September 22, 2023 • 40 mins
In Part 2 of our special series with Bill Sterbinsky, Esq., USMC Veteran turned Attorney and Advocate, we dive deep into the crucial issues surrounding the Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital. Bill unpacks the often overlooked IG (Inspector General) reports, shedding light on ongoing challenges within the VA system.
While recognizing that there are dedicated individuals within the VA, Bill addresses the persistent hurdles that our veterans face when seeking the care and support they deserve. Join us as we explore the pressing need for change and why advocating for veterans' rights should never be this difficult. Don't miss this eye-opening discussion on 'Wake Up with Patti Katter.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Hello, everybody. You're listening to and watching
Wake Up with Patty Katter. I'm Patty Katter, and I have
Bill Strabansky with me today again.
Bill, hi. Hello, it's good to see you
again. Good to see you.
It seems like ages since we lastchatted.
It does. Boy, time flies.
So if you didn't catch the show last week, you guys, you want to
(00:21):
go back and listen to Bill's story.
He talks about his upbringing inSarasota, FL and how he ended up
joining the military, the MarineCorps to be specific.
And it became an advocate in Sarasota with an organization,
SRQ Vets. And now we're going to actually
talk about something really not that SRQ vets is not impactful,
(00:44):
because it definitely is. But he decided to even step it
up further and he became an attorney who helps military
veterans, right? Yes, ma'am, I did.
It was interesting. So when I was doing my
undergraduate degree at USF and history, you know, naturally
you're trying to figure out who you are, what you want to do
(01:06):
with life, etcetera. I applied for VA claims, for VA
benefits, for a nasty crash thatI had suffered overseas in Iraq,
and I got out in July of 2007. I applied.
There's a little bit more of a back story of how me being lost
in the sauce and kind of ditty bopping around Ava medical
(01:28):
facility looking for college, which is a funnier story.
But a VSO kind of plucked me around, plucked me out of the
crowd and says, hey, what are you doing?
And I'm like, I want to go to college And he goes, you're in
the wrong building. But have you ever heard of VA
claims? And I'm like, I don't even know
what you're talking about. He goes, come here, talk to me.
And so I told him my story aboutwhat had happened to us
overseas. And he says, what's filed claims
for your injuries from that crash?
(01:49):
And I said OK within less than amonth.
Maybe maybe a little bit plus orminus.
Within a month later I got a denial back stating that I had
no in service event injury or disease, which is element one of
Ava claim that occurred in service and I was going wait a
second, this happened in December of 06 and we're now in
(02:11):
August of 07 and you're telling me that the thing that happened
had never happened. So it kind of took me downhill.
And I I got upset pretty much like 9 out of 10 veterans do
they go, How are you going to tell me that what I served
didn't happen? And instead of getting terribly
upset and falling too deep into a bottle of whiskey, I decided
(02:33):
to understand this animal calledthe VA.
And so I researched it. I found some beautiful things.
It's created in the 1860s by AbeLincoln.
For those who have borne the battle and their widow and their
orphan, it's one of the most incredible quotes that you can
read by him. And it's a very powerful,
beautiful regulation. It is woefully misapplied.
(02:54):
It is the people in the department are are strikingly
incompetent, almost to a point of confusion, and it requires
strong advocacy, so much that around I think it was the eight
1980s. That the courts started looking
at this going We need to open this up to attorneys.
(03:15):
We need to open this up to proper advocacy.
So going back to undergrad, I started talking to a lot of
veterans and I started hearing and gathering horror stories
about these VA claims. So I shifted.
I went to law school with a purpose of advocacy for writing
and advocacy within the court sothat I could hone my skills as
(03:38):
an attorney. And then also I studied VA
claims. I graduated from law school and
I moved back down to the 12th Judicial Circuit, which is
Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties in Florida.
And I picked up my first job as a prosecutor in the 12 judicial
Circuit and I had the privilege to be given the honor by our
elected official then to help create the first veterans
(04:00):
treatment court in 12 judicial Circuit Manatee County.
It still operates today. And then it was successful and
we used some of the resources, the community resources through
SRQ vets to help support it because naturally.
A judicial system should not be able to solve this on its own.
It must be a community effort. So a lot of the communities, the
DA V's, the American Legions, the VFWS, the retired military
(04:21):
veterans and other individuals who wanted to see the best for
our veterans get out of the judicial system and become
productive members of society stepped up and they became very
supportive pillars through our community, offering mentorship,
offering employment, offering just a listening ear or a
shoulder to cry on. It was beautiful.
It then was successful in Manatee County and then it went
(04:42):
to Sarasota County. I finished my time as a
prosecutor in Sarasota County and I remember still being given
the honor by that office to be the acting liaison, if you will,
of the State Attorney's Office. The only issue was is because I
was a prosecutor. I am by laws of ethics and
professionalism. I'm prohibited to speak to these
(05:03):
veterans because they're defendants.
I must speak through their advocate.
And there was times when I realized that the Advocate was a
civilian. And didn't quite see between the
lines of what was going on or there were times where maybe
this veteran just needed a good oldfashioned knife hand and some
motivation and they could have pulled himself out of that
rabbit hole. So with great regret because
(05:24):
being a prosecutor, especially working for the circuit at that
time and being led by those individuals was an incredible
job and we were able to really, really help some of the victims
and advocate for them within thejudicial circuit.
I resigned my position and I left to become an accredited VA
attorney so that I could begin representing veterans and their
(05:44):
families. And that was an incredible
adventure. And so I got accredited around
December 7th, 2018, I believe, and dove head first into the VA
world. And I can tell you that my.
Initial frustrations came out tenfold.
(06:05):
I mean, we're having conferenceswhere I'm on the phone with
these people. Like, how can you write this?
How did you miss this piece of evidence that it's on their
DD214? Did you even look at this
military personnel record, the record of service or the
assignments of service or whatever?
Like, I was baffled. And then I realized that the
(06:25):
people in the VA are overly defensive.
I think that they take a incorrect and I would even say
misplaced or illegal adversarialapproach to these claims.
It's supposed to be a paternalistic regulation that's
supposed to process these claimsthat are optimum, but instead
(06:47):
they kind of get this ego chip on their shoulder.
You know, like, well, I'm a veteran too.
And I'm like, well, good, then you should be doing push ups for
the crap that you just wrote. And they they tend to kind of
want to throw it back in your face.
Now, that's not everybody. So for any of those who are
Decision Review officers, VSRS, processing, claims Processing,
(07:10):
Personnel, Directors or Assistant Directors, I can tell
you that in my experience of doing this since 2018 is I have
met more angels than demons in the VA.
I can tell you that the processes of the VA has
handcuffed or strapped the angels with bureaucracy.
(07:33):
That is just maddening and nauseating, and my job is to
continue to navigate these tumultuous waters of the VA and
to press these claims for veterans.
And to make sure that when we get a decision letter, something
is appropriately timely and thathas a good faith argument that
makes sense to file so that we can defeat the wheels of
(07:56):
bureaucracy. And they continuously press for
inquiries and updates within regional offices so that these
claims don't slip to the cracks and fall within what I call the
the Black Hole of Death, which is called the National Work
queue. It's basically a bucket where
claims go and their people are supposed to pull them out
according to their suspense dates.
That was a long answer. No, that was a good answer.
(08:20):
So if you're listening to the show and you know me, you know
that I've been a huge military advocate since 2007.
And some of you may or may not know that in around 2009 I was
heavily involved in pushing and advocating for the VA to
implement a caregiver program. So we had to go through all this
policy making and all of this fun stuff to actually implement
(08:42):
that. But for me, the frustration has
been over the years, the same thing that Bill has mentioned
is, you know, you have these really great people in the VA
and then you also have some thatare not doing their job.
And there been so many times over the years, even with Ken's
military records or I shouldn't say military records, his
personal records at the VA, his health records at the VA, people
(09:06):
will ask us questions about his health.
And I'm like, didn't you look athis chart, Didn't you look at
his medical record? It's all in there.
Like, why are you asking me these questions?
Every single time we come here, you're asking these questions.
