26 replies to this topic

[fanaticbooks]

Indianapolis Regional Office
This topic was created to try to help veterans who use this regional office. It is designed to offer a way for them to possibly help each other or band together to possibly get services improved.



When commenting in this topic, please try to do so constructively.



1. Mention reason for interacting with this regional office;

2. Give your pro/con on this interaction;

3. Without betraying private information, try to offer information or warnings that might be helpful to others when dealing with this office.



4. Please do not give names, phone numbers or addresses of specific persons at this office. If you do so, the post will be deleted.

[etcm]

Submitted claim for already service connected disabilities and a CUE on 14APR2010;
C&P exams on 09AUG2010; results for C&P on computer (and hand carried) to VARO on 29AUG2010;
eBenefits says received VAMC docs on 15OCT2010.
Development ever since.
Now with "special Ops Team"(?) whatever that is. Submitted IRIS request on 07/29/2011-VARO did not answer me but posted a message on VA computer system, so the 1-800-827-1000 customer assistance (nice elderly fellow ) could tell me that, even though others have submitted "regular" claims months AFTER mine at the Indianapolis VARO, that each claim is different so they cannot be compared and I just have to wait. (they did not say "my turn" this time, because I think my turn came and they gave it to someone else )

I've visited the Indianapolis VARO numerous times-heard many different stories, been lied to told information that was not true on multiple occasions, been given compassion (they have some very nice people at customer assistance, and had "rough" ones tell me things like I might have to wait 10-12 months (then I told them I was on my 14th month and they changed the response to brush me off again), and once, stared at with no comments. More than one customer service representative told me that I had no CUE on the records, once, they even removed it from the eBenefits listing but I brayed until they put it back on the list.
Gird up thine loins and prepare for a long wait at this VARO.

Still Waiting

[etcm]

Additional info: I am at 530+ days waiting and am still in development. Was told by congressional aide Indy is so backed up with Nehmer cases. Was told that Indy was bumped from 10 claim raters to 15 claim raters to ensure the Indy VARO had adequate resources to handle the Nehmer claims. All of my claims are for already service connected issues plus a CUE for a service connected issue that. in1996, they said no code existed for but one had been initiated before they adjudicated that original claim and they just did not implement the law in effect at the time..... I really get worked up over this wait-chronic back pain has a way of triggering a short fuse from this situation....

[jbasser]

I worked with a member a couple of years ago and I have to say this is probally the worst regional office in the United States.

Mishandling of claim information. Sending another veterans information to the veteran and when he tried to take it back, they cornered him and tried to interrogate him. He called me in a panic and I told him to get out of there and send the information to the veteran whose name was on the documents.
Then I told him to send the rest to the office of VAOIG. This veteran ended up moving to another state.

I would not touch this regional office without the assistance of an attorney.

Basser

[Ethan'sGrandma]

Unfortunately, I am with other comments about this RO. In my experience, it will be a long wait. My claim has been with them since Nov., 2005, denied and on appeal. The appeal has been just sitting there for over 1-1/2 years with no movement from them directly, or certified for BVA. In 2009, an IRIS request response told me the claim was awaiting an SSOC. In 2011, the IRIS response told me the same thing...awaiting the same SSOC. Since my C&P in Feb., 2010, I have forwarded more evidence to them to be placed in the file which should be favorable to the claim, but those are my thoughts only from the information that I've gathered, but if history serves me correctly, there is no telling what IN VARO will do with it. I have not had mail communication from them since Dec., 2009, not even any acknowledgements anymore of receipt of information, nor "we are working on your claim" letters. In my last IRIS request, they did include with their response an apology for the length of time involved. It is very difficult to know whether they receive paperwork/evidence, even with the USPS receipt showing they have, indeed, received. Once before, they attempted to cancel my appeal as "not timely," even as I had the signed postal receipt, showing date received. They ended up allowing it when I produced the said receipt, but it was nerve wrenching, to say the least. Other evidence and letters, including my request for DRO review, were claimed as non-received, even as I had the copies of what had been sent. I never did get that review, but went to a hearing which was a complete waste of my time, not to mention the hardship for me to just get there.

