Something as minor as a land line can have horrible consequences. Stardust Radio tells Richard that their service is down and hence our show. We are tentatively rescheduling for next Sunday at the same time. I apologize for the inconvenience and the late conveyance of the information. We waited ten minutes on the off chance it would get airborne but no dice. The miracle of the internet has an ugly habit of crumping when you lean too heavily on it.
Next week on an Internet near you
After talking about Hugfest, I’ll be talking about the Independent Living Program-one of the best kept secrets VA never told you about. Enacted in 1980 by congress, VA has sought to give it a haircut ever since. They believe this is a frivolous waste of money that could be better spent on true vocational rehab or bonuses for all that hard work. Gee, did anyone consider giving bonuses to Vets for their hard work in overcoming their difficulties or helping other Vets?
As for the VR&E, they have their own MR manual (M28-1) that helps them formulate why you are not entitled to anything meaningful other than cordless tooth brushes, grab bars in tubs/showers and cordless phones for “independence in daily living.” Electric can openers for Hormel’s chili is another big one. Forget that those products will kill you if you dine on them exclusively.
Also helpful to today’s discussion is this post and the NOD I attached in Windows format. This is to allow you to plagiarize it and sub in what you need.
In addition, on the right side of the site down lower are Blogs by subject I have written diatribes on. I don’t like the word blog. It sounds like someone getting ready to hurl chunks. Bleh. Look for Independent Living Program and VR&E categories. These are the meat to get you acquainted with the subject and what I’ll touch on today.
Chapter 8 of the M28-1 is where you find the meat of what you can use. Look at this codicil:
Paragraph f:
f. Independent Living Services and the Rehabilitation Process. The goal of the IL program is not necessarily that the disabled veteran be able to live alone in the community with no supportive services. Rather, the goal is for that individual to have the skills necessary to choose an acceptable life-style and then be able to manage it with as little reliance on others as possible.
The sentence in red is the essence of what you will be arguing in a denial. That and e.
e. Barriers to Independent Living. The goal of an IL program is to increase the veteran’s options, resulting in an improved quality of life. options may be limited by skill deficits or by physical, environmental, or psychological factors. For example, some veterans may be able to overcome certain cognitive limitations through training intended to improve problem-solving.
VA gives us the ability to win this argument. They punch holes in the bottom of their denial boat. The problem? The same old failure to appeal. Appealing is the trick.
Lastly, the VR&E’s ILP adjudications are outside the normal VBA channels and do not take years and years. They usually occur in 3 months or less. Likewise for the NOD and initial de novo review for sufficiency to sustain the denial. These are baked and ready to send off to Vermin Ave. far faster than a claim for compensation. All the more reason to put in the request.
VR&E DM2 ILP medical device or….
A valuable tool for TBI rehabilitation
Rick and I hope to hear from you today.
Time is 1600 L on the west coast. 1700 for the Rocky Mountain high crowd, 1800 for the Flat Earth society and 1900 for the Easties.
LawBob Squarepants passes on this awe-inspiring teaching moment on gun control. I had often wondered about the basic urban grip. Having the modified version not only explained but fully demonstrated shows me I have a long way to go before I perfect even a rudimentary side presentation. Crimson Trace™ would be nice, too. but might result in unintended accuracy.
I’m going to have to practice “throwing” the bullets. I don’t get enough push into my wrist. As the padawan in pink says. “Hey. This is my first day.”
Korean Veteran and member extraordinaire WGM asks that I publish this. So it is with great pride that I humbly take keyboard in hand to make sure that unknown cohort of men and women who served in the Korean Theatre get their due. Often, one theatre or another gets short shrift in a time of war. During Vietnam, many were unaware of the day to day hegemony that occurred along the Korean DMZ. For those on the front lines there, it must have been frustrating to be running around with no bullets in your gun. At the risk of igniting another conflict, soldiers were demilitarized in their own DMZ. This reeks of the same tyranny that ensued at Ft. Hood when the raghead Major went NASDAQ. 10,000 troops but no one could be entrusted with a rifle. Well, no one but civilian “security forces”.
A wonderful parallel would be the Roman generals returning from their campaigns to Gaul, Britannia and Germania. They were forced to leave their arms (and armies) on the far side of the Rubicon River and proceed into Rome without them as a show of peace. This ensured that they weren’t coming in to 86 the Praetorian Guard and take over. America’s military hierarchy seems to have embraced this wholeheartedly- hence the bloodbath at Ft. Hood.
WGM’s email :
WGM, your wish is my command. This is your website. I’m just the clerk typist.
Member Emo has ordered me to be on Stardust Radio Sunday night in Patricia’s place as she is indisposed. I will gladly take the slot and mention her name frequently. I’d like to talk about the upcoming Hugfest and Turkey shoot and devote the rest to the Independent Living Program. This VA program is going to become the hot ticket soon. I’m pushing hard to get a good case through to the Court to set some precedence. I suppose there is the off chance they’ll cave in and give me my gold-plated greenhouse. If they do, that, too, would also help as it will demonstrate the technique is viable.
