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Subscribe to RSSThe average wait time for wounded veterans to see their disability-compensation claims completed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has now grown to 262 days — or nearly nine months — according to a federal website and three watchdog groups.
VA Secretary Eric Shinseki earlier this year vowed to shrink the so-called “VA backlog” to 125 days by 2015 as the agency finishes transitioning to a digital processing system.
Despite that promise, the claims-completion gap has expanded steadily during the past year. The VA’s benefits-aspiration web page shows the average claims-processing time was 223 days in October 2011, 246 days in April 2012, 257 days in July and 260 days in August. In fact, the backlog has doubled in size since 2008, congressional members report.
The agency called its widening claims backlog "unacceptable" but said it is taking steps to try to fix that problem.
"VA has completed a record-breaking 1 million claims per year the last three fiscal years. Yet too many Veterans have to wait too long to get the benefits they have earned and deserve," the VA said in a statement emailed to NBC News on Tuesday. "That’s unacceptable, and VA is building a strong foundation for a paperless, digital disability claims system — a lasting solution that will transform how we operate and eliminate the claims backlog. This paperless technology is being deployed to 18 regional offices in 2012, and it will reach all 56 VA Regional Offices by the end of 2013 to help deliver faster, better decisions for Veterans."
The move to paperless processing "will ensure we achieve" Shinseki's 2015 goal, the VA said, adding: "Fixing this decades-old problem isn’t easy, but we have an aggressive plan that is on track to succeed." In 2011, VA paid nearly $5 billion in compensation to wounded veterans, it reported.
The VA cited four reasons for what it calls "claims growth":
- Increased demand — "the result of 10 years of war" and due to many veterans returning "with severe, complex injuries";
- in 2010, Shinseki decided the VA claims system should include the recognition of medical conditions related to Agent Orange exposure (240,000 claims were processed in 2011 for such exposure) as well as "Gulf War Illness";
- approximately 45 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are currently seeking compensation for injuries related to their service — and that marks a "historical high" for the VA following wars. Those claims include an average of eight to 10 medical issues per claim, more than double the Vietnam era;
- the VA says it is doing "better outreach" to veterans "to educate them about the benefits they’ve earned."
Still, the thickening backlog drew fire from veterans advocates and from Capitol Hill.
“These delays are indicative of a out-dated system," said Tom Tarantino, chief policy officer of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, a nonpartisan, nonprofit group representing more than 200,000 veterans.
"The Department of Veterans Affairs promises year after year that they'll reduce the backlog. Instead, it's gotten worse. While the reasons for this are complicated, the fact remains that these continuous delays greatly impact the daily lives of veterans who are waiting for care and benefits," Tarantino said. "Veterans deserve better.”
Last Wednesday, during a contentious hearing examining the VA’s spending and larger accountability, Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, told VA Deputy Secretary Scott Gould “the truce is over” between Congress and Gould's agency. Miller became visibly frustrated during the hearing after Gould repeatedly said he could not or would not answer specific questions from committee members on spending and the agency’s internal discipline over admitted ethical missteps.
Told Tuesday that the claims backlog has nearly reached nine-months long on average, Miller said the wait time is another example of VA’s failure to keep its promises to veterans.
Click here for more military-related coverage from NBC News.
“VA continues to tout its disability claims transformation plan to clean up the backlog by 2015. Without any details of the plan ... which continues to increase on a daily basis — and which has doubled in the past four years — I remain highly suspicious of any plan that claims to be able to reverse the problems in this process overnight,” Miller said in an email to NBC News.
“As Congress has said for many years now, VA needs to look at the root of the problem of the backlog — training, management, oversight, and technology — and work forward from those four points to address this problem,” Miller added. “Quick fixes will no longer work, and will continue to make veterans wait months, sometimes years, on end for an answer.”
While the VA said its pilot paperless program has cut average processing times from 250 days to 119 days at those test offices, veterans in seven other cities were still waiting — as of October — longer than one year, on average, for their disability claims to complete their trek through the VA pipeline, according to the VA’s online chart.
Those cities — and the average claims-processing times in their VA regional offices are: Waco, Texas (418 days), Los Angeles (394 days), New York City (380 days), Chicago (378 days), Oakland (377 days), Indianapolis (373 days), and Phoenix (365 days), according to the VA site.
In October 2011, no veterans were waiting more than a year, on average, for their disability claims to be processed, the VA site shows. In Waco, the average wait during October 2011 was 309 days. That means the backlog has increased in that city by 35 percent during the past year.
