| THE VA: TEAR IT
DOWN BRICK BY BRICK -- PART 7
Kurt Priessman's latest commentary
is titled, "When the Wheel is Broken."
| Editor's
Note from Larry Scott, VA Watchdog dot Org ... It's time
for this series to be written. I do not agree with all
of Kurt's ideas about the VA, but, as a former government
employee with many years of service, Kurt knows the system
inside-out. The proposals in his commentaries should
be open to discussion. You may comment at the bottom
of the page. Kurt's
bio and archive of articles can be found here. |
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THE VA: TEAR IT DOWN BRICK BY
BRICK -- PART 7
When the Wheel is Broken
by Kurt Priessman
Here we look at some of the reasons to rethink claims processing
to benefit veterans and save the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA
or VA).
 Circa
1991, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) was in turmoil. The
Congress threatened to close the Veterans Administration (VA) or
at least cut off funding. Patient waiting times stretched for
hours, it was common to be sitting waiting at 4 p.m. for your 1
p.m. appointment. Today, it is not just the VHA; the whole
Department seems to be going backwards. Why is this?
First, a veteran must establish eligibility for any of the
benefits administered by the DVA. The process is not a pretty one
and in some cases requires an act of God. The Veterans Benefits
Administration (VBA) is backlogged and that backlog is growing
daily.
Some veterans' advocacy organizations have sued the Department for
failing to provide care in a timely manner and have asked the
Courts to take on the Department reminiscent of the desegregation
of schools in the days of our youth. The Court accepted the
appeal.
Second, the adjudication of claims has a direct and many-faceted
effect on the veteran and his/her family. A favorable decision may
grant a veteran disability compensation, pension, healthcare,
educational, and burial benefits, insurance, home loan guarantees,
as well as many benefits to the family or widow and children. A
denial ruins a family. When veterans die, families are devastated.
Widows are left with nothing. While alive, the wait alone means
veterans and their families face divorce, bankruptcy, or suicide.
How does the President, the Congress, the Courts, or the
Department believe this satisfactorily meets the mission and
vision of the DVA?
One of the many problems the claims process faces is the
anti-veteran attitude that seems to inundate the Department and
the Administration (VBA). This attitude rains down on Veteran
Service Representatives (VSRs) and Decision Review Officers (DROs)
like a monsoon:
No, because I said so, and I
am all powerful;
No, we are the experts at everything;
No, we should not assist the veteran who is clueless about how
to navigate the claim process;
No, if we botch a claim, change the record, destroy the record,
backdate documents, get another medical opinion, or worse,
ignore Title 38 or other pertinent law;
No, there are no similar claims; need I say more?
The answers fly in testimony to
the Congress in innumerable hearings.
The AFGE (American Federation of
Government Employees, a union that represents many VA employees)
blames VA management or supervision, the Department attempts again
to spin a story that some might call disingenuous or deceitful;
Veterans' Service Organizations (VSOs) listen or suggest
electronic claims, more training, more manpower, and more useless
non-confrontational remedies, all begging these questions.
As veterans look at one VSO’s virtual march that suggests veterans
should give up their rights rather than asking the VBA be held to
time constraints, the answer is for you to decide.
Why have VSOs forsaken veterans and suggested reducing time limits
for veterans instead of putting time limits on the VBA? Why
when the vast majority of claims decisions are erroneous do VSOs
believe that training and certification of their representatives
should come from the VBA? One has to ask, are they in bed with
their benefactors?
Why instead of fighting for photo ops, are they not paying for
their representatives training with an acceptable legal
organization? Or understanding that by cutting the time to submit
a Notice of Disagreement (NOD) it plays directly into more
stalling by the DVA? Need I say more?
What is perfectly clear is that new organizations have taken a
head-on attitude towards the DVA. New websites are gaining
credibility more because of a willingness to “make waves” rather
than continue on “placid seas”.
Why does no one change the adversarial attitude of the DVA? When
found guilty of disregard of the law or
denial of due process under the Fifth Amendment, why is the
VBA not held criminally liable for breaking that law and violating
the veteran’s civil rights? VA's Office of the General Counsel (OGC)
lawyers who participate, review, advise and recommend adversarial
rules and interpretations know the unconstitutional and unethical
nature of continuing these practices. Why are they not disbarred?
How hard is it for the VBA to make opinions from the Federal
Circuit and Court of Appeals for Veteran Claims available on-line
to VSRs?
Why does the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Human Resources
and Administration not revise classification standards of those
involved in adjudication to those similar to a paralegal? Where is
there an FTE work year with sufficient time to complete rigorously
pro-veteran training? How many hundreds of thousands of
person-hours does the VBA waste trying to find reasons to deny a
claim rather than find reasons in law to award?
The AFGE blames management’s attitude and training for the
backlog. How does lack of training equate to the fear of failure
to meet work credit system criteria and thus justify dishonest,
unethical, and criminal behavior? I speak plainly it does not.
How or why does the AFGE feel they must promote only union
employees rather than letting employers hire qualified veterans? I
speak plainly they cannot. How does the AFGE justify safeguarding
an employee’s job before the rights of a veteran? Need I say more?
Supervision and management are
by no means blameless. Regional Service Center Managers act
arbitrarily in opposition to law. All seem unwilling or unable to
plan adequately, execute a budget, or make pro-veteran decisions,
they seem not to care whether their employees are honest,
adequately trained, or appropriately supervised. I am afraid to
ask whom they blame. The union? Their bosses? The work credit
system? There is no legitimate excuse for their silence; and lack
of action is staggering!
Most importantly, where are the Congress and Courts in allowing
this to happen? Hearings on the backlog began when, in 1993? How
many times will the excuses be reiterated with the Congress
passing legislation giving the VA three more years to update an
incredibly Disability Schedule, implement electronic health
records (supposedly a panacea), or some other nonsense. Is more
time, commissions, or laws ignored at the advice of legal counsel
what veterans need? Only when the DVA agrees to pay every widow if
the veteran dies while a claim is pending,
which by law, they must.
Is there a real need for the Federal Court to step up and rule
that no matter the administration, organization, office, position,
or individual, all are held accountable and criminally liable when
found guilty of total and willful disregard of the laws passed by
Congress? The answer is obvious.
Tear it down, brick by brick…
COMING FRIDAY 02 OCT 2009, PART
8 -- The Hub and Spokes
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This article is ©2009 by Kurt
Priessman and is provided exclusively to VA Watchdog dot Org.
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TOPICS:
veterans, veterans' benefits, VA, Department of Veterans' Affairs,
Kurt Priessman, THE VA: TEAR IT DOWN BRICK BY BRICK
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