"I'm not dead, yet."

"Actually, I'm feeling better."

"I think I'll go for a walk."

Derek, Love that movie! I was thinking of the same lines while reading this article too. Too funny!

Look who knows so much! No, he's only "Mostly Dead". You know what to do when they're all dead"? You look through their pockets for loose change...

This happened to a character in Heller's "Catch 22". After they sent the letter to his wife, she lit out and remarried while he was still overseas, and he was never able to find her.

Derek,

Dont kid yourself youll be stone dead in a moment!

I'm feeling much better.

The Dead Collector: Bring out yer dead.
Large Man with Dead Body: Here's one.
The Dead Collector: That'll be ninepence.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't: I'm not dead.
The Dead Collector: What?
Large Man with Dead Body: Nothing. There's your ninepence.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't: I'm not dead.
The Dead Collector: 'Ere, he says he's not dead.
Large Man with Dead Body: Yes he is.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't: I'm not.
The Dead Collector: He isn't.
Large Man with Dead Body: Well, he will be soon, he's very ill.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't: I'm getting better.
Large Man with Dead Body: No you're not, you'll be stone dead in a moment.
The Dead Collector: Well, I can't take him like that. It's against regulations.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't: I don't want to go on the cart.
Large Man with Dead Body: Oh, don't be such a baby.
The Dead Collector: I can't take him.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't: I feel fine.
Large Man with Dead Body: Oh, do me a favor.
The Dead Collector: I can't.
Large Man with Dead Body: Well, can you hang around for a couple of minutes? He won't be long.
The Dead Collector: I promised I'd be at the Robinsons'. They've lost nine today.
Large Man with Dead Body: Well, when's your next round?
The Dead Collector: Thursday.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't: I think I'll go for a walk.
Large Man with Dead Body: You're not fooling anyone, you know. Isn't there anything you could do?
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't: I feel happy. I feel happy.
[the Dead Collector glances up and down the street furtively, then silences the Body with his a whack of his club]
Large Man with Dead Body: Ah, thank you very much.
The Dead Collector: Not at all. See you on Thursday.
Large Man with Dead Body: Right.

The VA is the most inept government agency ever. I feel sorry for those that have to depend on the VA for anything. I'm not basing this statement on the article only. I have personal experience with the VA and have friends that have had nothing but trouble trying to get benefits. It's shameful.

I suspect that there may have been someone using his SSN (or entire identity) who may have died. It is possible that the family of that person then tried to claim Social Security benefits. If they kept trying to reactivate death benefits (and probably keep supplying a death certificate), that could cause this problem.

This is the very reason most of America is tired of the Washington fat cats who only want bigger more expensive Government. It is time we downsized the overlapping agency problem in Washington and put term limits, balanced budget, flat taxes, etc. in place so everything is totally fair for ALL Americans. I don't really care who is elected in November unless we fix the broken machine they use to rape and pillage all of us for their own benifit. I wonder how many of these rich politicians would spend millions to be elected if they knew going in they only had a limited term? As far as taxes, no one has ever explained why a flat tax without deductions won't be fair for everyone!! After all, rich peoploe will automatically pay a lot more be default if they have no more deductions or loopholes!! Don't tell me about entitlements because the Constitution ONLY guarantees us the right to equal oportunity....what we do with it is up to the individual.

This sounds suspiciously like the California Dept of Motor Vehicles. If you want to work for the govt, you will want to include in your resume under qualifications: incompetent does not begin to describe me.

Just think, these are the same federal employees that are paid much more than they would be in private industry. After four times you would think even a federal employee could fix this problem.

Saxon, you still have to deal with the thieving insurance companies with national healthcare. So the only difference is now you are required to buy from them. It is hardly national healthcare. I never understood why the health care that is good enough for our politicians for the rest of their lives, is just not good enough for the common man.

This sounds silly, but I bet his life was flipped upside down 4 times when they canceled his income... Poor man. If its like Social security once they mess up and cancel payment it can be even a few more months before the pay starts again.. I hope he didn't miss many bills or go hungry!! I understand the databases are complex and huge, but don't they realize people's livelihoods depend on those systems to work correctly and or be monitored to reduce the chance of this happening. I bet he is not an isolated case.

Back when I got out of the Corps in 68 they gave me orders to go to the VA, I had my leg crushed. I went to sea Orthopedic Surgeon, and he said get the hell out of his office after he checked my leg, that there wasn't anything wrong with my leg. Mind you I had a bad limp, a herniated muscle with a two inch split in the muscle. and scarring forming where bone had come through the skin. on both side of my leg. And then again in 1982 they this time they said that my leg was a real mess, I still have the limp today walk with a cane. They also told me the the rash that I had couldn't be from agent orange that it was egsima or what ever the spelling is. To day they have me at 70% disabled, won't give me a 100% but nobody will hire me. But I can't complain about the VA anymore because their medical treat me really good. I hope they get this guy's situation straightened out because no vet needs to be treated that way. He needs to get the DAV or some other vet organization to help.

