Why the VA sucks.

[lonegunman762x51]

I retired from the national guard in 2009 after 2.5 decades of combined fun and filed a VA claim.

It took four months for them to accept the claim for processing and four years to get it screwed up enough that I filed an Appeal. That was five months ago.

Today they sent this gem of a notice;


"The processing of Notice of Disagreements averages about 520 days. The length of time it takes to process your NOD depends on the specifics of your case and VA’s pending workload.

Thank you for contacting us. If you have questions or need additional help with the information in our reply, please respond to this message or see our other contact information below."




This process will have taken SIX years from start to finish. Thus far every single thing they have sent has had to be appealed, corrected or adjusted because they did not follow their own regulations or guidence in the decision.

[ebeeby]

This is why the VA should be abolished and all vets issued cards to use at the hospital of their choosing.

Remember - this is the same outfit that runs the IRS, SS administration, etc

[SMOKEY]

Anything run by the government is a joke. It takes so long because the people who work for the various departments know they cannot get fired, especially if you can holler racism. So why work when you do not have to.

[TomSudz]

HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAAAAAA!!! WAIT! WAIT! WAIT!! You honestly think it will only take SIX years?!? HEH-HEH-HA(snort)!! I turned the bottom two disks in my spine into powder when I slammed back first into a hummer turret (the hummer having come to a sudden unexpected stop) in Iraq in (drum roll please) 2006. I filed on return and they got around to seeing me 6 months later. The wonderful VA then told me my problem was a sacro-lumbar strain and we were off to the races. Learn one thing-- the VA rules favor the government, not the veteran. The providers are good people who want to help, but the bean counters make the rules. The easiest way to explain the VA system is to point out that veterans have to get lawyers to help them get benefits from the organization that supposedly exists to help veterans. Good luck to you and remember- you will only eventually get what you're due if you keep fighting them. They save a LOT of money by forcing us to fight for what's rightfully ours because enough people get sick of it and stop fighting.

[Hal O'Peridol]

HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAAAAAA!!! WAIT! WAIT! WAIT!! You honestly think it will only take SIX years?!? HEH-HEH-HA(snort)!! I turned the bottom two disks in my spine into powder when I slammed back first into a hummer turret (the hummer having come to a sudden unexpected stop) in Iraq in (drum roll please) 2006. I filed on return and they got around to seeing me 6 months later. The wonderful VA then told me my problem was a sacro-lumbar strain and we were off to the races. Learn one thing-- the VA rules favor the government, not the veteran. The providers are good people who want to help, but the bean counters make the rules. The easiest way to explain the VA system is to point out that veterans have to get lawyers to help them get benefits from the organization that supposedly exists to help veterans. Good luck to you and remember- you will only eventually get what you're due if you keep fighting them. They save a LOT of money by forcing us to fight for what's rightfully ours because enough people get sick of it and stop fighting.

2006????? Try 1994! That's when I put my first VA claim in for Gulf War Syndrome. And all those years told it was all in my head. Now finally getting some headway. And what I have been suffering through all these years was finally deemed a presumptive illness. There were too damn many of us with the same problem for it to be "all in our heads".

[lonegunman762x51]

Damn,,,,,,,,,,,horror stories abound. I have one buddy who has a back injury that has left him nearly wheelchair bound. They offered him 30% for it and the drunkard doc they sent him to said he didn't see anything wrong with a guy who hobbles, trembles and cannot sit for more than a few minutes without terrible pain.


Obamacare will run from this lovely model and within a few years everyone should be dead by about 65.

[Weasel]

The older your are the slower they are.

[joem]

My experience with the VA has been quite different from those listed here. I have always been treated with the utmost respect and what I consider quality care. Yes, there is a ton of paperwork required but that is just a function of government. The VA centers are crowded because so many served our country. I don't know how much they pay these folks that work there but all in all most try to do the best they can for the vets under their care.:icon_salut:

[Michaelp]

44 years with the VA and no real problems. 70% for wounds and other stuff.
Overall great care and responses. It ain't MAYO, but it's not supposed to be.
I know some guys have trouble with claims and issues not exactly service connected.
Good friend lost a good job and health about 1994 or 95 due to Gulf Syndrome.
She got 100%. She was very sick and died of it after a few bad yeas.

[lonegunman762x51]

That must be it,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,26 years and 9 months of service and none of the injuries are "service connected".

I'm sure this last event was just a strange fluke in their record of perfection.

It took 3 business days of trying to get an actual person on their 800 number. I had one question. The VA sent me a letter saying they (the VA) would contact me before the next scheduled event to confirm my information. Fast forward four months to the week before the big event and I have heard nothing from the VA. Well the helpful lady on the phone said, "we do not contact you, it is YOUR responsibility to contact us and I don't know why you would think that." "You must be reading it wrong." "What are you looking at?"

I ask her to read the last sentence of page three of the letter. She has the same letter in front of her. Big ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,long ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,pause,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,as she reads the sentence before the last sentence and pretends the last sentence does not exist. I ask her to read the LAST sentence,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,the one after the one she just read. Big,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,long,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,pause,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,she finally says, "I don't know why it say that." "We don't do that and you need to call us yourself".

Then after another,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,longggggggggggggggggggg gggg,pause. She realizes I am on the phone and we can take care of it now. SIGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,"okay I guess I can help you with that."

