VASEC 2016–A RED RYDER CHRISTMAS

Posted on December 20, 2016 by asknod
Pete Hegseth

Pete Hegseth

What do you suppose that feller in the Red Hat will leave under the tree for our 2017 VASEC present? The drum beat at VA is Lying and across the fruited red plains is a solid yes for Pete Hegseth. Okay, I’ll bite. What do we have here? Two Bronze Stars means either he’s Mad Dog Mattis gung ho or they’re getting slack at handing out third place Bronze. As most know, the officers usually get the BS for the same thing you (enlisted) get the Army Commendation Medal for so that is not an eye opener. Again, if they are still adamant that you have to shoot at and be shot back at by members of a true opposing military (not necessarily just a bunch of rebel rousers with AKs), then the Combat Infantryman’s Badge (CIB) he’s wearing is legitimate.

download1You have to be skeptical when Senator Col. Lyndsey Graham (unfortunately related to me), who did 90 days in a Baghdad air-conditioned trailer processing Article 15s and Special Courts Martials got his Bronze Star. It’s a real sore spot among the enlisted and not good for morale. So if you’re a 36-year old former officer and dripping combat medals, we like to do a bio check on you. I hope you understand. Here’s Pete on Leakipedia  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Hegseth. Seems legit. We need more feedback from those with whom he served. That’s usually where we separate the ribbon clerks from the poker players. Hell, My Uncle Jay got two Bronze Stars. One for extreme gallantry taking a Jap machine gun nest (only hit once through the ankle) and one for doing the 67-Klic Bataan Fun Run from Corregidor to Camp Donaldson right after that. You see what I mean about “medal creep ” in the military? That’s like getting the BS for hemorrhoids nowadays.  We like to run them through the “This Ain’t Hell (but you can see it from here)test. The numbers of fakes are huge.  No less than ten million, three hundred thousand claim (2010 census) to have been squeezed into that narrow Indochinese Peninsula between 61-75 that it beggars the DoD’s recollections.

The Argument for Keeping Bob

mcbob-3Let’s set credibility to the side. I accept Pete as is. It’s not like he was flying around in helicopters for NBC claiming they were being shot at. Besides, a CIB gives you a bye on the combat presumption. What else do we have for potential present material that might be considered “battle-tested”? Over twenty different Veterans Service Organizations are content to endure another wishy-washy 4 years with Ronald McDonald. First of all, let’s take a gander at this prospect. We’ve endured two and a half years of Secretary Bob and we just found out they have secret denial lists in Memphis? A guy punches out in Tampa at Bay Pines VAMC and they shovel his carcass into the shower for 9 hours? After three years of discovering these secret waiting lists, they admit they knew this was going on in 2005? This is what we were promised was going to be a thing of the past. Nevertheless, nothing changes or worse, we get the whitewash report and how VA will learn from these mistakes and it will never again happen the same way it did last week.

When you promise to come in and shake things up a la Proctor and Gamble style, Vets expect some fireworks. Big changes, pinpoint air strikes, surgical excision of the stupid and a rapid response that exudes control and understanding. Bonus checks shouldn’t even be part of the vocabulary until your nose is clean for five years- if then.  In that two years and some change, I’ve won a greenhouse. I’ve never seen it. They tell me it’s nice. Secretary Bob fought me tooth and nail to turn it into a 6X6 visqueen tent. I’m not getting that warm, fuzzy ICARE thing I was hoping for.

My fellow Vets are still getting the standard wave-off as if it were 1989. The only difference is back then, before computers, it took a buttload less time to say Denied. Usually 90 days or less. You got your SOC about a month after  you filed the NOD and got a BVA hearing denying you eight months after the VA 1-9 filing. These FDC 125-day gizmos don’t hold a candle to the old-timey 20th Century VA jurisprudence.

The undisputed definition of insanity postulates repeating an experiment over and over in search of a different result. We’ve had RingKnockers, VSO executives, Doctors, JAG attorneys, more RingKnockers, Generals, Corporals, Sergeants and everyone but the Holy Ghost but we have not made any progress streamlining VA other than the dubious distinction of being the absolute dead last Government Agency to go paperless (sort of).

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The merry old Elf himself

Old St. Donald in his bright Red Hat might bring us a genuine flash in the pan with Hegseth. Pete’s young. He’s never succeeded in winning public office and then owing donors something. He will pass the conservative test with his work at FOX News. All in all, I’d call this win-win for everyone. Youth in this business and a strong affinity to what we suffer at the hands of the current VA aristocracy could not possibly serve us worse that what we’ve already endured. Sometimes you have to piss on the fire and call in the dogs. We could search far and wide for a staid politician paralyzed from the neck up to ensure we get the same shoddy treatment. By the same token, we could pick some new blood with a good understanding of who we are-if for no other reason than that he’s one of us.