"being alive has not been sufficient proof that he is not dead" Common sense is a dead art.

Bureaucratic penny pinching like this steams me under the collar.

And there are people out there who honestly think our government should play a LARGER role in areas like our healthcare. It's mind-boggling.

Was declared dead 4 times?? My wife on our wedding night...

I personally know of and can attest to the ineptitude of many who work in our government. There was a time in our brief history when they were refered to as "public servants", meaning they were in service to the Public, however that all changed when for some odd reason they were allowed to form their own Special Union which is hell bent on proctecting their right to [NOT] work even if they suffer from major medical or psycological issues that impedes their ability to perform the job. For example: One missed close to a year of work due to her 400+ lb obesity problems in the past three years (she sucks off other's leave/vacation time); and another was constantly not showing up due to so-called "health problems" where I overheard her supervisor state "maybe you should retire" and her response was "I need to be here another 3 years to get my pension." There are too many of these bottom feeders who slough off on the taxpayer dole because they decided they should have far better working rights, protections and priviledges than their Employers -- The US TAXPAYER!

I am not against Unions in general as they have served a very legitimate purpose in the private sector, BUT I have a major issue with "taxpayer funded personnel" using Unions to give them more protections that what the laws (Federal & State) legally allow. Case-in-point, recently OMB had issued new rules that would require more accountability of government workers to achieve their grade/salary. Needless to say, they were able to use their Unionized powers to defeat it by calling "discriminatory"! Discriminatory by butt, it's because these employees would have to have meet much higher standards ,similar to the private sector, and wouldn't be able to achieve them!

This poor guy is just one of many victims who must deal with government incompetance that's far more rampant than the media or our government will acknowledge. I'm not saying all government employees are like this, as there are just as many exceptional, hard working, overachieving government personnel who take pride in the service they do for their country....BUT

I was hired as a government contractor to take over the position of a government employee who suffered from a bi-polar disorder and major depression who offed her self (blew her brains out). Having never met her, I later learned she would disappear for hours, have screaming matches in meetings with others, and did nothing of value to the Porgram she had worked in for over 14 years. Her latest supervisor documented every incident over a period of three years and made several attempts to get her out, but to no avail---so everyone had to SUFFER because she was protected by a Union that wouldn't allow her to be fired or let go for medical reasons even though she was NOT performing her government job! These new standards would have made that easier----but Noooooo!

Government workers should be fired just as easy as they do contractors, most of whom are doing their job anyway, or any other US Citizen who doesn't show up to work or capable of performing their job. Ugh.

Total Morons in government jobs. They should all be fired.

This My friends is why We need to get the government downsizes to nothing! The same people that want to run our health care, writing a man they think is dead, explaining to Him how to repay payments He shouldn't of recieved because He is dead. This is typical of a overblown government with no accountability. And I swear on every blog there is people defending one party or the other. They all need to freeking go, and cut the size of this monster by 60%, and let them all go get a real job!

Dear if we are dealing with the VA is because we as well held a government job...... so NO, not all government employees are morons.

I hope that VA does not have special squads who make sure you are dead after they decided that you are dead. Unlike the Mob, for example.

--

Joe from NM

"Let's see. Dead 4 times. Sounds like 16 votes for Obama in Nov."

That reallly is the Chicago Way.

The VA has problems, but mostly caused by incompetent politicians. It is easy to send over a million pairs of boots on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan (counting deployments separately.) But when it came to paying for it, Bush/Cheney just put the immediate expenses on the Chicom credit card and let the residusl costs be the next President's problem. It was very easy to predict that Iraq and Afghanistan were going to cause a huge demand on the VA's services, but made absolutely no allowance for up-staffinf to handle it. As a result, to accomodate just the worst off of the Iraq and Afghainstan vets, the VA has had to cut services to existing vest and do a lot of economic triage on what services to deliver.

The question is can he prove he's not dead lot of these Viet era vets were messed up by agent orange and they get delusional. He's probably dead but doesn't realize it yet. But I am sure he'll come around and except his tragic state. Such a pity so many of these poor guys are just into denial.

I also believe that the guy that keeps sending the letters is also dead, just does't realize it. Poor ,poor guy.

Big John - get off the soap box; this has nothing to do w/ health care.

But you gotta love Monty Python. "Bring out your dead." "What, the curtains?"

