The VA has come up with a triage system to prioritize claims caught in its backlog for a year or longer. The VA expects to knock off 250,000 claims within six months.

In a recent press release, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki said, “Too many Veterans wait too long for a decision, and this has never been acceptable. That is why we are implementing an aggressive plan to eliminate the backlog in 2015. This initiative is the right thing to do now for Veterans who have waited the longest.”

VA Backlog Challenge

The VA has been under fire recently for failing to transition to a paperless disability claims processing system fast enough to keep pace with the demand for benefits.

Claims are pouring in, not only from new veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, but also from Vietnam and Gulf War veterans who, because of policy changes, are claiming benefits for illnesses identified as presumptively connected to their military service.

Ending the Wait

The new plan will identify older claims and make provisional decisions based on available evidence so that veterans can get benefits right away. Veterans will also have a year to submit additional evidence that could change a denial decision or support an increase in benefits that would be retroactive from the date the claim was initially filed. If no further evidence is provided within that year, the rating decision is final. Veterans always have the option of appealing final decisions.

VA’s Undersecretary for Benefits Allison Hickey said, “Issuing provisional decisions not only provides Veterans with applicable benefits much more quickly, but also gives them an additional one-year safety net to submit further evidence should it become available. Our door will remain open and if a Veteran has additional evidence, their case will be fast tracked.”

VA’s goal is to totally eliminate the disability claims backlog, currently hovering around 900,000, by 2015.  Getting the disability claims process operating flawlessly online is how the VA intends to decrease claims processing time to 125 days. It currently takes 286 days to process disability claims, though the VA expects there will be a temporary increase in that time due to the focus on processing older claims.

Will it Work?

According to the Center for Investigative Reporting, there are 900,000 veterans waiting for disability benefits. First-time claims, most from America’s newest veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, could top one million this spring.  

A combination of all the right reasons is feeding the backlog. An obvious one is the end of two wars – nearly 50 percent of first-time claims are from newest veterans. The VA has also made it easier to claim for traumatic brain injury, PTSD, Gulf War illness and presumptive illnesses connected to Agent Orange, a long-awaited victory for Vietnam veterans. (See Alpha Current News)

Chasing Paper is a Losing Race

The VA certainly expected a surge in disability claims. But, even with an intense focus on Internet Technology to streamline the disability claims process to an online system, the VA so far, has failed to keep pace.  An overwhelming 97 percent of disability claims are still on paper.  

Even so, the VA remains adamant that they will end the backlog and that 2013 is the year of action for getting all VA offices fully transitioned to a paperless system that will simplify what is now a time-consuming and very cumbersome process.

Getting rid of paperwork is key to breaking the backlog, says Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki. “We’re in paper, we need to get out of paper. We have commitments that in 2014 we will be electronically processing our data and sharing it.”

Answers Sought to Break the Backlog

The VA has made a promise to disabled veterans that the decision-making process will take no longer than 125 days by 2015. Can they meet that goal?

Right now, the average overall wait time is 273 days. For first-time claims it is 316 to 327 days.  The wait for veterans filing in largely populated areas, such as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, is twice as long.

In a recent interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, VA Assistant Secretary Tommy Sowers said that veterans’ service organizations could help the VA’s effort to reduce the backlog by ensuring that veterans are submitting fully developed claims online. (Alpha Veterans Disability advocates assists disabled veterans with this process.) According to Sowers, only five percent of first-time claims include all the information the VA needs to properly rate and judge claims, and the vast majority of claims are still on paper.

There have been two Congressional committee hearings in March to find answers as to why it’s taking so long for the VA to transition regional offices to the Veterans Benefits Management System.

The Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs has also recently asked that the Pentagon to collaborate with the VA, saying that the Pentagon “has an increasingly vital role to play in VA’s effort to transform the compensation claims process…one of the largest challenges confronting the Department of Veterans Affairs.”

That particular day in 1953 was the day when he and fellow troops were sent to the atomic bomb proving ground at Camp Desert Rock, Nevada, to experience an A-bomb drop followed by a mock attack of the blasted area. He says they were “volunteered” as “human guinea pigs” with no goggles, no respirators, and no protection.

He vividly remembers crouching in the trenches 9,000 yards away from the target area, seeing the intense light, hearing the deafening blast and feeling the shock waves. Then they were ordered to march towards the ominous mushroom cloud.

“We were asked to feel the heat from the dead animals there, and to walk around all the destroyed cars and buildings. Radioactive dust got into our lungs and our eyes. We spent seven hours at Ground Zero,” Mike recalls. “We should have been told about the dangers of atomic bomb testing.”

