Veterans groups urge court to force the VA to speed up handling of disability claims and appeals
One judge has said the problem is beyond the court's power to correct, while another has given the two sides until Sept. 1 to mediate the issue.
By Carol J. Williams
August 24, 2009
Suicides among veterans average 18 a day, by the government's estimation, and a backlog of disability claims for post-traumatic stress disorder and other untreated ailments approaches 1 million.
With a massive military drawdown from Iraq and Afghanistan potentially on the horizon, lawyers for the veterans want a federal appeals court to order the Department of Veterans Affairs to make good on the nation's commitment to take care of those wounded in mind as well as body.
It is an onerous task that a lower court has already deemed beyond the power of the judiciary to correct. And the latest appeal, to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, has also been met with reluctance by the judges to tell a government bureaucracy how it should conduct its affairs.
read more here
Veterans groups urge court to force the VA to speed up
Showing posts with label claim backlog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label claim backlog. Show all posts
Monday, August 24, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
As vets await checks, VA workers get $24M bonuses in 2007 and 2008
By KIMBERLY HEFLING (AP) – 6 hours ago
WASHINGTON — Outside the Veterans Affairs Department, severely wounded veterans have faced financial hardship waiting for their first disability payment. Inside, money has been flowing in the form of $24 million in bonuses.
In scathing reports this week, the VA's inspector general said thousands of technology office employees at the VA received the bonuses over a two-year period, some under questionable circumstances. It also detailed abuses ranging from nepotism to an inappropriate relationship between two VA employees.
The inspector general accused one recently retired VA official of acting "as if she was given a blank checkbook" as awards and bonuses were distributed to employees of the Office of Information and Technology in 2007 and 2008. In some cases the justification for the bonuses was inadequate or questionable, the IG said.
The official, Jennifer S. Duncan, also engaged in nepotism and got $60,000 in bonuses herself, the IG said. In addition, managers improperly authorized college tuition payments for VA employees, some of whom were Duncan's family members and friends. That cost taxpayers nearly $140,000.
Separately, a technology office employee became involved in an "inappropriate personal relationship" with a high-level VA official. The technology office employee flew 22 times from Florida to Washington, where the VA official lived. That travel cost $37,000.
read more hereAs vets await checks, VA workers get bonuses
WASHINGTON — Outside the Veterans Affairs Department, severely wounded veterans have faced financial hardship waiting for their first disability payment. Inside, money has been flowing in the form of $24 million in bonuses.
In scathing reports this week, the VA's inspector general said thousands of technology office employees at the VA received the bonuses over a two-year period, some under questionable circumstances. It also detailed abuses ranging from nepotism to an inappropriate relationship between two VA employees.
The inspector general accused one recently retired VA official of acting "as if she was given a blank checkbook" as awards and bonuses were distributed to employees of the Office of Information and Technology in 2007 and 2008. In some cases the justification for the bonuses was inadequate or questionable, the IG said.
The official, Jennifer S. Duncan, also engaged in nepotism and got $60,000 in bonuses herself, the IG said. In addition, managers improperly authorized college tuition payments for VA employees, some of whom were Duncan's family members and friends. That cost taxpayers nearly $140,000.
Separately, a technology office employee became involved in an "inappropriate personal relationship" with a high-level VA official. The technology office employee flew 22 times from Florida to Washington, where the VA official lived. That travel cost $37,000.
read more hereAs vets await checks, VA workers get bonuses
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Obama Targets Backlog Of Veterans' Claims
Obama Targets Backlog Of Veterans' Claims
By Ed O'Keefe
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
The Obama administration is calling once again on federal employees to submit ideas on improving government services. This time, it is targeting the time and effort it takes to process veterans' disability benefits.
The number of unresolved disability claims has soared this year, prompting protests from veterans groups and members of Congress. The American Legion said in late June that the number was approaching 1 million claims, but Department of Veterans Affairs officials dispute that figure.
Under the plan announced Monday by President Obama, rank-and-file employees with VA's Veterans Benefits Administration will be asked to suggest, through a Web-based computer program, how to reduce the department's backlog. The VBA has about 18,400 employees, most of whom work at its 57 regional offices.
read more here
Obama Targets Backlog Of Veterans Claims
What this didn't say is how we got to this point and it came from outsourcing BEFORE OBAMA
We have seen the worst because contactors out to make money instead of VA employees, doing the job because they love veterans, just didn't care as much.
When I informed, or tried to inform a relative that the VA budget was cut while President Bush was in office and was not increased until 2008, she said I was "Bush bashing" instead of looking at the facts. She said that it was true that there were less doctors and nurses working for the VA with Iraq and Afghanistan going on than there were after the Gulf War. For Heaven's sake! Cut backs came because there were supposed to be less veterans alive needing the VA but no one thought about the numbers added into the system needing care from the VA because of Iraq and Afghanistan. No all of a sudden reports about the backlog are coming out fast and furious instead of them paying attention all along.
But this one really explains this best
By Ed O'Keefe
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
The Obama administration is calling once again on federal employees to submit ideas on improving government services. This time, it is targeting the time and effort it takes to process veterans' disability benefits.
The number of unresolved disability claims has soared this year, prompting protests from veterans groups and members of Congress. The American Legion said in late June that the number was approaching 1 million claims, but Department of Veterans Affairs officials dispute that figure.
Under the plan announced Monday by President Obama, rank-and-file employees with VA's Veterans Benefits Administration will be asked to suggest, through a Web-based computer program, how to reduce the department's backlog. The VBA has about 18,400 employees, most of whom work at its 57 regional offices.
read more here
Obama Targets Backlog Of Veterans Claims
What this didn't say is how we got to this point and it came from outsourcing BEFORE OBAMA
VA OUTSOURCING -- (Senate - September 06, 2007)
[Page: S. 11137]
Sen. Sherrod Brown [D-OH]: I thank the Chair.
Mr. President, the amendment I will be calling up later this morning does not change current law. It simply reminds the Veterans' Administration to abide by current law. All Federal agencies are bound by certain rules when they outsource jobs. While the Department of Defense has its own set of rules, every other Federal agency, including the Veterans' Administration, is required to take the same straightforward steps to ensure that when outsourcing occurs, which sometimes it needs to, it actually improves upon the status quo, not outsourcing for the sake of outsourcing or to feed private contractors but outsourcing to serve taxpayers and, in the case of the VA, veterans better. If any Federal agency should be required to show a good reason before displacing Government workers, it should be
Even if we put that aside, taxpayers are not well served when Government contracts are handed out without regard to the costs or benefits that result. That is one of the many lessons we should have learned from Katrina. It is a lesson we are learning over and over from Iraq. These lessons don't seem to be sinking in with the administration. The VA is firing many of its blue-collar workers and replacing them with private contractors without going through the competition process that Congress has called for again and again. It is bad enough that the VA is moving forward without actually figuring out what is in the best interest of taxpayers. Sometimes outsourcing jobs makes sense. More often than not, as we have found, it doesn't. But that question should be asked before any outsourcing is done in every single case.
Making matters worse, four-fifths of the blue-color jobs targeted for outsourcing were held by veterans. So the Veterans' Administration is outsourcing Government jobs held by veterans to go to private contractors without proving that it is actually saving money. This is more than a paycheck or a path to independence. Sidestepping the rules to eliminate their jobs is bad business and bad policy.
I urge my colleagues to support the amendment.
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/record.xpd?id=110-s20070906-15
We have seen the worst because contactors out to make money instead of VA employees, doing the job because they love veterans, just didn't care as much.
When I informed, or tried to inform a relative that the VA budget was cut while President Bush was in office and was not increased until 2008, she said I was "Bush bashing" instead of looking at the facts. She said that it was true that there were less doctors and nurses working for the VA with Iraq and Afghanistan going on than there were after the Gulf War. For Heaven's sake! Cut backs came because there were supposed to be less veterans alive needing the VA but no one thought about the numbers added into the system needing care from the VA because of Iraq and Afghanistan. No all of a sudden reports about the backlog are coming out fast and furious instead of them paying attention all along.
Business Editors & Government Writers
WASHINGTON D.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 8, 2000
New Veterans' Benefits
Throughout history war veterans have received compensation. Roman soldiers were given rewards at the end of their service including cash or land (praemia). Augustus fixed the amount in AD 5 at 3000 denarii and by the time of Caracalla it had risen to 5000 denarii. [1]
..... Click the link for more information. Site "First Step Toward Electronic VA"
The Department of Veterans' Affairs is preparing to unveil a new Web site application developed by Impact Innovations Group that allows veterans to file for benefits online.
The new application, called VONAPPVONAPP Veterans Online Application
..... Click the link for more information. -- an acronym for Veterans On Line Applications system -- will allow U.S. military veterans and service personnel to apply for compensation, pension or vocational rehabilitation Noun 1. vocational rehabilitation - providing training in a specific trade with the aim of gaining employment
rehabilitation - the restoration of someone to a useful place in society benefits online. Hailed by the Department of Veterans' Affairs as the "first step towards an electronic VA," the application gives veterans the ability to securely file applications online, and will eventually extend that option to their dependents
New Veterans Benefits
But this one really explains this best
VA Nominee Pledges Quick Health Reforms
11-30-07
By HOPE YEN
WASHINGTON (AP) — Ret. Army Lt. Gen. James Peake pledged to move quickly to fix gaps in veterans' health care if confirmed as Veterans Affairs secretary, saying urgent action is needed to improve medical record-keeping and pare down the VA's monthslong delay in disability payments.
In a 28-page disclosure obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, the former U.S. Army surgeon general from 2000 to 2004 also denied having "firsthand" knowledge of shoddy outpatient care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. And he sought to allay concerns of possible conflicts of interest due to his position as chief medical officer of QTC Management, which has held millions of dollars of contracts with the VA.
"If confirmed, I will terminate any connection with QTC, will have no ongoing or residual financial interest in QTC and will recuse myself in any matters related to QTC," Peake wrote to the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.
Peake, 63, took a leave of absence from QTC without pay after he was nominated by President Bush last month to head the embattled VA.
To alleviate other possible conflicts of interest, Peake also told the Senate committee that he would divest stock holdings in more than 57 companies, many of them major pharmaceutical companies such as Aventis Pharmaceuticals, Bristol Myers, Medtronic, Wyeth and Pfizer, that either currently or might do business with the VA, said a Senate staffer who demanded anonymity because the information had not been made public.
The panel is scheduled to consider Peake's nomination on Wednesday.
The nomination of Peake, a medical doctor who has spent 40 years in military medicine, comes as the administration and Congress struggle to resolve some of the worst problems afflicting wounded warriors, such as boosting care for post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury and working to pay disability checks on time.
