Veterans Disability Benefits and the Decision spin Officer - When Should You Use the Dro Process?
A very common question asked of me by U.S. Veterans who are seeking disability payment for injuries and disabilities incurred in forces service is this: what is the "de novo" delineate the Va offers me when I file my consideration of Disagreement, and should I use it?
Veterans Disability Benefits and the Decision spin Officer - When Should You Use the Dro Process?
In all honesty, I cannot think of a scenario where a U.S. Veteran fascinating the Va Regional Office's denial of disability benefits would not invite the Dro review.
To understand why I say this, it is helpful to understand the process of fascinating the Varo (Va Regional Office) denial of a claim for disability payment to a Us Veteran.
After the veteran's claim is denied by the Va Regional Office (whether denied partially or entirely, the U.S. Veteran must challenge the decision if he or she wants to continue to pursue the benefit.
To begin the process of fascinating the Varo Ratings Decision, the first step is for the Veteran to send the Va Regional Office a written consideration of contrast (also known as a "Nod"). Once the U.S. Veteran files the "Nod" with the Va Regional Office, that office will typically send the Veteran a form that has some language about development an " request for retrial election. The Va Regional Office will ask that the Veteran choose in the middle of the original request for retrial process or a delineate by what is called a "Decision delineate Officer (which I call the Dro). The Va will give the Veteran 60 days to file the request for retrial choosing for with the Varo.
Now, that is the process to get the ball rolling on fascinating the Va Ratings Decision. What is the Dro process, how is it separate from the Bva, or traditional, appeal, and why do I say it should always be utilized by the Veteran?
First, Dros are senior claims examiners who have the authority to grant the Veteran's requested benefits, based on the same evidence that was used in the first ratings decision. The Dro will delineate the evidence "de novo" (This means, in a nutshell, with fresh eyes and without deference to the first Va Ratings Decision.)
Second, the Dro is a senior and much more experienced claims representatives with the Va who has probably seen more claims, knows the law better, and whose job is not only to make sure that the Veteran is getting a "non-adversarial" decision, but also to protect the Va from the cost and time of poor decisions from Junior Claims examiners.
Third, the Dro will delineate the case without deference to the Va Rating Decision. In some situations, the Veteran can ask to meet with or talk to the Dro.
Fourth, the Dro process has a good opening of being thriving and if it is successful, it will be a lot faster than fascinating to the Bva, where the wait for a hearing can be 500-600 days, or more. I was told at a modern Veterans' Cle, without any hard evidence to back up the statistic, that 2% of the first claim denials are reversed by the Va's Dro process. In the land of the Va, 2% is an incredibly high success ratio (believe it or not).
Fifth, even if the Dro agrees with the first Ratings Decision, (or makes a decision that is favorable, but not completely correct) you can still request for retrial to the Bva. So, the Veteran doesn't lose the quality to challenge the Va Ratings Decision, has a 2% opening of having the Varo's decision reversed, often doesn't have to submit any new documentation, and can at times delineate directly with the Dro. What's not to like about the Dro process?
Let me give you a good example of success using the Dro process. In a modern request for retrial I handled for a Vietnam Vet with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (Ptsd), the Va initially denied the Veteran's claim. The Va's position was that there was no evidence that the Veteran had been diagnosed with Ptsd. This closing was absurd: the Va had indeed diagnosed the Vet with Ptsd, the pathology was in his Claims File And the Va Doctors had already finished that this Veteran's Ptsd was a direct supervene of his forces service.
On profit of the Veteran, we sought delineate by a Dro. Within a incorporate of months, the Veteran was evaluated by a local Va healing Center, and was given an impairment rating for his Ptsd. About 30 days later, the Veteran received payment of past-due money from the Va, and will continue to receive benefits for his now service-connected Ptsd.
Without a Dro, this Veteran would have had to wait at least one or two Years to argue to a Bva HearingS Officer that he was entitled to Ptsd. Even if the Veteran persuaded the Bva Hearing Official, the claim likely would have just been sent back to the Va Regional Office for an impairment evaluation and additional amelioration of the record. This process could have taken years, without netting a singular payment to the Veteran.
While the Dro process does not warrant Veterans that they will win their claim, the Dro process can be a indeed good opening to get the Veteran the benefits they are entitled to - and ordinarily quicker!
The process works for the Va, because they are able to more efficiently sell out their backlog of claims.
The process works for the Bva Hearings Officer, who only has to determine the remaining disputes (such as the productive date of an award, or the allowable impairment percentage, etc.)
In short, I can't think of a hypothesize not to invite a Dro delineate of the Varo's first Rating Decision.
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