Fighting in Korea was an Honor; Ground Zero was a Frightening Experience

Corporal Mike is very proud of his service in Korea. He was in the Army’s 2^nd infantry division that captured “Heartbreak Ridge” and “Old Baldy” in 1951. He was honored with the Combat Infantryman Badge for excellent performance under enemy fire, the Korean Service Ribbon, the UN Service Ribbon, and the Connecticut Veterans Wartime Service Medal.  “Fighting in Korea was an honor which I can proudly speak about,” says Mike. “But being sent to Ground Zero was a frightening death sentence.”

A Veteran’s Struggle for Disability Benefits

Corporal Mike has had a long history of respiratory disease, allergic rhinitis and asthma. High radiation exposure has altered his immune status and has triggered his persistent respiratory problems. He has skin cancer, and his PTSD symptoms have worsened over time.

However, getting appropriately rated for veterans disability benefits has been an uphill battle. Mike’s struggle was further complicated because of a law that made radiation testing classified information. For years it was prohibited for veterans to establish service connection for illnesses brought on by radiation exposure. 

This law was repealed in 1996 (Repeal of Nuclear Radiation and Secrecy Agreement Laws), and an all-out search for Atomic Veterans and families who may be eligible for compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has been occurring ever since.

Unfortunately, Mike thinks most of the troops he was with who experienced the 1953 Encore test have died. “I’m probably one of the last survivors. I guess I’ve been spared so the real truth can be known.”

Alpha Veterans Disability Steps In

Mike received a low disability rating for his respiratory illnesses and PTSD from the VA in 2009. His benefit wasn’t enough to pay the bills or help him care for his ailing wife who is suffering from Alzheimer’s.

It wasn’t until the spring of 2012 that a fellow veteran told Mike about Alpha Veterans Disability Advocates.

“My friend told me to give them a call. That maybe I could get more disability benefits. So I did.  My Advocate was great to work with. He wanted to get me total disability based on not being able to work due to my illnesses and PTSD. Because of my age and health condition, my Advocate got my case advanced on the docket.”

In October 2012, Corporal Mike was finally granted what he deserved. He received a total disability rating of 100 percent and over $3,000 a month, enough to pay the bills, keep his home and get some support for his wife.

As this was a new claim, Alpha did not earn a fee. The greater reward was in the successful outcome from a job well done. “We at Alpha were honored to be able to help this veteran to get the benefits he deserves.  He waited over 60 years, not only to get the benefits he deserved, but also the recognition for what he went through.  We are all very proud to have played a part in this successful outcome.” – Sean Libby, Vice President of Alpha

Although receiving disability benefits does not solve all of Corporal Mike’s problems, the award will help to ease his financial challenges.  And the Alpha Veterans Disability team is proud to have been able to help to get him the disability benefits he deserves.

The proposal, published in the Federal Register, will expand disability benefits to veterans from all wars with specific secondary illnesses resulting from moderate to severe traumatic brain injuries (TBI) suffered during military service.

Five Illnesses Recognized as Presumptive to Brain Trauma

Those illnesses, identified by the Institute of Medicine as secondarily caused from trauma to the brain, are Parkinsonism, unprovoked seizures, dementias, depression, or hormone deficiency diseases. 

Under the new rule, once a moderate or severe traumatic brain injury has been connected to military service, veterans with these secondary, presumptive illnesses will no longer need to provide medical evidence of service connection.  They will be eligible for disability benefits as long as their illnesses pass certain time restrictions after the trauma:

• Dementias –within 15 years
• Hormone deficiency diseases – within one year
• Depression – within three years

The ruling will go into effect after a 60-day period for the public to make comments on the proposal.

New Claims Not Expected to Affect the Backlog

The VA is not expecting the new rules to cause a flood of new claims, as occurred in November 2010, when the VA expanded its list of Agent Orange presumptive health conditions. At that time, 230,000 Agent Orange claims were added to the VA backlog of disability claims. It took two years to process them all. 

This newest ruling affects a smaller group of veterans who are sick with presumptive illnesses that have manifested within a specific time frame after moderate to severe brain trauma.

According to the New York Times, the “vast majority of such [TBI] injuries, about 8 in 10, are classified as mild, with most of the rest moderate and a small number severe.”

More than 250,000 veterans have been treated for traumatic brain injury since 2000. Of those, approximately 194,000 were mild cases; 42,000 were moderate; 2,527 were severe; and 3,949 resulted from penetrating wounds to the head. (Army Times)

Even so, there is concern that the backlog will strain with new claims. Rep. Mike Michaud, D-Maine, who sits on the House of Veterans Affairs Committee, said, “While this announcement is a positive step forward, VA needs to be prepared for new claims, which could stress an already backlogged and overwhelmed claims process.”