So a lot of the frustration withme is, you know, having to
repeat myself, having to advocate because I go to the
(09:27):
civilian doctors with Ken and it's a cakewalk compared to the
VA. Sometimes I'm just like, is the
VA testing me today? But imagine being a military
veteran who has physical injuries, mental wounds of war
and and other injuries that impact the mental health that
they have, just like the system when you call the VA and you
(09:51):
get, you know, push one for this, two for this, and nobody
knows who's calling what number.So imagine having a veteran who
has the deficiencies that maybe I wouldn't have somebody who
does not have a brain injury andthen mix that into the whole
barrel. So advocates are so important,
(10:12):
attorneys are so important. Now tell my listeners a little
bit about why an attorney versusa normal advocate and when do
you have, when should you get anattorney versus just having an
advocate? So that's a really good
question. It's anybody in this date, day
(10:34):
and age can get a degree. Anybody.
Can not have a degree and still offer the level of competence
that those who do and that are good at their job.
I think that when it comes to VAclaims the the point of
consideration would be when it is you feel that you have hit a
(10:55):
brick wall. When you keep hearing the same
denials, when you submit new andrelevant evidence on a
supplemental form and they say no new and relevant evidence has
been submitted. When you feel like getting a
hold of your advocate, whoever that may be, either you're doing
it by yourself, you're doing it through a veteran service
officer, VSO, or you're doing itthrough another attorney
(11:17):
advocate. That it becomes frustrated when
when you get to the point of emotional breakdown and giving
up is when you want to seek an advocate.
That is definitely worth their salt now, typically the way that
I describe. The types of advocates out there
are I I typically see on a in a very general sense that there's
(11:38):
three. There's there's individuals who
file for themselves and there's a very low percentage who are
capable of doing it and know howto do it and also have the
creativity, the patience and thepersistence to pursue to the
end. You have VSO's God bless their
souls, God bless them, God blessthem, God bless them.
They were part of the enacting of this regulations to begin
with and they were designed to assist veterans.
(11:59):
But to assist them in things of simple filings, because the VA
is designed to be paternalistic and to process these claims to
the highest benefit already without being an adversary.
The problem with VSO's as they come and go, and I think
sometimes that there is a large population of them, and I'm
going to be as bold to say it this way, is that they get lazy.
(12:20):
They get lazy and they tell veterans and a lot of you may
resonate with this, oh, here's the paperwork.
Just fill it out and then send it in.
Or they call and they say, hey, well my claim got denied like,
Oh well, let's just check this out or fill out this paperwork
or we need this piece of evidence and then send it in.
Or what they do even worse is instead of using the appeals
Modernization Act with the new avenues of a supplemental claim
or high level review, as soon asthey get denied, they push it to
(12:42):
a Board of Veterans Appeals lane.
Which doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to be proven
many years down the road when the date and time for a hearing
gets given to you. But instead it could be remanded
back to go for further development that a supplemental
claim could have done in six to seven or maybe 7 to 9 months
anyways. So you're losing time and saving
time, and then you have attorneys.
Now attorneys just like engineers, just like doctors,
(13:03):
just like other professionals with graduate degrees.
You have to go shop and interview.
You as the veteran and as the client need to go sit down and
talk to these individuals and feel them out.
You have felt out bad lieutenants before.
You have felt out bad sergeants before.
You need to sit down with these individuals.
(13:24):
You need to ask them the tough questions, even the questions of
urban legend within the VA Oh, well, if I do this, they're
going to take my gun rights away.
Or if I do that, then, you know,they might Baker Act, ME,
etcetera. Ask those tough questions, see
what their responses are. Feel the human that is about to
represent you for a lifetime benefit for something that you
were get willing to give your life for.
(13:46):
So I think what in a nutshell, Ithink that is it wise to have
someone who is professional and who focuses on a particular
trade. Yes.
You know, there's the saying, a Jack of all trades, a master of
none. Well, you want to find the
master of that one. And you want to interview them
(14:07):
and you want to, you know, hold them to a higher standard of
accountability because that's who we are.
We're veterans. I mean, we gave them, we gave
them this blanket of freedom. Gosh darn it.
Let's let's remind people who wove that blanket of freedom.
So I think that yes, you you when you find yourself.
Kind of circling around and around and around again and
(14:30):
getting nowhere with the VA. I think it's time for you to
reach a higher level of competence.
Now here's a question for you. I hear a lot.
I have had advocates say I can'thelp a military veteran file a
claim if there's zero evidence in their military claim that
(14:50):
they hurt their ankle while theywere in service and so
afterwards, now they want to geta claim for their ankle.
How true is that? Or not true?
So that's a really awesome question.
So the beauty about the VA is, excuse me, the the Department of
Defense first. We'll get to the department of
the VA in a minute. This would be my personal belief
(15:13):
and understanding, Department ofDefense, There's your military.
Keep the bad guys outside of ourborders, foreign and domestic.
Keep our loved ones safe and whatever it takes to do that and
get it accomplished. Let's get it done a lot of times
when you go into the military, if not pretty much every single
time. There is this idea of being the
(15:33):
strongest link within the chain.Nobody wants to go for a
sprained ankle to medical because they don't want to be
seen as no linger or, you know, a weak human being or, you know,
whatever. Negative connotation we want to
apply to that individual. There's there's that pride
there, that military pride. So they suck it up.
And you know, maybe like in the Marines, they send us to our
(15:54):
dock and their dock says, stretch, change your socks,
drink water. Here's 800 milligrams of Motrin,
Which, by the way, is probably going to give you a stomach
issue later on. And you go back to your unit,
you don't report it to medical. It just kind of disappears.
It's gone. Oh man, I got a little ringing
going. So what happens is you get out
(16:18):
and you apply for the VA and they deny you a letter and they
say hey, we don't have any evidence in your military
personnel file or your service treatment records that indicates
that you had an injury, event ordisease in service.
So therefore your claim is denied.
The beautiful part is. The legislature gave us the
ability to tell our own stories because the Department of
Defense is not the National Archives and their job is not to
(16:40):
record. You don't have a scribe running
around behind Pfc Smith and Lance Corporal Jones saying, oh,
Lance Corporal Jones went to theleft, Pfc Smith went to the
right. Pfc Smith fell down a hill and
hurt his ankle, but he didn't report it to medical.
So we're just going to go ahead and record it for him.
That doesn't happen. What the VA is governed by is
the United States Code that grants authority of the Code of
(17:03):
Federal Regulations, title 38 and the statutes title 38, Code
of Federal Regulations, 3.159, subsection A1 and A2.
It talks about competent medicalevidence and competent lay
evidence. Competent lay evidence, in a
nutshell, is the evidence that if you have personal knowledge
of, you're competent to testify about.
So the reality is is you're allowed to tell your story.
(17:23):
I mean in a nutshell, is. You have the right to tell your
story. You have a right to explain what
happened to your injuries. You have a right to discuss the
onset in the history of your injuries.
And the VA must make a credibility determination.
Part five of the M21 Adjudication Manual Principles
of Weighing and Evaluating Evidence They Must Make.
(17:46):
A credibility determination. If what you're saying happened
to you while you were with your infantry unit and your DD214 and
your military personnel records suggest that you were an
infantry unit because it says that you were a grunt.
And then it shows that you deployed to a certain area of
theater of the world and that's where it is that you got hurt,
then it sounds like your story is credible and they must make a
credibility determination. So what I tell veterans is I go,
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you have a right to tell your story.
I don't have that right. This Patty doesn't have that
right. And the VA sure as hell doesn't
have that right, because it's your story, just like you don't
have the right to tell mine. And the Va's job is to look at
us and go, is this credible or not?
And if it's credible, then they shall accept this fact.
That's interesting. I remember when Ken was going
(18:30):
through his Med board process and there was a first Sergeant.
I think it was. I'm not going to say his name on
air because I think he has different feelings now today
than back then. But he had mentioned to a lot of
the soldiers, So what, you're having headaches?
So what, you feel depressed? We all do like you're not going
to go get medical treatment or you're getting out and you're
(18:52):
going to WTV unit. But I still am in contact today
with some of the guys who they'll call me up.
And Patty, how do I get my VA rating?
I didn't get anything in writingbecause I hurry up and I ETS
right out of that unit. So this is really good
information. I don't know that all all
veterans understand that or knowthat, and even me, I've.