Hope to hear from you Sunday. We really need to help Patricia get there for the Fest. We all know it’s coming up on the anniversary of Gary’s passing and this has to be a hard time in many ways for her.
Same Bat time-Same Bat channel. Rick and I request the pleasure of you company.
On the subject of Mrs. Clinton’s recent blood clot in her brain …
It’s facepage. What can I do? Unfriend him?
Holy ICARE, Batman. (ICARE= VA’s Core Values: Integrity, Commitment, Advocacy, Respect, Excellence).
I wish to thank my sister site Vet’s Network (not to be confused with Friends of Peggy) and a Vet self-described as “Disabled”for finding this one. What it points out is twofold. First, it is an addendum as in “Oops. We screwed up and need to amend it because it is no longer operational in its original iteration”. Second, because it was issued in August 2012 and tries to go back and explain 2011’s screwups and shortcomings by re-characterizing them, it’s an apology. Perhaps calling it a Strategic Plan to Deflect Criticism would be more appropriate. What could be simpler? The Russians used to call this Revisionist History. Every several years they’d airbrush out all the undesirables from historical photographs and reinvent how it all transpired. They can do that. VA cannot. Re-characterizing the snot on your nose as hair gel rarely works.
The next issue that is becoming even more apparent and more complicated by the minute is this insane desire to assign acronyms to everything. The ICARE above is just the tip of the iceberg. Go to the VAMC and you are now greeted with PACT (Patient Accountability and Compassionate Treatment or some such hooey)-as in we have made a pact with you to deliver service and pretend we care about you. The use of the abbreviations grow faster than Pinocchio’s nose. Soon we’ll need a VA cast of characters to comprehend what used to be ordinary things like Doctor or Nurse. They will morph into MDPs or Medical Delivery Personnel. Flu shots will be SMIAC (Strategic Medical Injections (to) Avoid Contagion. You can get my drift. Weekend warriors of the latest fray in Iraqistan may soon be FNGs (Former National Guardsmen).
This rush to acronyms is nothing more than a bald attempt to make it appear VA is doing something-anything- to fix their problems. STAR reviews by VAOIG. APGs (Agency Priority Goals) to prove they are aware and on it. In fact, the Strategic Plan even has a list of all these at the end of the program to keep us abreast of their obfuscation efforts.
VA has a plan for everything. If they don’t and discover as much, they assign twenty gomers to analyze and write it up. They cut down X number of trees and publish it. Soon everyone is aware of the repair order and it will be classified WGA (Won’t Happen Again). And yes, the inevitable acronym as well. I compare it to firemen in a forest fire rushing from tree to tree putting each one out without regard to the larger conflagration engulfing them. In their minds, the important job is identifying that there actually is a tree on fire and that they have orchestrated the fix. That the raging inferno has not been extinguished is immaterial. The important consideration we and Congress overlook is that there is a plan to fix it that is soon to be implemented. Relax. All in good time. We are simply too impatient and judgmental.
The mantra is “All in good time” (2015) and mo’ acronyms, baby. You may address your concerns and any really catchy acronyms you have to :
I’m sure they just can’t wait to hear from you. OOPS is pronounced exactly as it appears (as in loops). That is an oversight and will be changed as soon as they come up with another catchy new acronym and the money to print their new stationary.
Veterans everywhere would be remiss if they didn’t thank the VA for saving more money. Always one to squeeze the proverbial penny, the VA is at it again. This time they switched from Mapquest to Bing to determine the distance between two points.
After five years, a claim is substantially protected against being reduced. So why not Travel Pay? The distance between my house and American Lake is now being measured like an F-15 flight plan. Cars don’t enjoy this luxury. It suddenly dropped to $17.25 from $27.05 for years. I got fed up and complained but no one ever called me back. Then I got mad. They called and explained that they had been illegally paying me too much but did agree it was truly $21.25. Unfortunately for Vets, there is a $6.00 per head/ per trip “tithe” (deduction from reality) for VA’s bonus fund. Only after four visits in a calendar month do you finally get a bye on it. There is no refund for the lost $18.00. You are simply not dinged $6.00 for any subsequent trips that month. The remuneration rate is still 41.5¢ a mile. At 13 miles to a gallon, I burn 4.84 gallons with $21.25 being offered. This makes no remuneration for wear and tear. Sounds like a govt. program to me.
By taking that $6.00, what VA does is reduce the remuneration below the cost of getting there because gas here in the United Soviet Socialist Republic of Washington is just below Hawaii’s. This I don’t understand. Oil comes from Alaska. Alaska oil is happy oil. The happy oil is refined here. Gas costs $4.00 a gallon. Go to Pennsylvania. Oil comes from Kuwait. Oil is refined in Louisiana. Oil is sold in Pittsburgh for $2.90.