QTC, whose board chairman is former VA Secretary Anthony Principi, provides government-outsourced occupational health, injury and disability examination services. If confirmed by the Senate, Peake would lead the government's second-largest agency with 235,000 employees in the waning months of the Bush administration.
In the questionnaire from the Senate committee, Peake pledged to improve accountability at the VA and to make care of veterans with PTSD "a very high priority" by hiring more mental health workers and boosting access to care for veterans in harder-to-reach rural areas. Stressing his former Pentagon experience, Peake also said he would work to improve coordination and record-keeping between the VA and Pentagon, which hold joint responsibility for providing care to millions of veterans.
read more here
http://www.vawatchdog.org/07/nf07/nfNOV07/nf113007-8.htm
Saturday, August 1, 2009
VA claims process needs radical changes
Filner: VA claims process needs radical changes
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Aug 1, 2009 10:33:21 EDT
Improving the veterans’ claims process will require more than just hiring more staff, the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee chairman said Friday.
Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., said in an interview that radical change is needed to eliminate the backlog of claims and make the whole process easier for veterans by automatically accepting claims for disabilities rated at 30 percent or less, with only spot-checking for accuracy.
Filner called this the “IRS model,” a reference to the Internal Revenue Service process of auditing a small percentage of federal income tax returns, not every one.
He said automatic claims approval, with some auditing, is a way of clear what he estimates are 100,000 claims from Vietnam veterans related to exposure to Agent Orange. And the practice also could put a big dent in the overall backlog of all claims pending before VA, which Filner estimates to be almost 1 million.
“When you are getting to a 1 million backlog, the insult is so great you really have to do something,” he said.
read more here
VA claims process needs radical changes
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Aug 1, 2009 10:33:21 EDT
Improving the veterans’ claims process will require more than just hiring more staff, the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee chairman said Friday.
Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., said in an interview that radical change is needed to eliminate the backlog of claims and make the whole process easier for veterans by automatically accepting claims for disabilities rated at 30 percent or less, with only spot-checking for accuracy.
Filner called this the “IRS model,” a reference to the Internal Revenue Service process of auditing a small percentage of federal income tax returns, not every one.
He said automatic claims approval, with some auditing, is a way of clear what he estimates are 100,000 claims from Vietnam veterans related to exposure to Agent Orange. And the practice also could put a big dent in the overall backlog of all claims pending before VA, which Filner estimates to be almost 1 million.
“When you are getting to a 1 million backlog, the insult is so great you really have to do something,” he said.
read more here
VA claims process needs radical changes
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Veterans Still waiting, and waiting
Sun editorial:
Still waiting, and waiting
Veterans Affairs’ backlog in processing veterans’ disability claims just gets bigger
Tuesday, July 14, 2009 2:05 a.m.
The long wait time for disability claims to be processed has been a complaint among veterans since the early days of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Troops were sent into combat in both wars by the administration of President George W. Bush without necessary preparations, such as expanding the veterans hospitals that would be caring for the wounded and adding staff and facilities to the Veterans Affairs Department so that the inevitable disability claims could be handled efficiently.
The result has been eight years of disservice to members of the military who were sent into harm’s way.
A New York Times story Monday revealed that veterans are still waiting interminably to hear back on their disability claims — in a recession, no less, during which many are desperate to receive what they have earned.
Veterans groups are forcefully speaking out. “The VA’s claim situation is so bad that it is exacerbating veterans’ already difficult situations,” the executive director of Veterans for Common Sense told the newspaper.
read more here
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/jul/14/still-waiting-and-waiting/
Still waiting, and waiting
Veterans Affairs’ backlog in processing veterans’ disability claims just gets bigger
Tuesday, July 14, 2009 2:05 a.m.
The long wait time for disability claims to be processed has been a complaint among veterans since the early days of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Troops were sent into combat in both wars by the administration of President George W. Bush without necessary preparations, such as expanding the veterans hospitals that would be caring for the wounded and adding staff and facilities to the Veterans Affairs Department so that the inevitable disability claims could be handled efficiently.
The result has been eight years of disservice to members of the military who were sent into harm’s way.
A New York Times story Monday revealed that veterans are still waiting interminably to hear back on their disability claims — in a recession, no less, during which many are desperate to receive what they have earned.
Veterans groups are forcefully speaking out. “The VA’s claim situation is so bad that it is exacerbating veterans’ already difficult situations,” the executive director of Veterans for Common Sense told the newspaper.
read more here
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/jul/14/still-waiting-and-waiting/
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Hallelujah! Someone in congress is finally listening!
While I seriously doubt Rep. G.K. Butterfield has any clue what I've been saying all this time, it appears that at least someone is finally listening to the veterans and what this backlog of claims is doing to them. They have been suffering because no one in the government got ready for any of them when they sent them into Afghanistan and Iraq.
There are over 32 posts on the backlog of claims. This is one of them and Linda Blimes should have been listened to all along.
Bill: Have VA pay old claims automatically
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Jun 30, 2009 11:25:16 EDT
A North Carolina lawmaker proposes tackling the backlog of veterans’ disability claims by awarding benefits to veterans after 18 months if their claim hasn’t been processed.
Veterans Affairs Department officials have told Congress they are, on average, processing disability compensation claims within 162 days and have a goal of cutting the average to 120 days. But Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., is one of many lawmakers who think there is a limit to how patient veterans could be in waiting for money they are due.
“Backlogs are at the point where veterans must wait an average of six months for a decision on benefits claims and some veterans are waiting as long as four years,” Butterfield said in a statement. “Veterans deserve better than this.”
Butterfield introduced a bill on Friday, HR 3087, that would automatically approve a veteran’s claim if no decision is made by the VA within 18 months. The bill doesn’t say exactly how the VA would do this, but creates a task force to monitor VA to make sure the 18-month deadline isn’t met with an arbitrary denial just before the claim must be paid.
The bill comes as the number of unprocessed veterans claims exceeds 915,000 — a 100,000 jump since the beginning of the year. In testimony two weeks ago before a House committee, VA officials said the current 162 days is 17 days less than one year ago, a sign that they are beginning to make process.
go here for more
Bill: Have VA pay old claims automatically
There are over 32 posts on the backlog of claims. This is one of them and Linda Blimes should have been listened to all along.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Potential VA benefits chief has new ideas
No I don't have ESP and I did not go to Harvard. I just pay attention and read about people like Linda Blimes thinking it would be a great idea to take care of the veterans by pushing their claims thru. Ironic as it is this showed up today on Army Times, but hey, anyone paying attention feels the same way.
Potential VA benefits chief has new ideas/
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Feb 2, 2009 17:36:26 EST
A Harvard University researcher with some radical ideas about how to reduce the backlog of veterans disability claims appears to be in line to head the Veterans Benefits Administration. Linda Blimes, a public policy lecturer and research at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, wants the Department of Veterans Affairs to operate like the Internal Revenue Service — on an honor system that trusts veterans claiming service-connected disabilities.
All veterans claims would be approved as soon as they are filed, with a random audit conducted to “weed out and deter fraudulent claims,” Blimes told the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee in testimony in 2008.Ninety percent of veterans disability claims end up being paid after they make it through the system, she said — proof, she said, that most veterans are asking only for what they deserve.Immediate payment of at least a minimum benefit would help to reduce the average 180-day waiting time for initial benefits claims to be processed and allow VA to redeploy the employees processing those claims to work on more complicated appeals, she said.
Blimes also has talked of a vastly simplified disability rating system that would have just four ratings instead of the current 10 for service-connected disabilities and illnesses.Blimes has not been formally announced as a nominee, but her name is being circulated among lawmakers and congressional staff in what has become a standard procedure to determine whether there is any strong opposition to her taking the key post.Her idea of a streamlined claims process has some prominent supporters, among them Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., the House Veterans Affairs Committee chairman who has talked of automatic claims approval as a way to quickly eliminate the claims backlog.
click links for more
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Houston, We've got a problem! This time with veterans claims
Here we have Houston Texas with the worst problem in the country. The same state where the Governor wanted to pass on stimulus money and complained about socialism never seeming very concerned that the veterans in his own state were falling behind, suffering from claims not being approved and in between suffering for serving the country ending up wounded, they were further wounded financially while having to fight the same country to honor their claims.
When did Texans stop caring about the men and women serving on their military bases? When did they stop caring about the veterans in their state? Any ideas? So how can it be they are not holding their own governor's feet to the fire to make sure these veterans are taken care of properly? Why aren't they holding their senators and congressmen personally responsible for neglecting them all these years? Is this a matter of national honor or party loyalty? Veterans are suffering all over this country and so are the men and women serving today. If we do not immediately resolve to do whatever it takes today to meet the need of today's veterans, we will in turn betray the men and women risking their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan today. This cannot remain a national disgrace.
While it was predictable this would happen, and much has been reported over the last 8 years about things getting worse, we can't say none of that will help now. It's high time it did so that it never, even happens again.
We had a President and his cabinet while all of this was happening and there were two occupations sending over 1.7 million off to fight in both of them. Why weren't they planned for? Who was held responsible for the suffering of all of these veterans? What was congress doing up until 2007 when the Democrats took over and started the ball rolling on play catch-up? Yes, that's right, the Democrats are the ones pushing for all that has happened for the troops in the last couple of years. While they can excuse the fact the Republicans had control over the House, Senate and the White House, they are not off the hook either for the mess.
People are wondering where they were when the need was getting so out of control, but none of them decided to make a public issue out of any of it. It's not that they didn't try to do something because I heard most of their speeches on CSPAN. The problem is, not very many people will sit and listen to the floor speeches or read transcripts. They turn on TV for entertainment and spend very little time watching the news. So why weren't the Democrats and the Republicans that were paying attention, on every single channel making sure the public was aware of the dire need the troops and our veterans were in? Where was the media?
Instead of inviting congressmen and senators on their cable news shows to answer questions on this crisis, they were asked some pretty stupid questions over and over again instead of asking them questions that would do someone some good. Where are the questions now? Any ideas when the talking heads over at FOX Cable news will start to ask or prove they care? Any ideas when they will find time in between covering Michael Jackson and South Carolina Governor Sanford? Realizing these stories are big news, reporting on them will not really make a difference in this country. They don't have to spend so many hours on either one. What happened to their obligation to report on the events that do have a direct impact on our lives?
When did Texans stop caring about the men and women serving on their military bases? When did they stop caring about the veterans in their state? Any ideas? So how can it be they are not holding their own governor's feet to the fire to make sure these veterans are taken care of properly? Why aren't they holding their senators and congressmen personally responsible for neglecting them all these years? Is this a matter of national honor or party loyalty? Veterans are suffering all over this country and so are the men and women serving today. If we do not immediately resolve to do whatever it takes today to meet the need of today's veterans, we will in turn betray the men and women risking their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan today. This cannot remain a national disgrace.
