Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome to all who have served, are serving, and will
serve in the Armed Services, to the veterans in Christ
Podcast with your host, doctor and Navy veteran Kate l Rich,
we pray that every battle in your spiritual, personal, and
physical life is one as we follow Christ, who was
our commanding officer in this field called life.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Whether you are here.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
For spiritual encouragement, information on veteran benefits, PTSD suicide prevention,
or want to know the latest military news, we are
here to serve you.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Now.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Here is your host, doctor k l Rich.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Hi, and thanks for tuning in today on this Tuesday
where we are here thankfully, thankful to God that he
has allowed us to see another day. My name is
doctor ko Rich and I am your Navy veteran and
one of many and thousand who have served. And I
(01:01):
want to thank everyone if you have served in the
Armed forces, rather your Navy, Air Force, Marines, Army, Coast Guard,
National Guard, if you are a first responder, police force, farming, paramedic,
wherever you have served. And also we want to just
(01:25):
thank the families of those who are serving and who
have served, because even though your loved one may be
wearing the uniform. You two are serving with them as
you are helping to keep things afloat while they are
oftentimes doing their duties. And especially to those who are
(01:49):
parents of children and they're trying to keep the households
stay on afloat as their loved one is serving in
the military, and we want to thank you you. So
today I just want to just let you all know
that if you're listening to this podcast, or if this
is the first time, thanks for tuning in. We are
here to help you give you news that you can
(02:12):
use as it relates to the Bible and military affairs
or veteran affairs. Also for those who may be joining
for the first time, We're on every Tuesday and every
Thursday at ten am Eastern Standard Time, not am Central,
or you can join at the time of your choice.
(02:34):
That means that these podcasts are in the archives. So
if you're listening via YouTube, brittyon Rumbo, Spreaker, our Heart Radio,
whatever platform you're listening to this podcast from, all you
have to do is go on the archives and listen
(02:54):
at the time of your choice. Everyone's not able to
tune in at the time that it as, so whether
you have a morning shift an evening shift for late
night shift. You can listen to it at any given
time that you choose. Before we go into today's topic,
we're gonna start off with a word of prayer. As always,
(03:20):
I love to tell everyone on my podcast, rather it's
Veterans in Christ Podcasts or it is finished podcast, that
prayer is the best weapon that we have against the enemy.
And we all know, as those who have served in
the military, that if you don't have the proper attire,
(03:40):
you don't have your proper weapons, and guess what, you're
not ready to go into battle on any level. And
so therefore we want to pray that you will be
equipped with what all that God has for you. And
we know that prayer is not is our weapon, the
weapon and that God has given us to fight against
(04:02):
the enemy because we know that He's going to send
things our way to try to block us, stop us,
keep us deterred from the things of God. But with prayer,
all things are possible. So let us open up with
a word of prayer. This morning, Dear Heavening Father God,
we just thank you God for allowing us to come
(04:24):
before your presence this morning. Lord, We thank you Lord
for all that you've done for us all that you're
doing in the lives of your people. Today, Lord, we
ask you to forgive us for all our sins and
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Lord, we ask Lord that
you will be with those who are going through various situations. Lord,
in the military, out the military. Lord, we asked that
(04:46):
you will be with the veterans. Lord. We everyone that's
going through a situation right now, Lord, that you will
be with them, guide them and deliver them. Lord. We
ask right now that those who are on active duty, Lord,
that you would be with them, Lord in the name
of Jesus and protect them. Lord, we asked that you
would be with the family members today. Lord, in the
(05:06):
name of Jesus. Lord, we ask that even though they
may not be wearing the uniform, Lord, that they're still
having a load to carry without their loved ones that
are often abroad serving. Lord, we asked that you would
be with them as well. Lord, we asked that you
would be with our first responders, our police officers, our
fire and our paramedics. Lord, those that are on duty, Lord,
(05:29):
to help those that are in trouble right now, Lord,
that they're going into the fire or into the situation
as others are trying to come out. Lord. Lord, we
just thank you, Lord for giving us the ability and
the time that we have served. And those that are
still serving. Lord, we ask Lord that you will honor
our service most importantly to you. Lord, we just thank
(05:51):
you Lord that you are our king of kings, and
you are our Lord of lords, and you are our
commanding officer. Lord. We ask Lord that you will be
with those up under the sound of my voice it's today, Lord,
and that those who hear my voice, Lord, will not
just hear me, but they will hear what you have
to say to them. Lord, and the information that we
give will be able to be used for your glory,
(06:13):
Lord and to help others. In your son's name, Jesus
you're sure of Hammashick. Thank God a man. Amen, Amen,
and we just thank you for tuning in today. I
am so happy to be with you today and to
just be a fellow veteran and service or in service
(06:34):
to God who gives us our strength because without him
we cannot we couldn't do anything. So how many of
you know about the story of naming and you may
have heard maybe in your children's classes or when we
(06:54):
were kids about Naming being healed from leprosy. But I
want to talk about it from a military standpoint, and
we're gonna go to Second Kings today, chapter five, Second
King's chapter five, because that's where this story of Naming
comes in. And one of the things that's important to
(07:18):
know about this particular person in the Bible was he
was he was not, He was not from Judah, or
he was not from Israel. But he learned about God
and the things that God can and will do for you.