Hmmm... More likely than not, the letters originate from the nearest VA Regional Office. He should get a copy of his DD214 and show up in person at that VARO. "Seeing is believing."

I see that the promised GOP cuts to entitlements have started to take effect.

@Chris-335678... I doubt just anyone can declare you dead to the SSA or VA so i dont know what you base that statement on. Both agencies require a death certificate...i know this personally because of the deaths of two relatives. Maybe this was possible years ago but remember this is post 9/11 where everything you do requires verification through documents. I agree with other posters that this is either computer glitch or possibly someone was using his SS#, died and then family tried to collect some kind of death benefits!

I would go to DC and request a face to face with "Pegasus 6", Gen. Eric Ken Shinseki, and prove once and for all that I was in fact alive.

And people want the government running their health care? hahahahaha...

When they straighten out the VA, Medicare and Medicaid, then come talk to me

Wm. Sanders, I beg to disagree on only only tolerating it in a beauracracy. I have been advised to give my bank my new address several times. I have had a credit card company ask my estate to give them the executor's information twice. And, of course, I have had two credit card companies send me dunning letters advising me to make payments for accounts that I had closed years ago - yes, I paid them off, and have the acknowledgement letters and cancelled checks to prove it. Sounds to me that there is a loop in the program, and someone at the VA can't record the non-death properly.

Stuff like this happens with private companies, too. Privately owned health insurance companies make huge "errors" all the time. etc. etc.

I have to agree with fuzzy on this one, I think this guy's identity has been stolen and he doesn't realize it. Sometimes the only bit of data these government idiots work with is the SSN, and if his has been compromised, and the thief died, that could definitely trigger this kind of mess. If I were him, I'd get with Lifelock or some similar service PRONTO!

Catsclaw81... if that is true... then what good is it to anyone if the government (SSA, VA) thinks your dead? I could be wrong on this but wouldn't the credit agencies check government roles to see if you "alive"... at least once in a while... although I would agree that it wouldn't hurt to check your credit report... because that's always screwed up.

It's not the government workers.

It's the stupid systems that some of these crony-contractors wrote for the government.

Once someone gets put into a certain status it's nearly impossible to get them out of that status.

.

Granted it will not help him in his situation with the government, but if his identity HAS been stolen, I'm sure he'd want to know to prevent all OTHER aspects of his life from being screwed up. Y'know, like having the FHA come after him for an unpaid mortgage or two, courtesy of his doppelganger. I used to work in mortgages and financing, I have seen the messes that can be created firsthand when people don't know their identity has been stolen.

This is the reason we the people dont have a say so in who gets in the white house, all electoral votes. If everyone would get there heads on straight and stand together as a nation we might be able to have a free country and live life to the fullest

Chris,

This is likely a computer glitch that will be fixed eventually but when you are talking about databases as large and as detailed as the VA's it can take a bit to track down the bug. Meanwhile automated letters still go out.

Maybe. But it has been going on for almost two years. In the mean time they keep stopping his pay and may even start collects. He probably already has a freeze on any taxes refunds due him.

You might think 2 years is not that bad, but if it was happening to you.......

What I find hard to believe is that after this happening the 1st time that the VA didn't send someone out to visit him to investigate and document his "claim". That way, when it happened again, they would be able to properly identify the person who had obviously stolen his identity the last 3 times.

Obviously we have an incompetent Federal worker at the VA, but since they can't be fired, the problem will just continue.

Maybe when they retire with a fat pension at age 55, we can get someone competent to replace them.

This is just one more of the zillions of examples of how purely stupid our Federal government is. The totally amusing part is Federal workers think they're smarter than everyone else.

Under the present federal retirement plan very few people can retire at the age of 55 unless they are law enforcement. Try working 30 years in the Border Patrol I think many are not up 30 years of that. And yes federal employees can be fired especially in law enforcement.

Interesting example of government run health care. Between all the medicare money that is stolen and the obvious great management of health care noted above, I still wonder if anyone still wants a national government run health care system.

It cracks me up to hear people complain that it's the "stupid" system's fault like it's a living organism. The system that marked him as dead had to have an action done to it to cause this. It didn't wake up one morning and decide to update his status. Gotta love end users, they keep me employeed.

fuzzybearslippers #1.11,

You are probably accurate about SSA and his SSN. The government doesn't talk about it, nor will they tell you about it, when someone(s) are using many of our SSN's, without our knowledge. This has been going on for some time now. This is one way for illegals to be able to obtain jobs in the US. It appears that our government doesn't care about it __— afterall, for those using someone elses SSN, the government is collecting money routed to SSA. Just another balloon, ready to burst.

