Veterans' Advocate Jim Strickland answers questions from VA Watchdog dot Org readers.

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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... 

Be sure to use Jim's:  "A to Z GUIDE OF VETERANS DISABILITY COMPENSATION BENEFITS" click here...  

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by Jim Strickland

NOTE:  Letters in my Q&A columns 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.

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This is good to know!

Have you ever needed to change your direct deposit? Do you dread any interaction with VA because you know that the acronyms FUBAR and SNAFU were invented for the VA?

I recently changed banks and recalled that I'd heard about a number to call at VA to modify my electronic deposits of my benefits money. I was pleasantly surprised to find that after only 10 minutes or so of busy signals I got through to a lady who seemed to know what she was doing. It worked and my next deposit was made correctly to my new account.

You'll need your old as well as your new routing numbers and other information. They'll ask you a few questions for security purposes and that's about it. Have your SSN, address, phone number and so on available for the security screening and the whole thing takes 2 or 3 minutes.

1-877-838-2778

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Jim;

I went for another C&P exam as requested by the VA and where to begin. As the MD and I were walking to his office he made a comment to the affect of you couldn't leave well enough alone. I was polite, pretended I didn't hear it and let it slide. We began discussing my injuries and then he stated that he could read and my answers were similar to what was listed on his form. I asked why that was an issue, he didn't respond.

During the exam he commented that the exam he was requested to do was an exam for infectious disease and someone messed up so it was a waste of his time b/c Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is not a infectious disease but he could only do what was listed. At this point his attitude had rubbed me the wrong way and while I did become slightly defensive I held my composure as I did throughout the process.

He took my bp and it was 158/110 with a Heart Rate of 148, he stated I needed to go to ER, I told him I do not have BP/Heart problems and was likely white coat syndrome. He stated he would take it again in a few and if it remained high advised I go to the ER. I could feel my blood boiling, I knew it was due to this guy's attitude.

He then proceeded with a knee exam during which he asked me to squat and duck walk. I told him politely that I couldn't as I feared my right knee would sublux. I got down into a squat as well as I could and was visibly shaking at this point. He then became a little upset and explained to me how my xrays were showed normal knees, back and neck (while they might MRI's are a very different story) so there was no reason I couldn't do the walk. I again politely declined. I then provided him a statement from my physician in which he details my conditions and how they are related. He asked how much I paid a guy Downrange to write such a letter.

I explained that the letter was written by my family physician who has treated me for the last 3 years and it was done free of charge to me, which it was. As we moved forward in the questions he asked about missed days from work I provided several work excuses. He flipped his calendar back and made the comment "there's a 5 day weekend". After we completed his questions and I got dressed, he said while he couldn't offer me advise if he could it would be to take what I am given and don't buck the system, as they can take ratings away much easier than it is to get one.

He stated that his objective evidence weighs more heavy than subjective statement and opinions. I asked for a copy of his notes he made on the paper and he stated it was a legal document and I couldn't have it. He took my BP again and it was still high 135/100 hr 135 and he advised I go to the ER. I left and went to my car wear I called my wife at work and then took my own BP in the car (I am a respiratory therapist) and I got 128/85 and my HR was 97, so I felt the ER was not warranted, as the stress-er had been removed.

I have talked to a few friends and they all believe I should write this out and send it to my Representative and Senators as well as to the VA regional office. Before I go to such extremes, I thought I should ask your opinion. It was quite apparent that this guy was upset about how well my claim was written, and from the beginning it seemed he was out to poke holes into anything he could. I done very well and was able to control my emotions and didn't have an outburst (nor punch the guy which I really,d really wanted to do). I very much look forward to your response.

Very Respectfully...

Reply;

I believe you should have gone to the ER. I'm not a strong supporter of that "white coat syndrome". See
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_coat_hypertension  There is little evidence to consistently support such a thing...most folks who think they have that are simply hypertensive and in denial. No matter the cause, a BP that high places you in immediate danger.

I worked for 35 years as a cardiovascular health professional and cardiovascular/respiratory/ imaging director and have some small experience in such things. If you don't get your BP treated, you are likely in serious danger of a stroke.

I don't believe that an individual can take an accurate BP on themselves. This is particularly true if one is sitting in a parking lot trying to prove a point ("My BP is low!") in anger.

Writing everything out and sending it to all those people will only provide evidence that you seem to have an anger management issue. I assure you that few, if any, will find anything wrong with what your examiner said or did for you. The anger in your writing is over the top and not particularly warranted for the minor transgressions you report to me. Any writing to others will hurt your case more than help it.

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Jim;

I'm embarrassed because I'm not Google-clever enough to find this out on my own, apparently.

How does one do an IRIS request? I asked for some help on the Straight Talk site http://groups.google.com/group/straight-talk-for-military-veterans  (mine is the Squid Wife question from 12/08/09, my mother the widow is in debt 11K according to VA, waiting on her appeal since May) and the IRIS request is the only thing I don't know how to do. And haven't had luck finding instructions.

Please have mercy on a poor search-engine-weary soul and tell me where to go to learn how. I want to be the squeaky wheel.