(07:41):
And so I want to go to again Second King's
chapter five, Second Kings chapter five, and starting with verse one,
and it reads, now Naming was commander of the army
of the King of Iram. He was a great man
in the sight of his master, and highly regarded because
(08:02):
through him the lord had given victory to Aram. He
was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy. Now, bands
of raiders from Aram had gone out and had taken
captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naman's wife.
She said to her mistress, if only my master would
(08:25):
see the prophet who is in Samaria, he would cure
him of his leprosy. Naman went to his master and
told him what the girl from Israel had said. By
all means. God, the King of Aram replied, I will
send a letter to the King of Israel. So Naman left,
(08:45):
taken with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels
of gold, and ten sets of clothing. The letter that
he took to the King of Israel read, with this letter,
I am sending my servant name to you, so that
you may hear him of his leprosy. As soon as
(09:06):
the King of Israel read the letter, he tore his
robes and said, am I God, can I kill and
bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone
to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how
he is trying to pick a call with me. When Elisha,
the man of God, heard that the King of Israel
(09:27):
had torn his robes, he sent him this message, Why
have you torn your robes? How the man come to
me and he will know that there is a prophet
in Israel. So Naymon went with his horses and chariots
and stopped at the door of e Elishah's house. Elisha
(09:50):
went send a messenger to him, go wash yourself seven
times in the Jordan and your flesh will be restored.
And I want to just stop right here for a moment.
And so you have these two kings that are involved
with this particular situation where Naming has leprosy. He's a
(10:12):
commander of the army, and he was a good commander,
and his king had faith in him, and God had
given him the ability to win battles. However, the king
sent a letter to the King of Israel. So the
King of Israel think that the King of Arama is
trying to be funny. He thinks that he's trying to
(10:34):
start a start a call with him. He thinks, well,
how in the world am I supposed to heal this man?
Do I have that ability? But the King of Israel
did not realize that the message was not really for him,
that it was for Elisha. Okay, we know the Elisha
was Elijah's minty, or you can say Elisha's people announce
(10:55):
it different, pronounce it different ways. But Elisha, he he
was the one with whom God had given the prophetic gift. Too.
So when the King of Israel tore his robes, which
was a sign of distress during those days, he got
wind of this and he told the king to have
(11:18):
Naming come to him. So Naming went with his horses
and his chariots, and he stopped at Elishah's door. Now
Elisha didn't come out himself. Elijah sent his servant, his messenger,
to go and give the message to name it. But
listen to this in verse eleven. But Naming went away
(11:42):
angry and said, I thought he would surely come out
to me and stand and call on the name of
his Lord, wave his hand over the spot, and cure
me of my leprosy or not abini and far part
the rivers of the maskers better than all the waters
of Israel. I could not have washed in them, it
(12:05):
be cleansed. So he turned and went off in a rage.
So let me stop right there. So, first of all,
you have this commanding officer. He's thinking, this man didn't
even have the nerve to come out and see me. Okay, Like,
I'm the captain of the army, I'm the commander of
the army. Why is it that he did not come
out to see me? So you probably think that he
(12:27):
was a little angry about that for one, all right,
Then on top of that, he thought that his healing
was gonna come by the man actually coming and touching him,
so by Elijah coming and touching him and calling to God.