Gordon90N... nice conspiracy theory... but where is the proof? Most illegals using fake credentials are using SSN's of DEAD (people already confirmed dead) or get and SSN for a baby that was still born or something like that... and why would any illegal try to get benefits for a dead person seeing as though illegals are here illegally and trying to stay unnoticed. Nope, your theory holds no water, try again.

82AllAmericans #1.54,

It periodically, appears in news articles. Don't believe it, doesn't bother me one bit.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/17/national/main1726397.shtml .

knock your socks off "82AllAmericans" !

stillborn babies are never issued social security numbers and identity theieves don't steal dead people's social security numbers, social security numbers become useless the same day as declaration of death, and anyone trying to use them for financial reasons, it would pop up as an invalid number. no one has any money to gain by having a person declared dead. . . i'd look to politics for the most likely suspects. recently in illinois the democrats claimed that republicans had registered massive numbers of dead voters, but careful investigation indicated that only 900 dead people had voted, 90 percent democrat. i wonder how many of the people falsely declared dead are voters and how closely it coincides with investigations of voter fraud? I wonder if the army veteran's deaths all happened right after voting? someone should do a voter-fraud-investigation-investigation to find out whether voters are experiencing a significantly higher rate of false reports of death than nonvoters, and whether a significant portion of the false reports coincided with investigations of voter fraud. .

Hi Derek:

This must feel like your in a bad movie. Hang on to your dog-tags! Hope this will be soled soon as paperwork appears and disappears from one desk to another and then to a trashcan.

I'm thrilled that you have taken the necessary steps by contacting your congressman and if he does nothing for you, I'm sure the publicity will take care of it.

My mother died just before Christmas and I wished she were still alive.

Good luck to you and keep at it. As a former drill-Sergeant I know they thought you how to keep at it..

From tthe looks of this obese guy, it wont be long till he is dead

Maybe someone in our Government was hoping he would just give up, and then they could place the money in the mosque fund used for renovating mosques in the middle east.

I bet this would never happen to a Congressman or a CEO!

Perhaps this is connected to S.S.. I only needed them to state that my child didn't qualify for funding from them for hearing aids. A year and a half I called the worker assigned to my case, then her supervisor, their supervisor ... Finally after 2 years my child aged out of the program and my state representative had the S.S. worker call and apologize to me. That and $1 will get me a cup of coffee. My G.P.s secretary has worse stories.

Well here we go again The kinks in bureaucracy and yet still understanding when they do this now it is

the persons responsibility to prove they are alive to drones (employees) who are doing the job in most cases of 4-5 people. What they attempt to accomplish is public (cattle/trash)response to whats seems absurd. This is something that is going on worldwide. (sounds like a precise plan?)

We must wake up and realize that prisons being privatized (new work force)paying employees (prisoners) 30-50 cents per hour. Courts and politicians (using crimes they keep in our faces) in bed with corporations. They use the three and done for your life opening many back up to physical imprisonment. You have people who have been trained to look for work and a society who refuses to create jobs for educated and non educated alike.

The unfortunate aspect is that most of us don't have a clue the laws these political whores (wealthy drones) who have manipulated and schemed with laws to control the poor cattle and literally do with us what they have already chosen???????

For those of you ranting about how this is an example of how terrible "Government run Health Care" would be, I can tell you first hand that the the VA system is some of the finest health care I have ever received. The Administrative side can be a pain in the butt, but then I had the same (and far worse) experiences with private insurance too.

I am just confounded at how many people are still going on about "government health care". it seems to me that after three years the reality would start to settle in, but i guess not. No one ever said anything about government run health care, especially not the current administration. "Obama-care" as the un-informed like to call it, had nothing whatsoever to do with government take over of health care, it was and is a reform of laws that health care insurance companies use, and it was recommended that the the government start a for pay insurance company, similar to medicare, but one that is paid for by consumers as AN OPTION, not a requirement, to help force other insurance companies to keep their prices competitive. If you don't like the Government OPTION then you simply buy your insurance elsewhere. Of course the Republicans blocked that, because the people in Big Pharma and Insurance who bribed those Republicans into office freaked out when the thought they may have to charge rates that are fair and competitive.

If there is one thing a Republican and their bribers/contributors can not stand it is anything fair and/or competitive.

Some people have not had the wonderful experience of paying $250 a month to BC/BS monthly in employer funded health insurance premiums, getting diagnosed with a chronic illness, spending another $100 per month in co-pays, then having BC/BS send letters stating they won't pay for required lab work, etc and so the patient still has to pay for their medical services. When all is said and done you end up with a payment plan on your ongoing treatments that is another $200 per month giving you a total cost for health care of $550 monthly which is about half your monthly income so you have to get federal assistance to buy groceries. The other option is to not pay for what BC/BS refused to pay and the taxpayers get stuck with the bill when you have to file for bankruptcy or whatever. Either way, the insurance company gets the money and the taxpayers foot the bill.

