When I worked at the BVA, we first started with 20 cases a week we had to develop. It then went to 25 cases a week. It didn’t matter if the case was an inch thick or filled up 20 bankers boxes of documentation.

Unless the DVA is going to spend more money hiring VSR’s and spend more money training them and pay them more, your going to constantly have delays and lower ratings.

They gring these people in as GS 7′s. These people are under a whole bunch of stress. They have to know all the reg’s, anatomy and medical terms and just a few mistakes and they can be fired or denied a promotion or even a step increase pay raise. Most people can not handle the pressure and there is the rub.

If the DVA hired 1000 individuals nation wide tomorrow, after three years of training, less than 200 would be working for the government. And yet the training by the government is inconsistant. Some reps get a combination of class and OJT and other get more OJT and less class. The DVA needs to set up a school were they send all their new reps to once to twice a year for a three year period. They also need to send out about 100 test cases to all the RO’s to see how the cases are adjudicated, then go to each RO and retrain the VSR’s to the standard they expected the cases should have been adjudicated to. First the DVA needs the money to do so.

You can not expect to have claims adjudicated in a timely manner with poorly trained adjudicators that are overwhelmed with work. We as the Veterans, when we complain about the speed, we forget to complain about the quality. If we don’t complain about both, we will continue to have a high appeals rate.

I wish that our VA Claims adjudication system as you witness it was like our U.S. Citizenship Application adjudication process. The comparison would be that American Veterans (both citizens and legal immigrants) get the shaft in the rush to NOT PAY, that in fact was the nature of my complaint with the VA/OIG, but you of all people know how that will go. But I’m trying.

I also was a lower level VA Claims examiner back in the day under Max Cleland, in fact I believe Brother Cleland and myself were among the minority within a minority of Vets working for the VA at that time. Of course all the high level positions were filled by WWII Era Vets.

Anyway, very little has change since the Vietnam War, the VA Claims process is just as bulky and unweildy as ever. I also can relate when you say that as the pressure builds adjudicators are pressured to rush cases with either an emphasis on denials or emphasis on getting as many Vets approved as possible until the outside ferver dies down.

That is how I compare the Justice Department’s U.S. Citizenship examination process under Bill Clinton, especially in California. I was a Immigration Service mid-level adjudicator. In fact, the VA had hired us as two year temporaries in order to deal with the back log of American citizen applications. That system too became politicized.

Adjudicators were handling anywhere from 20 to 30 case a day, pressure was on us to do American citizenship interviews in 15 minutes and make a decision in that time, heck we ended up continuing most applications for either no fingerprints, no FBI background check or anything that didn’t complete the application. We ended up with a greater backlog then when our contracts expired as President Clinton left office. I can only assume that since not too many newly made American citizens were voting Republican in California at the time that the Bush Administration not only gave little but lip service to the Immigration Service and U.S. citizenship, but shifted from selling American citizenship for VOTES to a carrot for military recruitment. Now, many of same legal immigrants who enlisted but failed to get their citizenship are being asked to leave. That at least is the feedback we are getting from progressive Veterans activists in the Southwestern states.

Once the Hispanic troops in Iraq and Afghanistan get wind to that be it true, half truth or whatever, we will face a similar situation as when Black troops refused to fight in Vietnam or march on Black neighborhoods during the Sixties – you watch.

Someone should be able to come in and interview the lower level claims processors in complete confidentiality and you will find out a lot.

Appeals…like asking satan for ice cream. g [End Quote]
Gordan,

Just told the wife this morning that the best motivational speakers are those with a sense of humor, can poke fun at the socio-economic-political-cultural obsurdities of our nation, especially national leaders and instead of turning people off MAKE THEM THINK. Even those of us who last that basic key to survival. Meaning I count myself among those who once upon a time didn’t know how to think for myself.

Like asking Satan for Ice Cream, now that’s a fitting analogy.

[Quote] I am an IU totally disabled veteran and my appeals process was an almost eight year nightmare.  I have never seen so many roadblocks thrown up in front of an individual as I saw then.  I honestly believe that the D.V.A. has mid level and upper level management direction which specifically tells the lower level adjusters to hold down the money outflow.  The only way to do that is to deliever low quality service to disabled veterans en masse. I truly believe this. [End Quote].

Tom,
You can stop honestly believing Bro, that infers you are not sure but…It would be more approprate to say, because that was the basis of my complaint to the VA Inspector General and General Shinseki’s office that they bought. In sum, I complained that, "Mid level and Upper level management (not necessarily in that order) direct lower level adjusters and even VA physcians at hospitals to cut corners in adjudication of Veterans Claims or treatment at medical facilities – with holding professional information comes to mind, with the objective of COST SAVINGS over VETERANS care."

You can now say there is documented proof that this is TRUE, and still is under the Obama Administration, because (1) Secretary Shiseki is not God, he can’t be everywhere, and (2) Shinseki has failed to do the key thing required to at least temporarily clean house at the VA. That is replace upper, and middle management and call for an impartial survey and investigation of the entire VA system by as best can be decided neutral party, I frankly do not consider the Department of Veterans Affairs Inspector General as a neutral party, they may assign an inspection case number, but that’s about as far as they are going to go. In fact, at any time in the so-called investigative process they can legally ignore the Veteran, Veterans Group, or Class Action Law Suit that filed the original complaint. Not only that but it would be dumb to serious believe the VA/IG is going to go out of their way to make the VA look bad the TRUTH be damned.

The documented evidence that what you say is true Tom, not an assumption is just point at (1) what really motivated the theft of VA databases containing OUR personal data that the VA is now paying thousands to claimants of identify theft (true or not) that could be going toward Veterans medical care and adjudicaton that no shit gives the Veteran the benefit of the doubt instead of a SHAM (well SHAME). (2) The shredding or intentional trashing to Veterans claims or related paperwork at several Regional offices across the nation, and these being only those that were caught in the act, (3) The notorious VA MEMO on PTSD directing adjudicators and VA medical personnel to downplay or deny PTSD or any mental condition that could potentially lead to compensation. Where do you think the Army got the idea to pull the "Personality Disorder" card from, the VA of course. For those of us who’ve been careerist, especially if we worked at the Pentagon, the last thing on our mind was the VA. For the Army to know that an Army Shrink or underling giving a diagnosis of ‘personality disorder’ would end a career or restrict access to VA benefits, and keep Troops burned out from endless deployments from getting VA compensation, the Army had to be told that by the VA. One only need connect the dots to see that Pentagon/VA coordination and cooperation can have both GOOD and BAD impact on VETERANS. How, the VA sees it’s main mission as COST SAVINGS – which the collective we must put pressure on Congress to no shit CHANGE, the main role of the Army, and Marines is to keep troops in combat period – the main emphasis of all the services is on keeping military members in a career. Once a military member decides to not make the Armed Services a career WE are of little use to the Pentagon and will be treated as such.

Hell, organizations like the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA), the Military Coalition (TMC), and the various enlisted organizations (Marine Corps League comes to mind) would not be in business nor really needed if military retirees haven’t been traditonally screwed by both the Pentagon and Congress in the name of (no not God) COST SAVINGS which to these folks saving other people’s money to waste on other things is a religion.

I truly believe this. 

CWO3 Tom Barnes, USCG (Ret.)

Appeals…like asking satan for ice cream.

 g