So he expected to be healed one way, but instead
(12:49):
he was told to go and wash in the dirty Jordan.
So he was mad about that. Why do I have
to go to this nasty river when there's clean rivers around?
So why send me to the nastiest river. Can you
imagine someone telling you to go and dip yourself in
(13:09):
some sewage water? Okay, so that's the equivalent of the
Jordan river to name it was sewage water. Okay, there's
other rivers around that as much cleaner. Why can't I
go to those? So he was angry and he left.
He left, But then in thirteen in verse thirteen, naming
servants went to him and said, my father, if the
(13:31):
prophet had told you to do some great thing, would
you not have done it? How much more then when
he tells you wash and be cleansed. So he went
down and dipped himself into Jordans seven times as the
Man of God had told him, and his flesh was
restored and became clean like that of a young boy.
(13:55):
And so I just want to stop right there. So
this captain the army had to humble himself. His servants
told him, Hey, if he had told you do some
great and wonderful thing, you would have done it. But
this is something that's just really really basic, really really simple,
and you have a problem with doing it. So Name
(14:18):
and listen to the servants. He went to the Jordan River,
dipped seven times as the man of God told him,
and he was healed. Sometimes we have to realize that
regardless of our position, regardless of our title, regardless of
our rank, regardless of whatever the education you may have,
(14:44):
we all have to humble ourselves and be obedient to
God in order to receive the blessings of God. Naming
would have missed out on his healing if he had
not been obedient. He almost missed out on getting his
(15:04):
blessing because he thought his blessing was going to come
one way, but then God had it another way. Don't
miss out on your blessing because you think that I'm
too high and mighty, or have too much education, or
have too much rank, or I am this is beneath me.
(15:27):
We are always to follow God, regardless of the title,
regardless of the rank, regardless of the branch regardless of
our veteran status, regardless of what Jesus is our commanding officer,
and whatever he tells us to do, we are to
do it and follow him. Because there are many people
(15:51):
who may have missed out on their blessing because they
were expecting it to come in a certain wrap package
when God had it to come a different way. Naming
had to follow the steps that God had for him
to do. He couldn't dip into Jordan one time and
(16:12):
be done. He couldn't dip in the Jordan two times
and be done. He had to dip in the Jordan
seven times, and at the seventh time his body was restored.
We're going to take a quick break and we'll be
(16:32):
back in just a moment now.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
And yes, my mad yes mother, in your more, ye
(17:37):
not away now my hand, He's not away now my hand.
And yes, my man, and you all right?
Speaker 2 (18:56):
So in the early morning rain, that is an orangy cadence,
and I pray that you all enjoyed that. All right?
All right? So today, on the second half of this,
I want to talk about the VA claims process, the
VA eight step claim process. If you are filing for
(19:18):
disability claims, you are a veteran, you are filing for claims,
or if you're getting ready to get out, there are
some things that you need to know that is important
for us, that eight step process. Now, many people don't
know about this eight step process, and we're gonna talk
about it because it's important to understand. A lot of
(19:42):
times veterans will file for claims and they don't know
the process, they don't know how long it takes, they
don't understand all the ins and outs of it, and
so we want to just talk to you about that today.
So if you are filing, if you are a veteran,
or you're about to get out and you're going maybe
(20:03):
for your exams and everything, let me just say this.
If you're actively in the military right now, you're about
to get out, please make sure that you go get
seen for every little issue or a big issue, whatever
issue you may be dealing with right now. Rather it's
back pain, rather it's migraines, rather it's corpo tanum, whatever
(20:27):
the issue is that you may be facing or you
might be dealing with. You might say, oh, it's nothing.