“Despite promises of an improvement, veterans wait about three months longer than they did in May 2011. In fact, the VA's own numbers show the average wait time veterans face has gotten longer every single month over the last year and a half,” said Aaron Glantz, a reporter with the Berkeley, Calif.-based Center for Investigative Reporting.
The group keeps its own map, titled "Waiting For Help," which shows the backlog's highs and lows in individual cities. According to CIR's tally, 821,804 veterans now are waiting for their claims to be processed by the VA. That's actually a scrap of good news: it marks a slight decrease from in the number in that queue as compared to Aug. 25, when 899,000 veterans had compensation and pension claims pending.
CIR describes itself as “the nation's oldest nonprofit investigative reporting organization.” Glantz acknowledges a personal interest in the backlog that stems from his years (2003 to 2005) working as a journalist in Iraq.
“Ever since I returned home, I've been deluged with phone calls and emails from veterans who say they returned home from the war to face a battle with the government for the benefits they earned,” Glantz said. “I've seen veterans fall into suicide and homelessness while they wait.
“Today, I received a call from a female Iraq war veteran who is living on the street with her 20-month daughter,” he added. “She has been waiting for two years for the VA to rule on her disability claim for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.”
In a related development, a subcommittee of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs held an oversight hearing Tuesday to examine what it dubbed the tasks of “wading through warehouses of paper” and “the challenges of transitioning veterans records to paperless technology.”
During the hearing, Rep. Jon Runyan, R-N.J., chairman of the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, called for tighter collaboration between the VA and the U.S. Department of Defense. Runyan said improving those communications would smooth the transition for veterans now exiting the armed services.
“VA has a statutory duty to assist a claimant in obtaining certain records. Accordingly, it is important that we work together to ensure that VA is able to communicate both effectively and efficiently with both the National Archives and DoD to comply with this duty,” Runyan said.
The subcommittee added in a news release after the hearing: “It was recently brought to light that DoD’s poor record-keeping habits have in turn had a negative impact on VA’s ability to fully carry out its responsibility to assist veterans in obtaining records from their time in service.”
Said Runyan: “Issues pertaining to the thoroughness of DoD’s record keeping have recently received media attention in light of evidence that some units were not properly documenting in-service events, such as combat-related incidents. This has been a source of significant frustration for many veterans who file claims with VA and are dependent on such documentation to substantiate their claims.”
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- Double amputee to potential congressional foes: 'Bring it'
- Hearing loss the most prevalent injury among returning veterans
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My fiance is a Vietnam veteran who received a medical discharge with a 20% disability rating in 1975. 36 years, 4 back surgeries and 1 epidural steroid injection (the kind that people are now contracting viral meningitis from), his right leg is almost completely paralyzed and he is in constant pain. He applied in March of 2011 to have his disability rating re-evaluated to 100% and is STILL WAITING. This is in spite of getting our congressional representative involved, who met with the Director of the Oakland Regional office on his and 8 or 9 other Vietnam veterans' behalf. Those cases were tranferred to the Phoeniz Regional office in August of this year and our congresswoman was assured that these claims would receive "expedited" handling and it would only be another 3 - 4 months to get them resolved. So here we are 4 months later and STILL NO WORD. He has now been waiting for 21 months while trying to live on $251 per month and this is COMPLETELY INEXCUSABLE.
In my opinion the people at the VA who handle the processing of claims are the most inept group of people on the planet and should all be fired. Oh wait, I'm sure that would only add another year to the time it takes to process claims so never mind. I know the long wait time is not unique to Vietnam vets but I'm starting to believe that the VA people have decided that if they just drag their heels long enough a fair amount of these older vets will pass away and then the VA won't owe them a thing. It's disgusting that this kind of mistreatment is being perpetrated on citizens who honorably served and defended their country by their own government. The American people should be outraged!
I am a Vietnam Vet.
I have been waiting over 4 YEARS for the VA to process my disability claim for hearing loss from my Ships engineroom as a Machinists Mate.
I called just this week.
You cant get them to answer the national claims "hotline" phone 95% of the time.
When they did call me back, they told me it could be another 5 months.
This is the reality of dealing with the VA in disability claims or medical service:
It usually takes me a month just to see a specialist at the Dayton, Ohio Hospital
we are outraged. all we can do is keep fighting.
As far as I know Shelli, the only way for him to get a 100% rating is if is entire spine is ankylosed. Is that what you're telling us? Your boyfriend's back is completely ankylosed? I doubt it.