Additionally, a particular VSO out of that office who is listed as my rep. has been of no assistance. Now, it seems that office is also claiming non-receipt of evidence, even with my postal receipt showing they also received. After the VARO claims of non-receipt, or late receipt of evidence, I've been sending a copy to the VSO for stamping and having placed into my VA file of what I've sent to the VARO. The VSO would send me a letter stating it was turned in to VA and date stamp noted, but important papers that I'd sent in May, 2011 were never acknowledged. Recently, I called the office about it and, apparently, they claim to never have received the evidence, either. From having dealt with the P.O. in that area, due to claims of non-receipt, etc., it does not appear to be a postal delivery problem, but a IN VARO issue with the mail once it is delivered to them. Since I do not live near to the VARO, there is not too much more that can be done about it since I can't just pay a visit, requesting to see the file, to see what is in it. I have not made a request for updated file copies since I do not want to disturb the claim further, but it seems pointless to do that, in any case. My husband requested some copies from them from his file, over 1-1/2 years ago and, as yet, nothing has been forthcoming.

The IN VARO was not always this way. My husband went through that VARO back in the 90's and the service was excellent with both VARO and VSO. They were efficient and timely. Since then, too much has changed, but not favorable, or so it seems to me. This veteran has just been left to sort of just hang and wait out whatever it is they are doing over there. I agree that it would be best to work through an attorney with that particular VARO. I just have not gotten around to seeking out the information for that and pending that SSOC they spoke about since 2009. I suppose, eventually, I will be forced to do that if the claim just continues to sit there and I can't get better assistance from the VSO. This whole claim issue was so pathetic that when my hearing date came up, I made the trip to Indianapolis, and my VSO did not even have me listed in their computer as having a hearing that day, even as I'd called him to confirm a few days prior. The receptionist went looking for him somewhere in the building to inform him that my hearing was coming up...good thing he wasn't off that day. I know that there is no way he was reviewing anything in my file, so he was not prepared. Of course, he is the VSO, not the VA, but it sure leaves me wondering.

If this is the way that IN VARO continues to operate, it would behoove a veteran to get real good representation from the get go, or expect a longer than what is expected wait, in my humble opinion. I'm sorry that I don't have anything better to say about that VARO.

[etcm]

Thanks for your candor Ethan's..
This is one of the things that is making me feel so disgusted with them. IF they decide to deny my CUE, when in fact it is a cut and dried CUE, I'll have to appeal through this very same VARO and there will be an even longer wait. Of course the later courts would award me the CUE but the pain and anguish at having to wait and wait and even wait for this VARO to relinquish its grip on me (and my claim) is wearing on me now. All the while, they say they are doing everything they can and they are working so hard - I think there comes a time when a leader has to say that enough is enough and that the current team is NOT a team that can produce success. I'm going to be excessively bitter at them even if the significant 5 figure $$$ were deposited tomorrow! Of course that would have required an adjudication and CACO approval and more. I can understand but I will not forget what they have done to me and most likely thousands of others.

[etcm]

Another thing I just noticed: My last claim was a dependency claim in 2007. The claim was "opened" at 10 months after submittal and completed during the week that made it one year. So they have been slow to adjudicate for a long time (at least on my claims). One of the claims submitted a couple of months after mine, as I read, was adjudicated earlier and it just dawned on me that it was mistakenly sent to another VARO for adjudication, then sent back to Indianapolis and completed. So it goes.

Edited by etcm, 03 October 2011 - 10:58 AM.

[justrluk]

Another thing I just noticed: My last claim was a dependency claim in 2007. The claim was "opened" at 10 months after submittal and completed during the week that made it one year. So they have been slow to adjudicate for a long time (at least on my claims). One of the claims submitted a couple of months after mine, as I read, was adjudicated earlier and it just dawned on me that it was mistakenly sent to another VARO for adjudication, then sent back to Indianapolis and completed. So it goes.

"mistakenly sent to another VARO for adjudication" - sometimes when a VARO is backed-up, they'll farm their work out to other VAROs with lighter workload. ATL sent two of mine to Huntington VARO, and I received (what I think) were better results. Best of luck to you!

[etcm]

No higher level math here. Using the VA Monday Morning Weekly Report data for AUG2011 and the Aspire data for AUG2011, the average age of every one of the 1092 completed claims processed by the Indianapolis VARO, in AUG2011, was about 310 days. This is interesting. The average time to complete the rating is listed as 252.6 days. The previous month it was 245.6. That time listed is the cumulative time to rate for all claims in the fiscal year 2011. SO the 1092 claims completed in AUG2011 is added to the approx 9400 other claims processed during the year. To get a seven day rise over approx 10500 claims means they must have a lot higher (average time to complete) time over the 1092 claims than that 252.6 average.