With all the high crimes and Veterans fraud being exposed, the VA should be able to fund the whole US government for a day on what it saves.
Bing! The sound of money leaking out of Vets’ pockets. They should rename it bling.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) is a group that makes recommendations to primary care physicians about preventative care. For example, they grade health screening tests with A , B, C, or D. They recently made a controversial recommendation on the CDCs HCV testing for the birth-cohort. They gave HCV screening for drug users and transfused patients, “B” offer service; they gave screening the birth cohort, a “C”.
Clinicians may provide this service to selected patients depending on individual circumstances. However, for most individuals without signs or symptoms there is likely to be only a small benefit from this service.
The Infectious Diseases Society of America has protested the “C” on their website and in a strong letter.
An estimated 75% of HCV-infected persons in the United States were born between 1945 and 1965 and that cohort has an HCV prevalence (4%) that is more than five-fold higher than persons
born in other years. The prevalence of HCV infection in this birth-cohort is similar to the prevalence among persons with a transfusion before 1992(6%), which is one of the groups for
whom you gave a “B” grade for screening (3-5). Therefore, the magnitude of the overall health benefit is comparable for both populations and both should have the same ranking of “B”.
The military cohort is completely ignored by both Unfortunately, public comments are now closed. HCV testing should be inclusive for all populations who were vaccinated prior to 1992. The millions of jet-gun delivered vaccinations and other unsafe injection practices are the elephants in the rooms.
Note: For HIV however, the USPSTF recommends that everyone ages 15-65 be tested.
UPDATE: 3/19/15 HCV testing is now rated “B” by the USPSTF. (LINK)
The much-vaunted ‘Take us into 2015 and go paperless” Veterans Benefits Management System crashed and burned under a light load in December. Response time for queries or filing acknowledgement sank to new lows as RVSRs howled in frustration. AFGE shop stewards have thrown down the gauntlet and demanded action. “The brothers and sisters are being crucified for no production on claims and they’re getting flak for being the bottleneck in the backlog” said an unnamed AFGE member in the parking lot of the Portland VARO. “You have to understand the pressure we’re under to solve this”. He continued when pressed “I can put in my query and still go get coffee and some cookies out of the machine in the time it takes to pull down info from another VARO. It’s like dial-up in 1994. You feel like you’re in the twilight zone, you know?”
Member LawBob Squarepants sends us this interesting blast from NEXTGOV that apparently raises eyebrows (and hair) everywhere but VA.
I find it revealing that VA is IT-challenged after all the millions Billions thrown at this:
I’m not even going to ask how much money it costs to strip down a brand new Cadillac and prep it for a demolition derby. Now for the pièce de résistance extraordinaire. I laughed so hard I choked on my coconut.
Ooooooohhhh. Purple highlight for blowing bubbles. Lets see if we can follow this. It’s slow. The more VSRs that use it, the slower it goes. If you hook up even more raters to it, presumably it’ll go even more slowly with degraded performance. They knew it six months ago and sat there in Orlando singing CFR karaoke, sipping wine, sampling cheese and watching ice carving. Oh, and the Gen. Patton lookalike for $50 K. I almost forgot him. Gen. Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus fiddled while VBSM burned.
We are living in strange times. VA fears us. Read on.
In 1976, access to VA personnel was phenomenal at Seattle’s Smith Towers. When denied for a VA loan at 25 and single, I marched down with my boss and we sat down with Doug. I didn’t call first. I just decided to go down there. We went up to the sixth floor and got off at VARO #346. The secretary went and fetched him. He was the guy who did loans. Pretty simple, huh? We made a grand bargain. If I got married instead of just cohabitating with Cupcake #1, he would approve it. I called him back at his number several months later and he even remembered me. I brought in a copy of the marriage license and we were good to go. And VA thought they could improve on a system like that.
In 1989, you could still walk in to the Seattle VARO (in the new Jackson Federal Bldg.) on the 11th Floor and meander all over the place. The VSO’s were right across the hall. My VSO rep. and I sashayed in there one day in 1990 without so much as a by your leave. It was one big happy family (and still is in my book). VSOs are waaaaaaay too close to VA folks- like people who marry their first cousins. Yeah. disgusting, huh.
In 1994, the commercial counter look became the norm. No more unsupervised trips down the hallway. Incredibly, after this security upgrade, lost records became more prevalent instead of less. This would be like outlawing assault weapons and discovering there were even more than you ever dreamed of after enacting the ban-and no one was turning them in (the guns-or the records for that matter).
On my last trip in 2011, they had moved the desk downstairs to the ground floor on 1st Avenue and hired ex-NFL linebackers for security. You cannot get to the 11th floor. A representative comes down to talk to you. I went up for the Travel Board Hearing and was escorted to and fro by Mr. Clean in a uniform with a .40 Glock. My walker must have struck fear in their hearts.
LawBob Squarepants’ take? The usual, humorous rejoinder:
Peut-être zee rateurs, monsieur?
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