While the machinery of investigative
hearings take place on Capitol Hill,
and in spite of relentless promises
of newly inbound VA Secretary Dr.
James Peake to NOT do "business as
usual" at the VA, the VA Central Office
(VACO) in Washington has decided it's
most URGENT and pressing priority in
national pursuits ought to be applying
new technology such as enhanced
and great "website development" to
include an all new "video library"
to they can crank out their lies,
falsities, and communistic PROPAGANDA
a lot faster and more effectively
than before. They have called this
the "American Veteran" when they
really should rename it as "The Dead
Veteran Waiting On VA Benefits".

This at the very same moment that
the House Veterans Affairs Committee
has stated that 600,000 are hopelessly
trapped in a broken and shambles
of a VA disabilty claims system
with no hope of Rescue coming to
them anytime SOON, and while they
all sit knee-deep and mired into
the throws of POVERTY for no apparent
reason other than the unoversighted
VA Raters falsifying documents
and spinning their wheels on a
bunch of nonsense-to-nowhere
as Veterans get closer to DEATH
from the strains of it all.

This is truly a stunning development
and it shows the Ole Boy level
of DISCONNECT
which goes on inside this system
all the time and without interruption.

What does it take to pull their
heads out of their asses to get
something DONE on this claims
backlog crisis? All of the energy
and money is applied to ADVERTISING!!!
What the F____ is THAT all about?

It's to hide the lies and to hide
the medical malpractice and to
hide the incompetence that goes
on all over the country while the
eligible and the legitimate remain
caught up in a processing Hell of
a nightmare.

So here it is Boys, the big response
from the new VA Secretary to the
shitting mess that was left behind
by Nicholson: IT'S ALL ABOUT ME!!


Click on the LINK below to see if
this brightens your day any better.
Now just tell me, does this change
YOUR life at all ??

http://www1.va.gov/opa/feature/amervet/index.asp

Also, below is the Summary Page for
last weeks hearing at the House
Veterans Affairs Committee. Nearly
a 30% ERROR RATE in VA claims,
and all this asshole can say to us
is "It's All About ME", like the
official VA agency is a rendition
of freaking "MySpace" or something.
30% that is 300 Vets out of every
1,000 cases in case you didn't catch
that. They glaze over it like it's
nothing at all. This is the trashing
and Sabotage rate by VA Raters and
VSO's so get a clue, everybody
that these are the numbers straight
from the criminals themselves.

Click LINK to House Page:

http://veterans.house.gov/news/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=205

TEXT Preserved From House Hearing Page:

“VA’s Claims Processing System is in Need of 21st Century Reform”

House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee Works to Improve VA’s Claims Processing System and Eliminate Backlog


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 14, 2008


Washington, D.C. - On Thursday, the House Veterans’ Affairs Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee, led by Chairman John Hall (D-NY), conducted the second in a series of hearings on the benefits claims backlog at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The hearing examined the disability claims processing system at the Regional Office (RO) level at the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) which receives all initial claims for benefits filed by veterans and explored the problems and solutions for eliminating the current unprecedented claims backlog.

There are 57 Regional Offices throughout the country that serve America’s veterans. There are nearly 650,000 compensation and pension claims pending in these offices and the average processing time of these claims is 183 days.

In 2007, the VA failed to meet its performance goals in major compensation-related actions. The target for disability compensation claims was 145 days, yet the actual length of time was 183 days. Additionally, the VBA consistently misses customer satisfaction and quality assurance targets. By its own numbers, 1 in 10 claims is processed incorrectly. Independent reviews conducted by VSOs places this error rate closer to three in 10, many of whom vocalized their concerns with VA’s claims accuracy and workflow processes during presentation of their testimonies in the hearing.

Chairman Hall expressed concern with the sufficiency of the VBA’s accountability measures. He also questioned the suitability of VBA’s current Claims Improvement Processing (CPI) model to ensure that meaningful accountability and quality parameters exist to reduce the claims backlog and accurately process claims. “Thus far, none of VA’s own benchmarks have improved since its implementation. I find this fact disturbing,” Hall said.

In testimony before the full House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, VA Secretary Peake stated that he wants to reduce processing times from roughly 180 days to 145 days by the start of 2009. He cited aggressive efforts to hire staff, noting that VA will have hired the 3,100 new staff authorized by Congress in recent funding cycles by 2009.
(well thank you, fool, for letting the
VA Labor Union run this show of
malpractice and document falsification.
Now they can trash cases even faster
than before!)

During the hearing, VA Deputy Under Secretary for Benefits, Michael Walcoff testified that based on the recommendations of IBM Global Business Services, which was contracted by VA in October 2007 to provide an independent study of VBA’s claims processing system, it plans to transition to a paperless processing environment both internally and externally to help reduce the claims backlog and process claims more efficiently. VA’s current system is heavily paper-based, overly complex and relies on WWII paradigms to develop and adjudicate disability claims.

“VBA’s long-range IT plans will not end the current backlog, but are clearly critical to the solution of updating and improving VA’s antiquated claims processing system and to providing VBA employees with 21st century tools to deliver the most accurate outcomes when adjudicating our veterans’ disability claims. These changes are long overdue.” Hall said.

Hall continued, “I believe that just like the VHA experienced a revolutionary transformation, it is well-time to think of devoting the same type of resources into transforming the VBA. It is time for a paradigm shift.”

“Our veterans deserve the benefit of our collective resources to ensure this process becomes a world-class, 21st century model that reflects their priceless sacrifice to our nation.”

Bob Filner (D-CA), Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, concurred. “We cannot wait any longer to make solid improvements in the claims processing system at the VBA,” he said. “Veterans have earned these benefits by serving our country. As a grateful nation, it is time we grant these claims in a timely fashion.”

______________________________________
END of House Hearing Summary text

This is for those of you who STILL
are of the idea that you can sit
around on your laurels all day long
and not be involved in this process
at all and then have it all turn
out just fine based on your "wishful
thinking".

This message has been edited. Last edited by: McClellanVet,