That nothing could be something major later on, and you
might need to tie that into whatever took place while
you were in the military. So if you're in the
military right now, please never chalk things out off to oh,
(20:51):
it's nothing. Make sure you get it documented. Many veterans
would tell you that a lot of veterans have a
hard time receiving benefits, getting denied from getting denied for benefits,
or certain things that they wish that they had gotten
(21:12):
seen for while they were in, because it would have
made a difference if they had been seen while they
were in for those particularly issues, because when they get
ready to file for those claims later, they're having to
find a nexus. Sometimes they're paying people to write nexus
(21:33):
letters to trying to make the connection. But if it
is already in your military file, it is better to
have it there now than to try to file claims
without it later, all right, So make sure that whatever
issues you're having, do not allow anyone to make you
(21:54):
feel like you are malingerer just because you go to
sick bay, sick hall, or go get medical attention. Make
sure that before you get out that you get seen
for those things. Also, let me put this in there.
One of the things that the VA does not cover
when it comes to veterans is dental care if let
(22:19):
me just say, if if there was not an issue
while you were in with the exception now they have
dental benefits that you can pay for that's outside of
the VA, but most veterans, you're able to get things
free or at a low cost if you excuse me,
(22:40):
have a certain percentage or whatever. And so with that
being said, if you're having any issues with your teeth,
get that documented because you may have to fall on
that for certain benefits later on that is not covered
through regular VA. All right, So we normally the VA
(23:01):
will cover you if you are at one hundred percent.
So once you hit that one hundred percent mark or
you TDIU, you will be able to get your dental
covered if you're under a program with which is VR
and E. I believe they also extend dental benefits, all right,
and we're gonna go into some of those different programs
(23:23):
on future podcasts. However, make sure that if there's any
issues with your teeth, get it documented now, because if
you need to be seen where it's service connected, then
you will be able to more than likely have a
better chance of getting those benefits. If you're not already
at one hundred percent, then you can still get seen
(23:46):
if it's service if they if they deem it being
service connected. That's the thing when it comes to dental,
it has to be service connected unless and you are
at one hundred percent or as I mentioned earlier, T
d I U or v R N E. So please
make sure that you get seen for those things all right. Oftentimes,
(24:11):
when veterans get out of the military, they may decide
that they are going to foul a claim for disability.
The disability can be for various things, uh that it
could be for PTSD, it could be for certain types
of arthritis. It could be for spinal issues. It could
(24:33):
be even erectile dysfunction, if something happened while you were
in There are so many different things that a veteran
may claim for disability, and they'll put the claim in
to see if the if the VA will award them
various benefits. With this being said, let me just say this,
(24:56):
it is important to be your own best advocate. I
cannot emphasize that enough. Please do your research. Do you read,
find out as much as you can on the v
A disability claims process, because this could uh, this could
(25:17):
be the It could make the difference between your your
getting it and not getting it. There are a lot
of videos online that you can uh that you can
pull up that gives wonderful information. A lot of veterans,
some former v A raiders, Okay, they give you information
(25:39):
that you may not otherwise get. One guy that's really good.
He is His name on here on the on the
on the YouTube is k M D eighty nine. He's
a v A claims consultant. His name is Dwayne Kimball.
He gives a lot of value information. There's another one.
(26:03):
I can't think of his name right now. He wears
a cowboy hat and he's really funny. I forget his name,
but he gives a lot of valuable information regarding the
VA process. I would encourage you that if you're thinking
about filing a claim, to check out these videos that
(26:25):
are on YouTube. They're constantly giving updated information, new information,
relevant information that's important for you to know. So whatever
you're filing for, you can normally find some information online. Also,
there is a subgroup on Reddit. If you are a
(26:48):
Reddit follower or that's R E D D T Reddit
and men. Many of you probably know what I'm talking about.
You can join the veterans groups on there and the
Veteran via I'm trying to pull this up so I
can give you the direct name for that particular group
that I am talking about. It's called Veterans Benefits Veterans Benefits,
(27:11):
and it's on Reddit and you can join it. Reddit
is free. It's a social media platform that a lot
of people go on, and you can go on the
Veterans Benefits. It's titled Vets Helping Vets Help themselves. Vet's
helping vets help themselves. But all you have to type
in is Veterans Benefits. Join the group and you would
(27:34):
get a lot of information veterans. It's just regular veterans
that's given information to other veterans on how their claims went,
how long it took, what they had to go through,
what they were denied of, what was approved, how long
it took for it to get approved. A lot of
valuable information. They even tell you what they expect when
(27:57):
you go to the CNP exams. Oh, you can post
question and other veterans chime in on it. This is
a wonderful group. Also, there are veteran groups on Facebook
that you can join and veterans that give information to
you and sometimes even some raiders, you know, they don't
(28:19):
give their names, of course, but some raiders, some who
have identified themselves as actual VA raiders, will go in
here and tell you what to expect or whatever and
what you should do. So it is important that if
you are filing for a VA claim that you educate yourself.
