and Notification, Section A - Award and Denial Authorization, 4. Handling Denials Not Processed Through the Benefits Delivery Network (BDN),

"Some denials do not require the VSR to process a formal disallowance with completion of a BDN 405 screen and a system-generated denial.

This topic contains information on handling informal denials that do
not require BDN processing, including information on

• an informal denial
• award and denial action taken at the same time
• temporary award of a benefit pending award of a greater benefit
• grants or continuations of additional benefit amounts
• cases in which evidence warrants no change in the previous decision
• new claim denied for the same reason as previously-denied claim
• denied apportionment claims
• informal claims, and
• applications not substantially complete."

In the second bullet point is the verbiage and it all boils down to the fact that the VSR does not have to process a system generated denial (a letter) if there is an award and denial at the same time. Thus, if you win your first claim and lose three others, the VBA is required to notify you of your win but may never tell you that the others are denied.

There are many definitions and circumstances that play in there too so this doesn't happen often but it does happen. Now you have the link to the M21-1MR, I'll let you dig into the details and Do It Yourself. Happy reading!

Jim;

I have another question for you I have a previous injury (service connected) that I made a claim for and was granted sometime ago but as of right now it has gotten worse according to my doctor I am not sure on what to write on the 21-4138 on how to state my claim for a reevaluation could you help me out with this

Reply;

It's really very simple. In plain language, tell them just what you told me. You believe that your service connected condition has worsened and that you are sure that your compensation rating should be raised.

I usually suggest that a statement is kept simple yet detailed. As an example;

Date
VARO Address

Reference: Your name & numbers

Dear Sir/Madame:

I received a service connected rating of (x) % in (year). My symptoms
at that time were (describe).

In recent months it has become apparent to me that this condition has
worsened. Today I suffer (describe).

The increase in my symptoms and medications has caused me to suffer
more side effects from medicine (describe all medication side
effects...nausea, dizziness, dry mouth, weakness, sleeplessness, etc.)

I must take (x) medicines and that is an increase of (x) amount since
I was last examined.

I have missed work more often because (describe).

I find that I am often unable to (describe any activity of daily
living you may find challenging. Food prep, lawn care, driving,
grooming, etc.).

I believe my condition has affected my mental health. I find myself
frustrated, angry, unable to work well with others, my family
relations are poor, etc.

Respectfully submitted,

Name
Address, etc.

When you mail this to them, use only registered mail, return receipt requested.

You get the idea. You can use the standard form and attach a letter or you may simply write a letter. What you want to do is to effectively communicate every factual detail about your condition and how it has had an impact on your life. Every detail is important...work, sexuality, the ability to participate in a normal life...all should be reported.

Respect and courtesy are important. Expressing anger or financial need doesn't help, it just takes up more time. Stick to the facts of your condition. A raise in a rating is usually a simple matter if you are correct. This letter will trigger a C & P exam and then a decision. If the decision isn't favorable, you appeal.

If you'll reply and remind me of some details of your claim, I'll forward specific regs to you that will help you decide what to write.

Jim;

I am a 100% rated veteran and I have to travel to the VA hospital in Nashville, Tennessee several times throughout a typical year. With the tremendous increase in the cost of gasoline, I have had to try to get all of my medical appointments on the same day, which is sometimes quite a feat in itself. I get the travel cost reimbursement and I end up getting just over $13 for 2 hrs driving time one way to the VA. The problem being that I notice that there is a big deduction which would give me an extra, much needed $6. I would like to ask you why they have the deduction in the first place and how it might be possible to get rid of it. Either this needs to happen, or a major increase in the rate is needed ASAP. In talking with other veterans, we all agree that it is getting harder and harder to get to our appointments. My fear is someday I might not be able to get to them and I am in better shape financially than a lot of vets I personally know. What do you suggest? Thanks for your time.

Reply;

I agree. I put up with the same nonsense. I drive 2 hours to Charleston, SC and net $9.18. Even in my tiny Honda, I lose. Interestingly, were I a VA employee the same trip nets me almost $100.00.

