Blue Water Navy

By Tom Philpott, Special to Stars and Stripes

Pacific edition, Saturday, February 7, 2009

The new secretary of Veterans Affairs, retired Army Gen. Eric K. Shinseki, got a recent tour of the paperwork battlefield on which VA claim adjudicators serve every day. It was a bracing scene -- literally.“You walk into one of our rooms where…decisions are being made about disabilities for veterans [and] see individuals sitting at a desk with stacks of paper that go up half way to the ceiling.

And as they finish one pile, another pile comes in,” Shinseki, former Army chief of staff, told the House Veterans Affairs Committee Feb. 4.“There are 11,100 people doing this…good people, hired to do a rather challenging job in which they are trying to apply judgment to situations that occurred years ago,” Shinseki said. Paperwork, he added, doesn’t draw out “a full appreciation for the context of combat.”

"The army of claim adjudicators is equal in size to the 82nd Airborne Division, Shinseki said. It grew by 4000 in the last two years. Another 1100 will be hired this year to address VA’s claims backlog. It’s “a brute force solution” to a problem best solved with an electronic claim processing system. Information technology, he said, could produce the “timely, accurate, consistent decision-making” that veterans deserve.

“If we don’t…create a paperless process,” Shinseki told lawmakers, “I’ll report a year from now that we hired more people to do this.”Rep. Vic Snyder (D-Ark.) said Shinseki should make another visit soon to one of VA’s file rooms. “It’s almost dangerous,” said Snyder. The rooms “are overwhelmed” with claims. Some individual claims have swelled to “three, four and five volumes.”Ironically, Snyder said, technology might be aggravating the problem.

Veterans who look continuously to strengthen disability claims are making internet searches. Printouts on all aspects of their conditions or diseases are then sent to the VA to be added to case files.“The files will just keep growing,” Snyder said. “We’ve got to get a handle on this whole thing.”Shinseki was warmly received by the committee where he laid out administration priorities for veterans.

Behind him, representatives of various veterans’ service organizations mostly nodded heads in agreement.They didn’t nod, however, when Shinseki declined to endorse a legislative priority for many VSOs this year: a bill to require that VA health budgets be funded a year ahead of normal appropriations. Advocates say this will ensure timely funding of VA hospitals.

They no longer would have to operate on the cheap under a “continuing resolution” because the VA budget got bogged down by a partisan fight...In late January, many VSOs hailed such a bill, the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform Act, reintroduced for 2009 by Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), Senate VA Committee chairman. But Shinseki implied Congress simply needs to act more responsibly on VA appropriation bills.

“My preference would be for a timely budget and I will assure you I’ll do my part,” he said. While Army chief of staff, Shinseki recalled, “I lived with continuing resolutions and I know full well the impact they bring.” If his experience as VA secretary shows health care budgets still can’t get passed on time, then “other options” will be discussed, Shinseki said.

BUYER URGES DIC INCREASE — Rep. Steve Buyer (Ind.), ranking Republican on the committee, asked Shinseki to support an increase in Dependency and Indemnity Compensation.DIC is paid to survivors of members who die on active duty or die of service-related conditions in retirement. DIC hasn’t kept pace with survivor compensation for federal civilian workers, Buyer said.He is preparing a bill that would raise DIC by 12 percent across the board. Basic DIC is now $1154 a month and $286 a month is added for each dependent child under age 18. Another $246 is added if, at time of death, a veteran had been rated as 100-percent disabled for eight years, and had been married during that the same period.

YELLOW RIBBON: SNIPPED OR NOT? — Keith M. Wilson, director of education service for the Veterans Benefits Administration, said comments he made here two weeks ago about the Yellow Ribbon feature of the Post-9/11 GI Bill were premature and not couched in a proper context.Wilson said then that few private colleges likely will participate in Yellow Ribbon offer this fall because school endowments have been hit by the financial crisis.

His prediction of weak interest in Yellow Ribbon was based on unofficial feedback from college officials. He regrets that he made the remarks before regulations are finalized to implement the new GI Bill.Yellow Ribbon participation can’t be judged accurately until schools have all the facts. That would include final implementation rules and knowledge of what state-run schools charge for tuition and fees this fall.

The last bit of information will determine maximum amounts that private schools might want to waive.Under Yellow Ribbon, high-priced schools will volunteer to enter into agreements with VA to waive up to half of tuition and fees in excess of undergraduate charges at the most expensive state-run college. The VA then will reimburse the school for half of any excess cost waived.

Yellow Ribbon matching also can be used at state-run colleges to help veterans who are paying higher out-of-state tuition or the higher cost of graduate-level courses.The National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities took exception to Wilson’s earlier comments, saying many of its 952 member colleges were interested in the Yellow Ribbon program but await final details.

OK now, I am a little bit confussed here. He walks into a room that has volumes of files stacked up on desks and up against the walls, and we all just know that the bulk of these are going to BWN claims that have been accumilating for the past 17 years since someone invented the invisible wall that contained AO and all the Dioxins within Vietnam. I say, "Nice Photo OP".

Now my file has a pretty thick volume to it also, but as I went to my C&P exams this past September, all of the information that was asked and evaluated was in a computer, entered by the shink during the interview and the Doctor also, no paper chase because that is all in my VSO's file cabinet. So if they are entering this info in the computer, and when you call the VA and ask them questions, it is all right there, so the files must just be taking up space until they can be archived and preserved for the historical society.

