How Long Will it Take to get a VA Decision?
By Douglas I. Friedman of Friedman Law Firm, P.C.
Tuesday, January 26, 2021
Some decisions come quickly and others come slowly.
Often, filing a claim feels like a hamster wheel-- case goes on and on, up and down to the Board and the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. Cases can last for years! Right now, we tell clients that it could take 5 years for a Veterans Law Judge to issue a decision after a hearing is held. They simply have too many cases to decide!
Then, on the other hand, some things are happening very quickly. Today a Veteran told me he filed his claim last week and has a C&P exam scheduled this week. Frankly, I think maybe he has another claim and the C and P exam is coincidental.
One thing for sure though: The VA claims process is going through major changes right now. Starting in February 2019, The VA made changes to the claims process (e.g., what kind of claim to file and how to file it). The biggest change is that claims are being handled through a National Work Queue. This means that no matter where you file a claim, it will be reviewed by whoever is next in line nationally. Before this, your claim would be decided by your local Regional Office. Now, the VA has instituted a truly national claim system.
This change is good and bad. It’s good because it should allow the VA to maximize its manpower. An employee at a Regional Office who is not busy will be assigned a case from the NWQ.
The bad part is that no one knows each other. While I have actually had people reviewing cases in the NWQ with whom I had contact before, this is the exception, not the rule. The result is that I don’t know what they are looking for when reviewing a case, and they don’t know how I prepare a case. Familiarity with the decision-maker is very helpful because it builds trust on both sides. We have lost this aspect now.
Another change is that appeals are being centralized in several Regional Offices. So far, my experience with this aspect has been good. We find that the Decision Review Officers deciding Higher Level Reviews have been well-qualified for their positions. In the past we have found uneven quality at some Regional Offices, which made the appeals process like throwing the dice sometimes: if you were assigned a good DRO you would win, but a poor DRO almost always meant a denial. Getting a denial means another appeal, putting the veteran back on the hamster wheel.
The jury is still out on the new claims process. We are concerned that the new process is much more complex than the old one. But, if the VA is successful in reducing their backlog in issuing decisions, there may be a silver lining.
Most of all, we hope that the new process also improves the overall quality of the decisions. Because getting a decision quickly is great, but getting the decision right is more important.
If you have any questions about the VA claims feel free to contact us at 205-879-3033 or LifeHealth@FriedmanFirmPC.com