(19:12):
I feel like I was a little misled too, because I thought
that it had to be in black and white in your record.
Yeah, and you know, sometimes even in your records, they'll do
things like someone will come inwith symptomology of sinusitis
or bronchitis or rhinitis or some type of ear, nose, throat
issue and the whoever's at medical at the time will use a
(19:34):
very simple term, UR. High upper respiratory
infection. So it doesn't really define what
it is. But if you look at the symptoms,
you're going, wait a second, those symptoms clearly match
what this diagnosis is. So is, does that mean this is an
onset in service? And the answer is you have a
very strong argument to say yes,there's an onset in service.
(19:54):
So what happens is you have a lot of misdiagnosis under
diagnosis or just no records at all.
And that's the beauty about it. The other part too is.
What if you are overseas? I mean, I can tell you that the
accident that I was in overseas,I know the hospital that I went
to, I know the that I got met ofact.
I know that I got stitched up and I know that I left that
(20:15):
hospital and went back to my unit.
I couldn't even fathom where those records are, couldn't even
mention it. I know they gave me a little
slip and I know they called me by my name and they butchered my
last name. I know that they were writing
something on those charts because they had to pass it on
to the next person who was goingto the next shift.
Couldn't even tell you what those records are.
(20:36):
Oh, I definitely believe that. So there's a fun story about
Ken. I kept every shred of anything
because before Ken was in the army, I I like to journal and
all this stuff. I kept everything right when it
came to paperwork, but besides that.
Ken when he was a police officerand he kept evidence on things.
(20:57):
So Long story short, he was going to these doctor's
appointments and they literally lost his paperwork like 3
different times. But every time I'm like, it's
okay, I have it right here and I'd whip it out.
Yeah, it's, you know, it's it's a very important thing to, well,
let let me take a step back because I also wanted to jump
(21:18):
off one thing you were saying earlier.
It's very important one to record and and to try to find a
way to keep a record. Otherwise you're going to have
to reconstruct it. And the VA is going to say no,
no, no, no, no until all of a sudden one day maybe they'd stop
saying no. But the other part, too, is
we're veterans. We were in the military.
(21:38):
Our job is to be the most incredible war dogs that this
human world has ever seen. And it needs to remain that way.
There's nothing wrong with goingin and going like, all right, I
signed that dotted line. I'm ready to give it my all,
including the youth of my back and my knees and my shoulders,
to make sure that this beautifulthat I can go back and get a
(22:00):
cheeseburger and A and a strawberry milkshake and then go
back and I can kiss my loved ones, then go back and play with
my kids. There's nothing wrong with that.
But we have to remember that there's going to come a time
when the body is going to break down and the chances are is that
you had an acute injury that hadits onset and service.
And once something breaks it, there's no fountain of youth,
(22:21):
there's no magical stem cell research that's just going to
make it all go away and you're going to turn back to being 21
again, at least. Maybe not yet, but those things
should be addressed appropriately.
And that is where the VA makes the mistake is.
I don't believe that they routinely, to the benefit of the
(22:41):
veteran, address them appropriately.
You know, one of the biggest problems that some of the
veterans are having too is. Instance I see all the time
where with caregiver, I don't know how much you know about the
caregiver program, all that stuff, but with them, you know
they keep having these reevaluations every single year
(23:03):
with veterans who are 100% permanent total.
And the thing that they don't understand is these veterans are
actually getting older every single year and they're having
more issues every single year. It's not something that's just
like vanished and gone. And you know, with the stipend
specific or the caregivers program specific, it's a little
bit different and harsher and harder to get into.
(23:24):
So for those annual evaluations,it's a mess and I think it also.
Makes our veterans feel bad. When you guys go in for your
annual appointment, you're like,oh buddy, you feeling better
this year? Like, OK, I didn't get another
year older and things were breaking and falling apart more
this year than last year. Yeah.
So talking about the examinations, I I did bring with
(23:46):
me a couple interesting points that I wanted to make.
So what I've been doing is that what I believe is the best way
to effectively advocate and workin a system is to understand it.
You have to be able to understand what was the intent
of it being created to begin with, what's the purpose of it
from beginning to end, basicallyfiling to a grant or filing to a
(24:09):
decision letter, whether it's a grant or a denial and and all
the processes in between. The biggest part that used to
frustrate me was these examinations, CMP examinations,
reexaminations, submitting your own medical opinions and then
the VA giving absolutely no probative value or credibility
to it. Those that evidence is so
(24:32):
important to grants or denials. I mean, it's basically the
entire case that I had to figureout what the heck was going on
with it. So I did what I thought was
important and I went to this little place called the Office
of Inspector General and I started looking at the reports
and what I started finding was Iwas, I was just put.
(24:52):
I was shocked at what I found. The first report that I found
came from September last year, September 7th, 2022, so it's a
year old. This report specifically says
that, and I'll read the title, the Veteran Benefits
Administration could improve theaccuracy and Completeness of
Medical Opinion Requests for Veteran Disability Benefits
(25:13):
Claims. This report in a general aspect
talks about what happens to yourclaim the moment you file an
application for benefits. It goes to claims processing.
One of the most powerful statements that I found was
within the first 2 pages and it says that based on a statistical
sample review of 100 medical opinions opinion requests, the
(25:37):
review team estimated that 27,900 or 41,100 requests, 68%
did not did not follow required procedures during the review
period that they had taken the sample from.
So that told me it says okay. So this is in a nutshell, saying
that around 60 you have a 68% chance at the moment you file an
(26:01):
application, it's going to be somewhere mishandled, which
means you got a 32% chance it's probably going to be handled
correctly. Now the VA is going to, excuse
me, not the VA. The Office of Inspector General
is going to preface these thingswith with some paragraphs that
saying, hey, this is a sample amount, you know, it might not
be reflective of the whole amount.
(26:22):
So you know, I guess kind of take it with tongue in cheek if
you will, and I would agree withthat except for I kept digging
and I found that there was a very interesting growth of this,
this is these bad percentages, inaccuracies.
So I found another one that talks about reexaminations,
which we were kind of touching on a little bit earlier.
(26:43):
And in July 17 of 2018, unwarranted reexaminations for
disability benefits. This is an Office of Inspector
General report. They found that based on the
sample, the review team estimated that employees
requested unwarranted reexaminations in the review
period for around 37% of cases. And I went, OK, 37% not bad,
(27:04):
that's cool. But that's in 2018.
So then I kept digging and I says Okay, Well let's see what's
going on. Well, in March 16 of 2023, this
year, another inspection report came out.
They said veterans are still being required to attend
unwarranted medical reexaminations for disability
benefits. So I went, wow, they did a
(27:28):
follow up, this is awesome. I really like the inspector
general's office. Thank you for using taxpayers
dollars appropriately. And then I went on to find out
that the review team estimated rating specialists erroneously
established reexamination controls in about 66% of cases.
So I went, wait a second in 2000and what was that, 18?
(27:52):
They said it was 37%. Now they're saying it's 66%.
So in five to six years it's double.
So it just look at the money, gogo to Office of Inspector
General report, read these reports and follow the money.
The purpose of me mentioning this is find the knowledge that
you need to be prepared for whatit is you're about to embark on,
(28:16):
and if it gives you a hard time,please go guard your shelves
with the armor of God, the shield of the sword, and get out
there and make sure that you have someone in your fighting
hole who's ready to go to battlewith you.
Get a good advocate. Pisses me off.
Actually, there's a lot of theselike this.
You know, The thing is that blows My mind is, and I think
(28:38):
about this pretty often. I've been an advocate for 17
years. Technology has advanced
computers. You know, the way that you
should be able to track records,the way that things should be
handled at doctor appointments. The technology is there for
(28:58):
different kinds of surgeries, different kinds of.
Treatment programs and you see civilian, hospital, civilian
doctors being ran so much more efficiently.
And for me, I understand that the VA is a big beast, right?
We and we talked about there's good people.
There's people who are not so good in the system leading the
(29:20):
way. But The thing is, in today's day
and age, what the hell is going on where it's such a big deal to
take care of our veterans? And what I I If you can't tell,
I get really passionate about this because I've spent so much
of my personal time trying to fight this beast that should be
(29:41):
here to help you all. Yeah, you know, it's it.