While it was predictable this would happen, and much has been reported over the last 8 years about things getting worse, we can't say none of that will help now. It's high time it did so that it never, even happens again.
We had a President and his cabinet while all of this was happening and there were two occupations sending over 1.7 million off to fight in both of them. Why weren't they planned for? Who was held responsible for the suffering of all of these veterans? What was congress doing up until 2007 when the Democrats took over and started the ball rolling on play catch-up? Yes, that's right, the Democrats are the ones pushing for all that has happened for the troops in the last couple of years. While they can excuse the fact the Republicans had control over the House, Senate and the White House, they are not off the hook either for the mess.
People are wondering where they were when the need was getting so out of control, but none of them decided to make a public issue out of any of it. It's not that they didn't try to do something because I heard most of their speeches on CSPAN. The problem is, not very many people will sit and listen to the floor speeches or read transcripts. They turn on TV for entertainment and spend very little time watching the news. So why weren't the Democrats and the Republicans that were paying attention, on every single channel making sure the public was aware of the dire need the troops and our veterans were in? Where was the media?
Instead of inviting congressmen and senators on their cable news shows to answer questions on this crisis, they were asked some pretty stupid questions over and over again instead of asking them questions that would do someone some good. Where are the questions now? Any ideas when the talking heads over at FOX Cable news will start to ask or prove they care? Any ideas when they will find time in between covering Michael Jackson and South Carolina Governor Sanford? Realizing these stories are big news, reporting on them will not really make a difference in this country. They don't have to spend so many hours on either one. What happened to their obligation to report on the events that do have a direct impact on our lives?
Backlog of VA claims in Houston one of highest
© 2009 The Associated Press
June 27, 2009, 5:14PM
HOUSTON — Houston has one of the biggest backlogs and some of the longest waiting times in processing veterans' claims for disability benefits in the nation, according to the most recent data released by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Nearly 18,000 veterans are waiting for the Houston VA Regional Office to process their applications for disability benefits, the Houston Chronicle reported Saturday.
Also, 26 percent of those claims in Houston have been pending for more than half a year, compared to the national average of 21 percent.
Total claims in Houston, including nondisability compensations and pensions, add up to almost 24,000, with 24 percent pending over six months. That percentage is also higher than the national average.
The number of claims on appeal from Houston — 11,389 — is the highest in the country.
"The situation at VA's Houston office is among the worst in America," said Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, a national advocacy group. "Our veterans and their families deserve better."
go here for more
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6500860.html
Monday, June 22, 2009
American Legion shines light on how claims are pushed away
“Body-count” Processing Must End at VA, Says The American Legion
National Commander Calls for Urgent Changes in Claims System
WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--An immediate overhaul of the Department of Veterans Affairs disability claims processing system is the only way out of a fast-growing nationwide backlog of unresolved cases, American Legion National Commander David K. Rehbein said after a congressional hearing last Thursday evening.
“As the backlog of claims approaches 1 million, and the needs of deserving veterans go unmet, VA can wait no longer to institute new and workable policies and procedures,” the leader of the nation’s largest veterans service organization said following a House Veterans Affairs subcommittee session on the problem.
Lawmakers heard compelling testimony from American Legion member David Bohan, a Gulf War Army combat veteran from Oregon who suffered service-connected permanent damage to his left foot as well as post-traumatic stress disorder. His disability claim is one of hundreds of thousands caught up in the VA backlog. Bohan’s story is among those highlighted in an extensive, three-part series of articles that debuted in the June issue of The American Legion Magazine.
The scope of the VA claims backlog problem and some potential solutions were detailed to subcommittee members by Ian dePlanque, assistant director of The American Legion’s Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation Commission.The VA’s so-called work-credit system, which awards a claims processor credit in “body-count” fashion for completion of a job even if errors occur, was criticized by The American Legion representative.“To count work credit the same whether it is performed properly, or whether details are overlooked encourages corners to be cut,” dePlanque said. “In the past, it has been proposed that VA count work credit when a claim reaches a final decision. In that manner, the encouragement will be to perform every aspect of the claim correctly, as appeals over missed technical details will only hamper the process and create lengthy delays in the claims process.”
go here for more
Processing Must End at VA, Says The American Legion
Friday, June 19, 2009
Veterans suffer when claims are tied up or denied
Every time I read reports like this, it takes me back to the days when it seemed everyone knew my husband had PTSD, including the people working at the VA hospital but the only people out of the loop were the very people our lives depended on. Claims processors!
Don't get me wrong here, they have rules they have to go by even though most of the rules are pretty stupid. An MOS can trap a veteran out if it's the wrong type. Go figure. An MOS that is not combat related, but more support related, was never considered to have been able to become wounded by PTSD. Even though, much like today, no one is exempt from traumatic events. Not in Vietnam and not in Iraq or Afghanistan. Yet if a claims processor was allowed to finish reading the claim, they would find things like "shrapnel" or bullet wound, or even in some cases, missing limbs. We faced this catastrophe for six years between the time I finally managed to get my husband to even go to the VA and the time they finally honored his claim. It is the worst thing to go thru while dealing with a life threatening actual combat related disability and having the people in charge of your life denying all of it.
In this article you'll read about a disabled veteran, finally having his claim approved, after he lost his home. Again, a reminder here, these are men and women trusted enough to be fully armed and trained to hold the future of this nation in their hands. They were trusted enough to go where they were sent but they are not trusted enough to process their claims before it's too late to save their homes, their financial standing, their families and in too many cases, save their lives.
Are there some capable of fraud? Absolutely but they are a tiny fraction of the honorable claims being presented and with each number of waiting claim, comes a veteran and a family. This is wrong.
On this blog you've read countless stories of how Vietnam veterans are finally being honored for their service in cities and towns across the nation with celebrations, parades and parties. Yet look at how many years it took us to do this for them. How many years are you willing to wait to really honor them and the newer veterans seeking treatment and compensation for the wounds they came home with?
Don't get me wrong here, they have rules they have to go by even though most of the rules are pretty stupid. An MOS can trap a veteran out if it's the wrong type. Go figure. An MOS that is not combat related, but more support related, was never considered to have been able to become wounded by PTSD. Even though, much like today, no one is exempt from traumatic events. Not in Vietnam and not in Iraq or Afghanistan. Yet if a claims processor was allowed to finish reading the claim, they would find things like "shrapnel" or bullet wound, or even in some cases, missing limbs. We faced this catastrophe for six years between the time I finally managed to get my husband to even go to the VA and the time they finally honored his claim. It is the worst thing to go thru while dealing with a life threatening actual combat related disability and having the people in charge of your life denying all of it.
In this article you'll read about a disabled veteran, finally having his claim approved, after he lost his home. Again, a reminder here, these are men and women trusted enough to be fully armed and trained to hold the future of this nation in their hands. They were trusted enough to go where they were sent but they are not trusted enough to process their claims before it's too late to save their homes, their financial standing, their families and in too many cases, save their lives.
Are there some capable of fraud? Absolutely but they are a tiny fraction of the honorable claims being presented and with each number of waiting claim, comes a veteran and a family. This is wrong.
On this blog you've read countless stories of how Vietnam veterans are finally being honored for their service in cities and towns across the nation with celebrations, parades and parties. Yet look at how many years it took us to do this for them. How many years are you willing to wait to really honor them and the newer veterans seeking treatment and compensation for the wounds they came home with?
Backlog of VA claims and appeals is nearing 1 million
Over 80,000 cases are added monthly
By Lou Michel
NEWS STAFF REPORTER
The U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs is closing in on a milestone, and it’s not a happy one.
It’s approaching the 1 million mark in the number of outstanding claims by veterans.
The VA’s Web site shows more than 722,000 current claims, along with more than 172,000 appeals, for a total of about 900,000. That is up from about 800,000 total claims in January, according to the site.Even though the VA says the average wait for a claim is 120.9 days, Welch, a Vietnam veteran, says he works with veterans who are “waiting anywhere from six to 14 months.”
It’s a disaster for them financially, he added.
“Part of the issue that’s happening with traumatic brain-injured veterans is they are unable to work and what happens is some lose their homes,” Welch said.
One of the vets who lost his home was Kreiger, he noted.
Kreiger, an Iraq veteran who eventually was classified 100 percent disabled, said he has been approached by dozens of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans denied benefits for post traumatic stress claims.
“Easily 50 veterans have come to me because the VA proved their PTSD was something they had before going to war, which makes them now ineligible for the benefit. The VA doesn’t even call it PTSD anymore. They refer to it as a personality disorder,” he said in citing bureaucratic struggles faced by returning veterans.go here for more
Thursday, June 18, 2009
In VA backlog, a one in a million, you!
by
Chaplain Kathie
You've read about the backlog of claims increasing and a lot of their stories about being trapped in the waiting line. While this piece on AP may not be news to you, you should read it because it has several stories about veterans, not just numbers. These are real people, with real lives, real families and real wounds.
Aside from the economy getting in the way of them finding work after they served in the military, the National Guards have a harder time because if they are still active, employers don't want to risk hiring them and see them redeploy again. There is also the issue of the veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan being viewed as "damaged" because too many do not understand what PTSD is or the fact there are different levels of it. Mild PTSD, if they have it, does not make them unemployable nor does it make them hard to work with. As a matter of fact, if they are treated for mild PTSD the result is a better employee. Considering they survived combat, if nothing else, it shows they care about others and are able to think fast on their feet. They are able to follow instructions and usually dutifully follow orders of superiors. One other factor to consider is that if they are able to work and they are hired, there is also the sense of appreciation for giving them a job and you have a grateful employee.
For chronic or high level of PTSD when they cannot work, there is nothing for them while their claim is trapped in the backlog. They are just one in a million waiting for what they already earned. That's right, they earned it. They earned it by saying they would go and risk their lives, ending up wounded for having done it. The VA compensation is not a hand out, or as some Republican elected have stated in the past, welfare.
What is being done has not stopped the backlog of claims from increasing. It's time to take a good look at the lives these claims represent. These are our veterans!
One part of the citizens of this nation can get the veterans to seek help for PTSD, get them to understand what it is so that they realize there is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of at all because they carry this wound. This translates into also getting older veterans to seek help at the same time newer veterans are seeking help and this cluster of veterans should have been foreseen. Plans should have been in place many years ago to prepare for this, but no one was paying attention. At the same time there were two military campaigns going on in Iraq and Afghanistan, no one was preparing for the increase in veterans needing care. Now they are trying to play catchup at the same time the numbers are increasing.
It's time to take a leap of faith in our veterans and just approve the claims already in the backlog. Stop looking for proof and just rate the ones already there, then take a look at them later when the emergency situation for them is over. Fraudulent claims are not the problem right now. In addressing fraudulent claims the VA should issue a warning that if a claim turns out to be fraudulent, then the claimant will not only have to repay the VA but will also have to pay with interest and other legal options are on the table. They should have the opportunity to remove their claim first, something along the line of a month before the other claims are to be approved. The new claims processors are not enough to meet the challenge right now, but when most of the backlog is cleared, they will have plenty of time to review the claims to make sure they are legitimate.
