Veterans Groups Sue Bush Administration Over Delayed Benefits Claims

[David]

US News and World Reports


Coming on the heels of the discovery that veterans' benefit claims forms may have been shredded in regional offices nationwide, two veterans' organizations have filed a lawsuit against the Department of Veterans Affairs. They're attacking a related and, they say, similarly egregious problem: the time it takes for the VA to make a decision on a disability claim.

Clogged with more than 600,000 pending claims, the VA takes an average of more than six months to make a decision—70 percent more time than it took four years ago, the claimants allege. That means that disabled veterans can't access their disability pay when they're transitioning back into civilian society and need help the most, say critics.

If the claim is denied, an appeal takes even longer—an average of four years. Some stretch into decades. In comparison, private healthcare groups usually process claims in less than three months, including appeals.

In response, the Vietnam Veterans of America and the Veterans of Modern Warfare filed a preliminary injunction in a D.C. district court today against the VA. The two organizations, which together represent about 60,000 veterans, are asking for the VA to adhere to a time limit: 90 days to decide initial claims for disability benefits and 180 days to resolve appeals.

If those standards can't be met, the suit asks that veterans receive interim benefits equivalent to what a veteran on a 30 percent disability rating would receive, or $356 per month for a single veteran without dependents. That's not much, the groups say, but can be a "lifeline" for veterans attempting to adapt to civilian society.

"America has a covenant with its veterans. It always has," says Charles Figley, an expert in post-traumatic stress disorder who has declared his support for the motion. "Young men and women raise their right hand; they swear to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States, put themselves in harm's way, and serve their country in whatever way they are asked to do. In return, America has promised that if they are injured in their service to the United States, they will be cared for."

The VA referred questions to the Department of Justice, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

One veteran who says he's been scarred by the system's inefficiency is Bobby O'Daniel, a Marine Corps veteran. He returned from the 1991 Gulf War with depression, fatigue, aches, and diminishing vision that kept him from holding down a job or maintaining relationships, he says. At the age of 21, he knew his body shouldn't be feeling this way.

But when he filed for disabilities benefits, he waited more than a year for the decision. And it rated him as having a 10 percent disability—at the time, about $87 per month. That led to "13 years of anger and frustration" as he appealed the decision, he says, not to mention the "shame in having to ask for something deserved that I had already earned." His case is still ongoing.

Today's lawsuit isn't the first to target what's seen as the inefficiency of the disabilities benefits system. A class action suit by Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans United for Truth last year went after the VA on a number of fronts, from charges that it made benefits decisions too slowly to that it failed to adequately augment its PTSD services. The suit was unsuccessful. Robert Cattanach, a partner at the law firm representing veterans in the current case, says that this one has a better chance of succeeding because it's more focused.

Critics within government also have aired their concerns. In recent years, the Government Accountability Office has published at least four critical reports about the VA disabilities system, stating in 2007 that the benefits program was "in urgent need of attention and transformation" and "was poorly positioned to provide meaningful and timely support" for disabled veterans. Congressional statutes mandate that the VA resolve claims in a timely manner, but they don't set deadlines.

Former VA Secretary Jim Nicholson says that during his tenure from 2005 to 2007, he pushed for a system that would expedite claims and allow interim benefits. "It didn't have enough support inside the administration or on the Hill," Nicholson says. "It was just such a dramatic departure from the way things were done."

Veterans are hoping, however, that the judge will recognize that a dramatic change is needed—and that a lawsuit may be the only way to do it.

"We are bringing this suit as a last resort," says Donald Overton, executive director of Veterans of Modern Warfare. "Everyone knows that the delays are terrible, but nothing has changed."

[Packo]

that if the lawsuit goes through, the VA will process claims the old fast way. Deny the claim, then let it go through the appeals process. Well...at least if they go back to that old trick, they'd have to pay the Vet. Problem is....what happens if the vet loses....all the way through the appeal process? Does he/she have to pay back those benefits? If not, there are unscrupulous vets that would just file to get the money even though they know their claim isn't worth crap. The way to do this is to finally FULLY FUND THE VA and HIRE MORE ADJUDICATORS. I saw first hand how the VA processes claims expediantly.....DENY. Winston-Salem was great at this and I've used many examples. Congress needs to get off it's collective asses and FIX this problem.

Thanks David for this interesting article everyone should read.

Pack

[Gimpy]

Thanks for bringing this out for everyone to see.

I had specifically identified and called for the removal of Daniel Cooper, VA’s Under Secretary for Benefits, as the top person responsible for VA’s claims fiasco since late 2003 when I saw where he (and the VA in general) were NOT even attempting to keep George Bush's 2000 presidential campaign "promise" of reducing the amount of VA disability claims being processed and the waiting times for those claims. Why G. Bush didn't (or wouldn't) see this is nothing short of criminal!

Not only is a massive reform of this "system" vital, so, too, is a history lesson in how the wheels came off at VBA.