Alex,
You haven't seen his case file, so you should shut your mouth. That's the problem with you people who are in the "system" who probably haven't served in the armed forces a day in your life. If anyone received a "handout", it's people like you who sit on the sideline while others stand up and protect your rights and freedom. If anyone is receiving "handouts" it's people like you.
You probably don't even know what "ankylosis" means (go ahead and Google it) and are misinterpreting the ECF regulations, running your mouth, and haven't a clue as to what you are talking about. I bet you're one of those dummies who writes the denial letters that I get to pick apart in my appeal letters and make look extremely stupid and uninformed on the VA's laws, which you claim to know. Maybe you need refresher training or should not work for the VA. The VA needs to start testing these dopes periodically on VA regulations and weed out the dummies like Alex.
To all of my fellow veterans... learn the VA's law's and read the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations which gives guidance on conditions and applicable ratings so that you, you doctor, and your Rep can craft your case so that people like Alex can't pull the wool over your eyes.
you can also Google VA court cases with similar conditions to yours to see how the case was crafted and what the outcome was so that you are prepared. Information is power.
Gee. I can't wait for the same government to take over my healthcare.
You know with the fiscal cliff the Economy, If they would weed out 75% of the Fraudulent Claims it would speed things up considerably.
Gee. I had my va file transfered from Iowa to Phoenix regional office 1OCT2007, over 5 years later and 4 appeals, these clowns in Phoenix refuse to help me and other veterans complete our training here, they say that the va in PHX does not pay for flight training here, Well, it worked Great in Iowa to get my commercial & Instrument ratings and as for the wait for a disability claim, Mine has been over 4 years and counting, and when I went to their office in the past, I would see about 8 people standing around shooting the breeze, a waste of tax payers money and no wonder there is a HUGE backlog of cases, Ya can't fix stupid !! Fire them ALL and start over with NEW personnel that will do the Job !
Fire them all and start over...that's really smart Captain!
Damn right, Butch !!
Here's a thought:
the next time a president orders soldiers off to war, hold off on waving those flags...
and ask yourself if the war is necessary for the defense of the country. Or, is it to change
a government or grab some oil.
The method of "Catching Up" is to deny the first application within a year. But as a VET denied in the first year and now waiting again. We have learned not to expect much from the politico's who avoided the draft!!
Process the VA claims at the convention. maybe about four would get through the system.
The VA does not care about us veterans. Here is my little story: My nurse practiioner ( note: no doctor at our clinic) required me to take a drug urine test to verify if I was taking my meds. came back false neg after 4 test . I was ask , well what are you doing with your meds. I take it every evening. Meds immedately stopped for two months. I wanted answers and requested a higher grade drug test, her answer -we will not do that -cost money. When I mentioned pain clinic. I magically got my meds back. They do just enough to get by.
I initially filed my claim using the online Fast Track claims system which is supposed to respond in 30 days. Like all things military they apparently lost it. After about 3 months I sent an email asking what my status was. They said "what claim". Once they found my claim and started processing it only took another 90 days or so. Once it was approved they paid retroactively to the day I submitted the claim.
I don't have any complaints. I think they did a great job. They even noticed something in my medical records that I was able to add to claim. I wish all veterans would get the service I've gotten.
I am a vet of Vietnam. My father was a vet of WWII. We had two sons who fought in the Iraq War with a son-in-law who served later tours in both Afghanistan and Iraq. As a father, vet, and teacher, I have a lot of love for this nation. However, one of my sons returned with diagnosed, and yet to be diagnosed, physical injuries. I am ashamed of the way he has been treated by the VA. The VA has done everything possible to find reasons to deny his claim, have pushed pills for injuries rather than seeking causes for illnesses, and stated things in his file which were misrepresented or untrue. At one time, I encouraged my students to consider military duty. This is no longer the case. Politicians are quick to applaud our warriors in public and forget them when the press lights go off.
45% of OIF and OEF with and average of 8 to 10 claims. Right! Christ, I was in the infantry, got shot, flipped a truck going 65mph landed on the hardball on my back and couldn't come up with that much BS. The most serious should be handled with priority, then the other tiers and then the BSer's which sadly and obviously are out in force. Combat wounds first...Just because a vet went to iraq and is on the street may not have a damn thing to do with their service..it may...but most people really didn't have it that bad. I hope the ones who truly deserve it get theirs first.