Congress has already taken a baby step in helping veterans with PTSD by making it easier to prove their claim. They will no longer have to find the stressor that caused PTSD and there is already an assumption of honesty in these veterans. So why not go all the way?
I know what suffering is when trying to have a claim approved and I know what it does to a PTSD veteran still struggling with the diagnosis along with what it all comes with. I know what it's like to see another denial in the mail being read by a veteran wounded by his service and then assaulted by the denial accusing him of lying. My husband saw his claim tied up for six years. He sought help but was forced to pay for his treatment because his claim was not approved. Our insurance company wouldn't pay for his mental health care, even though we were paying for it, because the VA doctors linked it to Vietnam. We nearly lost everything and I nearly lost him. Why was his claim tied up? A social security number typed wrong on his Bronze Star award. When he received it, he told his commander it had the wrong number on it and he was told they would correct it. It ended up on his DD214 but was not fixed all the way through the paperwork chain. Once this was corrected, his claim was approved but it took a general to do it.
How many others are suffering the same right now? How many in the backlog fast approaching a million? How many other families are seeing all hope slip away? How many are wondering what the words "grateful nation" really mean when they are living with the wound caused by serving this nation?
Chaplain Kathie
You've read about the backlog of claims increasing and a lot of their stories about being trapped in the waiting line. While this piece on AP may not be news to you, you should read it because it has several stories about veterans, not just numbers. These are real people, with real lives, real families and real wounds.
Aside from the economy getting in the way of them finding work after they served in the military, the National Guards have a harder time because if they are still active, employers don't want to risk hiring them and see them redeploy again. There is also the issue of the veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan being viewed as "damaged" because too many do not understand what PTSD is or the fact there are different levels of it. Mild PTSD, if they have it, does not make them unemployable nor does it make them hard to work with. As a matter of fact, if they are treated for mild PTSD the result is a better employee. Considering they survived combat, if nothing else, it shows they care about others and are able to think fast on their feet. They are able to follow instructions and usually dutifully follow orders of superiors. One other factor to consider is that if they are able to work and they are hired, there is also the sense of appreciation for giving them a job and you have a grateful employee.
For chronic or high level of PTSD when they cannot work, there is nothing for them while their claim is trapped in the backlog. They are just one in a million waiting for what they already earned. That's right, they earned it. They earned it by saying they would go and risk their lives, ending up wounded for having done it. The VA compensation is not a hand out, or as some Republican elected have stated in the past, welfare.
(If you are stunned by this, then you do not watch CSPAN and hear their own words coming out of their mouths. Hearings have been going on for many years and when the Republicans had control over the funding, their excuse for not increasing the VA budget to meet the challenge of taking care of the wounded warriors was there was not enough discretionary money to do it. It was really easy for them to be in front of a group of veterans when they wanted their votes to say they appreciated their service and then make statements against veterans on the floor of Congress. Senator John McCain was one of them. Check his voting record when it comes to veterans then maybe I can stop hearing how much better he would have been as President. As bad as it is, at least President Obama has increased funding and is trying to fix the mess the VA is in. While he has a long way to go, McCain wanted to hand out cards so that veterans could just go to private doctors and disappear. )
What is being done has not stopped the backlog of claims from increasing. It's time to take a good look at the lives these claims represent. These are our veterans!
One part of the citizens of this nation can get the veterans to seek help for PTSD, get them to understand what it is so that they realize there is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of at all because they carry this wound. This translates into also getting older veterans to seek help at the same time newer veterans are seeking help and this cluster of veterans should have been foreseen. Plans should have been in place many years ago to prepare for this, but no one was paying attention. At the same time there were two military campaigns going on in Iraq and Afghanistan, no one was preparing for the increase in veterans needing care. Now they are trying to play catchup at the same time the numbers are increasing.
It's time to take a leap of faith in our veterans and just approve the claims already in the backlog. Stop looking for proof and just rate the ones already there, then take a look at them later when the emergency situation for them is over. Fraudulent claims are not the problem right now. In addressing fraudulent claims the VA should issue a warning that if a claim turns out to be fraudulent, then the claimant will not only have to repay the VA but will also have to pay with interest and other legal options are on the table. They should have the opportunity to remove their claim first, something along the line of a month before the other claims are to be approved. The new claims processors are not enough to meet the challenge right now, but when most of the backlog is cleared, they will have plenty of time to review the claims to make sure they are legitimate.
Congress has already taken a baby step in helping veterans with PTSD by making it easier to prove their claim. They will no longer have to find the stressor that caused PTSD and there is already an assumption of honesty in these veterans. So why not go all the way?
I know what suffering is when trying to have a claim approved and I know what it does to a PTSD veteran still struggling with the diagnosis along with what it all comes with. I know what it's like to see another denial in the mail being read by a veteran wounded by his service and then assaulted by the denial accusing him of lying. My husband saw his claim tied up for six years. He sought help but was forced to pay for his treatment because his claim was not approved. Our insurance company wouldn't pay for his mental health care, even though we were paying for it, because the VA doctors linked it to Vietnam. We nearly lost everything and I nearly lost him. Why was his claim tied up? A social security number typed wrong on his Bronze Star award. When he received it, he told his commander it had the wrong number on it and he was told they would correct it. It ended up on his DD214 but was not fixed all the way through the paperwork chain. Once this was corrected, his claim was approved but it took a general to do it.
How many others are suffering the same right now? How many in the backlog fast approaching a million? How many other families are seeing all hope slip away? How many are wondering what the words "grateful nation" really mean when they are living with the wound caused by serving this nation?
Number of VA claims poised to hit 1 millionBy KIMBERLY HEFLING – 5 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Veterans Affairs Department appears poised to hit a milestone it would rather avoid: 1 million claims to process.
The milestone approaches as the agency scrambles to hire and train new claims processors, which can take two years. VA officials are working with the Pentagon under orders from President Barack Obama to create by 2012 a system that will allow the two agencies to electronically exchange records, a process now done manually on paper.
"They keep talking about a seamless transition, but I can tell you I haven't seen it being very seamless," said John Roberts of Houston, who is national service director for the nonprofit Wounded Warrior Project, which helps veterans such as David Odom, 29, of Haleyville, Ala.
Odom, a former Army staff sergeant who did three tours in Iraq, said he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. With symptoms such as anxiety and anger, he finds it difficult to work. He said he's waited months to learn the outcome of an appeal that would give him higher compensation.
"It's added quite a bit of stress because I don't know what's going to happen. I want to know either way so I can figure out what my next step is," Odom said.
Former Marine Cpl. Patrick Murray, 25, of Arlington, Va., who was severely burned and had his right leg amputated after a roadside bomb explosion in 2006, considers himself fortunate. He got a job once he was discharged from the military, making for an easier wait as his case is processed.
"For someone that gets out of the military and doesn't have a job lined up, they have no income," said Murray, who works for a construction company. "They are sitting there making zero money, either racking up credit card bills or taking out loans, whatever it may be, all the while waiting."
Murray said the first claim he filed was lost. The second ended up at a VA office in Colorado, and the third was finally processed after a couple of months. It was mind-boggling, he said, to have spent 11 months in Walter Reed Army Medical Center and in outpatient care with stacks of medical files, only to find out he had to mail his records to the VA to prove he was injured.
On the Net:
: Veterans Affairs Department
: House Committee on Veterans Affairs
: Wounded Warrior Project
: AMVETS
Monday, June 8, 2009
The Never Ending Battle of VA Claims
Normally when the American Legion Magazine comes, there isn't much interesting in it for me. Most of what's usually in it, I've read it all before online. This month, probably for the first time, I am really suggesting you get your hands on a copy of this. There is a report on the backlog of claims. While this numbers are not news to me or you because you read this blog, there are some very compelling stories in it. It's "The Never Ending Battle" by Ken Olsen. He did a great job, pulled in the reporting done by Dana Priest and Anne Hull regarding the deploring conditions at Walter Reed and then took off from there. Vietnam veterans, Gulf War veterans, Afghanistan veterans, Iraq veterans and Korean veterans and yes, even WWII veterans all suffering in the backlog of the claims we know the numbers of, but too often, never hear more than the numbers. These are people! They have wounds to be taken care of, promises to be kept to them, bills to pay they could pay if they could work and could also pay if the VA would honorably process their claims and figure out a way of doing it right the first time.
The problem is, these problems go back so far and the veterans have been feeling betrayed by the same country they would still risk their lives for. The article ends like this "The best solution, the Legion's Smithson says, "is to fix the entire VA claims adjudication system. Piecemeal does not work." This is the first of a three part series. There are charts, numbers, but more, stories of the men and women we keep saying we support. Well? Do we really? Or is it a slogan? How can we say we support them if we allow all of this to be done to them?
The problem is, these problems go back so far and the veterans have been feeling betrayed by the same country they would still risk their lives for. The article ends like this "The best solution, the Legion's Smithson says, "is to fix the entire VA claims adjudication system. Piecemeal does not work." This is the first of a three part series. There are charts, numbers, but more, stories of the men and women we keep saying we support. Well? Do we really? Or is it a slogan? How can we say we support them if we allow all of this to be done to them?
Monday, June 1, 2009
VA Claim backlog hit 915,000 on May 4, 2009
The question is, where were you when this happened? I'm talking to you Republicans choosing to remain silent as the problem grew and grew and they waited, suffered waiting and their families suffered, as Bush cut VA funding and Nicholson returned funds unspent. Where were you when they were being turned away from the VA with PTSD and suicidal, and then ended up killing themselves? Where were you Republicans out there claiming to care so much about the troops? Why were you silent? Why didn't you complain when men like John Mc Cain were voting against veterans and what they needed? Did you even pay attention?
I'm talking to you Democrats out there. Those of you who were more interested in protesting the occupation of Iraq, claiming how much you wanted to save the lives of the troops at the same time you did not utter a single word about what the living and wounded were going thru right back here? You are supposed to be the people caring more about the veterans in this country. You allowed Bush to make any claims he wanted about taking care of the troops and being "grateful' for their service at the same time he was stabbing them in the back and then you complained because they didn't know the truth.
And yes, I'm talking to the rest of you out there all so patriotic waving the flag on Memorial Day as you do on Veterans Day. Where are you the rest of the year when they are suffering? Are any of you writing letters to President Obama or Congress? State after state are cutting back their VA State budgets because of the economical crisis. Where are these wounded veterans and disabled veterans suppose to go when they need medical care and financial compensation so they can live their lives? The same lives they were willing to lay down for this country? Ever think, I mean really think about them?
