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Delays in Review - Nehmer Review
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from Jim's Mailbag...
Email JimJim Strickland is a nationally known advocate for veterans and a member of the Stateside Legal Advisory Board. This column appears with his permission. Jim's opinions are his own.
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NOTE: Letters in my Q&A columns are reprinted just as they come to me. Spelling and grammar are left as is and only small corrections are made to improve readability, ensure anonymity or delete expletives that may offend some readers. This is not legal advice. You should always seek the advice of an attorney who is qualified in Veterans' law before you make any decisions about your own benefits. |
Jim,
I talked to you about 3 three weeks ago about this, and you said i should wait a while. But now they have done something i don't think is right. They had me in Development at frist, then they put me in Decision and i was in it for 3 weeks ,then they put back in Develoment Phase again, I have called the 1-800 827-1000 , and they do not know to say to me. Are they are not telling me anything.
What do you think they are doing? I have had my paper work in before a lot of people and they are grtting there getting ther e money. please help me.
Reply:
We went back to see that you have filed a previous claim for IHD...in 2007. It was then denied.
Your claim is getting a "Nehmer Review". There is a law that says that the claims like yours that were previously denied must now be reviewed by a special team.
This will take longer than others that were not previously denied. Because of recently enacted laws, there are some 150,000 Nehmer reviews awaiting decisions. There have been recent errors by VA that now require that thousands of Nehmer claims reviews that were completed must now be reviewed again.
This is pretty typical of the VA process. It seems that to get a thing done right the first time continues to elude our VA. Rework, delays and the associated expenses and exorbitant waste of taxpayer dollars is a day to day fact at the VA.
The great news is that your claim is probably going to pay you all the way back to the date of that first claim. I'd like you to try to be patient and wait this out. Give it 3 more months and if you haven't heard anything, reply to this email to let me know.
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Comments
Jim,
My father passed away on June 11, 2010 from Agent Orange. We didnt know anything about NEHMER review until right after he passed away. My sister got a letter from the V.A stating they had put his case in review. We have heard nothing from them since except to request documents from my sister a couple of months later. My question to you is, Is it normal to take this long an hear nothing from them? Is there a delay we know nothing about?
Jim,
The same thing happened to me of going from Development to Decision and back to Development recently; however, I don't believe that I fall into the Nehmer Review. Three years before retirement, I had a triple bypass and stents in recent years. From the date of my retirement until now, I have been collecting increasing percentage/amounts of disability for IHD/CAD. In December 2009, I asked that my IHD be made presumptive for Agent Orange. I'm not sure I understand what the VA is doing unless they just put all IHD presumtives in for Nehmer Review. It is apparent to me that I probably don't fall under Nehmer; but my interest is in receiving CRSC in lieu of a portion of my retirement pay thereby reducing my withholding tax.