Another example of computers making errors...The flawed computer then followed up on, believed by and clung to by human bureaucratic drones.....

AfghanWarVet - Thank you for your service to this country. I can't say this enough to the men and women who put their lives on the line for the protection of my freedoms.

As far as the "public option" here is the biggest flaw in the arguement, which I believe is why it was so opposed by Republicans: the government operates at a deficit.

Plain and simple. A private company MUST, under ALL circumstances, operate at a profit. If they don't they can't sustain themselves. So a private insurance company has to charge a certain amount to cover the administrative costs as well as the medical costs. There is a floor to how much a private company can charge before they start losing money.

On the other hand, the government can operate at a deficit. They already do. Insurance costs too much through private insurance? Fine, the government will make private sector prices more "competitive" by offering a lower price. A price that is probably below operating costs. You see, the government can do this because they can lump the expense of administration into other areas, and they have the "luxury" of supplementing it by raising taxes.

Eventually, the government will price the private sector OUT of the market, because the private sector can't afford to keep up...remember, they HAVE to make a profit to remain sustainable. So, at the end of the day, government CONTINUES to grow, while the private sector virtually disappears.

Also, while the government offers a lower "ticket" rate specifically for insurance, it will be supplemented elsewhere, namely through taxes. So, you may pay a "line-item" price of $250 for your government insurance that would cost $350 in the private sector (numbers completely made up for the purpose of illustration), the $100 face-value savings will be made-up for in the muddle of your taxes....so at the end of the day, you're probably STILL paying $350 (if not more) for your insurance. You just won't see it because the "line-item" is "competitive."

Price is the amount a company charges a consumer for a good or service.

Cost is the amount a company pays to administer, manufacture, etc. that good or service.

In the private sector PRICE must be equal to or greater than COST for the company to be sustainable.

In the public sector (ie. government) the deficit between PRICE and COST can be made up elsewhere, so while COST may remain the same between the private and public sector, PRICE can be whatever you want it to be.

As an example, "Obamacare" is "budget-neutral" for ONLY the first 10 years because it pays for itself by collecting taxes for 10 years to pay for 7 years of service. So, using simplified numbers as an example, if the bill costs $10 billion for the first 10 years, the government is collecting $1 billion per year to pay for it. But the benefits of the bill don't start for 3 years after the collection begins. So, while the PRICE for the service is $1 billion per year for the first 10 years...the actual COST to administer the service will be $1.43 billion per year for 7 years ($10 billion divided by 7 years).

So, after the first 10 years are up, and the bill has to be paid for year-by-year, where do you think the $.43 billion year deficit is going to be made up?

Welcome to what I've been dealing with for the past 38 years.

First conservatives want to claim that they support the troops, then they vote to underfund the V.A, then they claim that it's the "Most inept and expensive government agency," then they claim that the anecdotal, with regards to all things Non consevative, is the rule - not the exeption. If this were a story about the V.A. paying to have a veteran's pastor fly in to sprinkle holy water on him, they'd all be trying to shout you down; telling you how benevolent and necessary it is.

One trick ponies are rolling their eyes at you.

This is one story. How many SUCCESSFUL and well handled claim stories are there?

Have a nice day.

golfarch,

I see what you are saying, but there is a slight flaw in your logic. The point is, insurance companies can reduce cost to consumers by half or more, and still remain profitable. In an extreme example, if the company's income exceeds its cost by one dollar it is profitable. the problem lies in the belief that the profit must be in the Billions, while 50or so million Americans go without health care, to support that billion dollar annual profit.

The government run option was not intended to be income neutral, but rather it should have been a profitable venture. it was not a subsidized, tax-funded venture, but rather supported 100% by the fees charged to customers. In order for Insurance companies to compete, they would have to reduce prices to an affordable level, and would be forced to reduce their profits to millions instead of billions, oh those poor poor insurance companies. And that is exactly the reason it was railed against by Republicans, the Insurance lobbyists that paid the bribes (i mean campaign contributions) to help get them into office saw their profitability would be affected, so they could not have it.

Also,The income from the government option should have went a long way to making the rest of the health care reform long term-budget neutral, this was another major factor in the Republican vendetta against the government option, they knew that by eliminating it, they could undermine the fiscal viability of the plan as a whole, just another shining example of conservatives putting their corporate friends and personal partisan politics before the people of America.

On the positive side, if the VA does decides to sue him to recover the benefits he has received "in error", all he needs to do to get the case dismissed is show up in court.