A lot of people have had really good comments and suggestion. There are others though who obviously are not vets or family members of vets. Those in the latter category have no idea what we deal with on a daily basis. You don't see the grown man waking up sweating and shaking in the middle of the night from the nightmares leftover from 25+ years ago. You don't see the man who can barely walk because his knee is busted out but they won't replace it because they claim he is too young. You don't see the man who can't play baseball with his grandson because of a bad shoulder surgery by VA doctors that left him unable to rotate his arm properly. You don't see the man who cannot feel his feet or hands because of neuropathy caused by who knows what he was exposed to in Asia in the late 70's. You don't have to deal with any of this so please don't pass judgement on what you think should or should not be done. Until you have lived the life the majority of responders on this have lived, you have no right to judge.
You don't see the young man we saw stumble in out of the -2 degree weather into Taco Bell, homeless and scared just trying to warm up a bit before he went back out in our harsh Alaska winter. Yes, he too was a service connected disabled vet but the system failed him too.
I cannot begin to tell you the nightmares of dealing with the system and having to deal with the PTSD and physical ailments that my Vietnam era husband deals with on a daily basis. The government has failed its Veterans and the thought that they want to take over everyone's healthcare is terrifying at best. Don't give me the rhetoric that Medicare is so great. It is only good because you have never had real insurance and a real job. It is only good because it is free and you don't have to work. Socialized medicine does not work. I have worked with many Canadians over the years who came to the US for a better life and better medical care.
January 2011 we filed for a 100% upgrade. We are still waiting and right now they have the date of next October as the probable completion date. This is an unacceptable way to treat men and women who have fought to keep our freedoms intact.
i gotta tell you i smell an academy award actor here,was your boyfriend in vietnam?also neuropathy from LATE 1970's?late 60's/early 70's,i know about the neuropathy,i have had it coming on strong for the last few months,i worked on and flew on c-123's in all of68 and half of 69 actually came home aug.69 the planes were broke down and used for transports after they used them to spray herbicides.yeah it was a hell of a war making people rich.
The corporations and businesses that got rich off the war should be taxed out the wazoo to help these vets.
It's an absolute disgrace. Still don't know why anyone would enlist, risk their lives and health for a system that doesn't work or that completely disregards the truth in determining their benefit eligibility. The system is designed to stall the process from beginning to end. The staff and the doctors being hired to work at the VA are the bottom of the barrel or they are just simply frustrated over how poor the system works and stop caring. My father was a vet and the VA hospital in Philadelphia was a pigsty and we often had to deal with staff their that were so educationally challenged they would just stare at you when you asked a simple question like you were asking them to jump off a bridge. It took three years for Dad to get an increase to 100% disability in his 70s. Guess they were hoping he'd die before they had to pay. Shameful!
I am a Vietnam Vet.
I have been waiting over 4 YEARS for the VA to process my disability claim for hearing loss from my Ships engineroom as a Machinists Mate.
I called just this week.
You cant get them to answer the national claims "hotline" phone 95% of the time.
When they did call me back, they told me it could be another 5 months.
This is the reality of dealing with the VA in disability claims or medical service:
It usually takes me a month just to see a specialist at the Dayton, Ohio Hospital
Well there you go, folks. He wants money because it was noisy where he worked. And he is a "Vietnam Vet."
Ever walked the hills, pal?
Bart, there's no such thing as delayed hearing loss. Did you have hearing loss in service? If not, your hearing loss is NOT related to noise exposure in service.
Come on GOP... this was was not going to cost us anything and we'd pay for it with oil... doesn't look that wy does it?.... one of my friends who is a military doctor tells me that the injuries out of this war are far worse in that they can save critically injured troops.....
i worked for the v.a. there is no excuse except for incompidence, lazyness , and people that dont do there job. the only way to really fix the problem is to fire them all and start over. most people that work for the v.a. wernt even in the service. all they are really interested in is to do the least amount possible,and to build paychecks. the only way to handle the v.a. is to stay on them and bitch everyday about how messed up they are. dont ever give up, that is what they want you to do>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
My husband is a Vietnam veteran who was diagnosed with throat cancer in May 2011 at a VA healthcare facility. He received radiation and chemo for 7 weeks and in Sept 2011 he was declared cancer free. In May 2012 we were advised to file a claim for Agent Orange benefits by our local American Legion post which we did. In July we were told the cancer had returned and surgery was the only option. He had a complete removal of vocal chords larynx etc in Oct and now breathes and speaks through an opening in his throat. The day after his surgery I came home and found a determination letter granting him 100% service connected disability. The whole process took about 5 months. Even the local representative was amazed how quickly it came through. The only explanation she had was that it was pretty black and white. Throat cancer is on the Agent Orange presumptive list. He was "boots down" in Vietnam for 13 months as an engineer and all his treatment was at VA facilities so his records were easily accessible to them. We are truly blessed that this happened as quickly as it did. The original time frame was 12 to 18 months. I wish all of you the best of luck with your claims. If you havent contacted a service organization to help with your claim you might want to consider that. And contact the VA yourself. There is an e-mail link on the VA website and I did get responses when I emailed them directly.
