VA Claim Backlog

Jim Fausone

Veteran Advocate

The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Eric Shinseki, explained this past week that he is committed to ending the backlog of claims by 2015. His plan to do that?  Replace paper records with electronic records.

Right now, VA considers about 600,000 claims, or 70 percent, to be “backlogged”. These are the number of claims that have been pending for more than 125 days.

The VA has put in a new computer system in place in about 20 regional offices around the country. The goal is to have the system in all of the regional offices by the end of 2013. Part of the computer system allows all of the veterans’ records to be in electronic form. This will enable workers from anywhere in the nation to view the files and will eliminate the time that it takes to ship the file between regional offices or the Board of Veterans Appeals.

Congressional committees have held two hearings on the VA disability claims backlog in the past two weeks. Millions of veterans are tired of hearing the same excuses from VA regarding the increased workload and the increased complexity of claims. We here at Legal Help for Veterans can attest to the backlog firsthand. An average time period for an appeal, between the time we file a notice of disagreement and the time the VA issues a Statement of the Case is about two years.

The fact that the country has been embroiled in a war for 10 years now has only added to the backlog. Unfortunately, these changes should have been made to VA’s antiquated system YEARS ago—way before the problem got this out of hand.

Veteran Retirement Home Layoffs Concern Residents, Notes Veterans Disability Lawyer

Jim Fausone
Veteran Advocate

Nursing assistants at The Grand Rapids Home for Veterans have been given their pink slips.

 

In Michigan, almost 150 nursing assistants working in a state-run home for veterans have been told they are being laid off. The Grand Rapids Home for Veterans, one of two state-run hospitals for veterans, currently cares for more than 700 veteran residents.

 

Governor Rick Snyder has approved the privatization of the nursing assistant jobs as a way to save an estimated $4 million each year for the state of Michigan. Other services provided to the home such as laundry and security are already outsourced to   private companies.

"Quality care for our elderly service members should always be a priority over cost savings," commented veterans disability lawyer James Fausone. "And the concern of some individuals is that cost-cutting measures may mean that quality care is being sacrificed."

One of the vet residents filed a lawsuit regarding the privatization, alleging that he and his fellow residents were facing “significant injury… abuse and neglect at the hands of a private company.” A judge ruled in favor of the vet and halted the plans, but the case was dismissed last month and the privatization implementation plans are now moving forward.

Michigan’s Department of Military and Veterans Affairs has stated that it is providing proactive job hunting help to the nursing assistants in the form of a rapid response workforce development team. The nursing assistants have also been informed that they can apply for their former jobs under the new management. In addition, a three-judge panel stated that several allegations of contract works who provided inadequate care did not mean every contracted worker would provide substandard care, and that no veterans were required to live at The Grand Rapids Home for Veterans and if any vets felt they were receiving substandard care, they were free to leave.  The Governor's Deputy Press Secretary issues a statement that the privatization would allow for "the best possible health care" while saving the U.S.  taxpayers significant money. 

Sources

http://michiganradio.org/post/state-issues-pink-slips-144-nursing-assistants-home-veterans
http://www.michiganradio.org/post/state-appealing-ruling-against-privatization-home-veterans
http://www.michiganradio.org/post/court-appeals-says-governor-can-privatize-nursing-assistants-home-veterans

Number of Homeless Vets Declined in 2011, Notes Veterans Lawyer

Jim Fausone

Veteran Disability Lawyer

 

President Obama and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) pledged in 2010 to work together to end homelessness among veterans within five years.

 

A report which was released to Congress in December 2012 by the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) found that the number of homeless vets has, indeed, dropped. 

 

According to the report, a 2011 assessment was done by the Department of Housing and Urban Development that found 67,495 veterans were homeless in January 2011 during a one-day count. That number was a 12 percent decrease from the same sort of one-day count a year ago, in January 2010. The USICH report points to an increase of funds for homeless assistance programs and an unusual level of cooperation and collaboration between multiple federal agencies as essential reasons for the lower numbers of homeless vets.

 

"Any decline in the number of homeless vets is a reason to applaud," said veterans lawyer James Fausone. "Here's hoping the joint efforts continue to help homeless vets and the numbers continue to decrease."

 

Studies indicate that higher concentrations of homeless vets are found in California, New York, Florida and Texas, in the urban areas of those states. Numbers for how many homeless vets reside in rural areas are harder to come by, as fewer services are available in rural areas and those homeless vets may less visible for any census undertaking. 

 

The 2010 Annual Homeless Assessment Report found that homeless vets who are  Native American make up a large demographic; while Native Americans make up just 0.7 percent of the total number of U.S. veterans, they account for 2.5 percent of the veterans who are homeless.

 

Female veterans are also at a high risk for homeless, the study found. Women vets may return to civilian life that includes additional challenges, such as raising children as single parents, and some suffer from PTSD from military sexual trauma.  The VA has services geared specifically for women vets who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, including Supportive Services for Veteran Families Program (SSVF), which awards grants to private nonprofit organizations and consumer cooperatives offering support to low income veterans and veteran families who live in or are transitioning to live in permanent housing.  

VA Malpractice Found $3.7 Million Awarded

Jim Fausone

Veterans Disability Lawyer

We hear from hundreds of veterans a month about VA disability claims or medical malpractice.  We understand the frustration of a veteran going it alone against the federal government.  When we have filed medical malpractice actions against the VA it seems like pushing water up hill. What gives you hope in these situations are stories like this one where a federal judge had the courage to find the VA's actions negligent and properly find for a veteran.

On January 16, 2013, Senior U.S. District Judge James M. Munley  awarded $3.7 million to an Iraq War veteran from who sued the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs after his war-induced post-traumatic stress disorder worsened because the agency prescribed him the wrong medication and treated him over the telephone.    The ruling was in favor of Stanley Laskowski III, 34, and his wife, Marisol, after a civil nonjury trial before the judge at federal court in Scranton.  It took 3 years for the case to be heard for this Marine Sergeant. He was required to testify and relive the stressors that gave him PTSD in Iraq.

In Judge Munley's 69-page ruling, he agreed that clinicians with the local VA should never have prescribed Sgt. Laskowski new medications or changed his medications over the telephone to treat his PTSD.

Also when Sgt. Laskowski first sought help in April 2007, he was not treated by a physician for several months and instead dealt mainly with "physician extenders" - medical professionals like nurses and physician's assistants, the judge wrote.

In addition, clinicians did not immediately offer psychotherapy to help him overcome nightmares, paranoia, insomnia and flashbacks spawned by his gruesome wartime experiences, according to court testimony.

The lack of appropriate care worsened his condition, causing him to make the rash choice to break into a pharmacy in Olyphant and steal prescription medications, his attorneys argued.  So this case should give veterans and their attorneys hope that there are reasonable federal judges who will find the VA at fault.  This Pennsylvania veteran had to fight his demons since his discharge in 2007 without appropriate care. Let’s hope this award allows him to get the care he needs and encourages VA to help all those veterans who need its help.

http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/carbondale-veteran-awarded-3-7m-in-ptsd-case-1.1430479