That’s my vote. No Baked Alaska and no unemployed leftovers from Massachusetts.  Hey, he’s married and a heterosexual so he’s got that going for him. Works for me.

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Posted in All about Veterans, KP Veterans, VA Bonuses, vA news, VA statistics, VAMC Scheduling Coverup, Veterans Law | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

CALL ME BOB–WHO’S WALKING POINT?

Posted on December 17, 2016 by asknod

Vietnam I Corps- July 1968 Near Quang Tri

captureThe most undesirable position an Eleven Bravo was saddled with, besides just being an Eleven Bravo and having to pack that extra 10 lbs of .45 ACP and ammo, was walking point. It was an unwanted honor bestowed on the most educated in the game of cutting trail ahead of your platoon to identify potential risk or the enemy. Having served and survived for over six months gave you immense insight on how your nemesis, Captain Charles, would react in any given situation. You were attuned to broken spider webs, bent branches and flat grass. You could smell them before they spotted you in this game. Unfortunately, this innate, newfound ability made you the prime choice for Point. In this most dangerous pastime until shortly before you FYGMO’d, you had to learn even more to protect the rest. Six Actual, in most cases would take you out of harm’s way sooner- if for no other reason than a desire not to come down with a case of Frag fever himself. Nothing really tended to screw up the morale more than when everyone who was getting short died with less than Twenty five wakeups.

Call me Bob knows this… or does he? Hell, he claims to have Ranger tabs in the Peacetime. Putting those funny red doomoflotchies on your M-16 barreltips and running around Fort Bragg ripping off clips of .223 blanks is great for morale but does it teach you real combat? Maybe this is where you have to separate the ribbon clerks from the Poker Players in this game of VA Secretary. If Bob has Ranger tabs, and I have no reason to believe otherwise, then he should know the value of deploying forward assets for intelligence. As Ronnie said, “Trust…but verify.” So Bob. Where’s your point man? Are you even familiar with the concept?

At the Corner of Delay and Deny, DC- December 2016

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In the news today. FOX 13 in Memphis discovered…

If Brett Baier of FOX News is suddenly blowing bubbles about Memphis Vets having to wait 585 days to see a doctor because they are on some secret electronic wait list that denies them a place on the real electronic wait list, then your Point man in Memphis is blind, inept or just walked into a MSM Punji Pit while texting. Really, Bob? You have been given the power and the glory to run your VAmpire. Your mission is to already know what’s going on in Memphis (or Phoenix) before it becomes news. Your job is to fix it even if you have to write off the Point man- in fact, most especially if you have to write off the point man.  A good commander anticipates problems rather than reacting after the shit hits the fan. In fact, Mad Dog Mattis has one Life Theorem I’ve always adhered to subconsciously- Always have a plan to kill everyone in the room. An adjunct Theorem which usually follows is  –Always have a designated exit strategy.  In VA terms, if the hired help does a face plant of epic proportions, already have a statement prepared for release at 4:29 PM on Friday afternoon of a three-day National Holiday weekend.

When you take over the helm of the USS Vermont Avenue, you have an obligation to trust no one but what you can see yourself or what trusted others (your Point) apprise you of. If you are unsure of what is amiss in Phoenix, the last thing you do is call up your “point woman” Sharon Helman and say

“You’re never going to believe this but some idiot reporter on FOX is saying we have a secret wait list at your VAMC . Surely he’s bullshitting us, right? Tell me this isn’t happening.”

shinsekiWe had this same scenario crop up with Gen. Eric “Chia Pet” Shinseki back in 2013 and it bushwhacked him for pretty much the same reasons. He took his underlings’ word that everything was hunky dory across the fruited VARO plains. Call me Bob was the go-to guy from the Long Grey Line that was hired to fix this. Apparently, just being a General with combat experience wasn’t enough mustard on the hot dog for Eric the Clueless. As Patton once said to no one in particular “Excuses are like assholes-everyone has one and they invariably stink.”

In construction, you trust nothing. Your lead man will always paint a rosy picture that he’s ready for trusses tomorrow morning. You drive out to the job site to discover they haven’t even plumbed and lined it out or put grasshoppers up to plumb the walls. Optimism must always be free of rose-tinted sunglasses. If your agency is in the news every week for stepping on their necktie and killing Vets through ineptitude, you need new point men.

