More lies & deception from VA Secretary Principi

[Gimpy]

Below is a Congressional press release stating that the VA Secretary
and VA have been pulling ENRON cook-
the-books accounting. The VA has mislead News media, in saying that
the Claims backlog was reduced by
more than 200,000 claims; and later admitting the true figures are
about 12,000
claims (as of June 2002). See Press Release below (over reported by
about 188,000 claims).

Also notice that just days before the truth coming out on the backlog
of claims going nowhere, the VA received
an award for honesty, see:
http://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/Press...net.cfm?id=458

VA Secretary Principi in an interview with the Associated Press claimed
that the claims backlog had been
reduced by more than 200,000 claims (from 600,000 down to 394,000), and
the TIGER teams had decided
28,000 older veterans claims. (see associated press report below the
Congressional press release).

This shows how much the Bush/Principi administration cares about truth
and honesty in reporting. Only 12,000
of the backlog claims had been decided and yet the Administration is
claiming 28,000 older veterans
backlogged claims are decided.

##### START #####

NEWS FROM.

CONGRESSMAN LANE EVANS
RANKING DEMOCRATIC MEMBER
COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FOR RELEASE: June 7, 2002

VA ACKNOWLEDGES CLAIMS BACKLOG REDUCTION REPORT GROSSLY INACCURATE

EVANS URGES COMPLIANCE WITH LAW MANDATING EXPEDITED TREATMENT OF
REMANDED VA
CLAIMS

Washington, DC -- Congressman Lane Evans, the senior Democratic member
of the House Committee on
Veterans Affairs, who had criticized
the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for releasing inaccurate
numbers concerning the extent of the VA's
reduction in the backlog of
pending claims welcomed VA's acknowledgement that the widely reported
numbers are incorrect. Although VA
appears to have turned the
corner in slowly reducing the pending backlog, the widely reported
"200,000" claims reduction was grossly
overstated. As VA officials testifying
before the Subcommittee on Benefits of the House Committee on Veterans
Affairs acknowledged, the
reduction is closer to 12,000 than the
previously reported 200,000.

The Subcommittee also heard testimony from a number of witnesses who
raised concerns that VA regional
offices may be paying more
attention to meeting office quotas than providing quality services to
veterans. Evans, a Vietnam era veteran
has consistently urged VA to "get it
right the first time." He was particularly disturbed to hear reports
that remanded claims which are required by
law to receive "expedited
treatment" are being ignored or neglected in order to meet production
quotas. Evans had previously written to
Secretary Principi concerning the
13,805 claims which had been in remand status for over 17 months as of
February 27, 2002.

Admiral Cooper, VA's Under Secretary for Benefits has been quoted as
saying, "you get what you inspect, not
what you expect." Evans urged
the Secretary to start inspecting regional offices handling of remanded
claims.

press release located at:
http://veterans.house.gov/democratic...7-02claims.htm

****************

Below is the AP report that was filled with the LIES & DECEPTION from Secretary Principi.

##### Associated Press Report #####

Veterans Affairs Department Takes Aim at Backlog of Claims
Agency's Drive Reduces Number by More Than 200,000

By Laurie Kellman

Associated Press
Monday, May 27, 2002; Page A21

The Department of Veterans Affairs has doubled the number of claims it
decides each month and reduced a
mountainous backlog of benefit requests dating back years, Secretary
Anthony J. Principi said.

That backlog generated widespread concern on Capitol Hill and among
veterans groups as it ballooned during
the 1990s. But it has been cut from 600,000 to 394,000 claims in recent
months.

"We decided to really declare war on that backlog and took some rather
bold steps to address it," Principi said
in an interview. "We're really getting this backlog under control, and
we did it through sheer focus and
discipline, performance measurements and production goals."

VA claims managers now resolve about 70,000 claims a month, more than
double last year's monthly rate of
29,000, he said.