President Obama has a lot on his plate right now and while his intension is to take care of our veterans, having proven that already with his budget increase, this is a crisis for them and will just keep growing unless you decide that the veterans of this country are worthy of you attention.
Read the following article and then watch the video below. Wounded and Waiting will show you exactly what kind of men and women we're talking about. They are not just numbers. They are our countrymen, our sons, daughters, brothers, sisters and neighbors.
I'm talking to you Democrats out there. Those of you who were more interested in protesting the occupation of Iraq, claiming how much you wanted to save the lives of the troops at the same time you did not utter a single word about what the living and wounded were going thru right back here? You are supposed to be the people caring more about the veterans in this country. You allowed Bush to make any claims he wanted about taking care of the troops and being "grateful' for their service at the same time he was stabbing them in the back and then you complained because they didn't know the truth.
And yes, I'm talking to the rest of you out there all so patriotic waving the flag on Memorial Day as you do on Veterans Day. Where are you the rest of the year when they are suffering? Are any of you writing letters to President Obama or Congress? State after state are cutting back their VA State budgets because of the economical crisis. Where are these wounded veterans and disabled veterans suppose to go when they need medical care and financial compensation so they can live their lives? The same lives they were willing to lay down for this country? Ever think, I mean really think about them?
President Obama has a lot on his plate right now and while his intension is to take care of our veterans, having proven that already with his budget increase, this is a crisis for them and will just keep growing unless you decide that the veterans of this country are worthy of you attention.
Read the following article and then watch the video below. Wounded and Waiting will show you exactly what kind of men and women we're talking about. They are not just numbers. They are our countrymen, our sons, daughters, brothers, sisters and neighbors.
Crisis at the VA as Benefits Claims Backlog Nearly Tops One Million
Monday, 01 June 2009
By Jason Leopold
During the past four months, the Department of Veterans Affairs backlog of unfinished disability claims from grew by more than 100,000, adding to an already mountainous backlog that is now close to topping one million.
The VA's claims backlog, which includes all benefits claims and all appeals at the Veterans Benefits Administration and the Board of Veterans Appeals at VA, was 803,000 on Jan. 5, 2009. The backlog hit 915,000 on May 4, 2009, a staggering 14 percent increase in four months.
The issue has become so dire that veterans now wait an average of six months to receive disability benefits and as long as four years for their appeals to be heard in cases where their benefits were denied.
Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn., a member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said during a hearing in March that the VA is “almost criminally behind in processing claims.”
go here for more
Crisis at the VA as Benefits Claims Backlog Nearly Tops One Million
Wounded And Waiting - watch more videos
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Disabled veterans get legal help
27 years of saying been there done that and I'm still not there yet. I am determined more than ever to make sure the claims on file with the VA reach the level where they finally understand what a tsunami looks like!
The American people let out a shriek when they heard about the Rand Study declaring 300,000 with PTSD. They thought this would be catastrophic especially considering the VA had not been able to take care of the relatively few seeking treatment and compensation for PTSD. "You ain't seen nothin yet!"
We've already seen what an uninvolved populace coupled with an unresponsive government did when Vietnam veterans came home. We've seen the results in them, their spouses but more in the generation that came after them. We saw the incarcerations. We saw the drug overdoses. We saw the divorces, the homelessness and all that came with what Vietnam veterans brought home with them but we also saw funerals because casualties of PTSD had to end their suffering their own way with suicide. We watched them die as we made mistakes. We watched them suffer as we studied them. We asked all the wrong questions and heard what we wanted to hear. Been there and done that too many years ago.
By the time the first set of boots came back from Afghanistan, we knew what needed to be done but did not do it. Some of us were screaming before they were even sent but no one would listen. They are still not listening as hope slips away and so do their lives.
There are about a hundred other things I could be doing instead of this. I can tell you they would be a lot more fun and far more financially rewarding. The issue I have is that I know what hope looks like. I know what miracles look like. I know what is possible when they have the help they need and their families find the support they need. I know what it's like to hear a veteran, long estranged from family and friends finding that connection again as they restore relationships and bad feelings are laid to rest. To hear the sound of happy tears rejoicing because they found out how much they are loved by God and He had not abandoned them. What it's like for a father to once again hold his child and the look of love beams from his eyes.
While I've seen the devastation and heartbreak, I've also seen how the human spirit of these men and women can come out on the other side, changed but more alive than they were before. This is what I want to flood the VA with. This is the tsunami they have been trying to hold off with a beach shovel. I'm not greedy. I want to share and spread the love. I want every family to have what I ended up having. I want every veteran with PTSD to end up wanting to be alive instead of wanting to die. We've all heard the expression of the "I got mine screw you club" when people feel as if only they are entitled to be happy but since I have mine, I want everyone else to have their's. If I didn't feel this way, I never would have become a Chaplain because there would have been no reason to be doing any of what I do.
Now please read the following and know that along with the hundreds of others stories on this blog, there are armies gearing up to take on this fight and will not give up until we finally get this all right!
The American people let out a shriek when they heard about the Rand Study declaring 300,000 with PTSD. They thought this would be catastrophic especially considering the VA had not been able to take care of the relatively few seeking treatment and compensation for PTSD. "You ain't seen nothin yet!"
We've already seen what an uninvolved populace coupled with an unresponsive government did when Vietnam veterans came home. We've seen the results in them, their spouses but more in the generation that came after them. We saw the incarcerations. We saw the drug overdoses. We saw the divorces, the homelessness and all that came with what Vietnam veterans brought home with them but we also saw funerals because casualties of PTSD had to end their suffering their own way with suicide. We watched them die as we made mistakes. We watched them suffer as we studied them. We asked all the wrong questions and heard what we wanted to hear. Been there and done that too many years ago.
By the time the first set of boots came back from Afghanistan, we knew what needed to be done but did not do it. Some of us were screaming before they were even sent but no one would listen. They are still not listening as hope slips away and so do their lives.
There are about a hundred other things I could be doing instead of this. I can tell you they would be a lot more fun and far more financially rewarding. The issue I have is that I know what hope looks like. I know what miracles look like. I know what is possible when they have the help they need and their families find the support they need. I know what it's like to hear a veteran, long estranged from family and friends finding that connection again as they restore relationships and bad feelings are laid to rest. To hear the sound of happy tears rejoicing because they found out how much they are loved by God and He had not abandoned them. What it's like for a father to once again hold his child and the look of love beams from his eyes.
While I've seen the devastation and heartbreak, I've also seen how the human spirit of these men and women can come out on the other side, changed but more alive than they were before. This is what I want to flood the VA with. This is the tsunami they have been trying to hold off with a beach shovel. I'm not greedy. I want to share and spread the love. I want every family to have what I ended up having. I want every veteran with PTSD to end up wanting to be alive instead of wanting to die. We've all heard the expression of the "I got mine screw you club" when people feel as if only they are entitled to be happy but since I have mine, I want everyone else to have their's. If I didn't feel this way, I never would have become a Chaplain because there would have been no reason to be doing any of what I do.
Now please read the following and know that along with the hundreds of others stories on this blog, there are armies gearing up to take on this fight and will not give up until we finally get this all right!
Disabled veterans get legal help
Sunday, March 22, 2009
BY CHRIS STURGIS
Special to the Times
Three lawyers, two of whom are disabled, are joining forces to help veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars get what is due them from the Veterans Administration.
To that end, Lawyers C. Patterson McKenna, Melissa A. Gertz and Lisa A. Turowski last week held an open house at the Community Justice
"There is a backlog of 750,000 cases before the VA of people seeking disability benefits, primarily for post traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury," said McKenna, who has been blind since age 5.
And the problem is likely to grow, McKenna said.
Gertz said post-traumatic stress disorder cases are complicated by the fact that seeking treatment carries a stigma in the military.
"Patients don't want to seek treatment for fear of the stigma in case they want to re-enlist," she said.
Often they apply after several years have passed and they have had trouble functioning in civilian life, she said.
More veterans are surviving traumatic brain injuries than ever before because of life-saving advances in medicine, she said. However, they need assistance in living with the resulting disabilities, she said.
click link for more
Sunday, February 15, 2009
VA needs a Wizard to escape from Oz
by
Chaplain Kathie
When Dorothy traveled to Oz with a nightmare for a travel agent, there was a witch doing everything in her power to get in the way of Dorothy finding a way to get back home. Along the way Dorothy found help from other hurting creatures, all seeking help for what they lacked. It wasn't the Scarecrow's fault he was stuffed without a brain. It wasn't the Tin Man's fault he was without a heart. It wasn't the Lion's fault he lacked courage. All of these things, while they were created without parts of them, they ended up finding what they needed was within them all along. The Wizard offered them an opportunity to find what they were looking for.
The VA has a bureaucratic wicked witch getting in the way of employees dedicated to providing the veterans what they need to recover and heal. These employees, for the most part, are wonderful and care deeply for the veterans. The problem is there has been no real leadership for far too long. The Veterans are shown a shining castle at the end of a road paved with red tape instead of yellow bricks. It breaks the VA employees' hearts to stand helplessly watching veterans suffer because some paperwork was not done right, claims were denied when they know the veteran is suffering because of their service and they can't do anything about it. Rules are rules after all but there was an idiot guarding the gate.
A friend of mine is a Vietnam Veteran. She has a claim that has been tied up for years. She was exposed to Agent Orange, has PTSD and has been tortured by the system. She turned to organizations to help her but they have provided poor advocacy. Recently she was told that her claim number was tied to someone else's name when the claim number was typed in instead of her social security number. When her social security number was typed the claim number popped up but if they went to the claim number itself, it wasn't her name. Think about that kind of screw up happening to you! Recently we read that there has been all kinds of outsourcing to contractors instead of VA employees. This is a huge problem because contractor employees don't really care about what they're doing. These claims are just a bunch of numbers to them, not veterans that served their country and have wounds because of it. They don't take a personal interest to make sure that every document is on the right claim. They are the flying monkeys data entering clicking away on keys and not checking what they are doing.
The solution is in the VA itself. When the leadership actually understands why people work for the VA, why they wanted to work for them VA instead of private companies, then they will understand that what they need is right there and has been all along. The answer is not contractors doing a job for a paycheck instead of dedication.
As for PTSD and the suicides, if they got this extra nightmare out of the way of the veterans finding the healing they need, they would reduce the suicide rate of veterans. Dealing with PTSD and all that comes with it is extremely stressful but adding to that kind of stress having to prove what is wrong with you is because of your service to the nation is sending too many over the edge.
Another issue that cannot be dismissed is the suicide prevention act that takes guns away from veterans with "mental health issues" because these veterans do not want to give up their weapons. They were taught by the military to rely on their weapons and it's a lesson they carry with them everyday. Would you rather have a veteran with PTSD and a gun seeking help or would you prefer to have one with a gun and avoiding the diagnosis and treatment? Common sense tells you that this bill is deterrent to far too many.