The New Administration

810 Yellow Brick Road NW- January 2017

I think no one wishes the worst for Sec Bob. The devil in the hand is a better choice than an untried dingbat from Alaska or a has-been from Massachusetts. I’m quite sure Pete Hegseth has a lot to recommend him but briefing in a new leader when we have someone capable enough is idiot’s delight. The Bobmeister simply needs to take nothing for granted. This is easily accomplished by stealth. You simply show up unannounced incognito with one or two of your gophers at a VARO and observe the number of RVSRs and Coaches making Starbucks runs to the lobby @ 0905 Hrs. You stroll through the VR&E and have a chat with the troops lined up waiting to see the Man. Talk to the little people. Go down to the local VAMC and watch the sloth, ineptitude and general disdain of the hired help for who they are serving. Or… you use your point for what he was intended. Helloooooooooooooooooooooooooo?

StreetSign 1President-elect Trump, in spite of what numerous others might think, is not going to kowtow to the Senator Johnny from Georgia Show nor blindly listen to the counsel of our current President. He has vowed to shake this program up. If it means firing all the chucklehead GS lifers and AFGE problem children who have created this impasse or having to restructure the Statutes to fire grossly incompetent brain dead SES hierarchy, I suspect that is the path he will take. Announcing the selection of Mad Dog Mattis as SECDEF in spite of the obstacle of getting around his less than seven-year hiatus from Marine Corps duty is an executive shot across the bow of what he intends for America. Rules? We don’ need no stinkin’ rules. We’re going to make America Great Again. If we break a few eggs and egos, so be it. If anything, the delayed pick of someone to lead the most troubled Agency in modern times shows Mr. Trump is giving it great thought. Gary Sinese, anyone?

While I do not necessarily hold out hope for Sec. Bob’s future employment prospects, he’s begun something that is long overdue. Witness the prior two years of his tenure against the littered trail of promises from the last twelve VASECS (thirteen if you count Tony “QTC” Principi twice). Remember good ol’ Jesse Brown? He came to us from the DAV VSO ranks as God’s Gift to Vets. It’s taken twenty years of CAVC and Fed Circus reversals to eradicate what he did to us. Having the blessing of twenty big name VSOs all crowing to keep McDonald as the VASEC is not encouraging on its face either. Absent a good point man, Bob now finds himself  defended by who many of us see as an obstacle to VA Excellence- National VSO hierarchies  who have always presumed to speak for us and protect our inefficient, wasteful VAROs and VAMCs.

Perhaps what we need to reexamine here is what’s wrong and what’s required to make it right. Strictly looking at it from a legal standpoint, I see someone like Bart Stichman as being the man for the job as we no longer have the Mad Dog Mattis option. Maybe we should remerge the VA back into the Defense Department where it was until around World War Two or so. Either that or a voice of sanity like Carol Scott which would also bring the aura of respectability to the office. A constant parade of VSO has-beens, retired Generals and political appointees who are owed a job for simply supporting the winner of the Presidential Olympics has not panned out for Vets to date. The last thing we need are more Jesse Browns or James Peakes in our life. Remember, too, It took 80 years for Caluza v. Brown to surface at the CAVC and unequivocally inform us we needed an IMO to win our claims. It took another seven years (and Congress) to get the VA to incorporate it as the VCAA act.

West Point aside, it seems to matter little what college you attended- if any. Veterans need a Veteran-friendly Secretary who isn’t going to find himself hog tied after investiture and unable to cut the Gordian Knot. Change can sometimes entail boldly going where no Veteran has ever ventured in a new direction-untried and unknown. Hell, even Sarah Palin deserves a shot at it based on this metric. Thirteen attempts with a dude in charge doesn’t seem to have been the winning combo.  Her resumé is devoid of West Point so maybe that’s a plus. Continuing to beat the same dead horse expecting a triple-crown winner doesn’t seem to pan out. I think our new President-in-waiting understands that.

Secretary Bob needs a new PR platform. Reacting to Memphis, Phoenix, Tomah ad nauseum and the continual discovery each week of yet a new and worse VA blunder with no firings on the horizon doesn’t work. You can only play the “I’m looking into it” or “Heads will roll” just so many times with no corresponding followup to lose your audience. Chicken Little discovered that a while back. Secretary Bob’s capital in this respect is dwindling notwithstanding Congress’ attempt to empower him. Face it. Power emanates from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. and nowhere else. Lip service is just passing the buck and waiting for the dust to settle. We’ve lip-whipped this one to death for a century.  It’s time to quit cutting the same VASEC bait and start fishing. That begins by climbing out of the box and examining new options.