(28:41):
I cannot emphasize that enough. Please educate yourself. A lot
of things that I know now is because of the
process that I went through over the years, okay, and
so things that I know that I didn't know then
I know now. And please educate yourself if you're going
(29:02):
to a Vso that's a Veteran service officer that uh
that the VA hires to help veterans with their claims.
You have some good ones and you have some poor ones. Okay.
I have had the worst of the worst, and I
have had some good ones. Okay. Again, don't leave your
(29:27):
life because basically that's what you're doing when you when
you're having someone to do your VA claim. It can
change your life or the better, or you can stay
where you are whatever. But the thing is is that
make sure that you do your due diligence and going
behind that v A REP and making sure that they're
putting in the right information. I will give you example
(29:51):
what happened to me. I had this veteran, this VA REP.
And this is when I didn't know any better, and
I let the VA REP do my know, my claim
and everything, and it got denied, denied, denied, denied, And
I was one of wit in the world, you know.
And it was because the VA rep should have made
my claim secondary instead of primary. And then I told
(30:17):
him he made a mistake. He should have known better,
and he did it again, which almost caused me to
get denied if I hadn't a check behind him. Okay,
when I called the one eight hundred a two seven number,
they told me he put it he he didn't put
it as a secondary the second time, So then I
went behind him and actually I wind up following the
(30:39):
claim myself. But so that person I would never recommend
anybody go to, and that person's in Georgia. But the
thing is is that there are vet there are good
veterans vs VSO officers. I had one that was really good.
Well he wasn't mine, but he gave me a lot
of information. I know, got you to give me the
(31:00):
information that I needed. And I followed up, fouled my
own claim, did the work, did what he advised me
to do, and he was an excellent one. Gave me
the ins and outs and I know God used him
to do that, and everything went well. So it matters
who you go to. But the thing is made sure
that you check behind them, because again, they're going to
(31:23):
get paid whether you win or not. This is not
an attorney, Okay, These are veteran officers that will help
you with your claim, but you have to make sure
that you check behind them because not all of them
are i'm gonna say, advocates to really help the veterans.
(31:45):
Some are just there for a paycheck and that's all
they care about. Rather you win, rather you don't. They're
going to get paid, all right. So when it comes
to the VA process, there's an eight step process that's
important for you to know. And many veterans they're wondering, Okay,
(32:06):
where is my claim at, Why isn't it moving, Why
is it taking so long. Let me just say this,
when you put in a VA claim for disability, it's
a hurry up and weight process. Okay, we know in
the military, hurry up and wait. It's a hurry up
and weight process. Okay, that means that sometimes they will
(32:28):
go fast and other times they're crawling. Now ever, since
the Pack Act came into play, not that the VA
was really fast before that, but it kind of slows
some things down because now you've got more veterans who
are filing for claims that didn't file before, or sometimes
(32:49):
they they're refiling for a claim that they may have
gotten denied before because now the Pack Act is presumptive.
So therefore, the more veterans of filing claims for things
that they would have or that they would have or
had previously been denied before. So it's taking things a
(33:10):
little longer for the VA to complete. However, stay diligent
with it now. One of the first things that you
want to do is when you decide to file a claim.
If you decide that, you know what, there's some things
that I want to file for and I want to
(33:30):
start the claim process, the first thing you need to
do is on the day that you decide that I'm
going to file a claim. Even if you don't go
through with the claim that particular day, you want to
do what's called an intent to file, an intent to
file that means that I'm going to contact the VA.