I wrote that I had been addressing a group of veterans on PTSD and the Q & A session was all about this ruling. Some of the veterans have jobs requiring guns. Ever think of a police officer keeping their job without a gun or a DEA agent? Having PTSD does not limit all veterans from working. PTSD has different levels and some veterans are capable of holding down jobs. We cannot be so blind to the fact some of those jobs require firearms. Can you think of the Tin Man without his oil can or the Lion without teeth?
Start by getting these two things out of the way. Hire people to work for the VA to process claims and stop outsourcing the work to contractors. Because of the backlog of claims over 800,000, honor the claims there are and then weed them out after. Tackle the backlog of appeals and straighten out the mess they are in. Get rid of the rule that takes guns away from veterans because it keeps them from getting help to heal. If we do not dump water on these two problems the witch wins!
Mental-health care is top priority for our veterans
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin - Walla-Walla,WA,USA
The loss of three psychiatrists in this region's VA health system is unacceptable. Strong leadership is needed to improve health care.
By the EDITORIAL BOARD of the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
Day after day soldiers return home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with serious wounds — psychological as well as physical.
Sadly, the Department of Veterans Affairs is still not prepared to adequately address the mental health concerns of veterans living in Southeastern Washington, Northeastern Oregon and Western Idaho. Walla Walla’s Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial VA Medical Center is losing the services of three psychiatrists.
Dr. Mohammad Khan, a full-time psychiatrist in Walla Walla, is taking another job within the VA system. Psychiatrists based in Lewiston and Yakima, who served under the Wainwright administration, are also relocating to other facilities.
“The work environment isn’t something they were happy with,” said Brian Westfield, director of the Wainwright Medical Center. Westfield has been on the job since September.
Lack of leadership is apparently at the root of the lousy work environment. Debbi Bernasconi, president of the employees’ union that represents VA professional staff, said the problems began prior to Westfield’s tenure.
“A lot of doctors have left because of a lack of leadership,” Bernasconi said. “We cannot get a straight answer who is in charge of what. We have no organizational chart (with which) to take problems to a chain of command.”click link for more
Thursday, February 5, 2009
A reporter finally gets it on VA PTSD numbers
A reporter finally gets it on VA PTSD numbers
by
Chaplain Kathie
Jo Hartley gets it! With all the reports coming out on the numbers of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans coming home with PTSD, very few reporters actually get what the real numbers are and what they mean for the future. While I've slammed reporters in the past, it feels wonderful to pat one on the back.
It disgusts me that the VA is unable to keep up with the veterans seeking treatment for PTSD at the same time they claim to be doing outreach efforts to reach the veterans that have been living with PTSD but did not know what it was. Again, one more case of bureaucracy gone insane. What were they thinking when it came to providing the information veterans need about this wound if there is no one there to take care of them? Did they think the veterans they finally reached would say, "Hey great! I know what's wrong with me." and then do absolutely nothing to have it treated and compensated for? The natural outcome is an influx of veterans seeking treatment and compensation! Their lives were damaged by this wound!
They saw they could no longer keep jobs when nightmares and flashbacks, twitches and overreactions to what co-workers did made working impossible.
They saw their kids turn away from them. Some were even hated by their kids because of what unknown PTSD was doing to them. They saw these same kids end up with secondary PTSD because of the traumatic stress of living with a PTSD veteran and not knowing what it was.
They saw the love of their life turning away from them, avoiding them, being angry and crying because of what PTSD did in the household and to their relationship. They saw divorce lawyers and wondered how things ever got so bad.
Then they wondered if they would ever be able to actually feel love ever again. Would they ever feel joy? Would they ever wake up happy to be alive? Would they ever have hopes for better days when they could laugh the way they used to without being drunk? Would they ever be able to enjoy the things the used to like going to a movie or eating in a restaurant without having to fear where they would be seated? Would they ever have a night when they were not afraid to fall asleep because they didn't want the nightmares to take them back into combat? Would they ever be able to drive down the street without having a flashback spawn from a trash bag left behind?
These are just some of the things PTSD veterans live with. When it comes to female veterans they have all of this but even more. For those that survived sexual assaults it's even worse. They end up wondering if they will ever be able to view the hands of a man without fear ever again.
To think that there would not be a wave of veterans turning to the VA, that prides itself on having the best PTSD programs, is the definition of incompetence.
Outreach work is reaching them. Not just the tiny efforts the VA has been producing but by people like me all across the nation. The Internet has blessed us with the opportunity to share what we know and provide vital information that was not available when Vietnam veterans came home. For all the hours I put in on a daily basis, all the stories I read, all the heartbreaking emails I receive, I am profoundly hopeful because the older veterans are reaching out for help instead of suffering in silence. I have never seen it this bad but in a way, it's a good thing. They would still be suffering but now they have hope. Hope of healing to the point where they find their own kind of normal and a peaceful coexistence with this ghost of combat. Yet because of the ineptitude of the past leaders in the VA coupled with the past ambivalence of Congress, no one has been there to sustain the hope.
Ever wonder what it's like for them to finally discover why their lives have been sent on some kind of trip from hell, knowing it was all because they served this nation, when the same nation turns them away? Add to that the fact the VA tells them to seek help for PTSD and then turns down their claims then charges them for their treatment because their claim has not been approved and Congress gave them the right to collect for any non-service connected treatment. That's right! No approved claim means even if PTSD is linked to combat by their own doctors, it's considered non-service connected until that claim is approved by the same VA. Nice twist on honoring the veterans isn't it?
What makes this all worse is that for all the claims approved and all the backlogged claims that have even more PTSD veterans within those claims waiting for help, are even more not seeking help from the VA. They gave up. It just wasn't worth being tortured even more than they already were. Then there is the issue of the Joshua Omvig Suicide Prevention Bill that says they cannot keep their guns if they are found to have PTSD. This Bill was supposed to be about saving lives but ended up keeping veterans from seeking help. No one thought about the veterans that have jobs requiring guns. No one thought about the veterans that are not dangerous to themselves or others but have relied on their guns for protection and to help them feel safer. Did anyone think that while they were in combat, their weapon was their protection? Take flashbacks and all that comes with PTSD and then tell them they are back home safe now and don't need their guns anymore. Did anyone think that it would be better to have a PTSD veteran in treatment, getting help while they had guns than it would be to have PTSD veterans with guns and not getting help? Well that's exactly what happened.
I did a presentation for a group of veterans on PTSD. During the time for questions and answers, the only question they had was about this bill and the fact they would have to surrender their guns. Often talking about PTSD will cause a flashback and an emotional tsunami flooding over them. I was standing in a room filled with armed veterans talking to them about PTSD and had absolutely no fear at all.
I am not stupid and I know the means of choice for suicide is a weapon. But I'm also very, very aware of the fact if they do not have a weapon, they find another way of doing it. What causes someone to commit suicide is the loss of hope and not the wound itself. When they lose hope of healing, snatched away from them at the same time they seek help with the DOD or the VA, they lose the reason to live another day. Taking away their guns does more harm than good when the obvious answer to the suicide epidemic is to treat the wound and stop torturing the wounded.
Six months without compensation to live on, being charged for treatment and being tortured! Would you feel this was a grateful nation?
by
Chaplain Kathie
Jo Hartley gets it! With all the reports coming out on the numbers of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans coming home with PTSD, very few reporters actually get what the real numbers are and what they mean for the future. While I've slammed reporters in the past, it feels wonderful to pat one on the back.
It disgusts me that the VA is unable to keep up with the veterans seeking treatment for PTSD at the same time they claim to be doing outreach efforts to reach the veterans that have been living with PTSD but did not know what it was. Again, one more case of bureaucracy gone insane. What were they thinking when it came to providing the information veterans need about this wound if there is no one there to take care of them? Did they think the veterans they finally reached would say, "Hey great! I know what's wrong with me." and then do absolutely nothing to have it treated and compensated for? The natural outcome is an influx of veterans seeking treatment and compensation! Their lives were damaged by this wound!
They saw they could no longer keep jobs when nightmares and flashbacks, twitches and overreactions to what co-workers did made working impossible.
They saw their kids turn away from them. Some were even hated by their kids because of what unknown PTSD was doing to them. They saw these same kids end up with secondary PTSD because of the traumatic stress of living with a PTSD veteran and not knowing what it was.
They saw the love of their life turning away from them, avoiding them, being angry and crying because of what PTSD did in the household and to their relationship. They saw divorce lawyers and wondered how things ever got so bad.
Then they wondered if they would ever be able to actually feel love ever again. Would they ever feel joy? Would they ever wake up happy to be alive? Would they ever have hopes for better days when they could laugh the way they used to without being drunk? Would they ever be able to enjoy the things the used to like going to a movie or eating in a restaurant without having to fear where they would be seated? Would they ever have a night when they were not afraid to fall asleep because they didn't want the nightmares to take them back into combat? Would they ever be able to drive down the street without having a flashback spawn from a trash bag left behind?
These are just some of the things PTSD veterans live with. When it comes to female veterans they have all of this but even more. For those that survived sexual assaults it's even worse. They end up wondering if they will ever be able to view the hands of a man without fear ever again.
To think that there would not be a wave of veterans turning to the VA, that prides itself on having the best PTSD programs, is the definition of incompetence.
Outreach work is reaching them. Not just the tiny efforts the VA has been producing but by people like me all across the nation. The Internet has blessed us with the opportunity to share what we know and provide vital information that was not available when Vietnam veterans came home. For all the hours I put in on a daily basis, all the stories I read, all the heartbreaking emails I receive, I am profoundly hopeful because the older veterans are reaching out for help instead of suffering in silence. I have never seen it this bad but in a way, it's a good thing. They would still be suffering but now they have hope. Hope of healing to the point where they find their own kind of normal and a peaceful coexistence with this ghost of combat. Yet because of the ineptitude of the past leaders in the VA coupled with the past ambivalence of Congress, no one has been there to sustain the hope.
Ever wonder what it's like for them to finally discover why their lives have been sent on some kind of trip from hell, knowing it was all because they served this nation, when the same nation turns them away? Add to that the fact the VA tells them to seek help for PTSD and then turns down their claims then charges them for their treatment because their claim has not been approved and Congress gave them the right to collect for any non-service connected treatment. That's right! No approved claim means even if PTSD is linked to combat by their own doctors, it's considered non-service connected until that claim is approved by the same VA. Nice twist on honoring the veterans isn't it?