In addition, the department has established a "tiger team" of managers
in Cleveland. It ruled on claims for
about 28,000 veterans over the age of 70 who had waited more than a
year for an answer, he said.

Veterans hailed Principi's commitment to the issue but said it remains
to be seen whether the agency is
properly deciding claims.

"We have seen the figures where VA has been increasing their
production. I believe Secretary Principi is
seriously concerned about the state of the VA backlog and the
adjudication process," said Joe Violante,
national legislative director for Disabled American Veterans.

"Our concern, however, is that while they are increasing their
production, if they are not getting them right the
first time they are no better off than if they weren't processing those
cases," he said.

Principi said he did not have exact figures, but added that most of the
processed claims approve benefits for
the veterans requesting them.

"It's a case study that things can, in fact, turn around -- not only in
private-sector corporations but in
government bureaucracy as well," said Principi, a U.S. Naval Academy
graduate and Vietnam War veteran.

The VA, the second-largest government agency with 220,000 people, has
been besieged with caseload
problems. Last year, Congress blasted the department for training
problems that resulted in inaccurate
decisions on 4 of every 10 claims for veterans' disability payments.

Newly confirmed by the Senate last year, Principi told Congress and the
General Accounting Office, its
investigative branch, that fixing those problems would be one of his
top priorities.

He implemented GAO recommendations to set up a system to track the
outcome of video conferencing and
other state-of-the-art training methods.

Looking forward, Principi said he has set up "triage" teams in various
regions -- Texas, Florida, Washington, for
example -- to handle massive amounts of claims and prevent future
backlogs.

He said the department is not favoring speed over accuracy.

"It's not that we're just rushing these decisions and forgetting about
the quality aspect of it," Principi said.
"We've focused on both time lines and quality."

? 2002 The Washington Post Company

***********************

Now we REALLY see what type of individual Principi is! This guy is WORSE than all his predecesors ever THOUGHT of being!

##### END #####

[HARDCORE]

GIMPY OLD FRIEND-

"What is the real truth after all?!"

Principi did promise to slice away at the claims backlog? Unfortunately, however, the
fairness veterans expected - may have seldom been what they received!

As a matter of fact, great numbers of vets were ambushed (shot in the back- figuratively), by a few of those (now highly placed) who once wore the same uniform, but now serve only the masters of deception, maneuvering and lies!

Add to this the fact that, the solemn promise of a "Non-Adversarial, VA Helping Hand" was soon replaced by the reality of "Bureaucratic (VA) Back-Stabbing", and one might quickly deduce that nothing at all has really changed in some corrupted arenas? "Except for the key players, that is!"

Veterans may be a lot of things, but most of us sincerely need to trust, and maybe that is the chink in our collective armor? Trust, coupled with the fact that many veterans have been shafted for decades, and by so many administration, that they will now reach out for even straws that are passed off by the VA as being the Queen Mary Herself!

Unfortunately, however, this "Ship of Deception" is more akin to the Lusitania than the Good Ship Lollipop! And upon her bridge, with the White House rescue chopper standing by to whisk the vessel's Captain away to safety - stands Tony Principi, waving good-bye to his betrayed charges!

The only question remaining now is - "Who is supplying the torpedoes to the VA?" Could it possibly be that these deadly missiles are not only stamped "Made In America", but indeed were designed on Pennsylvania Avenue?

Huddling desperately below decks, and chained securely to the bulkheads, are many of this
nation's aged and ill veterans! And should they manage to free themselves from these shackles of deception and make it to the main deck, they still are in danger of being sucked under by an eddy of lies and maneuvering, including remands and (so-called) jurisdictions!

And of course, those who took the word of this ship's builder (I believe that his name was Judas or Benedict), that this craft was unsinkable, may find themselves peering out from a half-submerged porthole, trapped within some far removed Sargasso Sea! This, while selected members of the bureaucratic crew go merrily sailing by, destination- the Isle of Antipathy, in the Straits of Betrayal!