I'm going to let them know that I plan on
(33:53):
filing the claim and I want to do what's called
an intend to file. That means that from that day
that you give the VA the information that you want
to do an intent to file, you have a year
from that day to get all your information together to
file a year one year from that day. That means
(34:15):
that on Monday, if I decide that I want to
do an intent to file, okay, and I don't do
anything for maybe three weeks, it's still on that particular
day that you did the intent to file. Why is
that important? That is important because whenever you do submit
your information, then the VA, should you get approved, will
(34:37):
backpay you from that to the date of intent to
file okay, should everything be approved the date from intent
to file, all right, So that is important to have
that intent to file, and even if it takes you
a couple months to get everything together, make sure you
do the intent to file called the VA one eight
(35:01):
hundred eight two, seven one thousand, your press zero, your
press one, and then they'll connect you to an agent
who will put in that intent to file. You can
do it online. I don't have the steps for doing
it online right now, but you can go to one
eight hundred eight two seven one thousand, or you can
(35:23):
go to the VA gov. And I believe you can
do it yourself online, all right. Eight step process number one.
Once you once you put in and give the information
for your claim. That means that I file it. Rather
you do it through a VSO or you do it
online yourself, whatever way you decide to do it. The
(35:45):
step the first step is the claim is received. The
claim is received. That means that the VA acknowledges that
they receive your disability claim. Always double check to make
sure that they have received your claim. Now, there are
several ways that you can do this. You can go
(36:06):
to a VSO and let them submit your claim, all right,
or if you're doing it yourself, you can fax it in,
you can mail it in, or you can do do
it online. They have what's called quick Submit quick submit.
I like quick submit because with quick submit you get
(36:27):
instant notification that your your claim has been uploaded. Okay,
so you can upload your your documents, you're supporting documents,
whatever you are foulding, you can upload it via quick Submit. Now,
let me just say this, Well, that's important for you
to know when it comes to the VA claims process.
(36:49):
If you have an eight hundred page if you have
an eight hundred page medical file, do not send the
whole eight hundred pages, because more than likely the VA
will not reach If you're filing, for example, you're filing
for your back, take out, go through your medical file.
Take out what's important for that particular issue. That means
(37:15):
that I'm gonna have to go through my medical file.
I'm gonna have to do my own research through that
medical file. I'm gonna have to read through it. Okay,
I want to take out. Okay. On September tenth, I
went to the V. I went to Sick Bay. Or
I went to the VA, and they I had this
on my file for my back. Or I went on
(37:38):
this particular day, I got an X ray, this particular day,
I got MRI with take out the papers that's relevant
to that particular issue. All right. I would suggest having
copies of your medical record. Make more than one copy
so that you can have your own complete copy, but
also make sure that you send them the pages that's necessary.
(37:58):
You want to make it as easy for them as
possible because guess what you have some raiders that are lazy,
all right, yes they are. They're lazy. Okay, they will
not do and no one's gonna have time to read
through an eight hundred medical page or eight hundred pages
of your medical file when you just give it to them,
you don't do anything to go through it. Now, yes
(38:20):
they have a duty to assist, but at the same time,
know that these are actual people that's on I guess
time tables where they have to do so many cases
and you want to make it as easy for them
as possible. That's just a word of advice to give
to you. Take take what's necessary out that they need
to know and give it to them. That way, your
(38:43):
claim will not be just sitting there. It can move
much much faster. So Number one, the VA receives your
disability claim. Now they have the timeline between seven and
fourteen days. Normally you get the receipt pretty fast that
they what They will notify you via mail that they
(39:04):
got it. They will notify you quick submit notifies you
right away that the documents were successfully uploaded. So and
your vs O will possibly get that as well. So
make sure can always keep receipts that you did send it,
so if there's any questions that you can go back
(39:24):
and let them know that they did receive it. Number two.