It's a multifaceted issue. You know, I'll tell you that
these, these numbers are alarming.
The amount of money that is being spent on this is alarming.
You know, one report in here estimated that if these
continue, that would be around $100.6 million of wasted funds.
(30:03):
And so we know that it did continue because those
percentages have increased. You know, you have the most
recent article that came out about the FAA revoking over 60
pilot licenses due to their workwith the VAI can tell you that
some of those pilots are some ofthe most peaceful people that I
know and I've worked with. And that is their therapy,
because that's what they were born into and they always wanted
(30:24):
to fly. But yet the VA is revoking their
only method of therapy. And those are in some cases, but
not all. And I can tell you that that I
have found that the VA and I really want to be clear like I'm
not trying to crucify the individuals are working the VI
work with tons of Decision Review officers who are going.
(30:47):
Bill, I see this. I know I really hate these exams
too. I mean majority of our informal
conferences, Decision Review officers are going, I'm sorry, I
see it also the problem is, is we know that there is a leaky.
I don't even know if it's a faucet.
I think it's like a yeah, it it it it's it's like a it's like a
(31:08):
devastating crack in the dam. And I don't see anyone on
Capitol Hill who cares or is doing anything about it.
I've spoken to representatives. I've had representatives submit
congressionals to the VA and nothing happens to them.
I mean, I typically tell people a congressional is no different
than when you run out of TP in the bathroom, just grab those
(31:29):
papers and use it. the VA doesn't respond to them in a
very proper or or quick way. They they look at people who are
getting advocates like myself and they take an adversarial
approach saying why don't you get an attorney and I'm going,
well, because they have a right to.
I mean that's why it's it's thatthat's why we fought in the
revolutionary wars because we got tired of people getting
(31:50):
tossed up into the Tower of London with no representation.
So it it it bothers me because it is a beautiful, beautiful
regulation designed to promote care for the people who give us
this great nation. And we see that there is
tremendous issues within. But I can't seem to find anybody
(32:13):
who really wants to do anything about it.
I mean, look at our most recent political debates with the
people who are going to be in the caucuses.
When are they discussing these numbers?
You know, why is the VA attacking us, the veterans, to
save money? You know, why are we?
Why are we taking care of just like we do in our nonprofit?
Why would I take money out of mybroken and busted backyard and
(32:37):
go across the pond and take careof somebody else's backyard when
I can't even figure out how to deal with my own problems?
And I I just, I can't wrap my head around it.
So what I can tell you, Miss Patty, is there's a void and
there's not enough people filling it.
So my team and I have chose to try to fill it.
And I appreciate it and I know that some of you listening, you
(32:59):
work for the VAI know I have talked with many of you over the
years. I've, you know, I work with
countless people who do care in the VA.
But that said, you know, it's like beating a dead horse every
single year, You know, it's moreissues.
It's like more complex complicity.
(33:22):
I don't know. It's.
Thank you. Yes.
And The thing is, you know, we we just shouldn't have to be
dealing with us. I mean we this is a whole
another ball game, right? But I mean our government
spending tons and tons of money sending it over to other
countries to take care of other people and our veterans, the
(33:43):
core, the backbone of our country needs our help right
now. And so if you're listening and
you're maybe the director of theVAI know.
People up at the VA on a high level have listened to my show
and complimented it before. I want you to know, first of
all, I'm not on here and neitheris Bill to throw anybody under
(34:04):
the bus. It's that we're tired.
I think good words for me would be I'm tired.
Tired of fighting. Are you waiting for me to die so
that nobody behind me is going to fight because?
There's starting to be more of alack of people who are fighting
for our veterans. The wars have fizzled out
compared to, you know, 10 years ago.
(34:25):
The accountability is not there.Like, what are you waiting for
to make a change? And what is your legacy going to
be? Because at the end of the day,
if you know that the VA is broken and that the veterans are
struggling, I don't know how you're resting your head on your
pillow at night until it's fixed, you know, you know, it's
another thing that I think we miss also as a society.
(34:47):
And I, I, I remember trying to promote this idea back in 2014
and continuing to promote it today is I honestly believe that
America's one of America's greatest resource is just
completely like we've missed it.So when I look at the the
American veteran and I look at the history of what they've
(35:09):
done, I'm going wow, these are some incredible feats against
all odds of adversity and and still we came to the top and we
did it in an honorable way. But you know what the worst
thing is, is when veterans discharge, they literally become
disenfranchised. Like we have created an
incredible human resource, people who can link up with all
(35:31):
sorts of shapes and different people of life.
Other humans that you know come from incredible backgrounds and
focus on creating A-Team to accomplish insurmountable tasks.
And they do that for their contract.
And then when they leave, I always said that there was
always one common thing between veterans.
Every veteran has the same thing, and every veteran for the
(35:54):
most part the the same commonality, no matter where
they're from. The only thing that they ever
wanted to do that was the same thing when they were in service,
they always wanted to go home wherever home was, whatever home
is to them, they always wanted to go back home.
But when they go back home and they leave, we disenfranchise,
we isolate, we become these individuals lost in the sauce.
(36:16):
I mean, I think the census said there was around 337 million
people plus or minus last year and 16.4 million makeup
Veterans, which is just under 7%of the population.
So I can understand why politicians sometimes don't
necessarily care because well, our our vote is meaningless to
them. But the other portion too though
is imagine just like we should do with our kids if we should
(36:36):
invest back in to one of the greatest human resources that
this country has ever built. And it's those youths, those, I
could say it from my cousin Vinny, the youths, the the, the
female and the male youths that accomplish incredible things
together. Now take those 22/23/24 year
(36:58):
olds, repurpose their minds, give them something, connect
them together. Who knows, maybe that's what the
politicians are scared of. But I just, I think they're
beautiful people. And when you see, when you see
these veterans working together,it's beautiful.
I wish we could have more of it.It is how if a veterans
(37:19):
listening right now and they want to get a hold of you, how
should they do that? Yeah.
So my office is called Veterans Affairs Law.
Our phone number is 941-552-6677, 941-552-6677.
If you just Google us, Veterans Affairs Law, Sarasota, FL,
you'll find us, you'll see our team.
(37:42):
We all are veterans and and we pride ourselves on that.
And it it makes it a lot easier to understand the records that
we're looking at and to hear thestories, to kind of read between
the lines, I think is the true value of understanding that
history. But yeah, please give us a call.
I can tell you that I do consultations all the time.
(38:02):
We have another attorney who's aveteran as well.
He does consultations all the time and we're just going to
give you information. We get a lot of people that call
and say, well, I want to do a B&C and it's like, all right,
here's how you do it. And then they go do it.
They sometimes they hit a brick wall.
They call back, need help, but the idea of us is no different
than when you're at the smoke pit and somebody runs out
(38:24):
because they got the good scuttlebutt from the Lieutenant
because they heard it while theywere passing through.
I don't know, the the, the command hooch and they come over
and they go, boys, I just heard Lt. said a B&C.
Our job is to pass that good word.
That's what it is, Awareness. I don't want to see any more
veterans that were like myself walking around Ava Medical
Center looking where do I apply for the GI Bill because I had no
(38:48):
idea what was going on. I'm tired of hearing the stories
of veterans going, Oh well, I took taps.
It was only like 3 days, but I was pretty much hammered most of
the time because I knew I was getting out.
Just give me my 2:14, grab my C bag and I'm out.
We get lost. It's a reality.
Adults get lost. Young men and women coming out
of the military are going to getlost.
(39:10):
Our job is to pass that word. That's.
Amazing. Not to mention if it and like I
I had mentioned earlier, if you do work at the VA and maybe your
doctor there, maybe your director there, maybe you know
you are a nurse there, whatever,wherever you're working at in
(39:30):
the VA, if you see problems too,it's okay to be the
whistleblower and it's important.
I know a Doctor Who actually I had an interaction with last
year and he said. That he was going to quit
working at the VA because he felt like his hands are tied.
And there have been a lot of good doctors who quit because
their hands have been tied. But instead of quitting, I
(39:51):
really, really encourage you allto just start speaking up when
you see something wrong, you know, try to get it fixed.
Stand up for our veterans. Amen.
