EBenefits site dows not always have accurate information

Jim,

Perhaps we are starting to see how the VBA is reducing the back log; I’m a 20 year veteran of the Army, Retired senior NCO, and a VA (VHA) employee. I have claims accepted due to injuries sustained in Airborne Operations and I have had two claims pending for quite some time, (nearly 2 years) one for hearing loss (I was in Airborne Infantry units most of my career and wear bilateral hearing aids supplied by the VA) and the other Agent Orange exposure with subsequent Prostate Cancer. I was recently diagnosed with DMII but haven’t made any claims for that.

I had never been on “ebenefits” until last Friday, but went through the process of signing up and found both claims closed due to my failure to respond to two requests the VBA says they mailed me. I have never had any problems getting VBA mail sent to me at my locked home subdivision mailbox before (they send medications and the bills for medications there all the time) I have always kept copies of the letters, responded within a few days, and filed both the letter and the response here in my desk at the VA for future reference. Those letters in question never came, and consequently I never responded.

I am not saying VBA did this intentionally, but consider how easy of a sequence that would be to close an open claim; make up a letter to send so it’s on file, don’t send it, and then close the file due to no response from the veteran. It’s actually brilliantly simple. No need to do a denial, quoting rules and previous decisions, making sure all the I’s are dotted and T’s crossed, etc., just close it because the veteran never responded.

With the way I feel after the recent diabetes diagnoses and what has gone on here, I'm just too tired to fight it. The VA wins.

Reply:

I'll hazard a quick guess to say that the info on eBenefits is wrong. It usually is. It really doesn't make sense that a claim would close because you didn't respond to an information request. If VA sends you a letter asking for data, medical records for example, and you don't respond, VA should proceed to adjudicate the claim with what they have. If they don't have enough, the claim is denied...not closed.

Rather than giving up, I'd suggest that you aggressively pursue this. If not for yourself, for the younger veterans who are walking in our footsteps. Every time you chalk up a win, the young fellow behind you has it just a little easier.