I wish Secretary Bob the best. If I had my druthers, I’d hire Allison Hickey if she could be convinced to serve. We can at least say something positive in our lives began under her short tenure as USB. Whoever is hired is going to need shrewd point men who can operate surreptitiously and get good intel that is not masked as political correctness.

And that’s all I’m gonna say about that.

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Posted in All about Veterans, Complaints Department, Food for thought, Future Veterans, General Messages, KP Veterans, VSOs | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

HADIT.COM RADIO SHOW THIS AFTERNOON AT 4 ON THE LEFT COAST.

Posted on December 15, 2016 by asknod

haditlogo2007Once again, we examine the minutiae of the VA and the ever evolving electronic frontier. Or if someone calls in with one of those “What if a Vet had a …. and then he came down with …..but he’d filed in __/__/____ and never appealed. So you could file a CUE on that, right? I love those Clue cards like the candlestick, Professor Plum and the Library. Every Picture Tells a Story, Don’t It?  Jerrel Cook will be my host and John is running a control booth in another state.

Imagine if VA employed our crude assets. They might become efficient and decrease their error rates to less than 12% – all in less than 125 days. With Unicorns frolicking in the fields, too.

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Call in number for this show is:

>> 347-237-4819<<

I have a great email from one CF asking about the new world order of VBMS -how to properly open, or for that matter, reopen- a claim for TBI and who knew what about VAF 21-4138s versus 21-526EZs and when they knew it…

Need Advice about TBI Claim. 2009 filed a claim for TBI, denied due to unqualified physician doing exam. McDonald oks VA to revisit TBI claims. My VSO under the direction of the American legion submits my TBI on a 4138 on 9/21/2016 today 12/15/2016 it was closed because it was not on a 526 EZ. A 526 EZ is used to reopen a claim with new evidence. New evidence does not exist, they are suppose to reexamine my TBI claim from 2009 and offer another examination. What should I do. Is the only option to file a 526 EZ and start all over again. If this is the only way then the VA is manipulating claim times, because they waiting almost 90 days to tell me it was on the wrong form

Thank you

I have another Vet, someone you all know if you have been following me and my representation of him. Butch’s claim is being hammered by a GS-13 five step babe I’ve had a lot of dealings with. Old Cheryll-anne is a standard M-21  brainwashed gal who can’t see outside her VA fish bowl without three more signatures. Fear of failure and the vapors tend to make you a “corporate thinker” who neeeeever goes off the reservation. She’s now a Coach on the Special Operations Lane and has no Christmas cheer. She, too, is demanding this 21-526EZ talisman saying VBASEAT has no authority to “open” a new claim for Butch’s TBI-even though—-eeeeeeven though— we submitted 3.156(c)(1)(i) evidence in with the NOD on the approved 21-0958 that permits reopening de novo the April 1970 claim. What 526EZ? Hello? Go back to the  26-page VAF 21-526 filed at that time (April 1970). Review the C&P exams to discover informal claims secondary to SC injuries. How about the 1970 x rays? [Oops. We forgot] Where’s the required neuro workup by a neurologist to determine the severity of brain damage? [We forgot that, too]

Anyone can see what’s coming. This will give them another two year breather to a DRO hearing/Review.

“We have established service connection for your Traumatic Brain Injury and are awarding 30% for it effective December 14th, 2016 when you filed for it. This is the earliest date shown where you suffered from this illness. We cannot grant your TBI claim back to 1970 because you did not claim TBI in 1970.”

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Lafayette Park, across H street NW from the DVA on a recent April spring morning, 2016.

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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

VA hospital ratings: focus on Hot Springs, SD (a Black Hills campus)

Posted on December 15, 2016 by Laura

Frank emailed information to share here on a hot topic: VA hospital quality ratings. Frank’s advice for dual-eligible veterans –those who have options–is to be very selective about which services to get from the VA and which from private hospitals.  

Reviews and ratings can help decision-making especially when considering the controversial topic of VA-privatization.  Veterans, depending on their residences, are highly divided on privatization (e.g. voucher schemes) yet positive on Choice (non-VA care) closer to home. But they don’t want their best performing hospitals closed down; good options thus removed by VA policies.

Frank spied an interesting promotional comment in a Military Times (MT) pro-McDonald 12/9/16 article (Link). Neil Barrett has created an attractive website, VA Review (Link) where users of VA services can report on their experiences.  It’s a great concept.  But, given that VA staffers may read comments and be offended, posting anonymously is wise.

Another MT comment (12/10) about the impending forced closure of a large VA SD facility illustrates the plight of happier vet-patients .

