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| I'm in the back in a blue shirt. B Company Reunion at the wall 2012 |
New Tactic To Stall Claims: Gender
A Marine Vietnam veteran called me the other day. I had been
advising him on his claim for Agent Orange since he had major heart surgery
back in 2014. His claim had been on
appeal because the VA is trying to fight an increase for Ischemic Heart Disease
under the presumptive Agent Orange Ruling for heart disease. He has heard
nothing on his appeal since 2014.
He had been trying
to call the local DAV (his rep) for months and kept getting busy signals or no
call backs. He called Cleveland, and finally got a call back from a DAV Rep.
The guy was kind of nasty to him, like he was bothering him, and told him an
appeal can take 4-7 years.
My friend got angry
over that, but what was worse, the DAV guy also said his claim was stalled
because they didn’t know his gender.
“I’ve been
service-connected from Nam since 1971. My first name is John, and you’re
telling me they don’t know my gender. What the hell is that?”
“You don’t have to
cuss at me,” the DAV guy said, and hung up on him.
When he told me
this, I got as angry as he did. An appeal should not take that long, especially
with a Nam veteran. He also had cancer in addition to a five-way bypass.
And on top of that
they insult him with this gender thing.
(For a Nam
veteran with an obvious male name, that is an ultimate insult. The VA is just
trying to stall until he dies. I believe they want all us Nam veterans to die,
just like they do the WW2 veterans and they did with WW1 veterans.)
Since he is from
Ohio, I told him to contact his Congressman. Steve Chabot had also grilled
Clinton in her scenario that went nowhere, but he was in there trying.
Chabot’s office
responded and they are making an inquiry. Once a politician makes an inquiry,
things usually move along faster on a claim.
John should be 100%
for his Agent Orange conditions, dating back to the day of his diagnosis and
surgery. He submitted all the documentation they asked for several times. (It’s
amazing how much stuff the VA loses if you don’t send it certified where
someone has to sign for it and get a returned receipt.)
Finally after
he followed my advice to send it certified, they received it. I believe that
most times if you don’t send them something certified, it gets tossed.
The gender thing was
a new one on me, and I got really angry that anyone would try to use that on
us. I also feel the DAV Rep should be instantly fired. Anymore it seems like
the organizations are working for the VA and not the veteran.
If you have to send
anything to the VA on request, I would sent it certified/return receipt. I went
through the same thing back in 2009 when one of my stents caused a problem a few months after being
placed and I had a minor heart attack.
The local hospital kept
sending the paperwork to the VA a total of three times, and each time they said
they didn’t get it. I went to the hospital. They were nice and said they would
send it once more. I asked them for it and I sent it Certified/Return Receipt,
and told the hospital that would be the only way the VA would admit getting it.
The people at the
hospital couldn’t believe what the VA does to us veterans on the claim end. And
it is truly a crime.
I will post updates
on my friend. I hope he can outlast them. I still shake my head over that
gender thing. It truly shows how brain dead and insulting some people at the VA
and service organizations can be.