Step two is it is under review. That means the
VA reviews your claim to ensure all necessary information is
included and understand the specifics of your claim. So basically, basically,
the VA reviews everything to see, Okay, what are they
(39:45):
claiming for, why they claiming it, so that they can
understand what the specifics that's for your particular case. So
they're they're trying to see if they got all the
information that they need to make a decis for your case,
which leads us into step three, the gathering of evidence. Now,
(40:06):
the VA what they do at this particular step they
collect all evidence that's necessary for your case during this
particular time. You want to make sure if there's anything
that you may have left out, any private doctors, any
type of X rays, maris, or anything that's needed, you
(40:28):
need to make sure that they have it. You Also,
if there's anybody statements which means people that serve with
you that wrote on your behalf, make sure you submit
that any type of personal statements, make sure that you've
given them that. Make sure that they have everything that
they need. Also, the VA has what's called a duty
to assist. That means that they're supposed to do what
(40:52):
they can to make sure that they also have as
much of the information from you that they need or
doctors or anything else that they need in order to
make a proper decision on your case. Step four is
the review of evidence. This means that the VA gathers
all the necessary evidence to assess the validity and extent
(41:15):
of your disability claim. So at this point they have
gathered everything. They're reviewing everything to make sure that they
have what they need. Now, let me just say this,
Sometimes the VA can back up. They can go back
a step. So if they feel like, you know what
we're missing something you might see, you might be at
step five and then it goes back up to step
(41:37):
three to say, hey, we need more evidence before we
can make a determination. So don't be surprised at doing
this process that you might see it at one step
and then it goes back at step step five. This
means that the VA is preparing to make a decision
on your claim based on the evidence and reviews. That
(41:58):
means that they have all the evidence and let me
just say this during the step three step forward process.
This also means that they may send you to what's
called the cn P exam Compensation and Pension exam. This
means that they send you to a doctor of their
of their choosing UH, or they will try to find
(42:18):
someone in your area. They'll send you to that VA
doctor that's therefore to make a decision or as to UH.
They gonna take what's called dbq's. These means questions that
they're gonna ask you as it pertains to each issue
that you are claiming. All right, so the doctor's gonna
ask you a bunch of questions. The doctor may have
(42:39):
to do some examination. For example, if you're going for
your hips, they may have to put you on the
table and see how far you can raise your hips,
how far you can bend or or if you if
if it's for mental health, you may have to go
to one of their psychologists or psychiatrists or whatever and
they have to examine you by asking certain questions. If
(43:00):
you have sleep apnea, they may send you to a
place where you have to I guess, stay overnight or
whatever to do the sleep machine. So it depends on
what the VA needs in order to assess your claim
and make the proper decision. So expect to normally go
(43:20):
to what's called some type of CNP exam. This is
not always with this is sometimes sometimes veterans submit their
own DBQs from their own private doctors. Again, but a
lot of times the VA will send you to what's
called a CNP exam. Not every every case, but a
lot of the times they will send you to a
(43:41):
CNP exam. Step six. Step six is when when a
senior VA officer reviews the decision to ensure accuracy and
compliance with regulations. So this means that the raider who
has initially had the case, they they've made a decision
(44:02):
and so therefore this goes to a seniorator to ensure
that what was done was done properly according to VA regulations,
and therefore they sign off on it. Okay. So this
is at this point when you were at step six.
That means that it's getting ready. You're getting ready to
find out what that decision is. Number seven. Number seven
(44:27):
is the VA prepares your decision packet. They include details
on the decision. That means that they've made a decision,
they have checked it, and so now they're getting ready
to notify you as to what that decision is. Doing
this particular step, they also if there's any money that's
(44:50):
due you or anything like that, so they'll be going
over you know, what's due or whatever the case may be.
When you call in. If you find that, they ask
you you're mailing address your bank information. This does not
mean always when they ask your bank information that you're
getting something, but they're just making sure that in the
(45:11):
event that you do that, they have all your information updated.
All right, Then you have step eight, the final process.
This is the final step that they send your decision
in the mail and the details of what you have
of what they have decided is included in that packet.
(45:32):
Another thing is whenever the VA sens their notification, they
also put it on VA dot gov, So it's important
for you have the VA dot gov access to that
if you've created an account. Also, you can download the
VA app. Okay, the VA app, and you can find
(45:55):
out your claim status on there. Now, let me just
let you know this. Sometimes you can always get the
latest update on your app, and that's because whatever they
need to still fix some things. When it comes to
supplemental claims, you normally can your initial claim, you normally
(46:15):
can track it fairly easy. But if you're doing supplemental
claims or what's called high level review hlrs, then you're
not always able to get the latest update, which means
that you will have to call the VA directly in
order to find out about what step or where your
process is at. Now, when you call the VA, some
(46:36):
of them are oblivious to this eight step process, or
at least they act like they are. And so when
you say, oh, I'm trying to find out what step
I'm at, and they and so some of them may
not know, and some of them may know. So some
are pretty aware of the eight step process. Others they
will just tell you where it's in preparation for a
(46:57):
decision or it's in gathering evidence, so they may not
know the exact numbers. So, but this is more so
for the veteran to help you to know the process.