So docsdaughter, did your dad smoke? There is a much higher chance of his getting throat cancer from smoking than Agent Orange.
are you a doctor or a veteran?if not STFU.
mikevietvet, give me a break. Let me pick a name that lets everyone know I am a Vietnam veteran because you all owe me the world! Don't tell me to STFU. I am so sick and tired of watching you all expect handouts. Get a job.
To DisabledVet/68, You expressed your experience with the VA in a clear, concise manner, and I thank you. It is so unfair the way that system operates and they continue to think that are dealing with a group of dummies. You also gave some important steps in completing and researching the issues involved in getting the claim process, I hope those who viewed it take your advise. Good job!
My husband has been waiting almost 3 years for his answer,and when we do finally reach someone at the Main Office,His folder magically "jumps" into a file drawer not to resurface for a few months. So please make sure you are following up with V.A. what they need to do is Hire some of these Vets that are coming out of the Service to Go thru these files and make sure that everything needed to process quickly is in these files. help Weed out some of the Older files and move them to the top. I also do not agree with the process of taking Older Vets files and pushing them out behind the "NEW" vets that are just coming back from war or out of the Service. The Older Vets are not any less IMPORTANT than the New ones coming out, Maybe have 2 different Groups work on these files. I am willing to volunteer my time to work on these as well.
When you pay people to be sick you have a lot of sick people. We have a bunch of payable diseases- ADD, PTSD, others, and let's not forget ED.
The VA has become another minority-employment enterprise like the Post Office.
Look at the casualty rates from Vietnam and the modern wars and compare.
It pays to be sick or blow enough smoke to convince someone that you are sick, compensatible.
When you pay people to be sick you have a lot of sick people? Let me tell you PTSD IS a real issue. Have you ever watched as they dropped a bomb from an aircraft you guided on an unsuspecting civilian peasant because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time? Have you ever watched helplessly as a soldier jumped from an 8 story building and then had to scrape his blood, bone fragments and guts up off the street. Have you ever gotten stranded by your employer in the middle of nowhere at 19 years old and then forgotten just be told when you returned you were never there. That's after having to lead 15 other men to safety over a 10 day period.
Don't EVER judget the veterans for what you THINK happened because you are 100% wrong! My husband wakes up nearly every night sweating and trembling from these events and others from when he was in the military. If a person startles him he comes out fighting because he still, after 25+ years, thinks he is under attack. He never sits with his back to the door when we go out to eat and he is ALWAYS on guard when we are away from the house.
You are one ignorant work for sure John Howell....As I said earlier get off this thread because you don't know your arse from a hole in the ground.
Im sure a lot of these guys would be happy to have their health back and not be battling the system. obviously you have not had a friend or relative in this situation, My husband has been to hell and back twice. Once 40 years ago in Vietnam and again through all the cancer treatment. But you think he just wants to be paid to be sick. You are an ungrateful ignorant person. These guys put their lives on the line so you can speak your mind and this is how they are repaid. 40 years ago he was spit on in the airport in Seattle when he came home and 40 years later hes still being spit on.
I was there, Sweetheart. On the ground and in the woods. No, I never saw the bombs dropped from inside aircraft, just saw them fall in 1967. USMC.
I am not ignorant but I know better than you that PTSD is a mother's milk.
Why don't you try beating your drum about Erectile Disfunction?
Just mother's mil? Then explain the nightly nightmares leeftover from Vietnam. Explain the fact that he nearly punched someone one day because they snuck up on him as a joke. You can't fake the nightmares or the panic in certain situations. And DO NOT EVER call me your sweetheart because only ONE man has that right and it certainly IS NOT you! I am a lady and appreciate a door opened for me by a gentleman but I don't tolerate sexist pigs like you.
It never ceases to amaze me of how many comments don’t apply to the subject and how many of the commentators are no nothing, mean spirited jerks. “Malingers?” “ Veterans waiting on a handout?” Drop dead!
I have been a disabled vet for 42 years now and for those who think this is about health care, it isn’t. It is about being compensated for wounds, injuries and other conditions caused by or aggravated by our service. In actuality, it is like a worker’s compensation insurance program-only with work comp; you get paid a lot quicker.