The backlog may stand at 900,000 claims, but the VA continues its push to make good its promise to provide for veterans.

The ruling will simplify the disability approval process and allow for quicker delivery of disability benefits to this group of veterans.

In the VA press release, announcing the new regulation, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki said, “We must always decide Veterans’ disability claims based on the best science available, and we will. Veterans who endure health problems deserve timely decisions based on solid evidence that ensure they receive benefits earned through their service to the country.”

A full year later, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, according to Vantage Point, the official blog of the Department of Veterans Affairs, has revealed some encouraging news: the unemployment rate for this group of veterans fell to 9.7 percent, and that rate is continuing to trend downward.

More Veterans – More Hires

Clearly, companies nationwide are taking the “hire our veterans” effort seriously.

As reported in the Wall Street Journal, Mike Haynie, the Executive Director of the Institute for Veterans and Military Families  (IVMF) said, “I see momentum that I haven’t seen in years.”

IVMF has recently partnered with the U.S Chamber of Commerce Hiring Our Heroes jobs fair program, the Hire Heroes USA training program and Google to provide a one-stop online portal of resources to help veterans find jobs called VetNet.  

In anticipation of the one million new veterans entering the job market over the next five years, Haynie believes “we have to do a better job preparing them for transition,” which is a primary goal of VetNet.

Veterans Have Skills in High Demand

Many younger veterans have desirable skills acquired from the military that are in high demand, particularly in the manufacturing sector where it’s becoming a challenge to find replacements for retiring technicians, mechanics, machinists and welders.

As labor statistics are showing, companies are catching on that veterans make good hires. Some have banded together with high-reaching goals. One such coalition, the 100,000 Jobs Mission, intends to hire 100,000 veterans by 2020. So far, 28,000 veterans have been hired.

Trending in the Right Direction

Clearly, something positive is happening. Younger veterans are finding jobs, as indicated by the lower 9.7 percent unemployment rate, and the overall unemployment rate for veterans is at 6.7 percent. The national average is 7.8 percent.

Progress may seem slow, especially to veterans struggling to find jobs. But if the statistics are right, there is a positive trend happening within a recovering, but still fragile, job market. 

That’s good news to Alpha Disability, where nearly 90 percent of Alpha employees are veterans, many of whom are disabled. 

As Sean Libby,  Vice President of Alpha Disability, said over a year ago, “If we as a nation want to end the unemployment challenges among veterans, hiring managers can make it happen…they should find out, as I have, that hiring veterans is smart, patriotic, and simply the right thing to do.”

It’s a Web portal called VetNet, a centralized hub of products and services to help veterans find jobs, train for new careers, learn how to start a business, and make connections.

Career Development Organizations Join Forces

Google’s VetNet hub launched in partnership with three organizations focused on helping veterans transition from military life into civilian jobs:

• The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Hiring Our Heroes program that hosts job fairs across the country
• The Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF), a program of Syracuse University that focuses on higher education for veterans
• Hire Heroes USA, a personalized employment training program for veterans

What the Partners Say About VetNet

Hiring Our Heroes:

“We see VetNet as a game-changer for the military community. The amount of resources available for transitioning servicemembers can be overwhelming, and this brings it all together in one place.” – Executive Director Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Schmiegel

Institute for Veterans and Military Families:

“VetNet . . . allows us to share these tools and resources in a unique way with an even broader audience, to help more veterans and family members open the door to economic opportunity . . .who better to pursue the American dream of entrepreneurship than the men and women who have fought to defend our freedom?” – Executive Director Mike Haynie

Hire Heroes USA

“As a former marine, I know that transitioning into civilian life can be difficult and confusing. One day you’re working in a regimented, highly structured environment, and the next you’re navigating hundreds of career options . . . So in an attempt to make things easier, a few of the most effective organizations in veteran career development have combined forces to create one easy place to start.” – President & CEO, Brian Stann (How to Get Started video: VetNet)

Google

“Through VetNet, these founding partners offer a full spectrum of employment resources for members of the community. Whether starting a job search from scratch, looking for mentors in a specific industry or starting a business, transitioning service members, veterans and military spouses will be able to connect with career services, job opportunities and each other.”  Google’s Official Blog announcing the launch.

The VetNet Connection

To access VetNet, you have to sign up for Google+ (Google Plus), which is Google’s free social networking platform. Then you can take advantage of all resources, as well as follow weekly updates on programs and services you can participate in, such as training seminars, resume workshops, college-level business courses, and special events.

