Schmitt & Coletta, P.C.
Veteran Attorneys Fighting For Veterans and Their Families
Veteran Attorneys Fighting For Veterans and Their Families
My Blog
Blog
GI Bill Backlog
Posted on October 8, 2018 at 3:28 PM |
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As of Friday, September 28, 2018, there were over 226,000 veterans and
their family members awaiting payments and decisions on their GI Bill
claims. This represents a 56.5% increase in pending workload as compared
to this time last year.
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Investigation Into the VA Reveals a Culture of Retaliation Against Whistleblowers
Posted on June 21, 2018 at 2:11 PM |
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VA employees in one Southeast district say a toxic
culture of retaliation has undermined veterans' care and worker morale. There
is growing skepticism among whistleblowers the VA can police itself |
VA watchdog accuses leadership of withholding access to employee complaints
Posted on June 21, 2018 at 1:58 PM |
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Veterans Affairs’ independent watchdog office
is accusing department leaders of improperly withholding records
dealing with employee complaints, saying the action could be covering up
potential criminal misbehavior. Veterans Affairs leaders have responded by accusing the inspector general of overstepping its authority and improperly issuing reports that “recklessly cast the VA and its employees in an unfavorable light.” Lawmakers pulled into the fight this week call the conflict concerning. “The total lack of cooperation from the VA is alarming and a disservice to American veterans and taxpayers,” said Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and ranking member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
“I’m demanding the VA immediately comply with the IG’s request for
access to information. The VA leadership that prides itself on
transparency is not above the law or exempt from independent oversight.” |
Appeals Court Tosses Veterans' Lawsuits Over Burn Pits
Posted on June 21, 2018 at 1:53 PM |
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A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with a federal judge in , who last year threw out the lawsuits brought against KBR, a former Halliburton Corp. subsidiary. You may remember that Vice-President Dick Cheney was the CEO of Haliburton. More than 60 lawsuits allege that KBR's practice of dumping tires,
batteries, medical waste and other materials into open burn pits created
harmful smoke that caused neurological problems, cancers and other
health issues in more than 800 service members. The lawsuits, which were
filed in multiple districts around the country and then consolidated,
also alleged that at least 12 service members died from illnesses caused
by the burn pits. During arguments before the 4th Circuit last month, Susan Burke, a
lawyer for the service members, argued that KBR repeatedly violated the
terms of its contract with the military to handle waste disposal. She
said KBR also disobeyed a military directive against burning hazardous
materials. The panel found that the military had unrestricted control over KBR so
that KBR's decisions on waste management and water services were "de
facto military decisions" not appropriate for judicial review. It seems these corporations are untouchable and unaccountable. |
Incresed Compensation for Back Injuries
Posted on October 27, 2017 at 1:02 PM |
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The US Court of Appeals recently held that the Board of Veteran Appeals erred by relying on a C&P exam which only measured the current loss of Range of Motion and did not ascertain the Loss of Motion during flare-ups of the back condition. If you have an orthopedic injury, the amount of compensation depends upon your functional loss of range of motion. VA examiners routinely push you beyond your functional range of motion to lessen your compensation. Now they at least have to estimate the degree of limitation during flare-ups. Flare-ups can severely restrict your range of motion. You may want to appeal a decision awarding compensation based on function limitations of motion, |
Medicaid Expansion Helped Vets
Posted on April 30, 2017 at 9:43 PM |
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The number of uninsured veterans in the U.S. declined by nearly 40% from
2013 to 2015, but that number could drop even more if more states opt
to expand Medicaid, according to a
. The
Urban Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that the
number of uninsured veterans ages 19-64 dropped from 980,000 in 2013 to
552,000 in 2015, according to a study published Wednesday. The
majority of the coverage gains occurred in states that decided to expand
Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act. The uninsured rates
among veterans averaged 4.8% in expansion states compared to 7.1% in
non-expansion states in 2015. The study estimated that an
additional 110,000 veterans could gain coverage if states that opted not
to expand Medicaid reversed course. |
NEW RULE
Posted on April 30, 2017 at 9:29 PM |
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New Rule: You may now request another hearing before the Board of Veteran Appeals when you case is remanded! Cook v. Shulkin The old case said there was but one administrative review by the Secretary which meant upon a remand either to the BVA or the Regional Office, you did not get another hearing to testify or submit evidence at a hearing. Under Cook, there is no limit the number of BVA hearings a Veteran may have after a remand. Cases go up and down from the Board to the Court, Remanded back to the Board and sometimes remanded back to the Regional Office. On each remand the Veteran is entitled to another hearing. However, if you really don't need another hearing don't ask for it. Another hearing adds another 12 to 18 months onto the claim before a decision. |
VA Lost Docs
Posted on May 5, 2016 at 3:20 PM |
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VA has
mailed a development letter to claimants and private representatives
(where there is one) affected by an "application defect" that occurred
when uploading documents on both the VA's eBenefits and Stakeholder
Enterprise Portal (SEP) sites. The defect resulted in users being
incorrectly informed that documents were successfully uploaded, when in
fact the documents may have been rejected. These errors occurred from
August 1, 2015 through December 21, 2015. |
VA Aid & Attendence Proposed Rule Chanes are Devastating
Posted on March 22, 2015 at 3:07 PM |
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On
January 23, 2015, the Federal Register released Document No. 2015-00297. This
document has caused quite a stir in the elder care industry, and has climbed
to the top of the “hot-button issues” list. If you’re not yet familiar
with the document, you’re likely wondering what could possibly cause such
widespread interest. It’s an unexpected rule proposal by the Department of
Veterans Affairs (“VA”) regarding net worth determinations, asset transfers,
and income exclusions for Veterans pension benefit eligibility. You need to know what they are doing and how to take
action to STOP them from simply passing these regulations without legislation or
vote! Below is a summary of the main changes. VA
proposes a three year look-back
period for transfers of assets for less than fair market value.