There's also what's called a VA Claims Tracker, and now
it's been having some issues from what I can tell,
(47:18):
but I'm not sure if they fix those issues. But
you can have this VA Claims Tracker extension. This is
not through the VA. This is a third party who
created this tracker to help veterans to better understand the
status of their claims more up to date information in
which you will normally get from VA dot gov. This
(47:38):
is called the VA Claims Tracker, and you can download
this extension through Chrome, and you have to have Chrome.
It only works in Chrome. So when you go to
VA dot gov and you look up your claim, you
can use the VA Claims Tracker if you have that extension.
It only works with Chrome, so it's important and it's
pretty good whenever it is working, all right. So anyway,
(48:03):
that is the eight step process and I just want
to go through it real quick again. Number one is
the claims received, number two under review, number three, the
gathering of evidence, Number four, the review of evidence, number five,
the preparation for a decision, Number six pending decision approval,
Number seven, preparation for notification, and number eight decision notification SCENT. Now,
(48:27):
one thing it's important to know is that if you
have not received your letter, if you have not received it,
if you have not viewed it online or received it,
if you call the VA eight hundred number, they're gonna
ask you have you received have you received your letter yet?
And if you have not looked at your letter. They
cannot give you any information regarding that decision until you
(48:49):
have received a letter via email or you have received
it via the mail. Okay, So they have to know
that you have laid eyes on your letter first before
they can answer any questions about your decision. So they
can't tell you, oh, well, the VA decided for or
against if that letter has not been created and sent
(49:13):
to you either VA dot gov or in the mail.
So you have to look out for that letter before
they can actually even answer the kind of questions that
you may have if you or if you once you
get your decision from the VA, and you may if
you don't agree with it, then there are also other
(49:34):
steps that you can take if you disagree with the decision.
We're not going to go over those steps today, but
we will go over that at a later time. All right, Woo,
This has been a lot of information, So I pray
that today's a podcast has been has been informative to you,
(49:58):
and that if you are going through this process or
you're getting ready to get out. I believe that some
some active duty when they're within a few months of
getting out, I believe that some of them go ahead
and file for the VA disability. I have seen where
some say, well, have this percentage and I'm getting ready
(50:19):
to get out, or whatever case may be. So make
sure that you just have your ducks in a row.
Make sure you be your own best advocate. Hey, ask questions, research,
look at videos, talk to other veterans, and make sure
that you that you become very informed, know what to
(50:43):
expect before you go into the C and P exam.
Take your records with you, because, believe it or not,
sometimes the VA does not send everything that they need
to that particular VA examiner. And therefore it's been times
that I had my records with me just an event
of the VA not having sent everything, and sure enough
(51:06):
some things were missing, and just because I hadn't on me,
it was the examiner was able to make an effective
decision because what the c What the CNPA examiner basically does.
They will say, rather, it's more likely than not that
it was service connected or you know, so basically they
(51:27):
can say four or against. Their decision is is very
much weighed in addition to other evidence. But they really
listen to the CNP examiner that decision. Whatever the CNP
a examiner has to say, it carries a lot of weight.
So you want to make sure that you have what
(51:49):
you can all the things that you would need with
you when you go to the exam, and be prepared
as best as you can should you have to go
to an exam. All right, we are about it here
at Prejudicing A's podcast has been informative and a blessing
to you. My name is doctor K. A.
Speaker 3 (52:06):
Ridge.
Speaker 2 (52:07):
I am a Navy veteran and I am happy to
serve you, and most importantly, as I serve you, I
am also serving the Lord God bless Until next time.
Speaker 1 (52:21):
Thanks for tuning in to Veterans in Christ. We pray
that you found today's podcast informative and we look forward
to being with you again during the next podcast. May
the Lord blessed and keep you going out and coming in.