How to stop the VA’s “illegal” and “fraudulent” behavior?
While the VA’s behavior cannot be justified, the real blame lays with the Congress of the United States. Congress has oversight responsibility, and the mandate to insure that the VA behaves in a proper manner.

You can only conclude that the financial cost is enough that the Congress has chosen and continues to chose to not remedy the situation. Instead, when the hue and cry reaches a significant level, the Congress and the VA throws a “sop” to the veterans, with the hope that the screaming and yelling will die down to a tolerable level.

The situation has not changed appreciably for more than FIFTY YEARS!

As usual when I make a general statement someone tries to use an exception as a challenge. Other then to be a fallacy of logic it is also degrading to the subject of the exception.

To illustrate my point. In June I attended a screening clinic for TBI, Vietnam era. This clinic also deals with PTSD and other psychological treatment clinics, it is not a benefits clinic. There were eleven Veterans all male, female Veterans in our district are streamed separately. Of the eleven, three of us were (or claimed to be) combat Veterans.

Besides myself there was a WWII Veteran who had dropped out of the VA system, a former POW, and needed to get back on his meds, he was sent to the MC’s emergency room on the spot.

The other was a 55 year old former Marine who claimed to have been a sniper in Vietnam, no way, same old BS stories, and at 53 he is to young to have served in Nam (Duff ck. me on this, but if I recall the last Marines, expect the embassy guards, left Nam. in 1973). He was going for PTSD.

The other eight were all 30-40 something former Sailors who claimed no combat service or any disabilities, they were shooting for a PTSD disability by getting into a treatment clinic and gaming the system. The Doctor doing the screening said several times that that treatment clinics have nothing to do with disability benefits, she made it very clear, but none of the eight left the room. This is the claims problem.

To Ms. Burak. I agree with you that there is little or no efforts made by the Department of Veterans Affairs to get the word out to Veterans and their families regarding benefits that they maybe entitled to, especially older Veterans who have never used VA services, this needs to be corrected.

It’s not the older veterans like Ms. Burak’s father that are clogging up the claims process, it’s the younger Veterans, who enlisted served, most in support or service units who see the VA as a free ATM machine, and under current rules these people can keep re submitting claims as long as they like in an effort to catch a friendly adjuster or just to wear out the system. They are also hoping like what happened under Clinton when the VA threw up it’s hands and gave blanket approval to thousands of claims, mostly for AO that couldn’t be verified. The system must change.

ALLONS,
Byron Skinner

This is not about veterans taking advantage of a system. It’s about a system that is taking advantage of its veterans who are the most vulnerable, and the least able to defend themselves. Our elderly.

Those veterans who are not the same strapping young men and women who took an oath to defend our country. Those veterans who now need its country to take care of them.

It is about the process and the imposed difficulties by the VA versus the simplicity of an EZ form for the IRS, and the right to have guidance.

It’s about a pension that sat idle for 54 years and now that demand for it has escalated, the VA has made the application process complicated.

It is about our veterans who now need assistance with their day-to-day living either in-home or in an Assisted Living facility or Nursing Home, and being entitled to the highest level of Improved Pension, which is Aid and Attendance.

It’s about the 2+ million widows who know nothing about this pension.

Improved Pension is NOT disability compensation and the criteria is straight forward. It represents up to $23,000 tax-free dollars annually to help pay for that care.

As the daughter of a WWII veteran who acted as care-giver for 9 years and was told 7 times by the VA my dad was not entitled to anything, while all along he was to the tune of $160,000, I have been down this road of heartache.

As the Founder of http://www.veteranaid.org I deal with people every day who have run out of hope, money, and options for providing care for an older loved one and now face the battle and imposed delays with the VA.

The agency is flawed and broken, and it’s a disgrace that our veterans are put through the rigors of having to prove anything.

If the men and women who fought in WWII waited to deploy as long as the VA is asking them to wait for this pension, we would have surly lost the war.

Two comments first for Tom Barns. Your idea of allowing Veterans make a $125K a year before taxes is great, I would have loved it 25 years ago, but in reality most Veterans drawing VA disability don’t make anywhere near that much, even with a working spouse.

Ms Burak, comparing the VA’s efficiency to the IRS is not quite as you says it is. The IRS has most of the time, unless a criminal act can be found five years to protest a tax return before the statues of limitation sets in. They take as much of that time as they can because it racks up more penalties, where as the VA pays from the date of filing a claim even if it take 20 years to process.

When you are called in for an examination of your back returns you will find an IRS Special Agent who is really in the dark if not outright confused. After a little back and forth he/she will offer you a deal and 90% of time it is in your interest to take it. In dealing with the VA you are in fact in the position of the IRS agent, tying to prove something.

I have been through both processes and would always rather to deal with the IRS instead of the VA.

In defense of the VA, what little that can be made they are faced everyday with claims that are obviously fraudulent. Lets face it there are more then a few Veterans out their who see the VA as a free ATM, and will lie or do what ever it takes to get a claim through.

My suggestion is for the VA to prosecute those who, with criminal intent to defraud the Government, by filing false claims, and let them do some jail time.

About 30 years ago when the IRS required the SSN’s of children and spouses on tax returns when dependents are claimed, that a million women and about 3 million kids died in one year.

ALLONS,
Byron Skinner

Thanks.

The President wants a stimulus where it is most needed?  Ladied and Gentlemen, I submit that the plan above fits that category to a tee!

CWO3 Tom Barnes, USCG (Ret.)