This week’s Borne the Battle begins where episode #169 left off, featuring guest Cheryl Mason, Chairman of the Board of Veterans Appeals (BVA).
In this Benefits Breakdown, Chairman Mason talks about the third lane of Appeals Modernization. Where the first two lanes allow Veterans to appeal their compensation claim decision to a claims adjudicator, the third lane allows Veterans to appeal a compensation claim decision directly to the Board.
More importantly, Chairman Mason addresses many questions Veterans ask:
- Which lane is right for you?
- What are the differences between each lane?
- How long will each take?
- Should you work with a VSO?
- How do you monitor the progress?
Chairman Mason oversees the Board’s 1100 personnel, its budget, and ensures the Board conducts hearings, decides appeals for Veterans and their families, and ensures a Veteran’s voice is heard.
#BtBattle Veteran of the Week: Army Veteran Roy N. Scow
Additional Links:
- blogs.va.gov/VAntage/70885/va-releases-updated-dod-list-identifying-agent-orange-sites-outside-vietnam/
- https://www.bva.va.gov/
- https://benefits.va.gov/benefits/appeals.asp
Hayoung Oh is a podcast intern with the VA’s Digital Media Engagement Team. He is currently an undergraduate at UC Berkeley studying Public Health.




Becky Cross
VBA is morally corrupt.
Wille
I am on a limited internet access, which means if I go over the speed is greatly reduced. So, I NEVER review podcasts or the like.
Why don’t you put out the information in the written word for people like us Vets that need this regarding appeals?
Judy L Burleson
I enjoyed the information from Cheryl Mason
It did take 8 years to get me in front of a video Judge in another town
last Jan 10, 2020
I am now waiting on the Judge to find the other records
for proof that my late husband was at a place with Ionize Radiation
It is a know fact it causes a certain kind of Leukemia, which he died with
after 4 years of me caring for him with no help from anyone. I would sure do
again if I could have him back. I miss him terribly.
I have always believe this claim will be approved, he was WWII Veteran
I am his widow. I pray for a positive ending.
Thank you for the information from your site
Stephen McCartney, M.D.
I read SFC Watson’s comments above and concur.
The inept written opinions that I have received twice regarding my issues with cancer reveal no one, so far, gets it.
The first one revealed such a poor understanding of the disease process I thought he had me confused with another veteran. The second one addressed two other stable issues I am already rated for and were never in question as a primary concern..
I am a 30 yr retired USN physician so the inept written comments and administrative “hot air” is obvious to me on first pass.
If I didn’t like retirement so much I would feel obliged to hire on to VA Medical Appeals and try to improve it for other vets.
Arthur Francis murano
my appeal has been in the circuit for 2 1/2 years and there are still 80,000 appeals in front of me quit giving us lip service and do something to fix this totally unfair system
jmac jmac
Been waiting almost 5 years for my appeal to go in front of the board. Clearly this “stream lined” process is still broke…
James Watson
The VA appeals process is complete rubbish, their determination officers are as smart as rocks. I am in the process of a VA Title 38 U.S.C. 1151 negligence against the VA. When the VA was able to be sued, after that law was passed, suddenly two portions of my case were resolved in days. Unfortunately for the VA, I do not let things go nor am I political in any way. I don’t care if you loved by some mythical deity, if you deserve to lose your job, you will. I do not care what position you are in.
The noise that comes out of the mouths of these VA suits in what they say verse what they do in practice are totally different things. The case replies these VA suits send back to the Vets in the form of statements of case and replies to letters sent are amazing in their ineptitude, and these replies are in hard copy print that cannot be disputed by them. It is similar to telling someone one thing and then letting that one thing go around the room and when it get’s back to the Vet, it is nothing like the original. This is something that needs to be stopped. To have it happen one time would not be bad, but several times? This is systemic of pushing paperwork through by workers that have zero clue or simply do not want to take the time to do things correctly. This problem can be wholly attributed in part to the lack of trained personal and clueless, moronic suits in the VA that make useless noise act like they are in the business of saving money and make their job position look good instead of helping the Vets as they should be doing.
That and the VA acting with the conditions the Vet is wrong and the VA must ensure the Vet is held to standards the VA does not have to meet. The VA uses opinions, not facts in it’s medical determinations. The VA will not use actual doctors that are familiar with patients and instead use hired subcontractors to supply medical “opinions” at which point determination officers follow flow charts to decide whether or not to give benefits based on chart criteria in that flowchart. This garbage must stop. When a determination officer calls and states they have no medical training or expertise, that they cannot read the thousands of medical pages supplied (obviously) and they have to go by the “most recent opinion” of hired subcontractors that spend 15 to 30 minutes or less to write a report to give to the determination officer and then decide via the flow chart what the Vet gets is total BS.
Nothing but noise comes out of the mouths of VA suits. The VA chairman makes a great speech and I am quite sure that chairman has never sat next to a hired VA subcontractor “doctor” that says differing medical conditions are the same and then gets upset because a Vet asked if they looked at that vets medical records and then states they did not need to as they are asking the questions and then goes through the VA medical number reference flowchart and says what sounds familiar? I am sure that VA appeals chairman thinks this is simply OK. Business as usual for the great VA. This chairman has more to fix than they realize, or they do realize this and simply do not give a pile of fecal matter except to look good in their position and make noise that is pleasant for their senior noise makers to hear.
SFC
James Watson
USA Army Retired
Martin allison
Nice video, totally untrue. this chairman is clueless.
Jon Hulverson
What about the problems with the toxic water? My body is disintegrating!