Over the next five years, as military engagement in Afghanistan winds down, one million new veterans will be transitioning back into civilian life, increasing the search for jobs. VetNet looks like a good place to start.

Find out more at www.vetnethq.com.

Two years after retiring from a 20-year career in the military, he became severely sick with neurological symptoms similar to Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

His serious illness was diagnosed as Chronic Solvent Encephalopathy, or Gulf War Syndrome. Carl became disabled from his longtime exposure to toxic solvents while serving in the Gulf War.

Burdens and Bureaucracy

At that time, a series of financial hardships burdened Carl and his family. Carl’s illness cost him his job. His wife had a car accident and couldn’t work for a year. And Carl’s father, a Vietnam-era veteran, suffered a severe heart attack. Carl decided that his parents should live with them and their six children. But his home was in disrepair and there was no money to complete renovations Carl had started before he became disabled.

Carl was also fighting bureaucratic red tape to get disability benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that took ten years to win. He credits winning to Alpha’s Director of Veterans Disability, Allen Gumpenberger, who first took on Carl’s case while working as a service officer for Disabled American Veterans (DAV). 

Trust and Care

When Allen left the DAV to join Alpha, Carl chose to move his case to Alpha too. He trusted Allen. He was impressed with his character and how much he cared for a fellow veteran. Allen went above and beyond his service duties at the DAV to help Carl and his family.

“Allen took it upon himself to contact some organizations to help us,” said Carl. “They put an assisted living addition on the side of my house so that my parents could live with us. They donated everything. If it weren’t for Allen’s efforts, none of this would have happened. I don’t know where we would be today.”

Another Solution for Long-Term Disability Assistance

The unit is called PALS (Practical Assisted Living Structures), a product of the Rockfall Company in Meriden, Connecticut headed by Henry Racki, Jr., a disabled Air Force veteran.

PALS is a cost-effective living solution for the elderly or disabled and an alternative to nursing homes or assisted living facilities. 

The structure was donated to Carl and his family through the Rockfall Company’s “Vets Helping Vets” program. It was fully installed in 2010.

In a WTNH TV interview last Memorial Day, Racki said that PALS are full-service solutions to costly long-term care, making it possible for veterans with disabilities to live at home in a dignified manner. He donated the first PALS unit to the MacLeods because he “wanted to help.”

He also pointed out how modern medicine has made it possible for veterans from current wars to survive injuries that would have been fatal in wars past. “We have to take care of them.”

It wasn’t the service organization he worked for when we met. It certainly wasn’t the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). It was Allen Gumpenberger. That’s why, when he left the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) to join Alpha as its director of veterans disability advocacy, I followed him.

A Ten-Year Fight for a 100 Percent Disability Rating

I retired from the Army in 2001. It was in 2003 when I started experiencing symptoms that were misdiagnosed by the VA and rated wrong. It took years to get the right diagnosis and ratings for my disabilities.

What I have is Chronic Solvent Encephalopathy (Gulf War Syndrome) from my years working around solvents during the Gulf War. The VA tried calling it some other kind of disease but we fought that.

Allen and I dug deep into my military records to find proof that my eyes, balance, memory loss, respiratory problems, and heart condition are residual symptoms from a disease I got because of my military service. (Gulf War Syndrome is similar to Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). It worsens over time.)

The VA first rated me at 10 percent, but I should have been rated at 100 percent, and the rating should have been from my retirement date, since my illness is service-connected. That’s what Allen and I fought for, and that’s what the VA repeatedly denied, saying that my symptoms were not caused by toxic solvents. We ended up in front of a judge in Washington, D.C., who finally saw that we were right all along and granted me a 100 percent rating.

It’s been a long hard fight with the VA. But Allen has always been there, even helping my family and I get through tough years after losing my job in 2003. Thanks to Allen’s work at Alpha, my disability compensation dates back to when I retired.

Veterans Can Make Their Own Choices

What disabled veterans need to understand is that it’s not the service organization that wins cases. It’s the people who work there. I tell vets to find a rep you think has real interest in you, who understands, and has experience.

A service officer should do more for you than simply file your application based on what you say. You have to work together to prove that your service caused your disability. You have to prove it if your condition is chronic or is getting worse. That’s what Allen did for me at Alpha.

We have laws in place now to allow veterans to go anywhere they want to for help with their disability case. I wasn’t convinced that the DAV could finish my appeal because it’s so complicated. So I moved my case to Alpha to stay with Allen. I had a service officer I knew I could trust. He was committed to win for me.