“…over the pleas of thousands of us who regularly use the facility, against Save the VA recommendations…I will now have a five hour drive, one way, for VA care. Absolute bummer.”

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This is bad news since this hospital is a 5 star facility (VHA’s quality ratings, see below).

The Secretary plans to (Link)–

Reconfigure services by closing the inpatient and nursing home units, the operating rooms and urgent care facilities

These services would then be purchased at Fall River Hospital and other community hospitals closer to Veterans’ homes

Gradually reduce the number of VA employees in Hot Springs; no VA employees will lose their jobs

Build a new Community Based Outpatient Clinic with a dialysis unit either co-located with the Fall River Hospital or the State Veterans Home, or free-standing

Buy pharmacy, laboratory and x-ray services at Fall River Hospital

But private tiny Fall River’s 2010 facility only has 25 acute beds!

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And there is no rating info. on Medicare’s Hospital Compare.   

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Screencapture (12/14/16) Medicare Hospital Compare Tool No rating Click to go to the hospital’s website.

Ben Krause (Link) posted information about USA Today’s articles (Dec. 7 ), Exclusive: Internal documents detail secret VA quality ratings; Scroll to end to use the VA hospital tool search 146 records:  (Link) In the case of Hot Springs VHA campus, we see this:

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This backs up the praises one reads from vets: Mystery in Hot Springs: Veterans are baffled and furious as VA prepares to abandon a medical center that serves three states (Link).

Maybe it is time for  a new operating theater–so build it on the campus!  And these old buildings are expensive to heat. So generate free energy with Tesla’s new solar roof tiles. But as a top VA hospital, who is this not working for?  And why such a hasty push by the Obama administration?  If the veteran population is expected to decrease, open it up ALL veterans in the region regardless of Priority groups?  And why not allow non-VA paying customers in–or at the very least, family members?  Those are called pilot programs.

McDonald’s big idea and big carrot?  He wants to turn two buildings into call centers (120 jobs) to offset job loses.

The USA Today ratings are garnering attention in SD:

Hot Springs VA ranks among highest in ‘secret’ VA ratings (Link).

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Image: Save the VA; Click to FB

Takaway:  If you want to re-purpose a hospital, do it to the one-stars–not the five-stars!

Sen. Thune’s search archive current to December 6 events because Sec. McDonald visited the hospital on November 30th. (Link, and Link).  To email VA leaders in solidarity with the vets:

VABlackHillsFuture@va.gov

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Image: Save the VA

Posted in Complaints Department, Congressional Influence, Food for the soul, Food for thought, Future Veterans, General Messages, Guest authors, non-va care, Uncategorized, VA Conspiracies, VA Health Care, vA news | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Good WHO hepatitis poster

Posted on December 11, 2016 by Laura

JESS#_WHO_WHD16_Wireframes_V2.4The World Health Organization and other non-American public health professionals are far more forthright about hepatitis information. Notice that unsafe injections and medical procedures are emphasized in this work. Of course, most laypeople have no way of knowing if they have been put at risk.  And shouldn’t hepatitis testing of pregnant women be routine?   The language in this infographic is strong, motivational and empowering.  

Poor access to hepatitis tests is also noted.  Although the VA is doing a better job testing the baby boomer birth cohort enrolled in VHA, most veterans get care in the private sector.  And there are VA testing gaps.  It would be excellent if the VA would expand its Walgreen’s flu shot program to include rapid HCV testing.

Posted in Blood info, Complaints Department, Food for thought, Future Veterans, General Messages, Guest authors, hepatitis, medical injections, non-va care, VA Health Care, Vietnam Disease Issues | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Example of how vets are excluded from VA healthcare

Posted on December 9, 2016 by Laura

Imagine the frustration a young self-employed veteran might feel when deciding to enroll in the relatively simple VA health care program, a benefit earned, rather than in an expensive complicated Obamacare marketplace place. He finds the VA’s Benefit Explorer tool (buggy IMO), enters some basic information, and then reads:

“Based on the information you provided, it appears we cannot enroll you in VA Health Care at this time due to your income exceeding the established income thresholds for enrollment. Although you might not be eligible for enrollment at this time, VA strongly encourages you to apply now. This will allow VA to automatically reassess your application information if there is a change to the Public Law or other qualifying criteria is met.”

“Other qualifying criteria?” “Public Law” changes?  The door to confusing VA-Land is shut when he comes knocking.