What makes this all worse is that for all the claims approved and all the backlogged claims that have even more PTSD veterans within those claims waiting for help, are even more not seeking help from the VA. They gave up. It just wasn't worth being tortured even more than they already were. Then there is the issue of the Joshua Omvig Suicide Prevention Bill that says they cannot keep their guns if they are found to have PTSD. This Bill was supposed to be about saving lives but ended up keeping veterans from seeking help. No one thought about the veterans that have jobs requiring guns. No one thought about the veterans that are not dangerous to themselves or others but have relied on their guns for protection and to help them feel safer. Did anyone think that while they were in combat, their weapon was their protection? Take flashbacks and all that comes with PTSD and then tell them they are back home safe now and don't need their guns anymore. Did anyone think that it would be better to have a PTSD veteran in treatment, getting help while they had guns than it would be to have PTSD veterans with guns and not getting help? Well that's exactly what happened.
I did a presentation for a group of veterans on PTSD. During the time for questions and answers, the only question they had was about this bill and the fact they would have to surrender their guns. Often talking about PTSD will cause a flashback and an emotional tsunami flooding over them. I was standing in a room filled with armed veterans talking to them about PTSD and had absolutely no fear at all.
I am not stupid and I know the means of choice for suicide is a weapon. But I'm also very, very aware of the fact if they do not have a weapon, they find another way of doing it. What causes someone to commit suicide is the loss of hope and not the wound itself. When they lose hope of healing, snatched away from them at the same time they seek help with the DOD or the VA, they lose the reason to live another day. Taking away their guns does more harm than good when the obvious answer to the suicide epidemic is to treat the wound and stop torturing the wounded.
Six months without compensation to live on, being charged for treatment and being tortured! Would you feel this was a grateful nation?
VA Strains to Meet the Needs of our Veterans
Natural News.com - Phoenix,AZ,USA
Thursday, February 05, 2009 by: Jo Hartley, citizen journalist
(NaturalNews) The number of veterans needing health care is rising, and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is having difficulty meeting the needs of our veterans.
New statistics released from the Department of Defense and the VA reveal that US casualties are rising. Injuries and deaths connected to Iraq and Afghanistan assignments are at 81,361 now. This is an increase from 72,043 from one year ago.
Veteran patients increased from 263,909 in December 2007 to 400,304 currently.
Mental illness is the number one ailment for the soldiers inundating the VA. Forty-five percent of the current VA patients have mental health diagnoses. This includes 105,000 diagnoses of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). These numbers do not include the unknown number of veterans who are mentally ill but have not sought treatment through the VA.
Thanks to legislative changes and funding increases, health care for our veterans has improved over the last year. Recently, the Dignity for Wounded Warriors Act was passed. This act entitles veterans to up to five years of free health care for all military-related health conditions. Additionally, there have also been significant improvements to VA facilities, increased health care research, and improvements to the existing claims processing system.
Despite these improvements, however, there remain problems that prevent adequate care and compensation for veterans. This is particularly true for veterans who need disability benefits. It is commonplace for these benefits to be either delayed or denied. For veterans diagnosed with PTSD, 59 percent are awaiting approval for benefits. This means that they are still waiting for their claims to be processed or they have not filed a claim because of the many deterrents that exist within the system.
Over 809,000 veterans are awaiting claim decisions at this time. The average processing time for veteran claims is over six months. PTSD patients typically have longer delays. Current economic woes are making this waiting period even more difficult for veterans. Often veterans are not able to work due to their disabilities and for this reason, their financial circumstances become crises.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Potential VA benefits chief has new ideas
No I don't have ESP and I did not go to Harvard. I just pay attention and read about people like Linda Blimes thinking it would be a great idea to take care of the veterans by pushing their claims thru. Ironic as it is this showed up today on Army Times, but hey, anyone paying attention feels the same way.
Potential VA benefits chief has new ideas/
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Feb 2, 2009 17:36:26 EST
A Harvard University researcher with some radical ideas about how to reduce the backlog of veterans disability claims appears to be in line to head the Veterans Benefits Administration.
Linda Blimes, a public policy lecturer and research at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, wants the Department of Veterans Affairs to operate like the Internal Revenue Service — on an honor system that trusts veterans claiming service-connected disabilities. All veterans claims would be approved as soon as they are filed, with a random audit conducted to “weed out and deter fraudulent claims,” Blimes told the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee in testimony in 2008.
Ninety percent of veterans disability claims end up being paid after they make it through the system, she said — proof, she said, that most veterans are asking only for what they deserve.
Immediate payment of at least a minimum benefit would help to reduce the average 180-day waiting time for initial benefits claims to be processed and allow VA to redeploy the employees processing those claims to work on more complicated appeals, she said.
Blimes also has talked of a vastly simplified disability rating system that would have just four ratings instead of the current 10 for service-connected disabilities and illnesses.
Blimes has not been formally announced as a nominee, but her name is being circulated among lawmakers and congressional staff in what has become a standard procedure to determine whether there is any strong opposition to her taking the key post.
Her idea of a streamlined claims process has some prominent supporters, among them Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., the House Veterans Affairs Committee chairman who has talked of automatic claims approval as a way to quickly eliminate the claims backlog.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
The Dept. of Veterans Affairs needs some bailout money now!
This is really good but, I bet the author never read this blog.
The Dept. of Veterans Affairs needs some bailout money now Mr. Vice President
Submitted by Scribes Cafe on Tue, 12/23/2008 - 05:08.
The Dept. of Veterans Affairs needs some bailout money now!
Americans have been told by the news media these past eight years what most Americans already know from birth. They have been told to be patriotic with thousands of financially poor young men and women joining the armed forces, enticed with promises of education and health benefits upon their separation. Sadly, after years of defending the American executive orders without question these young men and women who have received combat related wounds, which include mental and physical breakdowns, never actually get to make use of the earned educational benefits. Many find themselves abandoned, unable to articulate what they are experiencing and they become lost on American soil with a new title; homeless veteran.
While waiting for Department of Veterans Affairs processing, which can take many months to a few years, the young, former military members are now disabled veterans and are shunned by the very society they gave up their late teenage years to defend. Being a former Marine helicopter door gunner and a disabled Vietnam; aircrew member / veteran, I know the feeling of being considered a second rate American citizen. It feels wrong, strange, and is quite confusing. The disabled veteran must enter the process of proving they are disabled. They must continue waiting for an appointment to be evaluated by a sub-contracted outside doctor who gets paid by the Department of Veterans Affairs to basically deny the claim.
I had a baby doctor evaluate my radiation burns and he, having no experience with radiation burns wrote a report which didn’t include how my feet were burned. Therefore when the report was read by the claims specialist at the Florida VA regional office they denied the VA hospital caused the burns. The baby doctor actually told me I must have stepped into something toxic. The fact is I stepped into the VA hospital radiation room and they didn’t put a protective shield over my legs and feet. I understand what the new disabled veterans are going through today. After waiting to be APPROVED by the Department of Veterans Affairs so they can be APPROVED for medical or mental treatment, or to enter an educational setting, they become more broken down both physically and emotionally. Many have resorted to the final solution and have committed suicide to end the agony they are all quietly suffering.
This is not written in the newspapers or written online nor is it mentioned on the television. When one of these stories do make it out for the public to see, the viewer has already been trained by the very same television news, and the print and online media to become numb to such events. They shrug it off as being what happens to those for actually served in a combat environment. They have actually held another service members brains or intestines in their hands. They have sucked it up and carried blown up babies and women and have become dizzy with grief. Something the rich and elected ones ignore. click link above for more
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Vietnam Veterans of America and Veterans of Modern Warfare VA Law Suit Begins
Disability claims lawsuit begins against VA
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Dec 16, 2008 17:17:49 EST
A hearing begins Wednesday in a lawsuit aimed at cutting the time that the Department of Veterans Affairs takes to process disability claims to no more than 90 days.
Vietnam Veterans of America and Veterans of Modern Warfare filed the lawsuit against VA after learning the department took as long as a year to come up with disability benefits decisions, and as long as four years to rule on appeals of those decisions. The average time for an initial decision is about six months.
VA has a benefits claims backlog of more than 400,000 cases.
Rita Reese, principal deputy assistant VA secretary for management, told Congress in January that the department would increase the number of fulltime case workers from 14,857 to 15,570, with a goal of reducing the disability claims backlog to 298,000 by the end of fiscal 2009, which would be a drop of 24 percent.
The lawsuit asks for monetary relief for veterans if VA can’t reduce its processing time.
“Delayed disability benefit awards create an additional and, in many cases, unmanageable stress for an already suffering population,” VVA and VMW officials said in a joint press release. “According to the VA, the suicide rate among individuals in the VA’s care may be as high as 7.5 times the national average, and every night, more than 150,000 American veterans are homeless.”
click link above for more
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Dec 16, 2008 17:17:49 EST
A hearing begins Wednesday in a lawsuit aimed at cutting the time that the Department of Veterans Affairs takes to process disability claims to no more than 90 days.
Vietnam Veterans of America and Veterans of Modern Warfare filed the lawsuit against VA after learning the department took as long as a year to come up with disability benefits decisions, and as long as four years to rule on appeals of those decisions. The average time for an initial decision is about six months.
VA has a benefits claims backlog of more than 400,000 cases.
Rita Reese, principal deputy assistant VA secretary for management, told Congress in January that the department would increase the number of fulltime case workers from 14,857 to 15,570, with a goal of reducing the disability claims backlog to 298,000 by the end of fiscal 2009, which would be a drop of 24 percent.
The lawsuit asks for monetary relief for veterans if VA can’t reduce its processing time.
“Delayed disability benefit awards create an additional and, in many cases, unmanageable stress for an already suffering population,” VVA and VMW officials said in a joint press release. “According to the VA, the suicide rate among individuals in the VA’s care may be as high as 7.5 times the national average, and every night, more than 150,000 American veterans are homeless.”
click link above for more
Thursday, December 11, 2008
806,000 Veterans backlog claims listed in Bush's failures from Center for Public Integrity
Say that out loud and then say the words "grateful nation" without snickering. Pretty impossible. Isn't it? Now add in the families of these veterans. You know them. They are the ones President Bush said "they also serve" on the home front but too many of them are finding their home fronts have become battle zones.
Battling to make sure the veteran keeps fighting to have their claims approved. Battling to make sure the veteran has their disability taken care of and trying to hold onto hope while it is slipping away. Cringing every time the mail comes with bills that cannot be paid. Letting the answering machine pick up all the calls because they are sure it's another bill collector on the other end of the call. Explaining to their kids why they can't go to the movies or they can't buy that toy they have been "dying for" that all their friends have.
What did they do wrong?
806,000 Veterans backlog claims listed in Bush's failures from Center for Public Integrity
They made the mistake of believing the government would live up to their end of the deal in return for their service, risking their lives, leaving their families and friends, setting aside their own careers and businesses because the nation needed them. It's even worse when the veteran was drafted and forced to go but ended up wounded. Think of how they feel. It wasn't even their decision to go and risk their lives, but they did it under orders.