Live life to its fullest. Enjoy it.
Yep, definitely. So on that note, thank you all
very much for listening. Again.
If you did not hear Bill's firstpart of his story, go back to
last week's episode and listen. And all you veterans out there,
(40:15):
you are not alone. Contact Bill and he'll he'll
hook you up.
Hello, everybody. You're listening to and watching
Wake Up with Patty Katter. I'm Patty Katter, and I have
Bill Strabansky with me today again.
Bill, hi. Hello, it's good to see you
again. Good to see you.
It seems like ages since we lastchatted.
It does. Boy, time flies.
So if you didn't catch the show last week, you guys, you want to
(00:21):
go back and listen to Bill's story.
He talks about his upbringing inSarasota, FL and how he ended up
joining the military, the MarineCorps to be specific.
And it became an advocate in Sarasota with an organization,
SRQ Vets. And now we're going to actually
talk about something really not that SRQ vets is not impactful,
(00:44):
because it definitely is. But he decided to even step it
up further and he became an attorney who helps military
veterans, right? Yes, ma'am, I did.
It was interesting. So when I was doing my
undergraduate degree at USF and history, you know, naturally
you're trying to figure out who you are, what you want to do
(01:06):
with life, etcetera. I applied for VA claims, for VA
benefits, for a nasty crash thatI had suffered overseas in Iraq,
and I got out in July of 2007. I applied.
There's a little bit more of a back story of how me being lost
in the sauce and kind of ditty bopping around Ava medical
(01:28):
facility looking for college, which is a funnier story.
But a VSO kind of plucked me around, plucked me out of the
crowd and says, hey, what are you doing?
And I'm like, I want to go to college And he goes, you're in
the wrong building. But have you ever heard of VA
claims? And I'm like, I don't even know
what you're talking about. He goes, come here, talk to me.
And so I told him my story aboutwhat had happened to us
overseas. And he says, what's filed claims
for your injuries from that crash?
(01:49):
And I said OK within less than amonth.
Maybe maybe a little bit plus orminus.
Within a month later I got a denial back stating that I had
no in service event injury or disease, which is element one of
Ava claim that occurred in service and I was going wait a
second, this happened in December of 06 and we're now in
(02:11):
August of 07 and you're telling me that the thing that happened
had never happened. So it kind of took me downhill.
And I I got upset pretty much like 9 out of 10 veterans do
they go, How are you going to tell me that what I served
didn't happen? And instead of getting terribly
upset and falling too deep into a bottle of whiskey, I decided
(02:33):
to understand this animal calledthe VA.
And so I researched it. I found some beautiful things.
It's created in the 1860s by AbeLincoln.
For those who have borne the battle and their widow and their
orphan, it's one of the most incredible quotes that you can
read by him. And it's a very powerful,
beautiful regulation. It is woefully misapplied.
(02:54):
It is the people in the department are are strikingly
incompetent, almost to a point of confusion, and it requires
strong advocacy, so much that around I think it was the eight
1980s. That the courts started looking
at this going We need to open this up to attorneys.
(03:15):
We need to open this up to proper advocacy.
So going back to undergrad, I started talking to a lot of
veterans and I started hearing and gathering horror stories
about these VA claims. So I shifted.
I went to law school with a purpose of advocacy for writing
and advocacy within the court sothat I could hone my skills as
(03:38):
an attorney. And then also I studied VA
claims. I graduated from law school and
I moved back down to the 12th Judicial Circuit, which is
Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties in Florida.
And I picked up my first job as a prosecutor in the 12 judicial
Circuit and I had the privilege to be given the honor by our
elected official then to help create the first veterans
(04:00):
treatment court in 12 judicial Circuit Manatee County.
It still operates today. And then it was successful and
we used some of the resources, the community resources through
SRQ vets to help support it because naturally.
A judicial system should not be able to solve this on its own.
It must be a community effort. So a lot of the communities, the
DA V's, the American Legions, the VFWS, the retired military
(04:21):
veterans and other individuals who wanted to see the best for
our veterans get out of the judicial system and become
productive members of society stepped up and they became very
supportive pillars through our community, offering mentorship,
offering employment, offering just a listening ear or a
shoulder to cry on. It was beautiful.
It then was successful in Manatee County and then it went
(04:42):
to Sarasota County. I finished my time as a
prosecutor in Sarasota County and I remember still being given
the honor by that office to be the acting liaison, if you will,
of the State Attorney's Office. The only issue was is because I
was a prosecutor. I am by laws of ethics and
professionalism. I'm prohibited to speak to these
(05:03):
veterans because they're defendants.
I must speak through their advocate.
And there was times when I realized that the Advocate was a
civilian. And didn't quite see between the
lines of what was going on or there were times where maybe
this veteran just needed a good oldfashioned knife hand and some
motivation and they could have pulled himself out of that
rabbit hole. So with great regret because
(05:24):
being a prosecutor, especially working for the circuit at that
time and being led by those individuals was an incredible
job and we were able to really, really help some of the victims
and advocate for them within thejudicial circuit.
I resigned my position and I left to become an accredited VA
attorney so that I could begin representing veterans and their
(05:44):
families. And that was an incredible
adventure. And so I got accredited around
December 7th, 2018, I believe, and dove head first into the VA
world. And I can tell you that my.
Initial frustrations came out tenfold.
(06:05):
I mean, we're having conferenceswhere I'm on the phone with
these people. Like, how can you write this?
How did you miss this piece of evidence that it's on their
DD214? Did you even look at this
military personnel record, the record of service or the
assignments of service or whatever?
Like, I was baffled. And then I realized that the
(06:25):
people in the VA are overly defensive.
I think that they take a incorrect and I would even say
misplaced or illegal adversarialapproach to these claims.
It's supposed to be a paternalistic regulation that's
supposed to process these claimsthat are optimum, but instead
(06:47):
they kind of get this ego chip on their shoulder.
You know, like, well, I'm a veteran too.
And I'm like, well, good, then you should be doing push ups for
the crap that you just wrote. And they they tend to kind of
want to throw it back in your face.
Now, that's not everybody. So for any of those who are
Decision Review officers, VSRS, processing, claims Processing,
(07:10):
Personnel, Directors or Assistant Directors, I can tell
you that in my experience of doing this since 2018 is I have
met more angels than demons in the VA.
I can tell you that the processes of the VA has
handcuffed or strapped the angels with bureaucracy.
(07:33):
That is just maddening and nauseating, and my job is to
continue to navigate these tumultuous waters of the VA and
to press these claims for veterans.
And to make sure that when we get a decision letter, something
is appropriately timely and thathas a good faith argument that
makes sense to file so that we can defeat the wheels of
(07:56):
bureaucracy. And they continuously press for
inquiries and updates within regional offices so that these
claims don't slip to the cracks and fall within what I call the
the Black Hole of Death, which is called the National Work
queue. It's basically a bucket where
claims go and their people are supposed to pull them out
according to their suspense dates.
That was a long answer. No, that was a good answer.
(08:20):
So if you're listening to the show and you know me, you know
that I've been a huge military advocate since 2007.
And some of you may or may not know that in around 2009 I was
heavily involved in pushing and advocating for the VA to
implement a caregiver program. So we had to go through all this
policy making and all of this fun stuff to actually implement
(08:42):
that. But for me, the frustration has
been over the years, the same thing that Bill has mentioned
is, you know, you have these really great people in the VA
and then you also have some thatare not doing their job.
And there been so many times over the years, even with Ken's
military records or I shouldn't say military records, his
personal records at the VA, his health records at the VA, people
(09:06):
will ask us questions about his health.
And I'm like, didn't you look athis chart, Didn't you look at
his medical record? It's all in there.
Like, why are you asking me these questions?
Every single time we come here, you're asking these questions.
So a lot of the frustration withme is, you know, having to
repeat myself, having to advocate because I go to the
(09:27):
civilian doctors with Ken and it's a cakewalk compared to the
VA. Sometimes I'm just like, is the
VA testing me today? But imagine being a military
veteran who has physical injuries, mental wounds of war
and and other injuries that impact the mental health that
they have, just like the system when you call the VA and you
(09:51):
get, you know, push one for this, two for this, and nobody
knows who's calling what number.So imagine having a veteran who
has the deficiencies that maybe I wouldn't have somebody who
does not have a brain injury andthen mix that into the whole
barrel. So advocates are so important,
(10:12):
attorneys are so important. Now tell my listeners a little
bit about why an attorney versusa normal advocate and when do
you have, when should you get anattorney versus just having an
advocate? So that's a really good
question. It's anybody in this date, day
(10:34):
and age can get a degree. Anybody.