Veterans and their spouses, who are determined to have transferred assets in
contravention of the rule, would be subject to apenalty period up to 10 years. VA
proposes to calculate the penalty period by dividing the total amount
transferred for less than fair market value (FMV) by the monthly maximum pension
a beneficiary could receive. For example, the penalty period would be calculated
as follows: Married Veteran transfers $50,000 for less than FMV – penalty period
is 23 months ($50,000 / $2,120 = 23.58) Surviving spouse transfers $50,000 for
less than FMV – penalty period is 43 months ($50,000 / $1,149 = 43.51). This
is completely unfair to the surviving spouses, who become subject to a penalty
nearly twice as long as for married veterans. VA
proposes to limit the allowable deduction for in-home health care to the average
hourly private pay rate for home health aides as published by the MetLife Mature
Market Institute, which was $21 an hour in 2012. More than 50% of home care
recipients already pay more than that. The
VA also intends to completely exclude
the costs of independent living facilities as medical expenses,
unless the facility provides 24/7 custodial care supervision
or assistance with two activities of daily living (or directly
contracts with a third party, professional care provider to
do so). This will eliminate anyone who is housebound needing
to live in a safe environment due to physical or cognitive
limitations. Previously,
a Veteran’s personal residence and a reasonable lot area would be excluded for
purposes of calculating net worth. In its proposed rule, VA proposes to limit
the land exemption to only TWO acres. This rule improperly punishes rural
veterans and farmers. This
proposed legislation is a dishonor to our honorable veterans who made great
sacrifices to protect our country. YOU CAN HELP! The
public has until March 24, 2015 to make comments to these proposed regulations.
Please take the time to comment on these unfair and potentially illegal
changes. Click through to this
link to review the proposed rules and to submit comments at http://www.regulations.gov and search for: RIN
2900-AO73 We don’t
know when the rules will be changed, so you must act fast. |
Mandatory New VA Forms Effective March24, 2015
Posted on March 22, 2015 at 2:56 PM |
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The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is working to make filing
claims and appeals as fast and easy as possible. Beginning Tuesday, March 24,
2015, claims and appeals must be filed using the appropriate form. Standardizing
forms will ease frustration among claimants, make claims processing more
efficient and help VA reach more accurate decisions. There are three major actions that will require a specific form or
standardized process: Intent to File, claims applications, and Notice of
Disagreement. When filing a formal claim, the following forms should be completed and
submitted to VA either electronically via eBenefits
(ebenefits.va.gov) or the Stakeholder
Enterprise Portal (sep.va.gov), or by mailing the completed
paper form to VA:
Applicants who are not ready to file a claim for disability, but wish
to preserve a date of claim while gathering evidence and completing the
necessary application form should use one of the following three methods to
communicate an intent to file a claim to VA:
Finally, Veterans filing a Notice of Disagreement with a compensation
decision should use VA
Form 21-0958, Notice of
Disagreement. Veterans and their representatives currently
use the form on an optional basis. However, beginning March 24, 2015, Veterans
must use this form when VA provides the form with a decision notice letter.
Veterans and survivors will not be required to use a standardized notice of
disagreement form for other types of claims (i.e., pension or survivors
benefits) at this time. If you are unable to download these forms from va.gov/vaforms/,
call 800-827-1000 to have the correct form sent to your home. Requiring standard forms will help VA more quickly identify what the
applicant is claiming and gather the evidence required to process the claim or
appeal. Standardized forms are a key component of VA’s transformation, which
will help achieve the Department’s goal to eliminate the backlog in
2015. |
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