We have all heard the VA boast of its 80-90 % VARO “correct decision” rate. While most of us realized this is just another manipulation of the numbers, I think ask nod readers deserve to know why there is a discrepency between the VAOIG rates and those reported by the VA. Bergmann & Moore, a noted Veterans lawyer firm has this to say.
The VARO’s take the number of claims appealed by the Veteran, and divides them by the number of claims processed to arrive at the “error rate”.
This makes the assumption that a Veteran, never trained in VA procedures or appealate review, knows more about claims than Regional Office Management. After all, it is the Veteran who must initiate appellate review at the RO level. If the Vet does not appeal, the decision becomes “final” in one year, and is “assumed” to be correct.
However, there are many more reasons why a Veteran does not appeal. He may be too sick, dying, or even deceased. He may be homeless and have no phone or address to put on his form. He may not have even received the decision, as mailmen do not deliver mail to 1234 “under the bridge” Homelesstown, USA. 60609
Still more are advised by their Veteran Service Officer NOT to appeal. After all, appeal courts are overburdened also, and won’t they be helping a fellow Vet out by just accepting the RO decision..even if its in error 53% of the time, as this article states? My VSO said I should be happy with my “service connection” at 0%, because I can always “ask for an increase”, that is, after a trip to Washington DC at the Board of Appeals where my denial for Service connection was reversed.
A better way (though it does paint a less rosey picture of the VA Regional Offices) to calculate the error rate would be to see how many of the cases which are appealed are awarded or remanded. You see, even a remand means there was at least some type of error in the decision. If you do this, as in the BVA chairman’s report, on page 22, you will see that 42.4 % were remanded, 26.9% allowed and just 28.1% were denied. This means the RO decision was “correct” 28.1 percent of the time. Still more Vets will be awarded benefits at the CAVC or Federal Circuit levels, and some Vets with claim errors at the RO level were “fixed” by a DRO review so the “correct” rate is actually less than 28.1 percent.
According to this VAOIG report, the VA overstates the timeliness of mental health care. Could the VA possibly be overstating their error rate too?
asknod
Bethanie Spangenberg
kcraveiro
robinhoodesqvetsatty
Wesley McCauley
Veterans Claims Help 
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I know a couple of veterans that worked thirty years then retired.then filed a service connected disability claim and now draw 100%.although they both had tours in Vietnam they never saw any action or fired a weapon.one was bartender at the 22 replacement center the other two worked in Saigon,one in supply and one as an electrican. Is that FAIR. The whole va. system needs a complete overhaul.Thats not going to happen.
Outrageous. My father is a Veteran and while in the military went back to school to become a lawyer and specialize in Veterans law and disability appeals. It is appalling how many claims the VA denies, and they count on Veterans not appealing. Many can’t even function because of service related disabilities, so income is an issue, mental health becomes an issue and drug and substance abuse becomes an issue. At least if they had adequate disability benefits the money issue would be lessened, quality of life would be improved and the Veteran more likely to get medical help to treat the PTSD as an underlying cause and potentially other service related injuries. The VA needs and overhaul and Veterans need advocates outside of the VA when it comes to disability benefits.
Lori: There is “adequate” compensation between 100% SSI and 100% SC disabled. It is the road getting there that is causing the frustration.
Additionally there are agencies such as AmVets, VFW and others who do provide assistance. Again you/the agencies are forced down the same slippery slope. There is also the option of obtaining legal assistance but the % owed after winning your case, if it happens, runs around 22% but I guess if you need to delete a great deal of stress it is then worth the costs.
Great subject JAV, keep up the good work….you are fighting the good fight! Look at VOIGs track record within the last two years very carefully. They are good at proclaiming to Congress how much they are needed and tout for their very own existence. However when the rubber meets the road, we see a junkyard dog that only barks for the owner and has no teeth to bite with. We Vets need some bloodhounds to pick up the scent and run with it! Glad to see that lawfirm on the trail of VAOIG.
Last winter I was homeless, very ill and dying actually. It’s true when you are spending your entire existence just trying to stay warm, put food in the belly and survive your illnesses, really just to stay alive, that nothing else matters as much. If you have no money for gas in your car then you are not going anywhere to do anything. Add in the fray that a person is too mal-nourished, too weak and too sick to do much of anything let alone think logically. I got to the point that a nice long sleep in the cold was becoming a welcome thought, however my dog would have none of that and saved my life. Pain and suffering does things to a person’s mind who is mentally healthy otherwise.
It’s very true that a phone and address is important to a homeless Vet. My solution was a tracphone. Also try to get someone to let you use their address. If the VA happens to think that you may be going homeless soon, they will come up with all kinds of excuses to delay or deny your claim. If a Vet changes their address too often (like more than once in two years) your claim decisions will hop around the countryside until you get them, if at all. Even if you think you have properly changed your address, the RO will find a way to screw that up, you can count on it. It’s like the entire organization is anti-vet and exists only under total error. If you go to the VA homeless social worker, the VARO will know and use your dire situation against you any which way they can.
To give you an example: I kept sending letters demanding that the VA give me a C+P exam (for over a year) to assist me in determining the etiology of my HCV. I couldn’t afford to see a private doctor to get a nexus letter since I had not had Healthcare insurance for about a year. After filing my NOD I received a “get lost” decision letter from the VARO, stating that I didn’t bother to show for the C+P exam and I gave no reason for missing the exam. They would have gotten away with it, however I happen to know who the scheduler is for the C+P exams. Peggy told me that the VARO had not even requested a C+P exam for the HCV. An hour later I showed up at the Regional Office with a form-9 and when I handed the paperwork off, I shook my finger and told them they had never requested the exam and I can prove it!
They also know how often (and they keep track of it) you login to ebenefits. My suggestion is to get the premium account. Login often just to login. Look at your appointment schedule (won’t be accurate, if it is available at all) but do visit the schedule as they keep track of what you do on ebenefits. Call often for your schedule of appointments also. They can schedule appointments for you at a whim without your knowledge of them. They have also sent me medications in the mail that I do not need like 50 dollar bottles of vitamins. Give them no trust because they are like a thief in the night. They do not want to deal with you and they will try to push you away with every opportunity!
Glad to hear you are finding your way back and it sounds like a long lonely road but just remember we are never truely alone. Even if Vets need to contact via the internet in your pulic library there is a connection.
I had my trusty wireless laptop so I could go other places to get free wireless. A library card is good to have. It is still difficult to communicate though because you have to be somewhere. Just that when you are homeless you need to stay on the move because most people are afraid that you will over stay your welcome so they don’t want you to hang around very long. It is lonely because most people can’t (won’t) understand how a normal person could get into that situation. Even family and friends turn you away because they don’t want their quality of life to take a hit. For most people it just doesn’t compute how a disabled person cannot function normally. Mr NOD has really helped me keep my self respect and dignity. Most needy people just want encouragement, thoughts and prayers, not a handout. 🙂
I truly believe that God gave me my dog to save me, and keep me going. Thanks for your thoughts….take care and God bless! 🙂
Do Not, under any circumstances, allow them to brush you off as though you do not matter. Your fight is two fold; Justice for your illnesses and hopefully an end to the madness within the system which would love to see us all just go away. I will continue to file as many NODs and stay put to fight the good fight. This is not the ideology of, “I’m going to get mine” but rather I served and now I am sick because of someone elses carelessness. Once I reach the summit of what I seek I can rest comfortably knowing that when the interrment takes place my family will be taken care of and NOT have to fight for benefits.
Well said.