Can not have a degree and still offer the level of competence
that those who do and that are good at their job.
I think that when it comes to VAclaims the the point of
consideration would be when it is you feel that you have hit a
(10:55):
brick wall. When you keep hearing the same
denials, when you submit new andrelevant evidence on a
supplemental form and they say no new and relevant evidence has
been submitted. When you feel like getting a
hold of your advocate, whoever that may be, either you're doing
it by yourself, you're doing it through a veteran service
officer, VSO, or you're doing itthrough another attorney
(11:17):
advocate. That it becomes frustrated when
when you get to the point of emotional breakdown and giving
up is when you want to seek an advocate.
That is definitely worth their salt now, typically the way that
I describe. The types of advocates out there
are I I typically see on a in a very general sense that there's
(11:38):
three. There's there's individuals who
file for themselves and there's a very low percentage who are
capable of doing it and know howto do it and also have the
creativity, the patience and thepersistence to pursue to the
end. You have VSO's God bless their
souls, God bless them, God blessthem, God bless them.
They were part of the enacting of this regulations to begin
with and they were designed to assist veterans.
(11:59):
But to assist them in things of simple filings, because the VA
is designed to be paternalistic and to process these claims to
the highest benefit already without being an adversary.
The problem with VSO's as they come and go, and I think
sometimes that there is a large population of them, and I'm
going to be as bold to say it this way, is that they get lazy.
(12:20):
They get lazy and they tell veterans and a lot of you may
resonate with this, oh, here's the paperwork.
Just fill it out and then send it in.
Or they call and they say, hey, well my claim got denied like,
Oh well, let's just check this out or fill out this paperwork
or we need this piece of evidence and then send it in.
Or what they do even worse is instead of using the appeals
Modernization Act with the new avenues of a supplemental claim
or high level review, as soon asthey get denied, they push it to
(12:42):
a Board of Veterans Appeals lane.
Which doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to be proven
many years down the road when the date and time for a hearing
gets given to you. But instead it could be remanded
back to go for further development that a supplemental
claim could have done in six to seven or maybe 7 to 9 months
anyways. So you're losing time and saving
time, and then you have attorneys.
Now attorneys just like engineers, just like doctors,
(13:03):
just like other professionals with graduate degrees.
You have to go shop and interview.
You as the veteran and as the client need to go sit down and
talk to these individuals and feel them out.
You have felt out bad lieutenants before.
You have felt out bad sergeants before.
You need to sit down with these individuals.
(13:24):
You need to ask them the tough questions, even the questions of
urban legend within the VA Oh, well, if I do this, they're
going to take my gun rights away.
Or if I do that, then, you know,they might Baker Act, ME,
etcetera. Ask those tough questions, see
what their responses are. Feel the human that is about to
represent you for a lifetime benefit for something that you
were get willing to give your life for.
(13:46):
So I think what in a nutshell, Ithink that is it wise to have
someone who is professional and who focuses on a particular
trade. Yes.
You know, there's the saying, a Jack of all trades, a master of
none. Well, you want to find the
master of that one. And you want to interview them
(14:07):
and you want to, you know, hold them to a higher standard of
accountability because that's who we are.
We're veterans. I mean, we gave them, we gave
them this blanket of freedom. Gosh darn it.
Let's let's remind people who wove that blanket of freedom.
So I think that yes, you you when you find yourself.
Kind of circling around and around and around again and
(14:30):
getting nowhere with the VA. I think it's time for you to
reach a higher level of competence.
Now here's a question for you. I hear a lot.
I have had advocates say I can'thelp a military veteran file a
claim if there's zero evidence in their military claim that
(14:50):
they hurt their ankle while theywere in service and so
afterwards, now they want to geta claim for their ankle.
How true is that? Or not true?
So that's a really awesome question.
So the beauty about the VA is, excuse me, the the Department of
Defense first. We'll get to the department of
the VA in a minute. This would be my personal belief
(15:13):
and understanding, Department ofDefense, There's your military.
Keep the bad guys outside of ourborders, foreign and domestic.
Keep our loved ones safe and whatever it takes to do that and
get it accomplished. Let's get it done a lot of times
when you go into the military, if not pretty much every single
time. There is this idea of being the
(15:33):
strongest link within the chain.Nobody wants to go for a
sprained ankle to medical because they don't want to be
seen as no linger or, you know, a weak human being or, you know,
whatever. Negative connotation we want to
apply to that individual. There's there's that pride
there, that military pride. So they suck it up.
And you know, maybe like in the Marines, they send us to our
(15:54):
dock and their dock says, stretch, change your socks,
drink water. Here's 800 milligrams of Motrin,
Which, by the way, is probably going to give you a stomach
issue later on. And you go back to your unit,
you don't report it to medical. It just kind of disappears.
It's gone. Oh man, I got a little ringing
going. So what happens is you get out
(16:18):
and you apply for the VA and they deny you a letter and they
say hey, we don't have any evidence in your military
personnel file or your service treatment records that indicates
that you had an injury, event ordisease in service.
So therefore your claim is denied.
The beautiful part is. The legislature gave us the
ability to tell our own stories because the Department of
Defense is not the National Archives and their job is not to
(16:40):
record. You don't have a scribe running
around behind Pfc Smith and Lance Corporal Jones saying, oh,
Lance Corporal Jones went to theleft, Pfc Smith went to the
right. Pfc Smith fell down a hill and
hurt his ankle, but he didn't report it to medical.
So we're just going to go ahead and record it for him.
That doesn't happen. What the VA is governed by is
the United States Code that grants authority of the Code of
(17:03):
Federal Regulations, title 38 and the statutes title 38, Code
of Federal Regulations, 3.159, subsection A1 and A2.
It talks about competent medicalevidence and competent lay
evidence. Competent lay evidence, in a
nutshell, is the evidence that if you have personal knowledge
of, you're competent to testify about.
So the reality is is you're allowed to tell your story.
(17:23):
I mean in a nutshell, is. You have the right to tell your
story. You have a right to explain what
happened to your injuries. You have a right to discuss the
onset in the history of your injuries.
And the VA must make a credibility determination.
Part five of the M21 Adjudication Manual Principles
of Weighing and Evaluating Evidence They Must Make.
(17:46):
A credibility determination. If what you're saying happened
to you while you were with your infantry unit and your DD214 and
your military personnel records suggest that you were an
infantry unit because it says that you were a grunt.
And then it shows that you deployed to a certain area of
theater of the world and that's where it is that you got hurt,
then it sounds like your story is credible and they must make a
credibility determination. So what I tell veterans is I go,
(18:09):
you have a right to tell your story.
I don't have that right. This Patty doesn't have that
right. And the VA sure as hell doesn't
have that right, because it's your story, just like you don't
have the right to tell mine. And the Va's job is to look at
us and go, is this credible or not?
And if it's credible, then they shall accept this fact.
That's interesting. I remember when Ken was going
(18:30):
through his Med board process and there was a first Sergeant.
I think it was. I'm not going to say his name on
air because I think he has different feelings now today
than back then. But he had mentioned to a lot of
the soldiers, So what, you're having headaches?
So what, you feel depressed? We all do like you're not going
to go get medical treatment or you're getting out and you're
(18:52):
going to WTV unit. But I still am in contact today
with some of the guys who they'll call me up.
And Patty, how do I get my VA rating?
I didn't get anything in writingbecause I hurry up and I ETS
right out of that unit. So this is really good
information. I don't know that all all
veterans understand that or knowthat, and even me, I've.
(19:12):
I feel like I was a little misled too, because I thought
that it had to be in black and white in your record.
