#Middlebury #Veterans #DisabilityClaims
VETERANS POST
By Freddy Groves
As far back as 2018 there have been technical problems with uploading disability claims on the Department of Veterans Affairs’ website, except nobody knew. There were no indications at the time that anything was going awry. But those claims weren’t received.
When you hit the SEND button, it didn’t go. Your disability claim has likely been sitting in that internet “dead zone,” neither moving forward nor backward, unseen. But somehow they found them, 32,000 claims sitting there unprocessed since 2018.
Now, having found those 32,000 claims in the dead zone, the VA is sending out letters to all the affected veterans. The problem was first reported by Military.com, when the spouse of one of their former employees received the letter about the lost claims.
It brings up several questions:
Did veterans file alternate claims when they didn’t hear back? Did they assume they’d been denied when they received no reply? Have the veterans, unfortunately, passed away? Do the surviving spouses know their veteran had filed? And are they due any money?
At this point you don’t need to do anything, they say. All affected veterans whose claims were found stuck in the system will be notified and their claims hustled through. Claims benefits will be backdated to the “stuck” date.
You can decide to take charge of your situation and check it out. The VA’s website gives this page of instructions to file disability claims: www.va.gov/disability/how-to-file-claim. You can file your claim online, by mail using Application for Disability Compensation and Related Compensation Benefits (VA Form 21-526EZ), in person when you deliver your application to a VA regional office or with help from a Veterans Service Officer.
That same instruction page says that it’s taking 104 days to get a decision. You can also check the status of your claim from that page. Do that, just to make sure. And if you have trouble signing into your MyVA411 account, or creating one, you can call 800-698-2411 for help.
© 2023 King Features Synd., Inc.