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Image: PD Pixabay

In this post, I decided to see what a vet might have to pay for private insurance as a painter (Dept. of Labor occupation SOC #47-2141) across several states, if excluded from Priority 7 or 8.  Here are the characteristics I used.  Gender: male; Age 35; Non-smoker; Single; did not serve in any combat zone; takes no medications. He recently injured a knee hiking and it didn’t heal correctly. Now painful, it is interfering with his work.  He anticipates minor outpatient surgery and determines that he needs a GOLD plan.

A  top-notch painter, he earns in the 90th percentile in his state.  I picked these states because they all allow interstate insurance sales. These are my best guess estimates using government data and may not be accurate.

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Fair? In this example, Congress excludes four out of five veterans from VA health care for working hard as a self-employed painting contractor.  If this vet hurts himself on the job, there is no workman’s compensation to back him up.  So the choice is go without and pay the penalty or pay for insurance.  The other choice is not to work so hard or be so honest.  

vet-gold-plan

In Lexington, Kentucky, our hypothetical vet could see one of eight orthopedic surgeons for his knee treatment.   He gets to decide, go VHA or private, because he isn’t allowed to have both.  The Maine and Wyoming veterans will pay high premiums. Neither system makes much sense but the veterans should at least be able to access VA care if he/she chooses–especially for preventative services.   This is why young people are balking at paying these high premiums to for-profit companies; they realize that bronze plans are a bad deal altogether.

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Image: Pixabay

Posted in All about Veterans, Food for thought, General Messages, Guest authors, non-va care, Uncategorized, VA Health Care | Tagged | 4 Comments

VA’S SUBTLE DELAY AND DENY TACTICS-BOLDLY GOING NOWHERE

Posted on December 7, 2016 by asknod

635646931319099161-veterans-administration-logoOver the course of several clients’ claims, I have been forced to “take it up a notch”. One technique is to use homelessness as a tool to invigorate the VARO’s response time on claims. We all know it can be as much as several years trying to extract a Statement of the Case (SOC), certify a claim for appeal (issue the Form 8) or simply get a DRO hearing. All the recent VBMS hoopla about speeding up this process seems to die after that magic 125-day window promised us called the Fully Developed Claims process (FDC).

Even if you present evidence of homelessness or emergent medical situations that are dire health issues, VA often will dissemble and procrastinate without sufficient prodding. I want to share some of the newer ways they do this that are not as apparent as they seem. Most, but not all, are common on appeals so keep your eyes peeled for them

First, if you present new and material evidence of a secondary disease that is directly linked to your current filing in a Notice of Disagreement (NOD), VA may tell you to file it as a new claim. In some cases, this might make sense. However, if you have peripheral neuropathy (PN) of the extremities and already have a claim in for Diabetes Mellitis II, VA is required by law to view your claim from every angle.  This automatically means they should spot any records for the PN and file the PN claim for you. If you included medical records diagnosing you with the PN simultaneously with the claim for the DM II, by law they are required to develop your claim considering the PN and incorporate it as a secondary with no request from you. They can do this without you refiling for it. VA doctors and examiners are well aware of the correlation between PN and DM II. They are trained to do this without any prompting on your part. If they do ask for a separate filing, it is merely a delaying action or unadulterated stupidity. Granted, VA raters are not the sharpest tools in the shed but after a century of doing this, one would think they’ve ironed out all the wrinkles.

Another tried and true technique, and one with some validity, is the NOD with a Clear and Unmistakable Error (CUE) add-on. Let’s say you filed for an increase on the DM II because you are now using insulin and have been for several years. VA usually grants this at 20% if you’re actively using insulin. Knowledgeable Veterans or their legal beagles know that a doctor’s restrictions on diet or exercise will result in the higher 40% rating. If that information was included in the original filing, we can only surmise VA purposefully overlooked it when we open the Big Brown Envelope (BBE in hadit.com parlance) and discover they gave us 20% effective on the date we filed for the increase. This creates a two-year delay in most cases to get the 40% we were legitimately entitled to. Now for the CUE quirk. If you throw in a CUE saying you are legitimately entitled to the 20% (or 40%) a year earlier than your filing for the increase (which you are), VA will divorce the two “contentions” and begin a totally new CUE claim which most definitely will not be part and parcel of the request for the increase. CUE claims are not treated as FDCs so it will be several years in most cases before they mail you the revised decision. Meanwhile they will proceed with the NOD issues in a separate appeal. Idiot’s delight and to your detriment.