I really am sorry sir, but our computer records are very clear about your being dead. Have a nice afterlife.

Didn't this happen to Hawkeye on M.A.S.H.?

This story must simply be a fabrication... Everyone knows that the VA ceased to exist several years ago.

It reminds me of when my mother had to prove my uncle who served in WWII and recieved VA benefits for years had to prove he was born ( no birth certificate home delivery) to recieve SS death benefits. They wouldn't take his older sisters word he was born.

Reminds me of a scene from one of the humorous "Gunner Asch" stories by Hans_Helmut Kirst in which Herbert Asch, a low ranking enlisted man in the WWII German army, is told by an administrative sergeant that, according to the record, he is dead. After protesting, and being told that he cannot be issued the requested rations because the records of the German army cannot be questioned, Herbert proceeds to beat the living daylights out of the sergeant... He goes unpunished because he did it while -- according to the record -- he was dead.

The Supreme Court ruled that being innocent of a crime is no bar to you being imprisoned for that crime in a ruling that kept an innocent man in jail for a crime he did not commit. A computer says he is dead therefore who are we mere mortals to dispute what a computer tells us is the case. He will surely lose his case if it gets to the Supreme Court under its previous ruling. Garbage in garbage out does not apply when you are dealing with computers. Once during a rough spate in my life I sought assistance from the State under its then laws of general assistance. Things went along fine for about five months and then I got a letter from that office stating that information had come to its attention that I had died three months hence. My benefits were suspended, but I could appeal this within ten days. I called the office and made an appointment but as my luck would have it I found a job within two days and was unable to make the appointment. I thought no more about it until two years later when I applied for unemployment benefits that I could not collect any benefits under that name because I was dead. The people in the unemploymet office could not rationalize that my former employer had been paying unemployment taxes under my name, deducting Federal and State taxes in my name for the past two years. It was finally resolved when the name of the deceased individual had the same first name and the same last name as mine but a different initial and a different social security number than mine. I received a letter from the County Welfare Department that my case from two years previously had been reopened due to an error, but as I was by then receiving unemployment I was ineligible for any State assistance. I know the feeling.

more2bits, you can't judge the entire pool of government employees, based on a couple of boneheads.

The government apparently failed in education when it got to you. Learn some grammar.

Worst part is, there are people out there who think our govt should be even larger, and manage ever greater portions of our lives.

Pension Collectors: Sir..We need your money. You're dead. I know it seems like you aren't but you are. We need our $94,000 back please.
Man: But...I'm alive?
Pension Collectors: JUST GIVE US THE MONEY DAMMIT, WE'RE IN DEBT!

Why is it that only the military who are federal employees great but civilians are crap. You would be surprised at the amount of federal employees that are vets, all ranks , all services and that many are still in the reserves and been called back for actve duty.

Sounds like sour grapes to me.

The problem lies in the fact that their are so many back up systems involved in the compilation of veterans information that once something is entered and it gets backed up on another mainframe it takes an act of God to change that data. I use the VA medical facilities and once a year you have to update your information. It never fails that the data they pull up concerning much of the information I originally gave them pops on the screen, although I have changed it every year since then and they dutifily records the changes but it never changes on one of their manframe backup systems.

No, the don't

It's probably the bureaucratic nurse who kept insisting that my mother had dementia and denied her physical and occupational therapy after a stroke ("she doesn't need it as a dementia patient). Problem was, this person never saw my mother and would not listen to the doctors and caseworkers who said that mom had a reaction to her combination of medications that made her seem to be "fuzzy".

It is very hard to correct an erroneous computer report such as this. Once a computer declares you dead, it is almost impossible to correct. That said, it is very possible that there was another Jerry Miller who was a vet and had a similar Soc. Sec. number to this guy. The person keypunching the information may have transposed numbers.

In the 70's when computers were taking over everything JC Penny kept charging my father in laws charges to us and our payments they creditted to him. My husband was a Junior. In those days they had punch cards so Jim took it to work and punched the alphabet through it. Of course the computer kicked it out and a PERSON had to look at it and found the errors. You simply cannot talk to a computer.

Quit blaming the computers. Humans input the data into the computer. The programs are written by humans. Computer parts are made by humans or the machines humans have made to build the parts. So it all still comes back to human error - like most everything else.

Bobbi-2176434- Are you a computer. Is that why you take such offense at computers being blamed? We all understand that it is human error, but it would be easier to correct if the information was'nt backed up on multiple computers.

These days it's probably easier to change his life status to match the computer records. He should watch his back.

M*A*S*H* had an episode with the same theme, only Hawkeye didn't have a states side wife who got wealthy from the news.

