Just a reminder in case some of your friends forgot:
The fiscal 2009 IT budget request for the Veterans Benefits Administration is about 18 percent less than the fiscal 2008 proposal. The overall IT budget for the Veterans Affairs Department, VBA's parent agency, jumped 18 percent in President Bush's latest request. VBA's pending compensation and claims backlog stood at 816,211 as of January 2008, up 188,781 since 2004, said Kerry Baker, associate legislative director of the Disabled Veterans of America, during a Wednesday hearing of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.
Veterans' claims backlog spurs national bus tour
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
By KEITH ROGERS
October 4, 2013
Vietnam War veteran Dave Freeman led a pack of 40 motorcyclists and a tour bus to the Cashman Center Bikefest on Friday, launching the Concerned Veterans for America cross-country campaign to heighten awareness about a staggering backlog of veterans’ benefits claims.
The motorcade left the Red Rock Harley-Davidson parking lot on Rainbow Boulevard about 2 p.m., heading for the Bikefest event after a patriotic pep rally that featured a barbecue, music and speakers.
The cast included Jane Horton, widow of Oklahoma National Guard sniper Spc. Christopher Horton who was killed in Afghanistan in 2011, and Steve Russell, an Army lieutenant colonel who was a leader in the raid that captured deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein on Dec. 13, 2003.
In an emotional speech, Horton told the crowd of about 300 veterans and supporters gathered in the sun-drenched parking lot that they are all her heroes.
“I do not need to be told ‘freedom is not free,’” she said, her voice cracking as tears rolled down her cheeks. “Every day when I realize Chris isn’t with us, I know God has chosen me to carry his legacy. …I want you to know I will give my every last breath to defend the country that he defended for me.”
read more here
The backlogs are being caused by rater and VA examiner dishonesty. "There is no record of blank ailment", when the medical record is there. Denied due to "subjective" blank disease, just based on a single examination while ignoring the dozens of medical records that say otherwise. This is not incompetence, this is fraud! VA examiners need to be investigated, reported to their professional boards and fined. Many of us will continue to go without benefits and die without treatment because of this racket.
ReplyDeleteI hear you but this problem goes way, way back and is nothing new. The problem is, they fix stuff part way when the media gets involved but just like war, they get bored and move on to reporting on celebrities.
ReplyDeleteWhen they drop the story, all of a sudden things go to hell all over again but no one notices until it is too late.
This happened before and will happen again unless these yahoos in congress fix it once and for all.
Veterans have to respond withint a certain amount of time to the VA or they are screwed. The VA on the other hand doesn't have to respond to veterans in a certain amount of time. Fix that first and maybe, just maybe it will get better, but I doubt it.