NYT: Veterans Face Vast Inequities Over Disability

[maddezmom]

~snip~

Veterans face serious inequities in compensation for disabilities depending on where they live and whether they were on active duty or were members of the National Guard or the Reserve, an analysis by The New York Times has found.

Those factors determine whether some soldiers wait nearly twice as long to get benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs as others, and collect less money, according to agency figures.

“The V.A. is supposed to provide uniform and fair treatment to all,” said Steve Robinson, the director of veteran affairs for Veterans for America. “Instead, the places and services giving the most are getting the least.”

The agency said it was trying to ease the backlog and address disparities by hiring more claims workers, authorizing more overtime and adding claims development centers.

more:http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/09/washington/09veterans.html?ref=todayspaper

[ShockediSay]

1. "The problem starts with money...."

"...The administration uses carefully cooked numbers to pretend that it has been generous to veterans, but the historical data contained in its own budget for fiscal 2008 tell the true story. The quagmire in Iraq has vastly increased the demands on the Veterans Administration, yet since 2001 federal outlays for veterans’ medical care have actually lagged behind overall national health spending.

To save money, the administration has been charging veterans for many formerly free services. For example, in 2005 Salon reported that some Walter Reed patients were forced to pay hundreds of dollars each month for their meals.

More important, the administration has broken longstanding promises of lifetime health care to those who defend our nation...."

Valor and Squalor
Times Select
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: March 5, 2007
http://select.nytimes.com/2007/03/05/opinion/05krugman.html?n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fOrganizations%2fV%2fVeterans%20Affairs%20Department

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As I gather these problems, as reported by Salon over the years, are by no means foused in Walter Reed, but are systemic throughout the Veterans Administration health care organization.

My father, a WWII Vet, had his benefits cut within the last couple of years.