This is a terrible situation and I feel greatly for this veteran. Like Me Now... Just to inform you the VA has saved my life twice so far. I would be dead if not for the VA. I have had the best care I could ask for. I was misdiagnose by an outside doctor for 1 year. When I was taken to the VA hospital near death, they found out what my issue was and immediately began working to help my issue. The incompetence of that particular VA''s location needs addressed for sure. It is also about the administrative people not the actual Doc.

Well, I must say that it seems the VA has done an excellent job at keeping this dead man alive. Submit this case to the AMA Journal.

Yeah.. but this is 4 mistakes for the same guy! I'm not screaming conspiracy here, but how many times does someone have to correct a mistake to get it right?!

They cut off his benefits every time they do it, and the last time, they tried to charge the guy for all of the errors back to when they made the initial mistake. I would say that incompetence is a good word for it.

@ Enema3 Sorry, I couldn't resist. The VA uses social security numbers as well as names. Established accounts are accessed by last name and last four digits of social security number. It's impossible for two Jerry Miller's to have the same social security number also.

Believe me, it is possible for a VA employee, or an employee anywhere, to make a mistake that cannot be easily corrected. My husband reordered a single tube of medication. A few days later, we got a FedEx package with not one tube, but 11. We didn't have to pay for the extras -- it was considered one prescription -- but we can't give it back either. So what do you do with 10 extra tubes of a medication when you probably won't need all of the first?

Yes we make mistakes, but we correct them when we're called out on them.

Then will you guarantee with your job that this won't happen a fifth time?

How about the same name and the same last four numbers of SSN, rather than the whole SSN, that's why more possibly.

Emma, Easy for you to say a simple mistake. Let someone declare you dead and dead and dead and dead again and see how you feel. On top of that, what if they took away all your benefits and you had no other means of support. Not so simple. At one time I worked for a large healthcare company in their customer service department managing V.A. claims. I understand exactly what this guy is going through. The system is so bloated that it is hard to get to the bottom of issues and resolve them. Folks who have been in the military system have coined a name for this it is called a S.N.A.F.U. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the abbreviation it means: Situation Normal All F'd Up!

Inverway this is more like F.U.B.A.R which I'm sure I don't have to translate for you. If he is standing before you talking to you give him the benefit of the doubt he is probably alive.

I'm well aware of the VA using the last name and the last four digits of one's SS numbers. So no one named Jerry Miller could have a similar last four digits? What is it was 1487 and another Jerry Miller was 1477? I'm also well aware of how easy it is for the mouse to slip when you click on a name or an SS number. But then, everyone on Newsvine knows everything about everything and has never made a mistake in their life.

Dude, Veterans don't get paid that much money, unless they have severe service related injuries. Most Veterans don't get any compensation from the VA.

Because some idiot says they are dead, or are not a vet, or their "Benefits are pending" and they are stuck in the middle! That is how they end up homeless. How crass of you to even ask that question!! You must not be a vet

Mary - I'm not, you're right. Relax. The figure shocked me, but i'm not going to apologize because I just asked a simple question and didn't deserve to be insulted for it. I don't make that much in 5 years working, so I hope you can understand my position. I think vets deserve every penny they receive and hope things work out for this gentleman.

raddave - thanks for being polite. I realized there was probably a reason that he was entitled to that sum of money, but once again, was shocked from hearing otherwise (for ex. homelessness)

a lot of our homeless veterans suffer from mental illness or addiction... PTSD, depression, anger issues... its bad.

impatient girl,

I have had the opportunity to help at least a couple of homeless vets and the hardest part is getting them to trust the VA or the government in their mental condition. The last one died homeless in Grangeville, ID and was buried there. I am pained by the inability to adequately help these individuals with small donations made through a local church for emergency aid to people who fall through the cracks of society. I feel that we as a society have let them down after they willing gave all.

@Impatient girl: How true! I thank God for the VA and the pension I'm now receiving after being homeless for awhile. If it weren't for the VA and the Medical Center in Cincinnati and all their great staff, I don't know where I'd be today. God bless every one of you!

Sadly, a lot of our homeless veterans started in the service when they were young. The military was the only life they had known as adults, so adjusting to life as a civilian is bewildering, especially with their mental issues. They don't know where to go, and like Notsosure10 said, they often don't trust anyone in authority after what they went through on the battlefield.

Dude a lot of vets like me pay to use the VA. I prefer the VA over the outside medical field. The amount the VA said he owes back is probably not for actual money he has received but for the amount of care he has received since 2010. As you probably know hospital stays and health care doctor visits can add up to large amounts in a very short time.. Since he was only in for 10years he did not receive a retirement and unless he was severely injured he doesn't receive any monetary entitlements. It doesn't say what his government pension is for, once he was discharged he could have continued working for the government in a non military capacity. We are allowed to do that and carry over our military time for retirement after 20years. We don't get paid just because we served.