About a year ago, my Congressman was holding one of his town hall meetings for Veterans. I attended and was pleasantly surprised to hear that he seemed very Veteran friendly. He was new to us, districts shifted and we lost our very popular Republican Congressman Jack Kingston. We weren't at all sure what to expect from the new guy.

I had written to him urging him to support legislation to allow Veterans to hire attorneys when battling the VA. He shocked me by personally replying and then signing on as a cosponsor. We won that one.

At the town hall meeting he spoke passionately about a mileage increase for Veterans. He pointed out that each year Congress made damn sure that they and their staff were getting a raise...now up to about 50 cents a mile! He was appalled that Vets hadn't gotten any raise since the 1970's.

From his web site..."Barrow introduced the Disabled Veterans Fairness Act in the both 109th Congress (H.R. 4025) and the 110th Congress (H.R. 1472) to fix this problem." It's already passed the house and is in the senate waiting for debate.

You...and everyone you know who supports this...should write to Congressman John Barrow and let him know how you feel. Then, of course, you want to urge your Congressman and your Senators to support this legislation.

Details are here
http://www.congress.org/congressorg
/webreturn/?url=http://www.house.gov%2Fbarrow

You can write to Congressman Barrow by clicking here
http://barrow.house.gov/contactemail.asp

His site is here http://barrow.house.gov/

Your Senators and Congressman for Brownsville, Kentucky are here
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/officia
ls/congress/?view=myofficials&azip=42210&b
zip=&submit.x=18&submit.y=16&submit=go

The political process is the only way to make change at the VA. Far too many of our Brothers and Sisters gripe at the paymaster's window and do nothing more. Your representatives respond to you when you clearly tell them how you'll be casting your vote.

Be sure to tell them you read VAWatchdog dot org...they do too!

Jim;

I’m a disabled vet, and I was wandering if you might know of any increase In our disabled pay this year Congress has on purpose left us all behind in 1945. After looking around on the most dangerous place on this earth (the internet) I have found that congress has increased their pay by 1100% and change of course. But that’s just since 1945, I looked back in the records 1945 and a vet with 10% rating with one child got a rip snorting $115.00/ mo. The same pay I receive now in 2008…..63 years later! Mean while congress base pay back in 45 was $15,000.00/yr, Now it is approx $172,000.00/yr. Is there anyway to get all of us vets on board to where we can be at LEAST get somewhere in the range of $57,000.00/yr. for 100% disabled and equal in proportion going down? Even then that’s less then 1/3 of their pay and that doesn’t count all the perks and bennys they get. Like FREE out patient at ANY VA hosp. and majority of them have never set foot in uniform, while we have to pay a co pay based on our income. Not to mention a list longer then ANY of us will Ever see that is in their package. Face it this is not a get rich plan by NO stretch of the imagination, it would be nice to stay ahead of the cost of EVERYTHING like THEM, but even at this rate we remain 32 years behind THEM. I read just the other night about a fellow who got his back pay from around 1945-1950 but you guessed it , it was NOT increased ONE PENNY. In all that’s right, do you really feel ANYONE, mainly our congress could live on 1945 rates (15,000.00) yr. I guess they feel they are 1100% better than an vet they have drafted or that entered the service on their own. We (VETS) have always known better. Perhaps it’s high time the general public knows what our government HAS DONE to us and what they are still NOT DOING for us ! Remember there is an election coming……HINT…HINT. Thank you for your time if you have made it this far, sorry for the spelling, never was that good at it , maybe if I had (people) they could make me sound better.

Reply:

Before you go on an attack, you have to get your facts straight. When you offer up a complaint, you must speak the facts or nobody will pay you any attention. It's a big problem with rants on the Internet when Veterans spew numbers and statements that aren't true. It reduces our credibility and causes others to ignore us. I don't have rate table for 1945 but I was getting 10% in 1970 and it was maybe $25.00 per month. In 1945 $115.00 per month would have been a fortune!