First off, you better hope to God that you have a Veteran’s Service Officer who is truly an advocate and not just a damn glorified clerk when you file your claim. Then, have to pray that you have a VA doctor(s) who will stick their neck out and support your contention with a nexus statement, or you have the resources to get an outside medical specialist to bolster your case. And, then you have to pray that you have a C&P examiner who is; having a good day, doesn’t see you as the enemy and isn’t incompetent. Then you cross your fingers and hope that the rater who is handling your case isn’t brand new or waiting for retirement or going through a divorce and can make good decisions. The VA says that they only wrongly deny benefits 16% of the time-but in the real world it is truly more like 25-30%. How would like to be treated by a doctor that killed either 16% or 25% of their patients? Welcome home! So a veteran waits around for an average of 16 months to get an initial answer. If the answer is no or if the award is less than what was reasonable to expect, the veteran has one year to file a notice of disagreement or submit additional evidence. From the time you submit a NOD and go the Board of Veterans Appeals it is another 14 to 24 months. If you are denied at this level then you can take your case to Veterans Claim Court which then takes another 14 to 24 months for your case to be heard.
Waiting on a handout? Not hardly. If an employer’s worker’s compensation insurance company ever even tried to screw an employee out of a legitimate claim they would be sued for breach of contract or bad faith and the punitive damages awarded would be on top of the claim award. A veteran can only get a retroactive award back to the date of the initial claim. So, let’s say that a vet finally gets awarded a rating of 20% five years later. This is a monthly benefit of $252, which over 5 years would amount to a payment of $15,180.00 without any interest or even a, “we’re sorry we kept you waiting.” So, the VA can lose stuff, drag their feet, misrepresent the facts or pretty much do whatever else they damn well please without any real consequences. Oh, I forgot, they report to Congress
My question for you crazy old man is you said they pay back to the inital claim date. Is it back to 1990 when he received 30% or back to January 2011 when he applied to be raised to 100%, or back to one of the many other times he has applied to be increased and denied?
They report to Congress? No wonder claims take so long...and people are dumb enough to keep re-electing the dead ----- in Congress!
Yes, waiting for a handout. I see it every single day. Don't tell me it's not true. You're not in the system watching it.
Alex, you're the reason we can't get a fair and impartial judgement. You're so biased that you wouldn't recognize a truly wounded vet if you saw one. My husband's knee cap was shattered when he side stepped another marine getting out of a helicopter. His shoulder was separated doing compression push ups and misdiagnosed by Army doctors for more than six years. His neuropathy is probably caused by agent orange from where he was cleaning aircraft and vehicles that were returning to Okinawa from the theatre but because he wasn't in the theatre he supposedly wasn't ever exposed to it...yeah right!
He doesn't want a handout. He wants what he deserves for giving 16 years to the system. A system that failed him when they claimed he could no longer serve because of his knee but he was still running faster than anyone else in his platoon. If given the choice he would much rather be healthy and able to work but he can no longer do physical work. Most days he can barely walk because of the pain in his back and kneew from carry 100 pound rucks for hours on end for 16 years and wearing military police belts, which weigh about 30 pounds, when he wasn't carrying the rucksack.
Please get out of the VA so that deserving veterans CAN get what they need to survive.
Right on Sunny Side up!! Alex needs to quit his job because he's obviously prejudiced against the people he is supposed to help and that's as wrong as it could possibly be. Someone who hates on injured and disabled veterans as much as he does has no business working at the VA. The only thing one can say to a person such as this is Karma's a bitch.
He wants what he deserves. Yes, I read that all the time.
if your an illegal, they meet you at the border with money. Welfare slugs drive new escalades and get everything paid for , BUT a Veteran, one who fought for their country come a distant third. They lost my paperwork 3 times , Its took 3 yrs to finally get mine. Friends in my group took longer some over 5 yrs to get thier claim settled. Try and get a doctors appt, takes 6 Mos to a yr . A disabled USMC vietnam combat vet
Maybe if the people working on these claims were paid a Bonus for performance ,they would process more??
GEN(R) Shinseki need to resign his position or be relieved for cause. It's disgraceful that takes almost 300 days (on average) to process disability claims. I'll bet it didn't take nearly that long to process his disability claim when he retired.
If we can't even take care of our veterans then how is Obama Care going to work? Keep that in mind while you get a big spoon full of "I can't believe it's not communism" Wealth Spread.