I do not believe the VA to be malicious in its intent or delivery of services but the process of obtaining said services is hard and can incredibly frustrating. What follows are the top 5 most frustrating facts about the VA which directly contribute to how challenging it is to file a VA claim. If you have found yourself having trouble with the VA claims process we can help you submit an accurate VA claim prior to separating from service. To schedule an appointment with a Zero Nexxus Consultant choose an appropriate package that fits your needs and schedule now.
If you are in the process of separating from service or transitioned to veteran life, you undoubtedly visited the VA website looking for an answer and left with more questions. Many of the benefits, applications and programs are shrouded in bureaucratic language. These are the top 5 Frustrating VA Facts and Why It’s So Hard to File a Claim.
We are living in a time when information is one click away. Our social media feeds are bombarded with advertisements and the latest deals on supplements and t-shirts. How many ads have you seen for VA benefits? Have you read any reports on VA wait times? How many times have you seen a monthly claims report from the VA? The answer is probably zero. Why? The VA doesn’t want everyone to receive their benefits and I think the VA should make a more concentrated effort to advertise Veteran benefits and programs.
VA’s Annual Budget
Let’s start with the budget. FY 2020 the VA’s annual budget was $243,000,000,000. That’s 243 BILLION dollars. Only 1/3 of that budget is allocated for monthly compensation for disability. We can let the bureaucrats determine what needs to change in the budget but I think we can agree that more veterans have earned benefits and should be compensated appropriately.
In 2019 the Government Accountability Office (GAO) testified to Congress that the VA’s ability to track wait times was not reliable and it found that individual VA’s did not possess accurate or consistent methods of capturing wait times. Most importantly, the GAO found that the wait times did not include the time it took to get a Veteran enrolled into the VA Benefits program which they stated could be very lengthy. Read the 30 page GAO report here.
The VA produces monthly reports on the status of claims submitted which includes but is not
limited to reports on pending claims, pending claims longer than 120 days and what era of veterans have claims submitted. The VA is much better at creating these reports than they are at seeing patients. You can Check out the reports here.
The VA publishes an annual report of benefits. Its hard to get through, fortunately we read it for you but you can also read it here. Be warned, at 234 pages long it can be tough get through
There is a lot of information in this report, I don’t expect many people to read it however, holding the VA accountable starts with us, the Veterans. If we don’t hold the VA accountable who can we expect to?! Sure, our elected leaders will take up that cause when it’s convenient for them but the push for real change starts with understanding the numbers.
Conclusion
I want to close with a couple of statistics that will hopefully inspire you to seek out and obtain the benefits you deserve. 76% of all veterans do not receive any benefits. Of the remaining 24% who do receive benefits their average rating is 10%. Astonishingly, 63% of Veterans have to resubmit their claim due to receiving an inaccurate disability rating.
I hope I have inspired you to seek out and pursue your well-earned benefits. If you need further guidance, reach out to us and schedule a consultation or for a pre-consultation call 1-844-ZNEXXUS
Let Us create your Plan of Action TODAY