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.

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.

I cannot give this app 5 stars because it still isn’t what it can be. For instance, if someone served in multiple branches of service (i.e. Marines, Air Force), they don’t have the option of which branch logo would be represented on their profile. I have emailed around to find out how one changes this and was told that they didn’t know what I was talking about.
Then there is the fact that they don’t accept foreign numbers. What about those of us that reside and/or work overseas? We cannot enter a true number. This becomes a problem when you need to have 2 factor verification. Then you have to download another app in order to do this.
Finally, you should be able to download a copy of your records from here as well. Not only your VA records, but you should be able to get a complete copy of your Military Medical Records, as well, without having to send something through snail mail. This is very inconvenient, especially if you reside overseas.