Veterans Suffer as VA Delays Disability Claims

[Monkeyman]

More then a quarter of military veterans cases before the Department of Veterans affairs wait six months or longer for the agency's decision, creating financial hardships for them and their families, veterans advocates say.

Joe Violante , national legislative director for DAV ,said even though the compensation isn't that much, the delay in getting sometimes leads to bankruptcy and homelessness.

"Some veterans have died while their claims ... were unresolved for years at VA ," Violante told the Senate Affairs Committee, which is chaired by Sen. Daniel Akaka , D - Hawaii

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dil/article?AID=/20070308/NEWS01/703080371/1001/NEWS

[TomInTib]

1. They just keep piling it on, don't they?

Bastards

[Monkeyman]

2. I am trying to get the numbers of those who died waiting

[fed-up]

3. ABC: VA Chief shelved an inexpensive solution for wounded Vets from falling through the cracks

from an earlier thread today

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/03/update_hearing_.html

Update: Hearing Highlights Vet Tracking Woes

March 08, 2007 3:30 PM
Justin Rood Reports:

The Department of Veterans Affairs scrapped an early effort to track returning war casualties because it was too expensive to implement, a senior official confirmed today before a congressional panel.

ABC News yesterday reported a former VA employee said the department did not implement a 2004 plan that would have ensured injured veterans received timely care and benefits. As a result, some wounded vets have suffered as they waited for disability payments and proper care.

News of the program's shelving prompted outrage from some quarters. "I am not convinced the Veterans Affairs Department is doing its part," said Rep. Harry E. Mitchell, D-Ariz., chairman of the panel, in prepared remarks. Mitchell said he was "deeply troubled" by the report.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x367648
ABC: VA Chief shelved an inexpensive solution for wounded Vets from falling through the cracks

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/03/under_va_chief_.html

Under VA Chief, Effort to Aid Wounded Vets Stalled, Ex-Employee Charges

A proposal to keep seriously wounded vets from falling through he cracks of the bureaucracy was shelved in 2005 when Jim Nicholson took over as the secretary of the Veterans Affairs Department, according to the former VA employee who was responsible for tracking war casualties.

As a result, seriously wounded veterans continued to face long delays for health care and benefit payments after being discharged from the military, says former VA program manager Paul Sullivan.

The program, called the Contingency Tracking System, had been approved by Nicholson's predecessor but died once Nicholson took over the VA, Sullivan told ABC News.

Sullivan said he was told the cost of the system -- less than $1 million to build and requiring a handful of staff to maintain -- was prohibitive.

....

Yesterday, President Bush put VA Secretary Nicholson in charge of an interagency task force to determine what can be done to deliver benefits and health care now to thousands of wounded vets who have struggled to receive care.

[Hubert Flottz]

4. Jim Nicholson is a repub hack and a total Bush toady.

About like Brownie!