Three days,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,12 tries including three call backs. They disconnected me after 15 minutes the first two call backs.

All to answer one question and do three minutes of updates via phone. Smoooooooooth as silk.

[RED]

Sometimes the VA really sucks but other times they can be outstanding. Several years ago I banged my knee on a trailer hitch. The knee swelled up and became extremely painful to the extent I could only walk with crutches. The VA did Xrays and after a 1 week they told me it was just a bruise and issued me some pain pills. A month goes by and I go in for a recheck, same story, no new Xrays, just go home and man up.

Another month goes by and I went to a civilian Orthopedic Surgeon. They took an Xray and the surgeon studied it very carefully for about 5 seconds and told me, "your kneecap is broken." The fracture was obvious to any casual observer including a 1/2 inch chip. The surgeon said that after all those weeks, the bone had calcified so much the only fix was surgery... that I couldn't afford.

On a different occasion the VA diagnosed I had COPD and put me on an excellent routine of meds that have basically kept me going. So, some good and some not.

[seagoatami]

you all just dont understand the reasoning behind the way the V A works , they work slow so that you will die before they have to put any money out for your problems. Personally I just pay my health ins. and go see the doc when I hurt ..........so much easier on the nerves , costly on the wallet though

[holdover]

The VA Clinic and hospital here in Salem Virginia is great. Talented caring people. I give them an A+, The administrative part of the VA that processes the claims is a national disgrace I give them a F-. Years to get a settlement, usually you have to appeal their finding, and now according to an article in either the VFW or AL mag the appeal process is up to 1400+ days. From my experience it seems like there should be a mass firing of the administrative section, waiting 5.5 yrs and counting. Your mileage may vary

[GillaFunk]

IF you have an application in for a claim, just go straight to the Disabled American Veterans website and seek out where you can get help. They will assign you legal counsel and get this sorted out much faster.

[Michaelp]

Those guys are not looking for solutions or advice.
Part of the "kiss my ass, you owe me," crowd that probably can't buy a hamburger without starting a fight.
Seen to many of them.
Getcha some of that Obama care,

[dave]

Well I would sure like to know how a friend got 5000 bucks worth of hearing aids (no trouble according to him) after serving 3-4 years in the Navy back in early 50's. Never on a ship so no big guns ond only lost his hearing in later years, he is in his early 80s. now! Got them 3 year ago! I have no service connected stuff but my wife said I should do like he did and I refused. Lost my hearing working in an oil refinery.

[gwp]

Last year I went to the Indianapolis VA for a hearing test. I do not have a documented service related disability but I wanted an unbiased evaluation of my hearing loss. I was told with my hearing loss I would only find hearing aids useful for a few minutes a day. He also told me to make an appointment when the hearing loss was greater because the VA now provides hearing aids without service related proof.

[holdover]

"IF you have an application in for a claim, just go straight to the Disabled American Veterans website and seek out where you can get help. They will assign you legal counsel and get this sorted out much faster. "

The DAV is my rep, they don't seem to have much luck either, next stop is my congressman.

[Former Cav]

your congressman cant do SQUAT either because the VA is "cabinet level".
I've been screwing with them since 1969! and they still don't have it right. Meanwhile, I look at non-combat guys rated at 100% and I wonder WTF! I got very physical visual stuff wrong with me from RPG fragments and it is like it doesn't count.
Hell, I can't even get a new I.D. card and have been trying for 15 + years. I still have my "max clelland purple triangle bolo badge card" that is disintigrating!!

[madsenshooter]

I know someone will stand up and say I'm racist. But, I think what would help the VA most is to get some staff that doesn't speak with a foreign accent. Most of the Drs are people who couldn't maintain a practice outside of the VA. Their decision making skills are not up to the task, and a poor decision can cost a life. I know, they about cost me mine.

[Art]

I know someone will stand up and say I'm racist. But, I think what would help the VA most is to get some staff that doesn't speak with a foreign accent. Most of the Drs are people who couldn't maintain a practice outside of the VA. Their decision making skills are not up to the task, and a poor decision can cost a life. I know, they about cost me mine.

Been to any non V.A. civilian docs?? Its the same only much better care because it isn't "single payer." American kids are too fat, lazy and entitled to go to medical school, hell, that's too much like work, too little fun and takes too long with way too long a wait to get any money. Foreigners have taken up the slack and not just at the V.A.

My personal experience with doctors, nurses, ect. is that ethnicity doesn't mean much but venue does. The Houston Medical Center is one of the finest complexes in the World and it looks like the U.N. dumped it's staff there. I now help support a family doctor (white gal from New York,) a cardiologist (Chinese man,) a surgeon (Latino male,) a gastro interologist (Arab male,) a urologist (plain vanilla white American guy,) and a Dermatologist and an Opthamologist (nice Jewish girl and boy,) and an endocrinologist (another Chinese fellow) Sounds like the United Nations all over. Every doc I go to is top of the line and if they aren't I fire them. You don't get to do that with the V.A. It's about venue.

After my experience with those quacks I delt with in the Army I'd never go to the V.A. as long as I have another option. Its the 'gubmint. These people have a "birds nest on the ground" and that goes all the way to the top.

.....and I do understand that the quality of V.A. care varies a lot depending on where you are.