Now, more:
The VARO has told me in mid AUG2011 (and some other times since) that they had not yet gotten to my (then) 490 day old claim as it had not waited long enough and they work all claims in the order received. This means that they worked a large percentage of young (higher priority) claims and a few really old (regular) claims.

Comparing number of 01AUG claims <125 days (5443) and an average of 25% of those claims aging to >125 days old with the number of 31AUG claims <125 days (5478) and the new claims(~1718) (Average age 15 days old) indicates that 315 claims that should have reached a status of >125 days old never did - these must be the number of claims less than 125 days that got adjudicated; these are some of the prioritized claims that got processed in AUG2011. Now some real hypothesizing: IF you assume the average age of these 315 claims that got adjudicated is 100 days, the rest of the claims for AUG averaged 395 days... but my 490 day claim had not been touched, so I'll assume that all of the regular claims adjudicated were at least 490 540 days old then (and now I am at 540 days so I'll assume all of the regular claims completed in AUG were at least 540 days old. )
This means that they do not give enough numbers to postulate And I'd guestimate that about 85-95% of the claims processed at Indy are prioritized.
But it does indicate another symptom of a system at its breaking point where unless you are in a "prioritized" category, your estimated adjudication date is growing and continues to grow - to at least 540+days now. This conclusion assumes they work the claims in the order received...but I've read posts here and on other forums that indicate that their "party line" about this is a lie wishful thinking.

[etcm]

Next VARO Indianapolis issue:
Submitted IRIS request on 27SEP2011 -> its supposed to have a 5 business day time for response. Nothing yet after 8 10 business days. The 1-800 operator says it was forwarded to the Indy VARO for them to reply. Just like my last IRIS inquiry that I had to call the 1-800 number and get the customer service rep to read to me from her computer.

Edited by etcm, 12 October 2011 - 09:36 AM.

[etcm]

Received a reply to an IRIS inquiry regarding whether new C&P exams will be required due to current C&P exams being over one year old (due to slow VARO response to claims):
Dear Mr. Xxxxxxx
This is in response to your inquiry to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) dated September 27, 2011.
We apologize for the delay in responding to your inquiry. We are currently experiencing a large volume of inquiries and are working as quickly as possible to respond to each in a timely manner.
Mr. Xxxxxx, we thank you for your service to our country.
We received your claim for increase on April 14, 2010, for ............. Your claim is still in the Development Phase. Based on the information available, the required development actions have been completed. We will review your claim to ensure we have everything we need to make an informed decision. If we determine we need additional information, we will contact you.
There are two additional phases: the Decision Phase and the Notification Phase.
The VA doesn't have a policy to reorder exams if they are over a year old. Once a claim is awaiting a decision by our rating activity, a rating specialist will review the information to make sure we have everything we need to make a fair decision. If at that time, they feel a more current exam is necessary, one will be ordered.
Your continued patience is appreciated.
Thank you for contacting us. If you have questions or need additional help with the information in our reply, please respond to this message or see our other contact information below.

Sincerely yours,

Donovan W. Thompson
National IRIS Response Center Manager

[Quibley]

Just to give you a frame of reference for your stats, I applied to Indy RO on 04-14-2009 for PTSD, TBI, TDIU, residuals, hand fracture, tinnitus, and bilateral hearing loss and my claim was awarded on 8-5-2010. By my math that's 16 months. With regards to your dependency claim, I filed for dependency at the Manila RO in May of this year and it was awarded this past Monday, 10-17-2011- for 5 months total.

[etcm]

Just to give you a frame of reference for your stats, I applied to Indy RO on 04-14-2009 for PTSD, TBI, TDIU, residuals, hand fracture, tinnitus, and bilateral hearing loss and my claim was awarded on 8-5-2010. By my math that's 16 months. With regards to your dependency claim, I filed for dependency at the Manila RO in May of this year and it was awarded this past Monday, 10-17-2011- for 5 months total.

