VA Claim Delays Continue
Southtown Star: Vets in Southland frustrated over VA claim delays
Jim Bandy has seen his share of horror. The 62-year-old former Marine from Homewood served in Vietnam from December 1966 until January 1968.
The machine gunner took part in heavy action, including the Tet offensive, seeing up close the deaths of friends and the enemy alike.
For that, like countless other war veterans, Bandy has been dealing with the aftereffects since his return.
Unfortunately for many, part of that is putting up with an overburdened Department of Veterans Affairs. Guys such as Bandy are looking for disability compensation for medical conditions stemming from their time in service. To do so, they must file claims with the VA.
Veterans from past and current wars have been doing so in large numbers in recent years.
The roughly 1 million claims filed in 2009 were a 75 percent increase over the 579,000 received in 2000, according to the VA. The department expects a 30 percent increase in claims - to 1.3 million - in 2011 from 2009 levels.
Fighting two wars is a big part of that.
So is the onslaught of expected claims from those suffering effects of Agent Orange such as Parkinson's and leukemia.
"The VA is expecting between 100,000 and 200,000 claims just on (that)," VA spokesman Craig Larson said.
The VA has about 1 million disability claims that are in various stages of processing. Such overwhelming numbers can cause delays when it comes to receiving compensation. The delays can become even lengthier while waiting for an answer from the VA after appealing a decision concerning disability benefits.
The VA said several factors go into an individual's monthly disability payment, but compensation runs from about $123 per month for 10 percent disability benefits to $2,673 per month for 100 percent.
Shortening the waiting period
On average it takes about six months to receive an initial answer on a disability claim. If a veteran disagrees with the VA's decision, the veteran can appeal and might have to wait as long as another four or five years for an answer.
For Bandy, who first filed a claim for disability compensation in 2005 due to post traumatic stress disorder, it took more than a year to get awarded 30 percent disability benefits. Since then he has twice appealed the amount given and has lost both appeals. He has also seen three VA psychiatrists and two private psychiatrists in the past few years. He is now waiting for an answer on his third appeal, five years after first filing his claim.
"These people in the VA need to be more accountable for these delays," Bandy said
Larson, of the VA, said the agency received more than 1.6 million (4,501 a day) claims in the administration's fiscal year 2008, which ended Sept. 30. About half of those required a decision dealing with disability benefits.
Larson said the goal is to get the length of time under 125 days to process a claim in which a decision on disability benefits is being made.
At the end of fiscal year 2008, there were 139,333 - 36 percent - of such claims pending more than 125 days, the VA said.
"During (fiscal year 2009, the VA) has made progress in reducing the number and percent of inventory pending greater than 125 days," Larson said.
He said the appeal process can sometimes be lengthy due to the personal nature of each appeal.
"Each appeal is different and involves several steps," he said.
Seeking help
Getting on with life after going through traumatic experiences is not easy, but guys like Bandy were of a generation of men who were raised to "tough it out."
Bandy set out to do just that after he came home from Vietnam, eking out a living while he and his wife, Donna, raised their five children in Homewood.
He managed to do so despite battling, among other issues, anxiety, concentration problems, mood swings, paranoia, sleeplessness and depression.
Bandy tried to bury all that for years after he got home.
"We don't want to deal with the anger when we first come back," he said. "How many of us deal with our inner self? I lost jobs because of my anger."
His outlook changed a bit after he met up with another veteran while working for Toys for Tots. The guy noticed in Bandy a personality trait he'd seen in other veterans dealing with post traumatic stress disorder. Bandy said the man recommended he meet with a counselor.
"I didn't want to talk with a shrink at first," Bandy recalled.
After Bandy filed an appeal disputing his 30 percent disability award, he eventually did meet with VA psychiatrists as well as two private psychiatrists in the past few years.
Though turned down on appeal, Bandy filed another appeal citing a long list of errors he claims were made by one the VA psychiatrist, which made him even more frustrated over the disability benefit he was awarded.
His frustration reached a peak this past August when he was discovered that the records the VA were reviewing for his appeal were for a different James Bandy.
"He's from Texas and he wasn't even a Marine. He was in another branch of the service," Bandy said.
"How do they determine the percentage (of disability compensation) a veteran is to receive from assessments of psychiatrists who are often not qualified or with the wrong file?" Bandy said.