To say we haven't had a raise in that many years also isn't factual. We get a modest increase each year. It's referred to as the COLA and last year it was about 3.5 % and this year 2.3%. That happens each year in December. This has been ongoing forever.

Trying to "get all of us vets on board", as you say, is next to impossible. As a group we're not very involved in taking care of our own interests. Many Veterans have never voted. A lot of my peers believe that joining the VFW or DAV is "active" and sitting around with other Vets and having some cold ones is about all they do. Most of what I see on the Internet that's posted by Veterans isn't factual information that's relevant to our cause, it's simply bitching and moaning about hard times.

You tell me that, "Perhaps it's high time the general public knows what our government HAS DONE to us and what they are still NOT DOING for us !"

What you may not understand is that unless a citizen is a Veteran or the immediate family of a Veteran, they really don't care what happens to us. The non-Veteran in our society has to decide how they want their tax money spent. If they are politically active, they may tell their leaders (Congress, the Senate, local and state officials) that of all the choices there are they want new schools, better roads and lower taxes.

The pot of taxpayer money available for all these things is finite...not a bottomless well. I promise you that the citizen who hasn't served isn't going to give you money and sacrifice what they see as their own needs. Even if they don't tell you, they're thinking that you got yourself into this mess, it isn't for them to get you out by taking money from their pocket. A few civilians will boo-hoo about sensationalist and momentary issues like the trumped up Walter Reed scandal but in the long run, they're much more concerned about Brittany Spears and her problems with Dr. Phil.

Recently the VDBC http://www.vetscommission.org/  recommended sweeping reforms and an immediate 25% raise for our benefits. It's been ignored along with dozens of other studies that have told our government that the VA needs change. Sweeping reform doesn't happen in our government or any other government. Change happens one small step at a time.

Do I think that any of this is fair and equitable? Of course not. Are there people in our government who are trying to make change for us? Sure there are. Last year there was a stunning victory for Veterans when the law changed to allow us to use lawyers in our appeals to VA. Even the DAV and VFW sided with those who didn't want to allow us that right. So much for your "Veterans Service Organizations". They're looking out for their own interests, not yours.

My own Congressman, Georgia's 12th District Representative John Barrow has introduced legislation to increase our mileage benefit as we travel for health care. See the earlier letter.

Do we need to do more? Certainly we do. Every Veteran needs to be in touch with his federal government representatives to tell them how he feels. This means using facts, logic and developing well written letters to get the point across. A Veteran doesn't have to be a superb speller or get all the punctuation perfect to communicate. All one needs to do is be courteous, check the facts before you write and then present a reasonable plan that should be implemented.

Finally...when we speak of Veterans and their welfare, the best help a Veteran will ever have is that from another Veteran. If a Vet is truly concerned about how Veterans are treated, he or she should strive to make a difference. Volunteering at your local VA clinic doesn't serve the VA, it serves other Veterans. Drivers are needed to assist Vets who can't drive. During the annual stand-downs, volunteers are needed to help others complete paperwork. That Veteran in the parking lot struggling with his wheelchair could use a hand.

Writing to me with misstatements about our reality is counterproductive.

If we want change, it's time to dig in and get to work. We can make it happen, one veteran at a time.

Jim;

I was today asked to explain how Congress voting themselves a pay raise last week, when they knew the VA was in such dire need was not ethical. I’ve been trying to explain the last paragraph here for awhile now and was hoping you could tell me what I’m not saying right or simple enough? I will get the exact figures though, before I send it to the newspaper.

The cost of living increase for disabled veterans (COLA) for 2008 was only 2.2% (depending on disability rating & no. of dependants) the highest increase could adv. $79 dollars a month, while congress made their’s 2.5% which is $4,100 a year, about $433 dollars a month. They will now receive salaries of $169,300 for 2008 and will continue to collect this same salary for the rest of their life even in retirement and will continue to receive the best medical care and medications available. Congress knows all veterans are given the cheapest generic drugs available, even when a more expensive medication is proven to be more effective and beneficial. Veterans are paying eight dollar co-pay at the VA while Wal-Mart is charging four dollars for the same amount of these generic medications. Congress has no ethic’s when their moral principals allows them to vote for themselves’ first!