Yes, Your claim was adjudicated BEFORE all of the AO presumptives and the Nehmer claims started to be adjudicated. Thanks for the input. It indicates a significantly longer time than their laughable average processing claim times indicate. They keep processing enough of the recent (prioritized and others) claims to keep the average lower and still keep a significant majority waiting around. Interestingly, today I read that one of the past funding initiatives was to be able to charge interest when the VA overpays vets....but there is certainly no reciprocity when the VA owes us for years and finally pays

[etcm]

Made a trip to the VARO today and it was an eye-opener!

Per the customer service rep: Regular claims for Indianapolis are still backed up to 2009 submissions! He commented that they are backed up so many ways and that they are just working through as best as they can. In an attempt to modernize the VA claim process, the Indy VARO has changed to a team concept that has teams for NEW claims (FastTrack – fully developed), team(s) for prioritized claims, team to work all of the 19APR2010 and earlier cases, etc.

For some of us, it means that they have allocated resources to work other claims rather than in the order received, excuse me, that means other non-prioritized claims. It also means that the rule about working claims in the order received is true…except when they have a plan to do something else – and all in the name of, with the intent of being efficient . Oh yes, they cull certain kinds of new claims out like tinnitus, hearing, backs, etc. so they can knock those out earlier to keep them from backing up also.

Oh yes, the team that is working all of those claims dating back to 2009 – FOUR raters. I was told these old claims were difficult and needed a special (“special ops”) team. When I pointed out that my claim was “old” because it has aged into that category because they just did not work it. He acknowledged that and they have such a big backlog that originated from Nehmer, Gulf War vet priorities with such a large National Guard presence in Indiana, and all of the other Congressional mandated priorities.

So, let’s see, at with 4 raters at 3 claims a day each (remember, these are “difficult” old claims), that should yield about 250-270 claims a month. And IF they received 500 regular claims a month during the time from Oct2009 until 19APR2010 ……… That means they will reach, or could reach, 2 months of work for every month of submitted claims. That is reassuring. It also means, with Quibley's earlier post, that from 8-5-2010 until now (over a year) that they have accomplished 2-months worth of "regular" claims!


I would like to give up on this, but of course the VA does not pay the same interest on underpaid accounts as they do when You are overpaid. The VA does not care that you lose thousands of $$ in “lost” tax returns due to their delay!

I really think the workers care about the job and their ability to deliver timely claim adjudication. I think that many workers are trying hard to achieve. It’s just that the current system is not geared up to provide the services that the politicians want it too. But the politicians just do not want to be seen “denying” benefits to disabled vets, so they enact legislation that directs the VA to “make it happen” …and the VA does NOT go to the press and tell the public the sham job that Congress is trying to pull, instead, they make a press announcement that all claims will be under 125 days by 2015.

When you look at the ASPIRE and the VA Monday Morning Weekly Report, you sure do not look at the numbers that say they are still not even working cases that are over 700 days old!

He also said that the new time estimates that they are informing vet applicants are from 6-12 months! He doesn’t tell the applicants that they are going to work their newer claims instead of all of those “old” and “difficult” claims.

Please excuse my rant and just observe the “facts” involving the status of the Indianapolis VARO at processing claims. Chronic back/neck pain, coupled with my failure to see the sense in the smoke blown by our gov’t that everything is under control. Hey, if I am really “lucky” they will adjudicate my claim and just before they issue any payments, the dollar will crash and I then can take the 8 years of back CRDP and buy a sandwich with it. MMM, MMM, good.

[etcm]

Wanted to note that I opened eBenefits today and was deflated a little bit. Expecting to see red and no progress, my claim, at day 566, is moved to the decision phase and they updated the standard entry that says I have ACTION due and to submit data any medical information to closed (the eBenefits step, not my claim) . So now a different clock is ticking...tick tock. Mine is a "regular" claim and this is how long it has taken to arrive at the documentation phase.

[etcm]

I was thinking about a silly post saying that it was now in the 16-28 day period (for Decision phase) so I wondered if I should be waiting Notification...and then, between last night and early this morning, eBenefits moved into the Notification Phase (day 592). I'm waiting word from my American Legion VSO to see if he has had a "preview" chance. I am not "worried' anymore but my claim involves a retro decision that is over 15 years old and retro >$25K from both the VA and DFAS. The eBenefits update included an entry that my VA hospital treatment records were received only 11 days ago so it is curious that they could have jumped through all of the VACO approval and 2-signature approval hoops over a Thanksgiving week and THAT seems awful fast... I'm hoping the next post will be in the success forum. My CUE does not involve a difference of opinion or misinterpreted/missing medical records, it involves not applying changes in law that occurred before my original adjudication.

