VA Spends Big to Speed Disability Exam Claims

The Department of Veterans Affairs has just announced the awarding of $6.8 billion in contracts to improve the Medical Disability Examination process and get veterans’ disability claims handed more quickly.

Let’s look at the five companies it chose: —VetFed Resources, Inc., Virginia, a veteran-owned small business. —Logistics Health, Inc., Wisconsin, has a national network of “medical, dental and behavioral health providers”

that offer annual physical exams and periodic health assessments. —Medical Support Los Angeles has dozens of clinics scattered around three states. —QTC Medical Services, Inc., California, appears to have a full complement of medical associates in seven big-city locations and has done exams since 2000. —Veterans Evaluation Services, Inc.,

Texas, is another veteran-owned company. A thumbs-up to the VA for expanding services to get the disability claims handled faster. However, anyone can build a website and say anything on it, as well as skew facts on an application.

One way to evaluate a company is to check the employer review sites on the Internet. You’ll find both positive and negative reviews anywhere you look, but the devil is always in the details. Sometimes employees make small comments that add up … Another source of information is in patient complaints. I wonder if anyone considered any of these sources of information when they were awarding contracts, or if they only stuck to the applications in front of them.

It’s also disturbing when two of the awardees file a protest with the Government Accountability Office against the others saying that the agency “misevaluated proposals, engaged in misleading discussions” and more in handing out the contracts.

In wading through the very long decision documents, with the names of 28 attorneys at the top, it’s hard to see how all the legalese and finger pointing will translate into actual veteran care and medical disability evaluations.