National Service Director
Among them are Disability Benefits Questionnaires (DBQs), e-Benefits, Fully Developed Claims (FDCs) and video hearings before the Board of Veterans Appeals (BVA). FDCs are more fully discussed in this issue of DAV Magazine (see page 7), and video hearings were reviewed in the January/February 2012 issue.
DBQs have proven to be an expanded and useful procedure for disability claims. The questionnaires may be prepared by the veteran’s private physician. The veteran could take an exam sheet that addresses a specific claimed disability to a private physician for completion. Completed correctly by the private physician, a DBQ may exempt the need for a VA compensation and pension (C&P) examination by a VA doctor, saving time on a claims review.
The process dovetails with the FDC process and, more importantly, can cut 35 days or more from the average 221 days to rate a claim.
Until recently, there were only three DBQs for disabilities—ischemic heart disease, hairy cell leukemia and Parkinson’s disease. Now, 83 more questionnaires have been added for other specific disabilities.
It is crucial that these DBQs be completed correctly and properly. Most private physicians focus on treatment for a veteran’s disability rather than the disabling nature of the illness or injury, which VA raters need. If the VA’s needs are fulfilled, a C&P exam may not be necessary, and the ratings review would begin. Regardless of the completeness of the DBQs, C&P physicals may still be needed for some claimants.
The website portal e-Benefits is a central location for veterans, service members and their families to research and access their benefits and personal information. It provides tools to view the status of veterans’ benefits. There are three levels of access—anonymous, basic and premium. The premium access allows for unlimited access to a veteran’s records.
Among the many e-Benefits services, veterans can check on the status of an appeal, compensation and pension claims and VA payment history, including education and vocational rehabilitation and employment benefit payments. This quick access to information reduces the time lag for postal mail to reach recipients.
FDCs allow veterans to do their own development of evidence. Our National Service Officers (NSOs) submit the informal claim to preserve the veteran’s effective date of the claim. The veteran then has one year to develop the evidence.
Once all evidence is gathered and submitted, the claim is expedited, which can end with a decision in a matter of weeks instead of months.
Veterans do need to get all the medical evidence they can, and DBQs are a quick and easy way to do that. The more evidence the VA has up front, the quicker the decision.
Another method to speed decisions from the BVA is to conduct video hearings. They can be scheduled sooner, cut travel time and costs and reduce case backlogs. The BVA says a video hearing could be held in as little as 30 days after an appeal is filed instead of waiting a year or longer for a field hearing. Since the BVA conducts field hearings at least once a year, it’s possible that a missed hearing date or a full docket could push hearings back even longer.
We’re talking about two years for a hearing in addition to the time it takes for the veteran’s appeal to come up on the docket, which can be a year or two alone.
There are many other ways veterans can accelerate rating decisions. They include showing up on time for hearings, meetings and physicals and responding promptly to VA requests for additional evidence.
The VA is willing to help veterans with their claims and, given some support, the streamlined process may eliminate weeks, months or even years of waiting. The best way to know what’s needed for a claim and to ensure that your evidence is germane to the claim is to talk to your NSO.
If you’re planning to file a claim for a new disability or to increase a rating for a worsening disability, you need to contact the National Service Office serving your state. Contact information for your state National Service Office can be found at www.dav.org.