Obvious physical wounds were easier to prove but not simple if the records were not perfect and in hand when the claim was filed. Then again between losing files and the complaints of shredding claims, even some of those easy claims were trapped.
When it came to wounds and illnesses caused by service, well, those were even harder to prove they were connected to service to the nation. Where else these men and women would be exposed to Agent Orange, Depleted Uranium and the host of illnesses caused by serving in the Gulf War, has never entered into the minds of the people running the office reviewing claims. They say they follow the rules from Congress and Congress has a bad habit of using the "brilliance" of legal terms without knowing how their choice of words will doom veterans.
Case in point is when they decided VA should be able to collect for "non-service connected" treatments. Sounded like a good idea at the time but they never stopped to think about claims that were tied up, on appeal on in the backlog. All of the claims in those cases are considered "non-service connect" BECAUSE THEY HAVE NOT BEEN APPROVED, but Congress never thought about what their choice of words would mean.
This meant the veteran would not only go without compensation checks for their wounds, it also meant they would have to pay to have those wounds treated at the same time they were battling the government to approve the claim that should have been approved in the first place, making the veteran feel as if the VA stands for Veterans Adversary.
For the newer veterans, well they all volunteered to serve. This is what some in this country have to say when they finally acknowledge the fact so many are not receiving the care they were promised. They are trapped in stop-loss, told they will be compensated for it with extra money, the same money Congress demanded be paid to them, but a report came out they are not getting those funds in their pocket.
This is all made worse when the veteran has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, is self-medicating because either they don't know what is wrong with them or when they do, their claim is denied and the cycle begins of appealing the denial, making sure they get that appeal in the hands of the VA before the drop dead date and then waiting, praying and suffering, hoping this time their claim is right and the VA acknowledges the truth about what their own doctors have diagnosed. In those cases, you also see a family falling apart from the added stress of having to fight the government. Try keeping a marriage together under those circumstances when half of all civilian marriages end in divorce. Not an easy task.
So when you read about claims being tied up in the backlog to the count of over 800,000, remember, it's not just a claim, it's the integrity of the government and the nation as a whole. It's veterans and their families, willing to give it all for the nation they are being betrayed by.
Senior Chaplain Kathie "Costos" DiCesare
Namguardianangel@aol.com
www.Namguardianangel.com
www.Woundedtimes.blogspot.com
www.youtube.com/NamGuardianAngel
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington
Battling to make sure the veteran keeps fighting to have their claims approved. Battling to make sure the veteran has their disability taken care of and trying to hold onto hope while it is slipping away. Cringing every time the mail comes with bills that cannot be paid. Letting the answering machine pick up all the calls because they are sure it's another bill collector on the other end of the call. Explaining to their kids why they can't go to the movies or they can't buy that toy they have been "dying for" that all their friends have.
What did they do wrong?
806,000 Veterans backlog claims listed in Bush's failures from Center for Public Integrity
Watchdog group: Depth of Bush failures surprised even us
Muriel Kane
Published: Wednesday December 10, 2008
With the Bush administration about to leave office after reaching record-setting disapproval ratings, the nation might be in the mood for some New Year's resolutions pinpointing mistakes of the last eight years that it never, ever wants to make again.
For example, the country might want to do something about its massive backlogs in various essential government functions -- including 730,000 backlogged patent applications, 760,000 Social Security disability claims, and 806,000 Veterans Affairs disability claims.
The nation might also resolve to avoid a recurrence of the recent losses of hundreds of laptops containing sensitive law enforcement information, or to rethink the decision to keep plowing $12.5 billion into a joint civilian-military weather satellite system that is still incomplete and may leave gaps in crucial climate monitoring as older satellites fail.
The most comprehensive guide to these and other Bush administration failures is a new list compiled by the Center for Public Integrity (CPI), a non-profit investigative journalism group which recently "set out to document just how off-track things have gone," assigning thirteen reporters to document the worst failures of the last eight years.
click link above for more
They made the mistake of believing the government would live up to their end of the deal in return for their service, risking their lives, leaving their families and friends, setting aside their own careers and businesses because the nation needed them. It's even worse when the veteran was drafted and forced to go but ended up wounded. Think of how they feel. It wasn't even their decision to go and risk their lives, but they did it under orders.
Obvious physical wounds were easier to prove but not simple if the records were not perfect and in hand when the claim was filed. Then again between losing files and the complaints of shredding claims, even some of those easy claims were trapped.
When it came to wounds and illnesses caused by service, well, those were even harder to prove they were connected to service to the nation. Where else these men and women would be exposed to Agent Orange, Depleted Uranium and the host of illnesses caused by serving in the Gulf War, has never entered into the minds of the people running the office reviewing claims. They say they follow the rules from Congress and Congress has a bad habit of using the "brilliance" of legal terms without knowing how their choice of words will doom veterans.
Case in point is when they decided VA should be able to collect for "non-service connected" treatments. Sounded like a good idea at the time but they never stopped to think about claims that were tied up, on appeal on in the backlog. All of the claims in those cases are considered "non-service connect" BECAUSE THEY HAVE NOT BEEN APPROVED, but Congress never thought about what their choice of words would mean.
This meant the veteran would not only go without compensation checks for their wounds, it also meant they would have to pay to have those wounds treated at the same time they were battling the government to approve the claim that should have been approved in the first place, making the veteran feel as if the VA stands for Veterans Adversary.
For the newer veterans, well they all volunteered to serve. This is what some in this country have to say when they finally acknowledge the fact so many are not receiving the care they were promised. They are trapped in stop-loss, told they will be compensated for it with extra money, the same money Congress demanded be paid to them, but a report came out they are not getting those funds in their pocket.
This is all made worse when the veteran has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, is self-medicating because either they don't know what is wrong with them or when they do, their claim is denied and the cycle begins of appealing the denial, making sure they get that appeal in the hands of the VA before the drop dead date and then waiting, praying and suffering, hoping this time their claim is right and the VA acknowledges the truth about what their own doctors have diagnosed. In those cases, you also see a family falling apart from the added stress of having to fight the government. Try keeping a marriage together under those circumstances when half of all civilian marriages end in divorce. Not an easy task.
So when you read about claims being tied up in the backlog to the count of over 800,000, remember, it's not just a claim, it's the integrity of the government and the nation as a whole. It's veterans and their families, willing to give it all for the nation they are being betrayed by.
Senior Chaplain Kathie "Costos" DiCesare
Namguardianangel@aol.com
www.Namguardianangel.com
www.Woundedtimes.blogspot.com
www.youtube.com/NamGuardianAngel
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington
Sunday, November 30, 2008
VA has a history of losing papers
While it is not a new problem, it is a larger one than ever before. There is a saying among veterans trying to have claims approved. "It was lost in translation." In their case, they are talking about how the VA requires veterans to have their papers and claims all in within a certain timeframe, but the translation on the VA end is "whenever" they process it. We've heard stories of lost files for years.
The usual explanation for lost files when it comes to Vietnam veterans is that the papers were all lost in the fire in St. Louis. Read about it here.
The problem with this is they don't seem to talk very much about all the unit records that were not destroyed. Most of the bases kept the same files because the DOD does everything in multiple copies. It they really wanted to find the files they needed, they could but that would take too much time and too much manpower to do it. Wouldn't it be worth it to the veterans if they did find the copies available to speed up some of these claims? Wouldn't it be a better idea for the VA to hire enough workers so that these claims are not trapped with all the new ones? After all, we're not just talking about claims. We're talking about veterans and their families waiting to have their claims honored.
VA has a history of losing papers
Tampabay.com - St. Petersburg,FL,USA
By William R. Levesque, Times staff writer
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Air Force veteran David Chini has lost track of all the times the Department of Veterans Affairs lost records he sent to it.
Registered mail? A VA worker signed, and the paperwork vanished. By fax? Chini, 69, of St. Petersburg said the VA claimed it never arrived. Regular mail? Don't even ask.
And if something doesn't arrive, the agency threatens to discontinue his medical benefits because Chini isn't sending the papers it needs.
"It's just totally demoralizing," he said.
Recent revelations that workers in 41 of 57 VA regional benefits offices, including St. Petersburg, improperly set aside hundreds of claims records for shredding came as no surprise to veterans.
The VA, critics say, has long operated in a veritable culture of lost paper and was losing records many years before this latest scandal. Lost paperwork sometimes leads to delayed, denied or abandoned claims for medical or financial assistance.
And it leaves some questioning if workers lose it deliberately to ease workloads. At least two VA employees outside Florida are being investigated for just that.
"I remain angry that a culture of dishonesty has led to an increased mistrust of the VA within the veteran community," said Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs.
The VA notes it is the most paper-intensive federal bureaucracy, sifting through 162-million pages of claims documents a year.
And while the VA hopes to have largely paperless claims filing by 2012, the size of the agency makes computerization a challenge.
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The usual explanation for lost files when it comes to Vietnam veterans is that the papers were all lost in the fire in St. Louis. Read about it here.
Veterans Still Burned Over 35 Year Old Fire
For more than 30 years many a veteran has been faced with the chilling reality of discovering that their military service records had gone up in smoke in a St. Louis fire.
Since that time countless numbers of veterans have been fired up by responses to inquiries and benefits applications that include the now infamous "Your records were burned…" statement.
To this day among many veterans the standard wisecrack upon being told that a service or VA document of theirs has been misplaced or is temporarily unavailable is- "Must have had another fire in St. Louis." More skeptical vets feel that the fire offered a convenient opportunity for covering up long standing mismanagement of important records and offered the system yet another means of dodging the benefits bullet.
What about the fire? And what was burned? The only answer is the official one and official answers tend to serve only as confirmation to the believers and fuel for fire for the skeptics. Nonetheless, here it is:
"On July 12, 1973, a disastrous fire at National Personnel Records Center, Military Personnel Records (NPRC-MPR) in St. Louis destroyed approximately 16-18 million Official Military Personnel Files."The National Archives
Just as important an issue is- Which records went up in smoke? Once again, the official word from The National Archives:
"Army records: Personnel discharged November 1, 1912, to January 1, 1960. 80% estimated loss.Air Force records: Personnel discharged, September 25, 1947, to January 1, 1964 (with names alphabetically after Hubbard, James E.). 75% estimated loss."
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The problem with this is they don't seem to talk very much about all the unit records that were not destroyed. Most of the bases kept the same files because the DOD does everything in multiple copies. It they really wanted to find the files they needed, they could but that would take too much time and too much manpower to do it. Wouldn't it be worth it to the veterans if they did find the copies available to speed up some of these claims? Wouldn't it be a better idea for the VA to hire enough workers so that these claims are not trapped with all the new ones? After all, we're not just talking about claims. We're talking about veterans and their families waiting to have their claims honored.
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