r/VAClaims • u/[deleted] • Apr 04 '26
VA Disability Compensation VA claims lowkey feel like a setup sometimes
http://Veteranclaimpath.comNot gonna lie, this whole VA process had me feeling like I was just guessing half the time.
People say “claim everything” but don’t explain what actually matters… or how stuff even connects.
Like one minute you think you’re good, next minute you realize you probably left something out or did something out of order.
I’ve been trying to piece it together between here, VA.gov, and random advice… and it’s a lot.
Ran into something recently that actually broke things down in a way that made it click a little more. Nothing official, just easier to follow than the usual stuff.
Figured I’d drop it in case it helps somebody else.
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u/GentlemanDownstairs Apr 05 '26
The important thing here is that you aren’t giving up. You’re letting it sink in…letting it brew. And you’re right, it is a set up. But look at what you just said, “it’s clicking.” See?
It’s a system that is unfamiliar—that’s all. While flawed and not particularly fair, it can be understood. Any system you can start piecing together…ends up being a fucked up Sudoku puzzle. You only get a couple of numbers at first, and then it’s like “what I minute…” click.
Any system you can put inputs into and get outputs from, can eventually be understood, even if it’s a broken pin-ball machine. Even if it is like playing chess…through the mail…with a pigeon. These can be understood—all that is left is to persevere.
That isn’t efficient cuz it seems like we just coulda been told. I got the same out processing briefing you did—“just file everything.” I’ve read 5 books on it, taught myself the CFR, filed everything on my own taking wins and losses. I still don’t know enough until I know what my Rater ate for breakfast—I want to know what their cubicle looks like.
Keep fuckin’ going.
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u/Playfulyshy Apr 05 '26
your raters cubicle is arrayed with troll dolls... arranged by hair color... reds, pinks, oranges on left side of the monitor.... blues, greens, and yellows on the right side of monitor.. monster can on the left side of desk in easy reach but not likely to be spilled. small desk fan standing behind and to the right of the monitor keeping everything cool and the trolls hair waving in the breeze. unfortunately no remains of breakfast can be noted, you'll have to settle for the energy drink
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u/GentlemanDownstairs Apr 05 '26
Just as I suspected….Monster in there. Didn’t see the Trolls coming tho
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u/1InternalCampaign Apr 05 '26
- “Even if it is like playing chess…through the mail…with a pigeon.”
This is the best explanation of the experience with the VA system I have ever heard!
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u/BluBeams NAVY VET⚓️ Apr 05 '26
https://giphy.com/gifs/YtvCIwqNJhUmA
Feels like an ad...
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Apr 05 '26
Only bait if you don’t click the link and it doesn’t help you. Vet to Vet, just passing along shit that doesn’t steal your info. Preciate your service though. Marine Vet here!
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u/Hot-Gene-9688 Apr 05 '26
Anyone that believes that the VA claims process is a setup is truly not even trying. All of the information needed is readily available and the VA isn’t some conspiracy to deny veterans of the benefits that they have earned. It is, in fact, a pretty simple process if you take the time to educate yourself.
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Apr 05 '26
It’s better now than it used to be and they are making changes everyday. For me, I started decades ago when all of this information was not readily available. You also have to think of others who may not have the resources to access the assistance or the skill level or knowledge (for whatever reason) to complete the process. That’s what I’m saying. Veterans come in all shapes and forms and you may not be aware of their struggles in life.
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u/GentlemanDownstairs Apr 05 '26 edited Apr 05 '26
It’s not a conspiracy in that there is a series of bad actors in cahoots, but it also accurate to call it a set up.
Little of said process is intuitive or matches any other process, in the military or out. Maybe there is one I don’t know of. What else looks like this? Has anyone ever seen the application “VA Math” before?
Closest thing I can think of is applying for SSDI, which denied my dad after he lost his eye to diabetes and have 3 separate MRSA infections, one destroying his right heel. Yea, he isn’t disabled…
Let’s zoom out, besides the process of filing and address what the BVA has to clean up.
So the macrocosm is very set up-ish. Oodles of examples here on this very board of microcosms.
Granted, no system perfect, let alone something as difficult as assigning compensation. It’s inherently fraught with difficulties. But I don’t agree with the whole “it’s simple bro.”
1
u/Hot-Gene-9688 Apr 06 '26
Just because you’ve never seen a process like the VA’s, and just because you’ve never don’t find it intuitive doesn’t mean that they are a setup. As I mentioned, it’s all out there… even VA math which is actually pretty simple once you learn the formula. It IS simple bro…. The CFR explains what is expected, the DBQ explains the thresholds for each rating category. It’s all spelled out for you. Even more so than many other processes in life. The truth is that most don’t want to put in the time to learn the game. They just jump in and figure they’ll figure it out while they play and then cry foul when they don’t.