Yeah, and you know, sometimes even in your records, they'll do
things like someone will come inwith symptomology of sinusitis
or bronchitis or rhinitis or some type of ear, nose, throat
issue and the whoever's at medical at the time will use a
(19:34):
very simple term, UR. High upper respiratory
infection. So it doesn't really define what
it is. But if you look at the symptoms,
you're going, wait a second, those symptoms clearly match
what this diagnosis is. So is, does that mean this is an
onset in service? And the answer is you have a
very strong argument to say yes,there's an onset in service.
(19:54):
So what happens is you have a lot of misdiagnosis under
diagnosis or just no records at all.
And that's the beauty about it. The other part too is.
What if you are overseas? I mean, I can tell you that the
accident that I was in overseas,I know the hospital that I went
to, I know the that I got met ofact.
I know that I got stitched up and I know that I left that
(20:15):
hospital and went back to my unit.
I couldn't even fathom where those records are, couldn't even
mention it. I know they gave me a little
slip and I know they called me by my name and they butchered my
last name. I know that they were writing
something on those charts because they had to pass it on
to the next person who was goingto the next shift.
Couldn't even tell you what those records are.
(20:36):
Oh, I definitely believe that. So there's a fun story about
Ken. I kept every shred of anything
because before Ken was in the army, I I like to journal and
all this stuff. I kept everything right when it
came to paperwork, but besides that.
Ken when he was a police officerand he kept evidence on things.
(20:57):
So Long story short, he was going to these doctor's
appointments and they literally lost his paperwork like 3
different times. But every time I'm like, it's
okay, I have it right here and I'd whip it out.
Yeah, it's, you know, it's it's a very important thing to, well,
let let me take a step back because I also wanted to jump
(21:18):
off one thing you were saying earlier.
It's very important one to record and and to try to find a
way to keep a record. Otherwise you're going to have
to reconstruct it. And the VA is going to say no,
no, no, no, no until all of a sudden one day maybe they'd stop
saying no. But the other part, too, is
we're veterans. We were in the military.
(21:38):
Our job is to be the most incredible war dogs that this
human world has ever seen. And it needs to remain that way.
There's nothing wrong with goingin and going like, all right, I
signed that dotted line. I'm ready to give it my all,
including the youth of my back and my knees and my shoulders,
to make sure that this beautifulthat I can go back and get a
(22:00):
cheeseburger and A and a strawberry milkshake and then go
back and I can kiss my loved ones, then go back and play with
my kids. There's nothing wrong with that.
But we have to remember that there's going to come a time
when the body is going to break down and the chances are is that
you had an acute injury that hadits onset and service.
And once something breaks it, there's no fountain of youth,
(22:21):
there's no magical stem cell research that's just going to
make it all go away and you're going to turn back to being 21
again, at least. Maybe not yet, but those things
should be addressed appropriately.
And that is where the VA makes the mistake is.
I don't believe that they routinely, to the benefit of the
(22:41):
veteran, address them appropriately.
You know, one of the biggest problems that some of the
veterans are having too is. Instance I see all the time
where with caregiver, I don't know how much you know about the
caregiver program, all that stuff, but with them, you know
they keep having these reevaluations every single year
(23:03):
with veterans who are 100% permanent total.
And the thing that they don't understand is these veterans are
actually getting older every single year and they're having
more issues every single year. It's not something that's just
like vanished and gone. And you know, with the stipend
specific or the caregivers program specific, it's a little
bit different and harsher and harder to get into.
(23:24):
So for those annual evaluations,it's a mess and I think it also.
Makes our veterans feel bad. When you guys go in for your
annual appointment, you're like,oh buddy, you feeling better
this year? Like, OK, I didn't get another
year older and things were breaking and falling apart more
this year than last year. Yeah.
So talking about the examinations, I I did bring with
(23:46):
me a couple interesting points that I wanted to make.
So what I've been doing is that what I believe is the best way
to effectively advocate and workin a system is to understand it.
You have to be able to understand what was the intent
of it being created to begin with, what's the purpose of it
from beginning to end, basicallyfiling to a grant or filing to a
(24:09):
decision letter, whether it's a grant or a denial and and all
the processes in between. The biggest part that used to
frustrate me was these examinations, CMP examinations,
reexaminations, submitting your own medical opinions and then
the VA giving absolutely no probative value or credibility
to it. Those that evidence is so
(24:32):
important to grants or denials. I mean, it's basically the
entire case that I had to figureout what the heck was going on
with it. So I did what I thought was
important and I went to this little place called the Office
of Inspector General and I started looking at the reports
and what I started finding was Iwas, I was just put.
(24:52):
I was shocked at what I found. The first report that I found
came from September last year, September 7th, 2022, so it's a
year old. This report specifically says
that, and I'll read the title, the Veteran Benefits
Administration could improve theaccuracy and Completeness of
Medical Opinion Requests for Veteran Disability Benefits
(25:13):
Claims. This report in a general aspect
talks about what happens to yourclaim the moment you file an
application for benefits. It goes to claims processing.
One of the most powerful statements that I found was
within the first 2 pages and it says that based on a statistical
sample review of 100 medical opinions opinion requests, the
(25:37):
review team estimated that 27,900 or 41,100 requests, 68%
did not did not follow required procedures during the review
period that they had taken the sample from.
So that told me it says okay. So this is in a nutshell, saying
that around 60 you have a 68% chance at the moment you file an
(26:01):
application, it's going to be somewhere mishandled, which
means you got a 32% chance it's probably going to be handled
correctly. Now the VA is going to, excuse
me, not the VA. The Office of Inspector General
is going to preface these thingswith with some paragraphs that
saying, hey, this is a sample amount, you know, it might not
be reflective of the whole amount.
(26:22):
So you know, I guess kind of take it with tongue in cheek if
you will, and I would agree withthat except for I kept digging
and I found that there was a very interesting growth of this,
this is these bad percentages, inaccuracies.
So I found another one that talks about reexaminations,
which we were kind of touching on a little bit earlier.
(26:43):
And in July 17 of 2018, unwarranted reexaminations for
disability benefits. This is an Office of Inspector
General report. They found that based on the
sample, the review team estimated that employees
requested unwarranted reexaminations in the review
period for around 37% of cases. And I went, OK, 37% not bad,
(27:04):
that's cool. But that's in 2018.
So then I kept digging and I says Okay, Well let's see what's
going on. Well, in March 16 of 2023, this
year, another inspection report came out.
They said veterans are still being required to attend
unwarranted medical reexaminations for disability
benefits. So I went, wow, they did a
(27:28):
follow up, this is awesome. I really like the inspector
general's office. Thank you for using taxpayers
dollars appropriately. And then I went on to find out
that the review team estimated rating specialists erroneously
established reexamination controls in about 66% of cases.
So I went, wait a second in 2000and what was that, 18?
(27:52):
They said it was 37%. Now they're saying it's 66%.
So in five to six years it's double.
So it just look at the money, gogo to Office of Inspector
General report, read these reports and follow the money.
The purpose of me mentioning this is find the knowledge that
you need to be prepared for whatit is you're about to embark on,
(28:16):
and if it gives you a hard time,please go guard your shelves
with the armor of God, the shield of the sword, and get out
there and make sure that you have someone in your fighting
hole who's ready to go to battlewith you.
Get a good advocate. Pisses me off.
Actually, there's a lot of theselike this.
You know, The thing is that blows My mind is, and I think
(28:38):
about this pretty often. I've been an advocate for 17
years. Technology has advanced
computers. You know, the way that you
should be able to track records,the way that things should be
handled at doctor appointments. The technology is there for
(28:58):
different kinds of surgeries, different kinds of.
Treatment programs and you see civilian, hospital, civilian
doctors being ran so much more efficiently.
And for me, I understand that the VA is a big beast, right?
We and we talked about there's good people.
There's people who are not so good in the system leading the
(29:20):
way. But The thing is, in today's day
and age, what the hell is going on where it's such a big deal to
take care of our veterans? And what I I If you can't tell,
I get really passionate about this because I've spent so much
of my personal time trying to fight this beast that should be
(29:41):
here to help you all. Yeah, you know, it's it.
It's a multifaceted issue. You know, I'll tell you that
these, these numbers are alarming.
The amount of money that is being spent on this is alarming.
You know, one report in here estimated that if these
continue, that would be around $100.6 million of wasted funds.
