Reassessment - Carpal Tunnel left/right

45jim wrote:I can't explain the time that it actually takes at VAC to adjudicate a claim all I can do is read the guidelines they publish and relate it to my own, and others experience with VAC. My hearing claim was like yours I imagine - demonstrated loss of hearing from my recruitment audiogram to my release audiogram. And it was further noted on my release medical. I got a new audiogram which showed more profound hearing loss and put that all into my claim and 16 weeks later (give or take a week) I had a positive decision. But mine seems to be a clean cut and simple case for them. Lots of in-service medical documentation made it easy. That's my guess.

Once it went to Stage 3, VAC confirms that they do not require any more info from you and its up to them to adjudicate the claim. Perhaps yours wasn't as simple as mine (lack of military record keeping?) and its taking longer, who knows. The frustration is understandable but let's be honest hearing loss is something we are all dealing with in one form or another. While it affects our quality of life in significant ways I believe VAC has dedicated more staff to dealing with PTSD claims because of suicides and the damage that can be done to a Vet by delaying care for serious PTSD.  Not an excuse, just an observation.

I also have a claim that has been at Stage 3 since May. Not happy about it, but I know its more complex than my hearing issue so I can understand to an extent.

After the 1 year mark they will not ask for a new audiogram just because 12 months have passed, the adjudicator will handle the claim with the documentation they have. If the hearing loss is there on the audiogram and its in your med docs during service you will get a positive decision.

45jim wrote:It's not MY Theory - its their process- have a look at the VAC service commitment it explains the basics there. So you're not putting "my theory" out the window, your just making statements and rephrasing statements.

If your Hearing/Tinnitus claim has been outstanding for that long its obviously more than a simple claim. Mine was 16 weeks on the button but it obviously was a simple claim during a period when they were hustling them through. So how long did it take to get your claim from Stage 1 to Stage 3?  If that took 32 weeks (as you described, 16 weeks each) and then another 48 weeks after achieving Stage 3 are you talking 80 weeks since you submitted your claim? So 1.5 years?

45jim wrote:It is not 16 weeks for each stage. Stage 1 is application only and then it will move to Stage 2 once someone looks at it. If the application is complete it will move to Stage 3 and the 16 week clock starts. However if more information is required it stays at Stage 2 until all the information they are requesting has been received, it can be there forever if they don't receive the information they want. The VAC clock only starts at once the claim moves to Stage 3. No one includes the time you put in to see a doctor, arrange to have specific tests completed, meet again with your doctor to discuss the diagnosis and then go through the hassle of getting the VAC documents filled out and then sending it all in.

Now the 16 week clock is only reasonable with claims they have decided to fast track such as hearing and tinnitus which are very simple claims. If you have a hearing issue on your med docs (hearing loss during time of service) and a current audiogram that confirms that well then its easy for them to process it. The complication comes in if you don't have evidence during service of your injury and then the 16 week thing goes out the window. The 16 week time frame is also unrealistic if someone has a complex medical, musculoskeletal or PTSD issue.

What they should have done is categorize claims into three major categories and assigned time targets to those claims which are visible on MYVAC. If they had "Simple", "Moderate" and "Complex" as the level of complexity and provided a base time scale like simple - 16 weeks, Moderate 30 weeks and Complex 50 weeks and told you that upfront, people would be less pissed off. While its not going to make people happy its better to tell a Vet that he has a complex issue and its going to be 50 weeks than to say the standard is 16 weeks - never meet that number and deliver radio silence throughout the process.

They should also have "real time" updates on the progress of claims. There must be a process they follow for each claim, if that was detailed showing where in the process your claim is and how long it has been there the pressure would go down. Rather than having a 16 week window it should be a certain amount of days (or weeks) at each station and if it exceeds that time there has to be a reason. Every company uses a similar system to manage everything (production, quality and employee output) and there is no doubt such a system at VAC.

Artie Simm wrote:

bulldozer wrote:i just wrote to my CM and told her that im waiting since the 15 feb 2018 in stage 3 and now 41 weeks and told her to check if there's 3 different piles because this is Inconceivable, this is starting to piss me off and its total BS!

on the myvacaccount site, there is a date shown when an application is received and then it seems to be “ in theory” 16 weeks to go from stage 1 to stage 2, and then another 16 weeks to go from stage 2 to stage 3 and then another 16 weeks to go from stage 3 to an out come. I’m trying to be patient , but if there is no answer on a claim after 48 weeks that’s just ridiculous

bulldozer wrote:i just wrote to my CM and told her that im waiting since the 15 feb 2018 in stage 3 and now 41 weeks and told her to check if there's 3 different piles because this is Inconceivable, this is starting to piss me off and its total BS!

Newfie wrote:So on 14 Apr 2018 my status went to stage 3. I emailed VAC last Wed and was informed that they were working on Jan 2018 claims. I spoke to my case manager today and was also told same information. I just logged into myvac not even 3 hours had gone by and it now says status Complete.  Even though I am happy that status is complete why the BS from VAC as  misleading as I figured it would be feb or Mar before I would see results. So I would not give much weight to vac responses to inquiries.  Now the log wait for snail mail thru Canada Pist