VERITAS :cd:

[PHO127]

Gimpy, in VA terms what is a remanded claim? Is this just laying around or a claim sent back for appeal process or what? Mine has been in process for 4 years in Oct.

[Gimpy]

that it is sent back to the last decision making area of the VA that the veterans received his award/denial notification from. It could be the local VARO, the Board of Veterans Appeals, etc. And, it also means that whatever the "remand" was sent back for MUST be re-investigated and a new decision rendered. It might be the SAME conclusion, BUT it MUST be re-evaluated!

If it's been FOUR years for yours----you really need to contact a good service rep and find out what the hell is going on. The DAV, MOPH, VFW, etc. all have good reps.

Good luck.

[HARDCORE]

Sorry Gimpy, but this is going to be one helluva thing for me to say!? I say it not to cause
grief, as I am sure that "MOST" service reps are dedicated and outstanding in their efforts, but alas, a bad service representative can cause you as much damage, as a good one can do you good!

My case was played with for the better part of 13 Years at an RO, and I am still fighting, thanks to (what I perceive to be) collusion on the part of that RO and various, interconnected entities there-in.

I too was subjected to remand after remand, only to later learn, right from the horse's mouth I might add, that many of these so called remands never took place at all!? According to a later service org rep, and an executive within this R.O., a game had been contrived between (at least) one service org rep and at least one member of the VA to table my case, delay my case, and otherwise screw up my case, because I had the audacity to fight fire with fire, all the way to the top and all points in between.

I utilized the phone, e-mail, telegram, fax, certified and even snail mail, to drive my point
home, in the media and political spectrum! And as such, I was informed by several people in (so-called) responsible positions that: and I quote:

1- I am making waves that are not appreciated.

2- I was asking for help with one hand and then slapping the face of those I asked with the
other.

3- I was, at a time of funding, getting congress to threaten investigation.

4- One of these days, I was going to catch a bullet in the back!

5- Should I ever need to spend overnight at a VA Hospital, I just might end up in the
basement etc.

"ARE THESE THE ACTS AND STATEMENTS OF A SANE, DEDICATED ENTITY?"

What am I doing about this, you ask? I have done plenty (whether it is successful or not), including contacting the media, Congress and even the President himself (three of them in fact)!

I have been advised by at least one Senator and more than one Congressman that the matter is currently being looked into (WE SHALL SEE)?

"As for me, I will not be intimidated, threatened or coerced, and I can prove all of the above- "Count on it!"

Now granted, this is not the norm, and granted again, I don't rollover upon command! But as Gimpy said, there are many good people out there assisting, and not all have been corrupted by the system (I hope)?

So keep up the good fight, keep records of all contact, even those items that may appear to be inconsequential on the surface, never accept oral guarantees or promises, and most of all, use your trust wisely! Or as it was put to me, many of these people are not your friend, and some will even resort to dastardly deeds to win the day!

"THE BEST DEFENSE, IS A GOOD OFFENSE, or BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY!!" GOOD LUCK & VERITAS

[reconeil]

No one can ever say that you don't have the facts and figures (number also) about veteran self/clique-serving beaurocrats.

Still, what impressed me most, was two of your quotes about those whose sole purpose for being are to serve all veterans in trouble or in need (well supposedly anyway).
#1 Was the fabricated or flat-out lied about statement that there was a: "200,000 claims reduction".
#2 Was that: "The VA, the second largest government with 220,000 people,...".

Hell Gimpy, and given those numbers, I don't understand what all claims haven't been reduced to ZERO. After all, and since there is apparently a better than one to one ratio of veteran friendly and helpful veteran beaurocrats for those veterans in need,...what-the-hell-more could any veteran want?

Regardless, and back to reality, it's just too bad that such isn't so.
Though, and for the life of me, I'll never understand why fellow veterans treat other veterans so advisarially?
It just doesn't seem right to me, much less honorable.

Neil