And last month they did this: Our democrat congress took the needed additional $3.7 billion in funding away from the VA’s 2008 proposed budget, and replaced it with their own personal PORK. It now sits alone and requires a separate signature from President Bush as $3.7 billion in “emergency funding” for Veterans Affairs. It seems congress even forgot to declare the “emergency” or request emergency funding.

Now for the worst part, which proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that this congress has no ethics? The fiscal year for 2008 runs from September 31st 2007 to September 30th 2008. September 31st 2008 starts the new fiscal year for 2009.

The VA budget should have been passed for the start of this fiscal year which started September 31s 2007. We are now a few days away from the end of first quarter of this fiscal year—4 months on January 31st, (sept 31st 2007 to jan 31st 2008) a quarter of the year with no funding. When the budget is passed we will have lost the funding which should have been spent during these four month’s. The VA has lost the funds for the first quarter of the year, which they (congress) knew was desperately needed to help us Veterans. The VA budget which was only 1.15% of the total federal budget spent in the fiscal year of 2007 (sept. 31st 2006 to sept. 30th 2007) was appox. 80.6 billion. 80.6 billion is 1.15 percent of the total 2.77 trillion dollars budget spent in fiscal year 2007. I am trying to point out that almost one quarter of the 87 billion budget for 2008 is already lost these last four months, so this extra 3.7 billion that congress originally gave us as additional funding and then took it away (for themselves) and made it emergency funding is STILL LEAVING THE VA VERY SHORT OF FUNDING. And congress knew just what they where doing!

Reply;

I think you're saying it as well as it can be said. But...nobody is listening. I talk about this a lot.

The only people who care about Veterans are Veterans. If you approach a citizen who hasn't worn the uniform and ask them where they want their tax money to go and then give them maybe 3 or 4 choices, you can guess what they'll say.

For example...you approach Mr. & Mrs. Joe Sixpak at a local mall. You ask them to tell you if they want their tax money spent on one of the following; (1) Improvements to local schools like teacher pay raises or (2) Hiring additional police officers to reduce the crime rate in their city or (3) Improvements to the highways that they drive over each day to improve safety and lessen the traffic jams or (4) Increases in the amounts of disability pay that Veterans from WWII, Vietnam and OIF receive for their service connected conditions.

Tell them that they can choose only 2 of those options. You can guess what the answers will be.

Your Congressman will tell you that their pay raise wasn't much larger than yours was as a percentage. They'll also tell you that they get a higher pay than you do by virtue of their complex and demanding jobs, their advanced educations and their years of experience. Doctors are paid higher than you, big company executives earn more than you, the guy who runs the local Honda dealership earns more than you...why should your Congressman be expected to earn less?

They would also tell you that if every Congressperson had refused a pay raise and given the money to VA, it wouldn't have paid for not a single day of the VA budget. Maybe not an hour. Forfeiting their raise might be a noble gesture but it would be meaningless in the real world.

I don't focus on other people and what they earn. If I did, I'd be very angry that Katie Couric is being paid 17 million dollars this year to read the news for a half hour each day. That's $17,000,000.00 per year. And she's in third place. What are the others being paid?

It would bother me greatly that sports figures get millions of dollars for playing a game. I would go insane thinking of Howard Stern being paid 75 million dollars to go on the radio and spew filth. He isn't even funny!

Rather, I tend to focus on why I deserve anything. I can't logically point at Congress and say I deserve equal. I don't have a law degree or an MBA. I didn't work as hard as they did to achieve that goal. I won't ever be paid what a heart surgeon earns...I didn't go to doctor school and get my ticket punched at all the right classes.

Do I think that the present system is equitable? No, of course not. Is there room for improvement? Yes, a lot!

Do I begrudge my Congressman a raise? No, not really. As long as he keeps working to do what he can do for Veterans, I'll go along with him making some money. As soon as he stops working for me, I vote for another guy and he's out of a job.

That's how the system works.

-------------------------

posted by Larry Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org

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