Below is a chronology showing how Daniel Cooper was fully aware of VBA’s claims crisis well before he became Under Secretary. However, Cooper failed to use this knowledge and deliver for veterans, even after years as the top VA official responsible for disability compensation claims:

• In early 2001, then-Secretary Anthony Principi recognized challenges at VBA, and he created the “Claims Processing Task Force,” naming Cooper to lead it, even though he had no experience with VA. Cooper was a retired Navy Vice Admiral who served on the board of directors for Exelon, a nuclear power company, and USAA, an insurance and banking company.

• In October 2001, Cooper issued his Task Force report, which made dozens of thoughtful incremental recommendations, including holding VBA employees accountable. In November 2001, the full House Veterans’ Affairs Committee held a hearing to discuss the work of the Task Force. After 9/11 and after the invasion of Afghanistan, Cooper told the full Committee, “In my opinion, today, there are enough resources in VBA to do the job that has to be done,” a disturbing comment that was repeated until the Walter Reed scandal blew the cover the shabby way the Bush Administration treats our veterans.

• In December 2001, with more troops pouring into Afghanistan and with plans on the table to invade Iraq, Cooper provided additional written answers to the questions from Congress about VA staffing resources. Cooper wrote, “At the hearing, I specifically stated that new resources (i.e., FTE) should not be provided.” Given that there were hundreds of thousands of claims from half of the Gulf War veterans, everyone wanted to know why did Cooper not plan for nor act on the needs of a new generation of war veterans when he became Under Secretary in 2002?

This disgraceful pattern of under staffing and under funding VA continued from 2001 through 2008.


• In February 2007, former VA Secretary Jim Nicholson told Congress, “The President’s 2008 budget request provides the resources necessary to ensure that service members’ transition from active duty military status to civilian life continues to be as smooth and seamless as possible.” Nicholson, who relied on Cooper to run VA's benefits programs, told Congress, “We expect to improve the timeliness of processing these claims to 145 days in 2008.... In addition, we anticipate that our pending inventory of disability claims will fall to about 330,000 by the end of 2008...” It DID NOT happen!


Any "accountability"? Nope, not from Bush or anyone else.


• In VA’s press release dated February 4, 2008, VA once again promised to cut the backlog to 300,000 claims and process claims in an average of 145 days. However, VA's most recent reports confirm the claims backlog of unfinished work stands at more than 600,000, and veterans wait an average of 189 days. Cooper and Nicholson were repeatedly and catastrophically wrong, and these veterans and their families have paid a very steep price.


Thanks Bush..........


Under Secretary Daniel Cooper’s departure this past Feb, was long overdue, just as Jim Nicholson's was. Cooper’s tenure was identical to the now disgraced former VA Secretary Jim Nicholson: both were incompetent and forced out of office because they failed to provide timely and quality assistance to this nation’s veterans. Their failures reflect on the string of poor choices made by President George W. Bush, who appointed unqualified VA leaders and who chronically under funded VA for years.


In 2006, as the VA claims crisis worsened, Cooper and Nicholson quietly handed out millions of dollars in cash bonuses, up to $33,000 in some cases, to top VA executives - during a time when more and more veterans waited longer and longer for VA benefits. That's right, while veterans couldn't feed their families and pay their bills due to disabilities, top VA executives got huge cash rewards. A reasonble person would conclude VA leaders were rewarded for failure. The bonuses should have gone to hard-working and over-burdened claims processors and other VA staff. Or the bonus cash could have been used to hire more employees. But nope, not from this bunch!


The lessons from the Nicholson and Cooper resignations are stark reminders of how tragic and irresponsible the Bush Administration has been by its' failure to monitor and then to plan for the massive tidal wave of hundreds of thousands of unexpected patients and disability claims as a result of the Iraq War fiasco. The end result of Cooper’s and Nicholson’s catastrophic failure is that now more than 600,000 veterans wait an average of more than six months for a VA disability claim decision.


No veteran should ever have to wait more than 30 days for a VA decision. This country must put veterans first. As World War II General Omar Bradley said while leading VA, “We are dealing with veterans, not procedures – with their problems, not ours.”


There were 11 months remaining in Bush’s lame duck term when Under Secretary Daniel Cooper announced his departure this past Feb, it would have been the right time for VA reform of disability claims processijng and a great opportunity for George W. Bush to make a last ditch effort to keep that "promise" he had made eight long years ago to REDUCE disability claims "backlogs". What did he do.............Once again....NOTHING"!


Let’s hope and pray that Obama and the Democrats take up the fight and will take care of this long standing problem that has been virtually ignored by the current administration.


Gimp

[Packo]

Again Gimpy for adding to this information. Can anyone in Washington say FULLY FUND???? I'll be watching to see what happens. The ball is in a new court.

Pack

[Packo]

that someone is dropping the ball. New DVA Secratary says.....Full funding not needed. Don't think things are "changing". Sad, but then again, not unexpected.

Pack

[SuperScout]

Truth be known, I'd bet that all of us Vietnam vets who were entitled tosome form of benefit by the VA waited for months and months, probably stretching into years, before our respective cases were settled. And I further suspect that some cases aren't settled today. What I resent is the time-delay between first filing and first payment as much as I resent the implication that this is all GWB's fault.

And with the current VA head saying we don't need full funding, we can expect the status quo to be maintained full speed ahead. If the current administration wanted to "stimulate" something, why didn't they include it in the America-Down-the-Tubes bill?