Edited by etcm, 29 November 2011 - 09:26 PM.

[Berta]

I just got this report from the VA Inspector General's office:

http://www.va.gov/oi...11-03134-32.pdf

"Inspection of the VA Regional Office, Indianapolis, Indiana
11/28/2011 07:00 PM EST
 
We evaluated how well the Indianapolis VARO accomplishes its mission. The staff timely processed homeless veterans’ claims and effectively provided outreach efforts to homeless shelters and service providers. Inaccuracies in temporary 100 percent disability evaluations resulted from not scheduling medical reexaminations. Also, an incorrect interpretation of VA policy resulted in inadequate medical exams for processing traumatic brain injury claims. Also, the quality assurance program did not identify errors in herbicide exposure-related disability claims. Overall, the VARO did not correctly process 41 percent of disability claims reviewed. Better management oversight would ensure errors identified by internal reviews were corrected, improve mail processing, and increase accuracy when addressing entitlement issues pertaining to the mental health treatment for Gulf War veterans."

41% of the claims were done wrong!!!!!!!

[faofficer]

Wow! They are really trying to set the bar high heh. I have a claim that is now 365 days and have not received the first contact letter. All of the items claimed are either already SC or presumptives that have already been diagnosed by the VHA. It is dissappointing because I know that the majority of the VA administrative staff are SC veterans and new job openings have been posted as to only be filled by veterans or tenured civil service employees. You would think things would improve, but they seem to be getting worse. I hear they have terrible turnover so maybe they just have to keep training new staff. Still....Wow!

I just got this report from the VA Inspector General's office:

http://www.va.gov/oi...11-03134-32.pdf

"Inspection of the VA Regional Office, Indianapolis, Indiana
11/28/2011 07:00 PM EST

We evaluated how well the Indianapolis VARO accomplishes its mission. The staff timely processed homeless veterans' claims and effectively provided outreach efforts to homeless shelters and service providers. Inaccuracies in temporary 100 percent disability evaluations resulted from not scheduling medical reexaminations. Also, an incorrect interpretation of VA policy resulted in inadequate medical exams for processing traumatic brain injury claims. Also, the quality assurance program did not identify errors in herbicide exposure-related disability claims. Overall, the VARO did not correctly process 41 percent of disability claims reviewed. Better management oversight would ensure errors identified by internal reviews were corrected, improve mail processing, and increase accuracy when addressing entitlement issues pertaining to the mental health treatment for Gulf War veterans."

41% of the claims were done wrong!!!!!!!

[Ethan'sGrandma]

Wow, but I'm not surprised by the %! I've been battling that RO since 2005 and I have no idea if I can see an end in sight! My request for BVA has not even budged...the claim still sits at VARO awaiting an SSOC since 2009 and here we are getting to 2012. Wow, just wow, but there doesn't really seem to be too much of an oversight at that particular VARO. Sheesh, I wish they would either poopy, or get off the pot!!

Edited by Ethan'sGrandma, 05 December 2011 - 01:52 AM.

[etcm]

Wow! They are really trying to set the bar high heh. I have a claim that is now 365 days and have not received the first contact letter. All of the items claimed are either already SC or presumptives that have already been diagnosed by the VHA. It is dissappointing because I know that the majority of the VA administrative staff are SC veterans and new job openings have been posted as to only be filled by veterans or tenured civil service employees. You would think things would improve, but they seem to be getting worse. I hear they have terrible turnover so maybe they just have to keep training new staff. Still....Wow!

As I was informed the last time I visited the Indianapolis VARO - you are unfortunate to have a claim where there is such a large number of returning Gulf War OIF/OEF vets because of the large number of reserve units called up from the iNDIANA AREA. That has created a large number of vets with higher priority than a regular claim submittal.. The politicians made it this way and that is how the VA must adjudicate the claims. I know it is difficult to accept that you are not as "equal" as other vets...but that is the way it is. When you are standing in line for gov't benefits, you pretty much have to accept what you are given. I think Indy is moving faster now..
Good Luck - etcm

[etcm]

New info! DFAS paid a low 5-figure CRDP retro" amount on Jan 19th. The DFAS CRDP customer service help line(1-877-327-4457) indicated they performed the retired pay audit and forwarded their results to the VA (Indy regional office) on 19 JAN2012. The 1-800-827-1000 VA customer service rep said: about "45 days" for the VA to pay their portion of the retro. Its been 12 days so far....

