U.S. Military (Ret.): VA claim stalled for 10 months - Military Retirement, leaving the service - Military Times

U.S. Military (Ret.): VA claim stalled for 10 months

In recent months, I’ve devoted two columns to readers who were fortunate enough to find a way to make the Veterans Affairs Department’s disability claims system work smoothly for them.

In the wake of those columns, I have received a number of emails offering a depressing reminder that the system is still far from fully functional.

In the case of retired Navy Command Master Chief Jeff Weigel — a veteran of more than 30 years of service and 15 deployments, four of them combat tours — the system doesn’t even seem to be responsive.

Weigel said he retired July 1, 2010, and worked with the Veterans of Foreign Wars chapter near Fort Campbell, Ky., to prepare his claims package.

“I submitted all the required documentation and the process seemed to go very smoothly,” he said. “I submitted at least three volumes of medical records and was contacted by VA for follow-up doctor’s appointments and consultations.”

Everything was on track, and his claim was placed in the “determination” phase in January. Then … nothing.

“I have called VA’s 1-800 number several times a month and check online daily,” he said.

His claim has been in the same phase for the past 10 months. “I have sent written inquiries twice and I did receive one response letter from VA — stating that my claim is still pending,” he said.

For Weigel, it’s not just a question of compensation. The situation is affecting his employment, as he wants to apply for a federal government position that gives preference to veterans with disabilities.

“To me, the VA process is broken. What options do I have?” Weigel asked.

Unfortunately, not many. Despite the best intentions of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, his department in many ways remains a monolithic bureaucracy. As of Oct. 22, 60 percent of VA’s 858,706 pending claims had been in the system more than 125 days.

Weigel submitted a package that apparently had all the required documentation, and yet he is still waiting for an initial ruling 10 months later — far beyond the 180-day goal set by VA itself. Worse, he can’t get any word on what, exactly, is holding up his claim.

At this point, about all he can do is contact his congressional representative and ask the staff to make an inquiry on his behalf. He’ll have to sign a release form and provide copies of all his correspondence with VA thus far.

No question, the claims process can still be incredibly frustrating. It’s in the interest of every retiree — even those who don’t have disability claims pending — to routinely remind our elected officials of the importance of keeping pressure on VA to deal with its backlog of benefit claims.

If there’s any hint of silver lining for Weigel, it’s that once a decision is made on his ruling, it will be backdated to the date he initially submitted his claim.