Many, many thanks for any help you can offer, and also for all you do for frustrated veterans. You guys are real heroes in my book. ;)

Reply;

I'll tell you but I don't really want to. Please allow me to explain why.

IRIS won't correctly answer your questions about an appeal or anything to do with a case that's in process. The entire Q & A process at VA (The toll free number & IRIS) is very poorly done. Your questions don't go to a Regional Office or to the Debt Management Center, they're routed to a separate facility.

The system of tracking a particular case (or folder or file) is shaky at best. There are tens of thousands of paper folders and cardboard boxes stacked floor to ceiling awaiting attention. Your query will be one of a hundred thousand or so this week demanding to know what's happening with your case.

The individual who will attempt to answer you has scant data available on a computer screen at a "workstation". The screen available is known as VACOLS...Veterans Appeals Control & Locater System.

In the M21-1MR M21-1MR, Part I, Chapter 5, Section K sub 51 we read what is probably the most important information there is to know about VACOLS: "Effective tracking of appeals requires accurate updating of VACOLS each time action is taken on pending appeal cases."

In the early days of computers there was a popular acronym that was used often, "GIGO" or "Garbage In, Garbage Out". If the people who are working with your file aren't completely and accurately updating the VACOLS screen every time an action occurs with your case, the information you receive won't be accurate.

The question that we must ask ourselves then is, "Do I have confidence that the VA employee who last opened my folder has accurately and timely updated the VACOLS record so that it will reflect just what stage of the process my case is at?"

While I do believe that there are many competent and caring employees of the VBA, I'm afraid that my overall confidence in the quality of the work isn't very high. I have to conclude that the data that is available to the IRIS worker isn't either accurate nor is it timely. My experience with both IRIS and the toll free number has been so poor that I urge veterans to never use either system.

I do make one exception; The IRIS system may be helpful for answering a more generalized question. For example, if you seek information about a particular rule or regulation or if you would like forms mailed directly to you, IRIS may be helpful. If you want an answer to a case-specific question, your best route is to write a letter and address it to the RO or Center concerned and post it using certified mail.

Now that I've warned you about IRIS if you insist on proceeding to use it it's pretty simple. Click here http://tinyurl.com/ycmr2cq  to get started.

Take your time to carefully read the entire page before you begin. You'll see that the system asks you for a fair amount of information as you go along so have your case numbers and so on available.

If you follow the instructions you should have no problems and within a couple of days, you too can be misinformed about whatever it is you want to know.

Good luck!



A Google Search Hint

The reader above had no luck Googling up IRIS. That's no surprise...if you ask a search engine for IRIS you'll retrieve a lot of data about pretty flowers and the colored part of your eye. Any time you're searching for information regarding veterans remember to put that word "veterans" or "veteran" into your search field. In this case, if you search for "iris veterans" (without the quotation marks) the very first response by Google will take you directly to the correct VA page to begin your IRIS inquiry.

It's also worth noting that you shouldn't ever use the search term "VA". Using those 2 letters will always clutter your results with a lot of information about the great state of Virginia.

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Jim;

Happy New Year my friend! I hope it is a blessed one for you! How have you been? How is your friend whose been fighting the cancer been? I think of both of you often, with good thoughts always.

I need your wisdom on benefits again. I just received from the Social Security Department my introduction to Medicare. I am assigned Part A and B. I have to tell them if I do not want Part B. I've done a little research on VA Watchdog about this but it still confuses me. I'm 100% Total and Permanent now, so everything I deal with is covered through the VA. I must admit, I do have some frustrations with the VA system, only in that there are some issues, such as diabetes, which I feel I have, I can't seem to get any attention on. It's constantly thrown under the table. I don't want to make a mistake using this Medicare and fowl up my benefits with the VA. What do I do? I see that you have Part B based upon one of your replies. Please help me understand this mess.

Thank you so much Jim for all you do. I really appreciate the love and kindness you give to all of us. I hope all is well with your Harley. I'm still searching for mine. I really want one badly.

Take care my friend! God Bless.

Reply;

Thanks for all the kind words. I always enjoy hearing from friends who have been reading and writing to me for years. We worked through your challenging case together and you received the benefits that you had earned by your honorable military service.

My friend continues his battle with the non-Hodgkins lymphoma that is Agent Orange induced. It's not great news today...he's had his 5th recurrence and is facing another round of chemotherapy and another bone marrow transplant. The good news is that his care at the Charleston, SC VAMC continues to be excellent and aggressive. His attitude is much as it was when he was a Marine engineer in Vietnam...fighting is just a part of the job. I'll let him know you've asked of him.

To have Medicare Part B is simply a matter of wanting to be covered just in case. I've only used it one time and it saved me hundreds of dollars on some elective foot surgery. I would have used VA but my schedule was such that I needed it done NOW so I could get my foot in a motorcycle boot by a certain date.

The VA schedule was all backed up for these purely elective things so I went outside for civilian care.

Otherwise, Part B isn't necessary...it's a sort of luxury I suppose. If you don't think you need it, tell them you decline.

Keep searching, your bike is out there somewhere just waiting for you.

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TOPICS: veterans, veterans' benefits, VA, Department of Veterans' Affairs, Jim Strickland, Veterans' Advocate,