VA: A Bureaucratic Mess, DeJa-Vu

We've seen this before, especially us "Nam Vets as we returned, tens of thousands, and those needing and seeking the care from their service in a war became backlogged, or just plain denied. Many of us veterans were trying to be heard, over the rising drum beat of war, of what was coming especially if invading a country that did absolutely nothing to deserve that invasion and occupation. We were one of those groups politically labeled, by our hired administration, as a 'focus group' that they didn't listen to. But it wasn't only the administration not listening it was the greater majority of this country, they don't mind spending billions upon billions upon billions........... on the war machine and waging war with same, but when the soldiers start returning and the system gets overwhelmed the country doesn't want to hear anything about that, or if they hear they most certainly don't want to pay..

The Veterans Administration has really never been perfect, nothing is, but in a once supposedly rich society it always could have been better, much better. During the years of basically no conflicts it ran fairly well but than the country got what it deserved, for eight years a totally incompetent administration and congress, the proof has been witnessed over and over, more than willing to show the countries might and in doing so, with the drums of war beating louder and louder, never once mentioning nor acting on enhancing the agencies that will be taking care of not only the active wounded but the veterans of two invasions and occupations even as the problems started surfacing. It wasn't only the political leadership but also the country as a whole, No Sacrifice!

Under the leadership of the previous Commander in Chief of the Military Forces, the President, with a willing Congress and the Country, more and more is coming to the surface of the total incompetence and apathy!

Veterans Department A Bureaucratic Mess

CBS Evening News: Missing Files, Unopened Mail, Deliberately Misdated Forms Revealed By Inspector General

Iraq War veteran Jason Scott is one of thousands who have endured disastrously poor health care coverage from the Veterans Affairs Administration, which lost his health files, and, according to an inspector general's audit, is sitting on 16,000 pieces of unopened mail in a single office.

All too often, our veterans feel like they're David battling Goliath, when dealing with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

In the latest outrage involving the VA, it turns out thousands of claims for benefits weren't even opened, reports CBS News correspondent David Martin.

Jason Scott is one of nearly 350,000 veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan who depend on the VA for health care. When CBS News met him two years ago, he was already worrying about what would happen after he was discharged from the army.


Watch CBS Videos Online

Joint Hearing of Oversight and DAMA Subcommittees “Document Tampering and Mishandling at the VBA”

DAV calls for prosecution of VA employees who fraudulently withhold benefits or destroy records: "The message must be clear...you will go to jail."

House Subcommittees Probe Mishandling of Veterans Disability Claims

“In the last few months, we have tracked a problem brought to our attention with misdating of claims information at the New York Regional Office,” said Chairman Hall. “This situation was a clear attempt by managers to fudge performance numbers. The incorrectly entered data made the regional office look like it took fewer days to process claims than in actuality – yet still beyond acceptable levels to me, or to most veterans. Although veterans were not directly harmed by this practice, since the effective date of a claim was logged correctly in a different system, perpetrators of this kind of dishonestly impact the entire veteran community’s ability to trust the institution charged with its welfare. This is shameful!”

National Council on Disability Says More Needs to be Done for Service Members and Veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury

WASHINGTON—The National Council on Disability (NCD) today released a report recommending changes in the continuum of health care provided to service members and veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).

The report, Invisible Wounds: Serving Service Members and Veterans with PTSD and TBI - doc, addresses those concerns and makes 10 recommendations.

Unopened claims letters hidden at VA offices

A new report about Veterans Affairs Department employees squirreling away tens of thousands of unopened letters related to benefits claims is sparking fresh concerns that veterans and their survivors are being cheated out of money.
VA officials acknowledge further credibility problems based on a new report of a previously undisclosed 2007 incident in which workers at a Detroit regional office turned in 16,000 pieces of unprocessed mail and 717 documents turned up in New York in December during amnesty periods in which workers were promised no one would be penalized.
“Veterans have lost trust in VA,” Michael Walcoff, VA’s under secretary for benefits, said at a hearing Tuesday. “That loss of trust is understandable, and winning back that trust will not be easy.”

Kathryn Witt of Gold Star Wives of America said survivors trying to receive VA benefits have long complained about problems getting accurate information and missing claims. “When they call to check on the status of the claim, they are often told that the VA has no record of their claim and that they should resubmit their paperwork,” she said.
In one case, a woman claimed she had to submit paperwork to VA three times to prove she was married and had three children, Witt said.
And having to resubmit the same claim, she added, does nothing to reduce the backlog that already forces survivors to wait six to nine months for simple claims to be approved.
The Congressional Hearing Yesterday, brings up the video player.

Wartime brain injuries could reach 360,000

About 20 percent of troops suffer head trauma, Defense Dept. doctors say

WASHINGTON - The number of U.S. troops who have suffered wartime brain injuries may be as high as 360,000 and could cast more attention on such injuries among civilians, Defense Department doctors said Wednesday.

The estimate of the number injured - the vast majority of them suffering concussions - represents 20 percent of the roughly 1.8 million men and women who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, where blast injuries are common from roadside bombs and other explosives, the doctors said.