They must have just used one of the larger Regional office to make a nice impression. The facts remain if they would quit trying to find ways to deny claims and force people to re-file NOD's and more info and use a common sense approach to a veteran that has no reason to lie about him or her being sick, and the VA hospitol is his or her primary provider, just seems that most of the problems lay within the VA itself and have cretated the problem for themselves, in all, just sounds like JOB SECURITY.

Later, Ken

It looks to me that the VA caused the problem. If you have a claim you have to keep adding BS to your file to support that claim. The DVA could find out all the pertinent information that they need to ajudicate a claim if they wanted to; they know what they need and they have the resources. However, they don't do that, so they force the Veteran to send them all sorts of supporting data that may or may not be usefull. And the hamster wheel keeps going round and round.

As far as Gen. Shinseki goes, I fear that he is just another politician who will try to BS his way out of the problems that we face. These lookie here what we are doing for the Vets photo ops won't get it done. Hiring a ton of people whose jobs will be done away with when the paperwork is all resolved won't get it done...like Ken said job security. Building more rural medical clinics is a bust. The only thing that is going to fix the DVA is to tear it down and start all over and take it out of the control of the executive branch of the government. As long as it is controled by politicians all we are going to get is politics.
Congress, pass legislation guaranteeing that BWN and TLC Veterans the same AO presumption that in-country Vietnam vets have been afforded by the DVA and make them abide by it.

"Congress, pass legislation guaranteeing that BWN and TLC Veterans the same AO presumption that in-country Vietnam vets have been afforded by the DVA and make them abide by it." Daveironbear

Amen Brother! The Courts, the Lawyers, phooey. This is the only viable answer.
Frank

Technology the problem????? Maybe we should stop confusing the VA with facts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Give me a break!

Well if they would read the information they ask for and really examine the facts then they wouldn't get all this "technology information we have to look up on the internet" and create volumonous folders. Also if the Deck logs were transcribed and available for the VA to use- it would be a huge favor. MY problem is these agencies don't talk to each other. The VA uses its own criteria for disease rather than the ones medical professionals use. The VA uses deck logs for toilet paper, Buddy Statements for floss and pictures for cupholders. Each RO has different standards for claim approval, each claim is based on its own merit-regarless that other shipmates are approved and sick with the same diseases you have. Each RO is undermaned and overwhelmed???? SO WHAT?? I am undermaned, overwhelmed and sure as hell don't get as much pay as they do nor the benefits they are entitled to.. I don't feel sorry for them and I don't think more pencil pushers or technology is going to help the situation. Only until the VA is put out of the "Big Boys Club" and a new crew is put in..we are up S&^T creek without the proverbrial paddle. ANd I say there are some really huge piles of S*&:|T in that creek!

Marcie, this is all a sick joke; just another excuse and Shinseki is the jokester. Lets bring the DVA into the 21st century. Oh lets help the vets, lets build some more rural health care facilities with many computers instead of putting their files in a secure computer database and issuing a smart card where they could get treatment at a civilian facility. That's the kind of ehelp that Veterans need from the DVA. What do we get; just business as usual.
How in the hell is the average Veteran going to be able e-send the mooore info documentation like civilian medical records, Deck Logs and all of the rest of the BS that the VA says it needs to adjudicate a claim??? Business as usual.Maybe they can blow part of their stimulus scam on E-enhancing the VA.
They can't do anything for Blue Water, and TLC Veterans but the people pushing the stimulus scam want to spend One Billion Dollars for infrastructure improvements in Prichard, Alabama. That's like putting a $ 25,000 stereo system in a eight hundred Dollar car. The inmates are in charge of the asylum. Oh well, this is the CHANGE we were promised.

Looks to me like Shinseki is backing water so hard he's about to give himself an enema.

Yep,
More of the same. If they make all of these wonderous changes and you finally get to go for your physical you get to see a doctor who can barely speak English.
Does this Doctor??? understand what is is that you are telling him?? Well Mr Veteran we don't believe that your heart problem is caused by your High blood pressure. I guess not, who knows what this contract idiot knows or understands. So, lets just send them all of the medical records from all your cardiologists and all of the hospital records pertaining to the medical condition. Then we need to send them all of your medical records from your family doctor too. Gee, Gen. Shinseki I wonder why this stuff keeps piling up ; technology ain't the problem. The DVA is the problem .

If the General and the Congresspersons want to know what the real problems are, they need to get out of the VA and on the street and talk to the people that the VA is serving and ask what problems they are having. The VA will only tell them what will make their jobs easier, not what will make the process better.

It is going to take a lot of changes by the General to make me believe that the VA claims department is going to be a Veteran Friendly place. I see to much animosity directed toward veterans who are applying for disability compensation. There seems to be an attitude of trying to prove the Veteran is wrong and is just trying to cheat the VA into paying them something.

I still believe that because the General has spent in entire adult life protecting the ways and actions of the Government, he will continue that process. I hear people say that he will help the veterans because he is a veteran. Maybe not so true, because most of he people that work for the VA are veteran themselves and therefore, in most cases, they believe that is is their duty to fulfill the wishes of the upper-command and not put the veterans needs first.

There is one thought that always come to my mind when I deal with some of these claims personnel. It comes for my law-enforcement background, you have to think like a thief to catch a thief. Well, some of these claims personnel seems to think that everyone is trying to get something for nothing, I wonder if they think that way because they are or have been trying to get something for nothing and therefore they think that everyone must be just like them.

Ok enough of my ramblings, I need to go eat another finger sandwich, going to try PBJ this time. I just hope the jelly doesn't fall off my finger before I get into the Peanut Butter jar. Wife gets mad when I get the jelly on the floor. , sticks to her barefeet, ya know!!!!