 |
|
|
|
|
|
Washington, Oct. 20, 2005--The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. is urging the Department of Veterans Affairs to stop its review of 72,000 cases of severely disabled veterans who were previously approved for compensation and health care between 1999 and 2004. If the VA fails to cancel this review, then the VFW calls on the U.S. Congress to support Senate language in the 2006 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Bill to prohibit funding for the effort.
The review was initiated after the VA Inspector General alleged that veterans suffering from PTSD tend to avoid treatment once they begin receiving disability compensation, even though a three-year study conducted by VA doctors concluded the exact opposite, and that stressful events were not properly documented in a smaller sampling of 2,100 cases. A subsequent examination of the sampling revealed that 90 percent of them did have the proper documentation.
"Reviewing the records of 72,000 totally disabled veterans for no purpose other than to attempt to reduce their compensation benefits is a disservice to those who continue to bear the costs of war every day," said the VFW's commander-in-chief, Jim Mueller, a Vietnam veteran from O'Fallon, Mo.
The case review will not help those veterans whose PTSD claims were denied or who are being under-compensated, nor will it address the VA's claims adjudication error rate of 14 percent. With no additional manpower being hired, the sudden surge in workload will also significantly aggravate the VA's already unacceptable backlog of more than 755,000 claims that are currently on appeal or are awaiting adjudication for compensation and pension or educational benefits -- a backlog that is almost 67,000 claims higher than last year and is certain to grow larger as more veterans return from the war and file for benefits.
The national commander is now calling on VFW members to urge their U.S. representatives to support the Senate's language and end the PTSD review. (Members are encouraged to use the VFW Legislative Alert System.)
"This review goes against the VA's own motto to 'care for him who has borne the battle,' and it will also discourage returning veterans from going to the VA for help," said Mueller. "America's 25 million veterans, 2.2 million uniformed servicemembers, and their families deserve better."
> back to news
|
|
|
|
