VA is awash in acronyms if you hadn’t noticed. VERA is VAspeak for Visitor Engagement and Reporting Application. This is what transpires after you keep pitching a bitch about why it’s been 218 days since your HLR decision finding a megafailure in the duty to assist, and a new  c&p exam that says you’re charcoal. VBASTPETE317 is the location Andrea ________ works from -translated as Veterans Benefits Administration, St. Petersburg Regional Office Number 317. Now let’s talk about the bullshit.

About ten years ago or so, VA came up with a plan to centralize the delegation of claims to what is known as the National Work Queue or simply the NWQ. No longer would you see the familiar address of your local Fort Fumble emblazoned at the top of your Rating decisions. The NWQ sent the next rating decision determination to the next available Regional Office (RO) to “work”. There, a coach assigned the rating to a lowly VSR. If all was well, s/he wrote it up and submitted it back to the Coach to approve, fix or alter. Of all was well, it returned to the NWQ for assignment to write it up.

Think of a Bingo ball hopper with all the balls swirling in the air inside. When the Bingo caller (the NWQ) is notified a rater is available to work a claim, they pull out a ball (your claim) and send it to the RO to work. If it isn’t ready to rate, they return it to the NWQ for repairs. Somehow this was supposed to speed up the rating process.

Crashed 3/21/1971 near LS 72 killing PIC Ben Franklin and 2 Meo kickers

Eventually, after about 15 tries, the claim again is dispatched by the NWQ to a RO and it is promulgated. The NWQ isn’t a rating entity. Think of it as a clearing house for assignment of claims. Joe Rater raises his hand and signals he’s available. NWQ pulls out the ball with your SSN claim number on it and Bingo (no pun intended)-it is routed to his desk to be worked.

So, after bitching almost nonstop to the 800 Dial-a-Prayer number (800 827-1000)- aka the Booth Bitch or the Prize Redemption Line- eventually somebody from the VERA crew calls you up and feeds you a line of bullshit that defies the imagination. Which is where I found my client Tony yesterday. They called him instead of me…

Check out this ol’ boy’s grease gun.

Attached below is the Post-Game wrap authored by Andrea ____ in the VBMS computer explaining the mystery of what is holding up his claim. This is rich. “His claims are currently with the National Work Queue which is not under the jurisdiction of the Regional Offices.”  Well, yes and no. The NWQ isn’t playing keepaway with Tony’s claims nor are the ROs subservient to the NWQ’s whims about dispensing claims. Actually, it’s quite the opposite. If Johnny rater is unoccupied in VBA 405 White River Junction in New Hampshire, he asks the NWQ for another claim to work. The NWQ is obligated to send him one and they do. There sure as hell ain’t no jurisdictional dispute about who gets to work the claim. The NWQ is the mailman-not a rating authority. Makes you wonder who’s been bullshitting Andrea or else what’s Andrea been smoking?

Redact query

The next sentence after the one highlighted in yellow is an outright lie. I have a large number of Vet clients whom I filed claims for long after 3/31/2023 whose adjudications have all been done and the Vets paid in full. None of them were advanced on the docket out of order or given the rocket docket treatment of decades past. The truth is much simpler. Tony’s claim is for a&a and SMC T.

F Co. 51st Inf. (LRP) Bien Hoa AB 1968

Knowing Tony has a positive c&p exam that says he’s in the same boat as Hogan’s famous Goat, and that c&p says they’ll be forced to grant the SMC T, they’ve decided to escort him over to the Group W (Waiting) bench to set a spell. Why pay Tony now? There’s no rush. Check out the 2680 for a&a. It says Tony would need to be institutionalized if his wife/caregiver divorced him or died suddenly.

Redact 2680

Lastly, VA assigns a “shit or get off the pot” suspense date for raters to work these claims. The NWQ knows when the Bingo date occurs and automatically dispenses the claim again to the next available rater to do it. Tony’s suspense date is 9/07/2023. Seems like VA is running a wee bit behind schedule on their high dollar three-signature claims.

Anyway, this isn’t an anomaly. I went back and looked at all my other SMC claims that had been HLR’d and been declared defective due to duty to assist errors. I clearly see the same pattern. One for R2 has been sitting there ready for decision since August 3. Date of claim? 3/29/2023. Days pending? 220. It’s like déjà vu. I could go on to cite more instances but I’m beginning to think VA is funning my clients and me.

 Maybe them fellers up at the NWQ ran out of money and are just holding onto these until they reload their coffers. Or… maybe it’s that old delay, deny and hope we die- game  before they cut the paper.