Get Your Social Security Disability Benefits

I also think that there are a lot of veterans out there who need to know that if they are getting 100 percent disability from the VA because they can’t work, they may get Social Security disability benefits too. Service reps at Alpha do a good job of this because their sister organization, Freedom Disability, helps veterans get Social Security disability benefits.

When I got sick and lost my job, I filed for disability with Social Security. That was a battle in itself. I hired an attorney and won, but it would have been really nice if Alpha and Freedom Disability were together back in 2004.

Paying It Forward

Alpha as an organization is very professional. The service reps there are on track with helping disabled veterans. In ten years, I’ve learned a lot about the VA disability claims process. That’s why I want to pay it forward. Veterans can decide where they think they can get the most help. I recommend Alpha Veterans Disability. – Carl MacLeod

More Medical Research Needed

There are plenty of heartfelt stories shared by veterans suffering the “invisible wounds of war” who have experienced profound changes in their lives thanks to their service dogs.

However, the VA is not convinced. The study “has not yet been able to determine that these dogs provide a medical benefit to veterans with mental illness. Until such a determination can be made, VA cannot justify providing benefits for mental health service dogs.”

PTSD Service Dog Study on Hold

However, the very study that could prove the benefits of service dogs has been suspended.

The 2010 Service Dog Veteran’s Act co-sponsored by Senators Al Franken and Johnny Isakson, established a three-year clinical trial to assess the therapeutic effects on up to 200 veterans matched with specially trained dogs. Only 17 dogs and veterans have been paired.

In its first year, three dog-training organizations were participating in the study at the James Haley Veterans Hospital, Tampa, Florida. Two dropped out – New Horizons Service Dogs of Orange City, Florida, and Freedom Service Dogs of Englewood, Colorado. And, in August, the VA terminated the contract for the third group, the Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs of Williston, Florida.

The suspension of the PTSD service-dog program is in response to reports that some dogs at the facilities are aggressive. There are also concerns about poor care and grooming. Once an investigation is completed and new guidelines established for the program by the VA’s Office of Research and Development, it will continue.

A spokesman for Senator Franken said, “While new pairings of veterans and service dogs have been temporarily put on hold, the study itself is ongoing with existing pairings.”

No PTSD Service Dog Benefits

The VA pays for insurance, medical care and hardware for service dogs trained and accredited by Assistance Dogs International or the International Guide Dog Federation, to assist physically disabled veterans.  However, not for PTSD service dogs.

The VA said, “Congress authorized VA to provide service dogs to veterans with disabilities as a means of mitigating the effects of a disability and not for the purpose of companionship or emotional support.”

Of the more than 2.6 million Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, an estimated 520,000 of them have or will develop PTSD.

Schumer says, “We owe it to these vets to provide them with every recovery option possible, including service dogs, prescribed by a doctor, to help them heal.”

Retired Sergeant Jerry Ensminger, whose daughter Janey died from leukemia at age nine due to exposure to the toxic Camp Lejeune water, calls the law “the first step in achieving justice.”

Responsibility Shifted to the VA

However, the law makes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) responsible for providing health care services to Camp Lejeune veterans. Ensminger isn’t happy about that provision. He calls it the “law’s biggest flaw” because he says the military caused the water contamination and, therefore, its health care coverage, Tricare, should cover Camp Lejeune veterans and their families. “ . . . we still have not gotten the whole truth, nor the accountability of the people who were responsible for perpetrating this.”

Other service groups are also uncomfortable with making the VA cover Camp Lejeune health care. “We certainly support the government’s responsibility to take care of dependents harmed while living on military bases by environmental or toxic hazards,” says Disabled American Veterans legislative director, Joseph Violante. “But we believe it shouldn’t be through VA especially with Tricare (offering) insurance where they can go anywhere they want.”

Camp Lejeune Health Care Cost

One concern is that Congress will take from other programs to avoid spending. “We already get chewed out by Congress that VA funding has increased exponentially over the last 10 years and they can’t continue to do that,” Violante said. The first five-year cost for treating Camp Lejeune veterans and families is expected to be $162 million.

The new provision could also clear the path to VA health care for veterans from other military bases with environmental problems. Violante said, “they are opening the door for more people to come in, and then telling us they don’t have the money to fund us at the rate we need to be funded. This puts us into a terrible situation. We’ll be rationing health care here soon.”

A Package Deal

Despite these concerns, the new law represents a bipartisan effort to increase accountability and transparency at the VA in order to better serve veterans.

As President Obama signed H.R. 1627 into law he said it “ends a decades-long struggle for those who served at Camp Lejeune.”