Problem #1 – Destruction of Veteran Records
Based on a report released 2009, a Detroit regional office turned in 16,000 pieces of unprocessed mail and 717 unprocessed documents that had be sent to storage without any review. In another investigation, documents related to veteran claims were found in shredding bins at several regional offices. Now we know why the VA has been saying – “we do not have your records.” In all probability hundreds of thousands of critical documents that veterans filed with the VA have been misfiled, altered, destroyed and shredded.This is a clear betrayal of trust, an atrocious act on the part of the VA. There is no way a treacherous act of this nature could happen without the VA leadership knowing about it, and by inaction condoning it.
Problem #2 – Bureaucratic Entanglement
Veterans are required to complete a 23 page application with detailed medical documentation to verify even the most obvious disability, such as the loss of an arm or both legs. When a government agency becomes primarily involved in protecting the “system” it has created, it creates a quagmire of legal documents and “forms” that complicate the process, making it so difficult that veterans cannot complete their applications without help and help is the one thing the VA has proven it does not like to offer during the application for benefits process (local Veteran Service Officers are the one exception). It is clear, that the objective of the VA, by the size of its regulations, application process and total lack of ethics in handling veteran records, has become a business designed to protect the system, rather than to care for the veterans for which it was created to serve. This single factor is so devastating that it overrides all of the good things the VA accomplishes.
An example is the case of Leroy Comer, a Vietnam veteran who has spent over 21 years processing applications, denials, appeals and remands. (Source: August 2009 Issues of “The American Legion” magazine)
Problem #3 – VA Policy Rewards Denial
The VA has set up an internal award system that actually rewards employees who “dispose” of claims rapidly. The system actually results in an automatic denial of a veteran’s first claim, and most likely his/her second and third application for help. When the denied claim comes back to VA for review, the employee get another credit for reprocessing the same claim. Approximately 70% of claims taken to the Veterans Claims Court are sent back to VA for more work or to be redone, according to reports published in the July 2009 issue of “The American Legion” magazine. Denying the claim is one of the quickest ways of building a bonus.
Problem #4 – VA Leaders Defend the Quagmire
The VA’s most senior leaders adamantly defend the employee bonus program. When the American Legion interviewed Michael Walcoff, the VA Deputy Undersecretary for Benefits, he stated: “You have to have a system in place that holds employee accountable.” Accountable for what? They are certainly not being held accountable for providing the medical attention needed by the hundreds of thousands of veterans who have returned home with Gulf War Illness. 58% of these veterans are young adults age 29 or younger. Hundreds of thousands of veterans are now homeless; soldiers who tried to get the help promised and finally gave up trying. The VA is a major cause of veteran homelessness. (Source of numbers: Analysis of VA Health Care Utilization Among US Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) Veterans, January 2009, page11)
Problem #5 –DOD Failure to Enforce Regulations
Compounding the quagmire at the VA, is the failure of the Deartment of Defense (DOD) to enforce its own regulations regarding the identification and tracking of personnel exposed to Depleted Uranium (DU) and those given Anthrax and other vaccines. Based on reports, frontline officers maintain they were not aware of the requirements. The lack of documentation regarding these exposures has denied the independent scientific community the data they need to effectively study the impact of these exposures on the current health of veterans. The failure to document has also put an extra hurtle in the path of returning veterans getting acceptable VA healthcare. Adding to this dismal record, the DOD has also lost the records of congressionally mandated studies. Either the DOD has failed to follow its own regulations, or it has actually followed its regulations and is hiding the results. Either case is unacceptable and adds to the betrayal of our veterans. (For DOD Regulations - Go to Army Regulation 700-48; TB 9-1300-278; Lieutenant General James B. Peake Memorandum dated April 29, 2004 and OTSG/MEDCOM Policy Memo 03-007)
On The Issues
Learn more about specific issues related to our Veterans.