Most of us who do VA claims understand that when VA raters have the c-file open, it makes sense to adjudicate any and all contentions and make the most efficient use of their time. We only have one claim in VA’s eyes. It may have different facets but there is still only one legal claims filing. This is why, back in the “olden days”, we filled out the 21-526 one time at the very beginning. VA harvested all our info to include spouses, dependents, active and reserve time, pension viability based on service in war, et cetera. The document was 26 pages long hence the “26” in 526. Any claims after that were done on a VAF 21-4138. Thus, when you filed for the DM II at the outset, you had to provide adequate evidence of the disease and the degree of severity to be granted the claim in the first place. If you had that information present in the original filing and VA purposefully underrated you, it was CUE. Correcting this CUE at the time of the request for an increase to 20% or 40% should not require a separate decision path bifurcated from that request. It merely requires a more nuanced inspection of the file and a simple correction to make it right.

VA will insist they cannot do this but we know differently. When I filed my Extraordinary Writ of Mandamus January 2, 2015, VA managed to “fix” my CUEs (plural) in 45 days and grant me my SMC S all the way back to 1994 as they should have done contemporaneously. They also granted me equitable tolling of my SOC in 2010 to permit it. They also restored the 10% “clawback” for my porphyria cutanea tarda skin condition which they had reduced to 0% in lieu of the 40% grant for phlebotomies. Without going into the minutiae of the decision, the salient teaching moment here is VA can do whatever they want to conversely proportional to  how much pressure is exerted from on high to correct the error right f—–g now (RFN). In my book, 45 days is definitely RFN and clear as well as unmistakable evidence that VA can do anything they want to in as little time as it takes for the OGC to pick up the phone, call the VARO director and tell him to issue the rating- and be quick about it. This is the new tool we were handed by Secretary Bob two years ago.

Another technique, but certainly not the last of their delay and deny tactics to throw sand in the gears, is the worst and one they have only recently discovered when they need more time to fix something horrendous. Butch Long’s claim for an earlier effective date, filed with his NOD this July, prompted this little gem. VA generally sends you the 21-4142 and the 4142a in the preliminary stages if you have not sent in any medical info regarding your filing. This automatically disqualifies you from the FDC expedited process as we know. But what happens when you’ve already sent in every last medical record in existence regarding your condition and diagnosis? What could possibly be the rationale for the raters to ask for more medical records on appeal? Well, folks, look at the VAF 21-4142 below and read what’s in the red circled area.

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Below the primary admonition is the codicil stating VA will not pay for the records. I do not know how many Vets I’ve helped tell me they identified all the records for VA. They assumed VA fetched them. When I get the c-file, nary a record is there which was essential to proving the claim. I guess I don’t need to tell you this is all the more reason never to allow or expect VA will obtain what’s needed to win. In the brave new world of Obamacare, virtually every medical provider is charging for a paperclip-let alone your records. You, by law, are entitled to them for free. Not so VA. VA is not required to tell you they had zero success on fetching said records either. The only way you’ll ever know is to obtain the c-file to discover the problem.

In Butch Long’s case, they know full well they have any and all records, including everything from the local VAMC on him. I can only surmise the reason the Appeals Team sent me the 4142/4142a was a stunt to begin a whole new search for something they know full well doesn’t exist to gain time. In numerous filing of evidence on this claim, any and all records have been submitted and statements to that effect have been included. VA went even further and refused to x ray his left hand for the 2015 C&P- in spite of his filing for it in 1970. In further correspondence, they stated Butch has not supplied them with any evidence he has retained foreign objects from the SFW in the left hand. He clearly stated it in the Court Martial documents which seems to point to gross error-i.e. even more CUE.

What is clear is that VA will resort to any ploy to dawdle and delay the inevitable. Any time VA contacts you or your attorney during the course of the claim or the appeals process, be wary of what they ask for. Be even more wary of what you sign or give them permission to obtain. I have strongly advocated that Vets only give VA that which is pertinent to the claim(s) at hand. There is no need to supply them with your mental health records if you’re filing for DM II or PN. It has no bearing on those claims and could hold up your adjudication for months or years. There certainly is no law against holding back anything that has no identifiable purpose to the claim(s) at hand. I call that VA fishing for detrimental evidence-something they are clearly not permitted to do.

Make it so numbah one.