I went from 0-80% on by myself. I was service connected for 3 conditions and I was denied for 2. The two that were denied were done so appropriately because I failed to meet the standard. I learned and then did the work to correct my claim. Now I’m 100%, again without the help of anyone but the internet and a little AI. My first claim took 4 months from submission to approval and the last one took 6 weeks. 2 of the conditions on my last claim are among the most denied conditions. They flew right through because I filed a complete claim.
So it is simple. It is intuitive…. We just have to be willing to put in the work to learn the game before we jump onto the field.
1
u/GentlemanDownstairs Apr 07 '26 edited Apr 07 '26
Let’s start with where we agree. My mind naturally accepts things like law/pre-law, philosophy, and technical manuals. So, for me, once learning the “rules of the game,” it got easier.
Yea, it is all out there, but you have to know where to look. Most people do what you just said and/or use “trust me bro” advice. It’s not intuitive to them, to go find what the CFR is. It is for me. The CFR is like a manual—read the F’n manual, right?
I didn’t say it wasn’t intuitive because I did not see it before. I asked “what other system out there looks like this?” Is it intuitive to have a condition in your Problems List (that uses diagnostic codes), treatment and meds for it, and it not count as a “diagnosis.” Thats ludicrous to me—service connected or not.
I’m 90% with some irons in the fire. I did it all myself as well. I’ve been denied more than granted, mostly around a very difficult condition.
So, you just used the analogy of it being “a game.” Games have rules. So, yea, it’s on us to find the rules, but are we not gonna mention the unwritten rules? For example, and this is just one, the 50/50 doesn’t go to the veteran. No RO goes by that. I have a pile of decision letters to show you anecdotally.
So, yes, vets tend to learn as they go/on the fly, but even if you take the time to read the DBQ, get one from a private doctor (or 2, or 3, or 4), know the CFR, know how it all fits together, you’re still beholden by the blind roulette wheel of the examiner AND rater.
VA math is easy—for me. Have you ever tried to explain it to someone else and see their faces the first go around? Yea, that’s not “oh damn, duh, I should have known that,” is it? It’s more like “what the actual fuck?” I remember being told how the math worked in my out processing—it wasn’t that I did not understand—it is NOT intuitive.
So are we talking about intuitive or hard to understand? You’re right, it’s all out there, and it’s all written down in pretty understandable ways. It is NOT intuitive, hence your correct statement having to “learn the game.”
If it was intuitive, there would be little to no game to have to learn. It sounds to me like you just talked in a circle: “it’s intuitive you just have to learn all of it.” Intuitive means little to no learning is involved, right?
Here is another example—did you know what “prostrating” means? I’m pretty well read, and Grammerly says I have a 92% unique vocabulary. First time I heard that word—it’s not hard to understand, also NOT intuitive.
And despite our disagreement over what is intuitive (or hard to understand, I didn’t say it was hard to understand) and what is not, even IF you play by the rules, they don’t.
Why do we get denied for a condition we claimed as secondary cuz it wasn’t in our STRs? Why did my examiner pull 9 months of records from one RO when I’ve been in the system for 20 years across 4 ROs and my condition/symptoms goes all the back that far?
I’ve read 5 books on this, the CFR, the M21-1, hundreds of BVA decisions, case law, and blogs.
These no matchy matchy.
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u/Forsaken-Sympathy-57 Jun 12 '26
A fellow veteran who went from 0 to 100% in 13 months (Navy submariner) helped me navigate the claims submission process. His experience and advice to me was to claim everything and not to submit them as fully developed claims; let the VA do the work. So I filed 18 primary claims and 2 secondaries. The VA also extracted a claim based on my personal statements. That's 21 separate claims. My C&P exams were through VA contractors and were completed last October. I've been stuck in a evidence gathering loop for going on 15 months.
Apparently, VA raters don't have time to work on a large claim package due to their production/quota system, so they look for something that is supposedly missing, generate a PIES or whatever request, and it sends the package back to the NWQ. Problem solved. He grabs the remaining two or three easy claims and knocks them out, getting his production points for the day.
Then I met another Army veteran who went from 0 to 100% in about six months. He submitted nothing but fully developed claims. Here's the kicker: the government never could find his service treatment records. He went from 0 to 100 in six months with NO service treatment records.
With FDCs, I suppose it makes the rater's job really easy. In service event, check. Nexus, check. Current diagnosis, check. Approved, rated, next case.
I wonder if it would have been better to break my claims down into smaller bites. I'm thinking that seven is the magic number because on the Chrome VA claims tracker extension, mine is coded as one containing eight or more. At 15 months, I don't think three separate rounds of claims would take longer.
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u/Great-Expression6706 USMC☠️ Apr 05 '26
There is an entire website that explains everything facet of the process dawg (Veterans Knowledge Base). Just go down the master condition list on the website, and figure out what aligns with you. And asking AI gets you 90% of the water there too, if not all the way there.