VA: Health and Benefits 17+

As someone who frequently uses the VA website for disability claims and healthcare, this is a huge timesaver. I read in another review that there might soon be notifications of medical appointment changes. This would be huge since I’m usually not told when an appointment changes or gets cancelled. The only improvement I would like to see is an ability to refresh the status of a disability claim. For instance it is 4:30 in the afternoon now but it is showing my most recent status from when I checked it at 10pm yesterday. It seems you can only check it once per 24 hours with the app. This is fine most of the time but when they are getting close to publishing a final decision, I’d like to refresh more often. As it stands, this is now pushing me back to the website daily.

Logging in and out of this app is very inefficient. I have Face ID setting turned on, yet every time I log in, there are probably six or seven screens to navigate through just to get in, including “waiting to redirect” and needing to text authentication codes every time. And when you log out, there are 4 pages and prompts to get through just to leave.

The messaging system needs some work too. It only shows a portion of sent messages, and when you click the down arrow to expand the window, it still won’t show you the full message. And for writing new messages, the main message box is irritating at best. Accidentally touching outside of the box makes the text go gray, and the screen jump up and down. The cursor is like a sick joke being played on me, and most of the “continue” buttons need to be pressed at least two or three times to activate.

I downloaded the app because it’s supposed to be simpler than using the website, but that doesn’t seem to be the reality. And considering that a lot of us veterans are suffering from PTSD and high anxiety, I would hope that the developers could create an app that doesn’t give me a near panic attack every time I need to use it. Do better, please.

I go to check the status of my claim today and notice that the icon that directs me to my claims status page isn't there anymore. It tells me what my percentage is and how it breaks down but nothing about pending claims or appeals. Is it just me or will we not be able to access that information via this app anymore? It's a feature I used specifically because it was convenient, not to mention faster, than using a pc. How about putting our c-files online so we can access those as well? It would save an astronomical amount of time as well as material such as cd's, paper and all that logistical stuff that takes place when a Veteran requests their file. Just a thought. Hopefully this isn't a permanent thing. We need a "one stop does all" portal to use and it would be nice to have them in sync with each other. It would also be nice to remove all these third party apps that keep Veterans information on servers with poor security protocols. Lol this started as a question and turned into a rant. Hard not to do when talking about the bureaucracy that is the Veterans Benefits Administration.