Hickey arranging her hair before
FDD roll out announcement

 Today,VA Under Secretary for Undeserved Benefits Allison “In Wonderland” Hickey announced a new, exciting concept in VA claims intended to “wipe out the backlog as we know it”. Called the Fully Developed Denial, the expedited process will allow Veterans to advance through the complicated claims process much faster. Veterans Service Organizations representatives from all the major groups welcomed her proposal with loud applause. Hickey also suggested this may be the panacea to VA’s salvation and the continued preservation of their good name.

Said Hickey: “The Department is committed to eliminating the backlog as promised by 2015. Towards that end, we are rolling out yet another initiative to ensure this will happen. Starting in January of 2014, we will be proud to introduce the Fully Developed Denial. The beauty of this is that Veterans will be able to “opt out” of the Regional Offices entirely and proceed directly to appeal. Much like it’s big brother, the Fully Developed Claim, or FDC as we call it, the FDD permits the Veteran to sign away all his legal rights to an adjudication at the local level and proceed directly to appeal in Washington at the Board of Veterans Appeals.  Obviously,  it will permit a much more speedy deniah-decision by a Veterans Law Judge instead of a long, protracted delay at his or her local office. Each Veteran who signs up will be legally entitled to, and indeed, can expect to receive a rapid resolution to their claims- often in less than three years.”

VA officials assured us that the benefit of the doubt will be paramount in these cases and Veterans “will be getting everything that is coming to them” according to one anonymous VA source who begged not to be named.

VA insists the long and the short of this is so elementary that even a cave man can do it. Veterans will fill out a simple twenty six-page VA form wherein they admit their claims have no merit. Concurrently, they will file their NOD citing why they feel the denial is appropriate and any mitigating excuses as to why they think they are entitled to the benefit sought. Specially trained Acting Veterans Law Judges with limited experience will then carefully examine the contentions and issue an appropriate decision based strictly on the standard whim of the moment. In order to prevent a backlog from accruing at the Court of Veterans Appeals, FDD claimants will agree in advance to sign a waiver of appeal to the higher tribunal.

Hickey was positively ebullient about the prospects for “cleaning house” as she described it after she thought the microphone was dead. She insisted later that the comment about “brain-dead Vets” and the “PTSD-109” crowd were taken entirely out of context. “We respect Veterans at the DVA regardless of what Congressman Miller says. Our mission is to deliver benefits to those who have earned them. Just because 85% fail to demonstrate an entitlement doesn’t mean they aren’t out there. We remain committed to identifying them and remunerating them to the full extent warranted whenever possible. Towards that end, we feel the FDD will give them a larger voice much sooner. After all, this is what Veterans Service Organizations continue to stress as their main bone of contention -the interminable wait. The FDD addresses this concern sooner rather than later.”

To learn more about this new program and how you can sign up, go to uluz.va.gov and click on VA’s New Initiatives. Alternatively, you can contact the Prize Redemption Center at VA’s toll free number (800-827-1000) and talk directly to a trained FDD Navigator. Participation in the program will be voluntary and strictly limited to the first fifty million callers. The FDD will soon be available for e-filing on eBenefits as well. Bon chance, fellow Vets!