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A Government Witch Hunt for Veterans Begins Anew
Veterans: This flag is not for you, say the neocons
Just when you thought is was safe to go back to the VA come signs the water is not inviting for veterans looking to make disability benefit claims.
A scare report in Stars and Stripes by Leo Shane III screams the VA may have overpaid disabled veterans.
It’s the veteans’ fault of-course. And veterans need more oversight. Writes Shane:
Poor oversight and missing medical follow-ups led to nearly $1 billion in overpayments in veterans disability benefits over the last 18 years, and could lead to another $1 billion in improper payouts in the near future if left unchecked, according to a new investigation.
This is a witch hunt in the making.
Shane cites the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) Office of the Inspector General’s report and Michael Walcoff, acting VA Under Secretary for Benefits.
Walcoff is infamous in veteran advocates’ circles for defending the old PTSD regulations and preventing private doctors from being used by veterans for a PTSD diagnosis acceptable to the Veterans Benefit Administration.
Walcoff is with Dr. Sally Satel of the anti-veteran, pro-war American Enterprise Institute in this view. “We believe that our VA are really the world experts on this particular condition, especially PTSD as it arises from war,” said Walcott last year.
The national and regional IG’s offices are stacked with anti-veteran neocons.
So we have a situation where the few overworked veterans on the Court of Appeals for Veterans (CAVC) bar cannot advocate for the 100,ooos of veterans on an effective scale. And the regualtions are complex factually and legally so the VSOs who care do not have a chance at assisting veterans.
This IG report and PR stategy are getting us warmed up for the mass demonization of so-called greedy, disabled veterans whose futures will be in the hands of the new Congress and its expressed concerns about costs, efficiencies and privatization.
Anti-veteran think tanks like Dr. Satel’s, the IGs and the national media are generating the scare headlines and stories of greedy, lying veterans.
Said Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense:
The VA IG investigation shows VBA staff failed to enter data into a computer ordering a second examination of veterans receiving temporary 100 percent benefits. This remains a training and oversight problem at VBA. However, the Stars and Stripesheadline is misleading because VBA could have also underpaid veterans billions of dollars because of VBA delays or failures to perform examinations, a point stressed by VBA leaders in their response to the IG. In order to resolve the possibility of overpayments and underpayments, VBA should improve computer systems and improve training, things VBA promises to do. Unfortunately, some misguided opponents of VA will seize the headline to attack temporary benefits as well as to demand major budget cuts at VA.
The reality is the VA and VBA have underpaid disabled veterans by $Billions for decades.
Short URL: http://www.veteranstoday.com/?p=76626
Posted by Veterans Today on Jan 27 2011, With 0 Reads, Filed under Corruption, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
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Thanks for the article. Working with serverly wounded young Vets – those who strive to help them know that this situation has the potential of real damage. The 100% P&T, 100% disabled by percentage and unemployability and those on the temporary 100% list have some resources. There are programs with the military, VA and volunteer organizations that do real good – BUT – when something like this happens (and I do hope Vets don’t pay for this)Vets find themselves without funds. Effort then is directed to keeping them in their houses, their bills kinda paid and some food for Mom (or husband) and the kids in the house. Issues like this mean hard times and real pain for Vets.
Wow. A Vet recently walked out of a VA clinic. He went and asked: “I’d like to schedule a PTSD screening or test, can you help?” The Vet had a VA card and gave it to the clerk. The clerk called up the guys screen, told him it had been less than two years since his last contact with the VA and he could get the screening. Clerk says wait here and leaves. Minutes go by. Long minutes go by – women walks by and the Vet says: “Hey give me my card, would you?” Lady says to the Vet “Can I help you?” Vet (been standing there a long time now)says: “No, its O.K.” gets his card – takes his PTSD with him and leaves. Few hours later schedules with a private health care provider for the PTSD test and is going to pay for it out of his pocket.
One small example. Combined with the horror of the article, multiplied by the 50 states, the territories and overseas locations – not good. Privatization will not help. It will make Vet issues much worse. The process of obtaining and keeping benefits is adversarial. The Vet has to prove his claims or he or she gets nothing. It is really that simple.
Oh, by the way, lot of prison, jail and police operations know a bit about PTSD. Medical folks that diagnose PTSD in C.J. responders know what they are doing. So much that only the VA has PTSD answers.
Notes: PTSD kinda folks frequently have low or no tolerance of being treated by governement workers like they were a piece of a concrete curb. Don’t blame the guy for walking out.
VA Regional Adminstrators, Hospital Directors and the VA Secretary and his staff are not accessible to Vets. (Please, please correct me if I am in error. Provide data on how I can contact VA command staff.)
Thanks for the warning Veterans Today.
To bad.
Respectfully
Dale R. Suiter
>”The national and regional IG’s offices are stacked with anti-veteran neocons.”<
Add Hawks as well, and now, during the previous admin and (T) congresses, more so then in the past and not only in the VA.
But it's exactly what the country likes and wants. Just look at the so called National Veterans long time groups and their 'surprised?' disdain for the calls as to the House Veterans Affairs Committee and (T) party individual congressional critters, i.e. bachmann, paul etc. etc. as to VA funding. The likes of the American Legion etc. as well as Veterans who walk in lockstep with that type of ideology, they're 'extremely? mad?', they vote these fools into office, especially after recent history showed them what would happen, nothing as to veterans while they rubber stamped two wars of choice, and they feign such surprise!!!!!!!
How is it that the VA has so many cut backs but yet the VA can pay for tattoos on prosthetics 100% ????
I am so sorry for all our young men and ladies that have lost a limb. The VA should pay for the prosthetics at 100%.
But I think a tatoo is a WANT not a NEED
It looks to me that the overpayment was intentional – to fulfill Mr. Shinseki’s “pledge” of eliminating the million-claims backlog. Two people I know bragged that they received 70% rating for sleep apnea and two received 100% for pains on shoulder joints, most likely reason – swinging a golf club all day! If I wanted the same thing, they urged me to get help from a lawyer (pro bono) from the DAV (Disabled American Veterans). Hmm, what a deal! DAV gets charitable contributions from their very grateful customers and Shinseki gets his medals at any cost ($1B+)! And of course, the VA OIG found all these overpayment to be just clerical mistakes! Rubbish! Someone should investigate the VA OIG! They have been covering the massive corruption in VA for a long time. How else do you think the VA got to be this big and bad and incompetent?