[simplejohn]

Here is alittle info. I just got off the phone the 1800 number. Lets call him "snowball". I was checking on my claims that I have with the indianapolis VRO. It has been about 6 months and no movement. He informed me, that they are running about 572 on processing claims now. I was floored. I thought to myself. Jezzzzzzz the government can send us to combat at a moments notice (which I would do again if my country asked me). But when the veterns file a claim or ask for help. It takes 2 years to get any help.

[Papa]

Here is alittle info. I just got off the phone the 1800 number. Lets call him "snowball". I was checking on my claims that I have with the indianapolis VRO. It has been about 6 months and no movement. He informed me, that they are running about 572 on processing claims now. I was floored. I thought to myself. Jezzzzzzz the government can send us to combat at a moments notice (which I would do again if my country asked me). But when the veterns file a claim or ask for help. It takes 2 years to get any help.

Hey that would be fast, based on the fact my claim has been with the Houston RO for 854 days and still in "Gathering Evidence". Be thankful.

Papa

[kevin4998]

Fox News 59 reporting on VRO Indianapolis:

http://www.fox59.com...,1820800.column

http://www.fox59.com...-Hoosier-Heroes

[etcm]

An average wait of 474 days, well that means the claims of the 30+ groups of vets who have priority status are much lower...and a regular vet that is not part of the priority groups is waiting a LOT LONGER.

And after you get that VA decision, (you won your claim) and they owe you thousands of dollars, they have no rules in place that make them pay you, no regulations to force them, no one accountable who will answer to our elected officials, so you wait and wait some more.

and VARO Indianapolis: well we get the government that We the People" deserve.

Fox News 59 reporting on VRO Indianapolis:

http://www.fox59.com...,1820800.column

http://www.fox59.com...-Hoosier-Heroes

[kevin4998]

Indianapolis RO vs Social Security Claim

Claims for:
1) Lumbar Stenosis (SMR entries for low back pain, same area L4/L5)
(current Meds through VA: Hydocodone 7.5's one every 4 hrs and over the counter Ibuprofen)

2) Diabetes Type 2
current meds through VA: Insulin 52 units twice a day, glipizide 10mgs twice a day)

3) IBS (SMR entries/Gulf War vet as well)

4) Gerd (SMR entries)
(current meds through VA: Pantoprazole 40mgs one a day, Simethicone 80mgs two tabs three times a day)

5) Major Depression (steming from issues with with #'s 1, 3, and 4 and ptsd (but as of yet not addressed))

6) Anxiety
(current meds for both #4 and #5 through Va: Three atm)

SSD Claim filed Feb 2011
VA Claims filed Apr 2011

SSD claim denied June 2011
Appealed
SSD claim denied Aug 2011
Appealed
SSD claim court date May 2012
SSD Awarded July 2012

Award back dates too Feb 2011, six month waiting period so pay actually started in Aug of 2011

VA Claim status: Still in collection of evidence status
I did an Iris last month, and got the typical response letter. Hopefully it adds a bit a fuel to my claims though.


I have maintained a very tight budget over the last year and with my award I can pay my bills and build a better case for VA claims to boot with out going bankrupt.

Edited by kevin4998, 12 July 2012 - 07:33 AM.

[Chuck75]

There is a fairly simple way to force the VA to reduce the backlog to a "reasonable" level. It's actually more or less the same method used to enforce prompt payment by the government (VA included) to contractors. Unfortunately, current veteran's law prohibits it, and must be changed.

Require the VA to pay INTEREST when more than a reasonable period elapses between the filing of a claim and the payment of the claim. (In the case of contractors, this can be a period of thirty days or so after payment is due.)

Require that long delayed claims be paid using the governments own tables that equate past year to current year dollars.
This also compensates the veteran, by paying a more or less equitable amount that has the same purchasing power as a past year's dollar.

Perhaps a supplementary payment should also be added when CUE is involved.

If that doesn't get the VA off it's @#$, then it's past time to separate the entire C&P system, overhaul it, and place it under (Perhaps) SSA.
Supporting two disability systems makes absolutely no sense, unless you want to have increased administrative costs, duplicated manpower, etc.