But seriously- how does he make that much money? I can't believe there have been pages of discussion on unrelated healthcare, and nobody before this has brought up that insane figure. Look at his quotes- he can't even put together a coherent sentence and he makes more than most of us. Looks like I should join the service.

Morgan,

Short answer, he doesn't.

If the VA has given benefits in error, such as medical care, to the vet and family members, or education benefits, such as repayment of student loans, they can recollect all of the money, not just the cash benefit paid to the veteran directly.

Mike,

You are right - no age but from his picture he is probably a desert storm vet. A WWII vet would have to be in his 80's and this guy looks like he is in his 40's or so.

It is not "considerably more." It is comparable, and in some cases less than their civilian counterparts.

When I EOD with the DOJ in 1975 the feds were 20% belong the nationwide average salary as per the CSC for similiar jobs. Most of the jobs were occupied by double dippers WWII Korea vets.women were clerical staff and minorities very rare. It took about 2 decades to create parity with private enterprise and state LEO's.

I think a lot of the critics would like a federal job. Sound like sour grapes to me.

Define EOD, DOJ,CSC and LEO for those of us that are not familiar with these anagrams, please.

I agree with you. The problem with this Country/Government is the lackadaisical behavior of government employees and elected officials.

Most of them anyways.

Yeah unplug the computor.

Ever heard of "spell check", gelintor? You might try using it sometime, perhaps you wouldn't sound so ignorant.

Programmers do not create systems, they merely implement what the government demands they implement.

In all likelihood the system that declared him dead is not well integrated with the system that tracks the dead. So fixing the error in one system just forces time to pass by before the two systems catch up with each other and redeclare him dead. The people that use the system just haven't got a clue how to use it to fix this kind of error because they don't understand the other systems that are part of the process. The whole think is clearly automation run amok. They'll need to hire a consultant group to come in and reanalyze how all the VA systems work, retrain the VA employees to understand what they should already now, then recommend that everything be scrapped in place of a new system which will take 10 years and a billion dollars to implement. Now that's the American definition of how progress is created.

"The programmer" that created the system has probably been dead himself for years. Old code never goes away; it just gets patched by someone else. In any case, unless the system is declaring a large number of people dead it's probably a data error, not a programming error.

Maybe all government employers should have a new entry on their job applications: Have you ever been declared dead? Please explain below.

Hey, don't give OPM any ideas.

They've been in Chicago for decades!

We already have that new race of Americans. “The walking Dead” It is called the government employee. I have worked at more than a few government locations as a contractor. Every Friday is a holiday so they take off. I could say a lot more but I will just post this part.

soldiers, fbi, and cia or all government employee and iam willing to bet all of them work harder them your sorry as-. wtf you do for for a living. when i was in the army some of the hardest working people i ever saw was government employee. when i retired some of the craziest people i saw was civilian employee. i know they or some of the biggest complainers.

SFC (RET) .. Please go back to school. You are making soldiers look bad with your poor grammar. It would be understood if you were attempting to abbreviate, but it looks like an attempt at a paragraph. I would hate to see what your reports looked like. Since the Veteran's Administration hires quite a few veterans, your ineptitude has helped fortify the previous comments. If you wish to illustrate that veterans and the organizations that support soldiers and veterans, make sure your comments use proper grammar and punctuation.

By the way, I spent eight years in the military intelligence field.

Probably your typing drove them crazy. I'm really not sure what you are saying. I think you are saying that "civilian employee" (your words - 'though I'm assuming it should have been plural) are some of the craziest people and biggest complainers. But is that civilian gov't employees or just regular civilians? Your syntax, punctuation, verb tense, etc. are horrific.

English is becoming a forgotten language. Reading some of these posts really points up that fact.

SFC, one thing for sure is civilian workers usually spell better than Government workers!

SFC (RET)- My father held the same rank as you, and he would be ashamed to admit you were a representative of that rank. He would have told you that people with your abilities are what create most of the military red tape. Try writing a coherent sentence and maybe you will get some respect.

They didn't just say "You're dead, no check".

They said, "You're dead. Send us money!"

Maybe the VA and USPS are teaming up and figure if a lot of dead people buy stamps they'll get a lot of revenue.

BAMBAM123: SSA can not get ANYTHING right!

I have been fighting with SSA since I turned 65 (I'm now 72 and a half) to get medicare part B. I finally got a letter telling me that I will be getting my part B medicare card in about a month.

I'll believe it when I see it.