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Posted in All about Veterans, Duty to Assist, HOMELESS VETERANS, KP Veterans, Tips and Tricks, VA Agents, VBMS Tricks, Veterans Law | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Five stunning active military photographs: a 2016 sampler

Posted on December 7, 2016 by Laura
ask-coast

“Advanced Helicopter Rescue School An aviation survival technician is lowered from an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter during training near the North Head Light in Ilwaco, Wash., Nov. 10, 2016. The training was part of the week-long Advanced Helicopter Rescue School. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Levi Read.

ask-navy

“Sailors stand sea and anchor detail and security watches USS Mahan as they depart Funchal. FUNCHAL, Portugal (Nov. 27, 2016) Sailors stand sea and anchor detail and security watches aboard guided-missile destroyer USS Mahan (DDG 72) as they depart Funchal, Portugal after a brief stop for fuel Nov. 27, 2016. Mahan is in the U.S. 6th fleet area of operations in support of U.S. national security interests in Europe. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Timothy Comerford/Released“

ask-marines

“Strafing Fire A U.S. Marine Corps UH-1Y Venom assigned to Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One engages targets during an urban close air support exercise at Yodaville, Yuma, Arizona, Sept. 30, 2016. The urban close air support exercise was part of Weapons and Tactics Instructor Course (WTI) 1-17, a seven-week training event, hosted by MAWTS-1 cadre, which emphasizes operational integration of the six functions of Marine Corps aviation in support of a Marine Air Ground Task Force. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Danny Gonzalez“

ask-air

“Airman Marquel Marshall and Airman 1st Class Darris Little, both 67th Aircraft Maintenance Unit F-15 Eagle crew chiefs, service a liquid oxygen converter on the flightline Aug. 24, 2016, at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa. Marshal and Little work as swing shift maintainers, ensuring around-the-clock mission readiness of Kadena AB’s F-15s. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Peter Reft)”

ask-army

Air Assault U.S. Army Soldiers conduct rappel training from a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter at Fort Bliss, Texas, Aug. 23, 2016. U.S. Army photo by Abigail Meyer

Click images for more awesome scenes of tomorrow’s veterans at work on  Flickr.

Posted in All about Veterans, Food for the soul, Food for thought, Future Veterans, General Messages, Guest authors, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

FROM THE VET HUMOR FACTORY IN MIDWAY, GEORGIA

Posted on December 6, 2016 by asknod

trademark-va-logo-with-rAs most here know, Vet humor is warped and far-fetched under the best of circumstances. Often, it transgresses into the realm of questionable taste. Our ILP mentor Bruce “Almighty” McCartney (no relation to Paul), sends me this gem that could only ferment in a Vet’s brain. #Blackbirds matter.

 

Once upon a time in Massachusetts…

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Nobody made you keep reading this.

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Posted in Humor, KP Veterans, VA Medical Mysteries Explained | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

More troubles at Tomah VAMC (WI)

Posted on December 5, 2016 by Laura

This time the fear concerns bloodborne pathogens which may have been spread by a dentist with very dirty work habits. The headline from USA Today:  VA dentist resigns after hundreds possibly infected (LINK).

On Tuesday, Victoria Brahm, acting medical director at the center, announced that the VA was in the process of notifying 592 veterans treated by the dentist that they may be infected with hepatitis B, hepatitis C or HIV because he did not follow proper sterilization procedures….Earlier this week, Brahm said that the dentist was using his own equipment, then cleaning it and reusing it, which violates the VA’s regulations that call for the use of sterile and disposable equipment.

Tomah VA Medical Center (WI-link) also provides dental services to active military in the region. (I don’t see an official Tomah press release about this situation yet.)

Other news:

Tomah is kicking Veterans Assistance Foundation (VAF–link), out of its building  because of poor performance, according to a recent press release.

But the biggest news broke after Aaron Glantz wrote Opiates handed out like candy to ‘doped-up’ veterans at Wisconsin VA (Link).

The Senate investigated.  The resulting May 2016 report, over 350-pages long, shows that even the Senate cannot obtain information from the VA.  And how faithful employees tried for years to get the VA OIG to pay attention to their pleas for help.  The information about how the VA OIG Hotline works is interesting reading.  For an overview and link to the report–it’s a large pdf file–Sen. Ron Johnson’s website is worth a visit (link).

tomah VA

Click: The VA “Candyland” report.  Majority Staff Report Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Senator Ron Johnson, Chairman.

The pdf:  thesystemicfailuresandpreventabletragediesatthetomahvamedicalcenter_final

Some readers may think that this VAMC site should just be closed–that it’s unfixable. Based on this report, I believe that it can and must be reformed because there is probably nowhere else for these patients to go.  And why can’t the 173-acre property can be used for long-term subsidized housing?

It’s too bad the charity Tomah partnered with failed, but other groups, properly vetted, could get involved.  It would be good to see a quality group like the Fisher House Foundation provide services.  The more affiliates or “outsiders” involved with VA centers, the less likely they can remain the fiefdoms of corrupt leaders.

Posted in All about Veterans, Food for thought, General Messages, Guest authors, hepatitis, Uncategorized, VA Health Care, vA news | Tagged , | 4 Comments