(30:03):
And so we know that it did continue because those
percentages have increased. You know, you have the most
recent article that came out about the FAA revoking over 60
pilot licenses due to their workwith the VAI can tell you that
some of those pilots are some ofthe most peaceful people that I
know and I've worked with. And that is their therapy,
because that's what they were born into and they always wanted
(30:24):
to fly. But yet the VA is revoking their
only method of therapy. And those are in some cases, but
not all. And I can tell you that that I
have found that the VA and I really want to be clear like I'm
not trying to crucify the individuals are working the VI
work with tons of Decision Review officers who are going.
(30:47):
Bill, I see this. I know I really hate these exams
too. I mean majority of our informal
conferences, Decision Review officers are going, I'm sorry, I
see it also the problem is, is we know that there is a leaky.
I don't even know if it's a faucet.
I think it's like a yeah, it it it it's it's like a it's like a
(31:08):
devastating crack in the dam. And I don't see anyone on
Capitol Hill who cares or is doing anything about it.
I've spoken to representatives. I've had representatives submit
congressionals to the VA and nothing happens to them.
I mean, I typically tell people a congressional is no different
than when you run out of TP in the bathroom, just grab those
(31:29):
papers and use it. the VA doesn't respond to them in a
very proper or or quick way. They they look at people who are
getting advocates like myself and they take an adversarial
approach saying why don't you get an attorney and I'm going,
well, because they have a right to.
I mean that's why it's it's thatthat's why we fought in the
revolutionary wars because we got tired of people getting
(31:50):
tossed up into the Tower of London with no representation.
So it it it bothers me because it is a beautiful, beautiful
regulation designed to promote care for the people who give us
this great nation. And we see that there is
tremendous issues within. But I can't seem to find anybody
(32:13):
who really wants to do anything about it.
I mean, look at our most recent political debates with the
people who are going to be in the caucuses.
When are they discussing these numbers?
You know, why is the VA attacking us, the veterans, to
save money? You know, why are we?
Why are we taking care of just like we do in our nonprofit?
Why would I take money out of mybroken and busted backyard and
(32:37):
go across the pond and take careof somebody else's backyard when
I can't even figure out how to deal with my own problems?
And I I just, I can't wrap my head around it.
So what I can tell you, Miss Patty, is there's a void and
there's not enough people filling it.
So my team and I have chose to try to fill it.
And I appreciate it and I know that some of you listening, you
(32:59):
work for the VAI know I have talked with many of you over the
years. I've, you know, I work with
countless people who do care in the VA.
But that said, you know, it's like beating a dead horse every
single year, You know, it's moreissues.
It's like more complex complicity.
(33:22):
I don't know. It's.
Thank you. Yes.
And The thing is, you know, we we just shouldn't have to be
dealing with us. I mean we this is a whole
another ball game, right? But I mean our government
spending tons and tons of money sending it over to other
countries to take care of other people and our veterans, the
(33:43):
core, the backbone of our country needs our help right
now. And so if you're listening and
you're maybe the director of theVAI know.
People up at the VA on a high level have listened to my show
and complimented it before. I want you to know, first of
all, I'm not on here and neitheris Bill to throw anybody under
(34:04):
the bus. It's that we're tired.
I think good words for me would be I'm tired.
Tired of fighting. Are you waiting for me to die so
that nobody behind me is going to fight because?
There's starting to be more of alack of people who are fighting
for our veterans. The wars have fizzled out
compared to, you know, 10 years ago.
(34:25):
The accountability is not there.Like, what are you waiting for
to make a change? And what is your legacy going to
be? Because at the end of the day,
if you know that the VA is broken and that the veterans are
struggling, I don't know how you're resting your head on your
pillow at night until it's fixed, you know, you know, it's
another thing that I think we miss also as a society.
(34:47):
And I, I, I remember trying to promote this idea back in 2014
and continuing to promote it today is I honestly believe that
America's one of America's greatest resource is just
completely like we've missed it.So when I look at the the
American veteran and I look at the history of what they've
(35:09):
done, I'm going wow, these are some incredible feats against
all odds of adversity and and still we came to the top and we
did it in an honorable way. But you know what the worst
thing is, is when veterans discharge, they literally become
disenfranchised. Like we have created an
incredible human resource, people who can link up with all
(35:31):
sorts of shapes and different people of life.
Other humans that you know come from incredible backgrounds and
focus on creating A-Team to accomplish insurmountable tasks.
And they do that for their contract.
And then when they leave, I always said that there was
always one common thing between veterans.
Every veteran has the same thing, and every veteran for the
(35:54):
most part the the same commonality, no matter where
they're from. The only thing that they ever
wanted to do that was the same thing when they were in service,
they always wanted to go home wherever home was, whatever home
is to them, they always wanted to go back home.
But when they go back home and they leave, we disenfranchise,
we isolate, we become these individuals lost in the sauce.
(36:16):
I mean, I think the census said there was around 337 million
people plus or minus last year and 16.4 million makeup
Veterans, which is just under 7%of the population.
So I can understand why politicians sometimes don't
necessarily care because well, our our vote is meaningless to
them. But the other portion too though
is imagine just like we should do with our kids if we should
(36:36):
invest back in to one of the greatest human resources that
this country has ever built. And it's those youths, those, I
could say it from my cousin Vinny, the youths, the the, the
female and the male youths that accomplish incredible things
together. Now take those 22/23/24 year
(36:58):
olds, repurpose their minds, give them something, connect
them together. Who knows, maybe that's what the
politicians are scared of. But I just, I think they're
beautiful people. And when you see, when you see
these veterans working together,it's beautiful.
I wish we could have more of it.It is how if a veterans
(37:19):
listening right now and they want to get a hold of you, how
should they do that? Yeah.
So my office is called Veterans Affairs Law.
Our phone number is 941-552-6677, 941-552-6677.
If you just Google us, Veterans Affairs Law, Sarasota, FL,
you'll find us, you'll see our team.
(37:42):
We all are veterans and and we pride ourselves on that.
And it it makes it a lot easier to understand the records that
we're looking at and to hear thestories, to kind of read between
the lines, I think is the true value of understanding that
history. But yeah, please give us a call.
I can tell you that I do consultations all the time.
(38:02):
We have another attorney who's aveteran as well.
He does consultations all the time and we're just going to
give you information. We get a lot of people that call
and say, well, I want to do a B&C and it's like, all right,
here's how you do it. And then they go do it.
They sometimes they hit a brick wall.
They call back, need help, but the idea of us is no different
than when you're at the smoke pit and somebody runs out
(38:24):
because they got the good scuttlebutt from the Lieutenant
because they heard it while theywere passing through.
I don't know, the the, the command hooch and they come over
and they go, boys, I just heard Lt. said a B&C.
Our job is to pass that good word.
That's what it is, Awareness. I don't want to see any more
veterans that were like myself walking around Ava Medical
Center looking where do I apply for the GI Bill because I had no
(38:48):
idea what was going on. I'm tired of hearing the stories
of veterans going, Oh well, I took taps.
It was only like 3 days, but I was pretty much hammered most of
the time because I knew I was getting out.
Just give me my 2:14, grab my C bag and I'm out.
We get lost. It's a reality.
Adults get lost. Young men and women coming out
of the military are going to getlost.
(39:10):
Our job is to pass that word. That's.
Amazing. Not to mention if it and like I
I had mentioned earlier, if you do work at the VA and maybe your
doctor there, maybe your director there, maybe you know
you are a nurse there, whatever,wherever you're working at in
(39:30):
the VA, if you see problems too,it's okay to be the
whistleblower and it's important.
I know a Doctor Who actually I had an interaction with last
year and he said. That he was going to quit
working at the VA because he felt like his hands are tied.
And there have been a lot of good doctors who quit because
their hands have been tied. But instead of quitting, I
(39:51):
really, really encourage you allto just start speaking up when
you see something wrong, you know, try to get it fixed.
Stand up for our veterans. Amen.
Live life to its fullest. Enjoy it.
Yep, definitely. So on that note, thank you all
very much for listening. Again.
If you did not hear Bill's firstpart of his story, go back to
last week's episode and listen. And all you veterans out there,
(40:15):
you are not alone. Contact Bill and he'll he'll
hook you up.
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