Veterans for Common Sense report leaves Reserve Officers Association looking for answers on denied claims

ROA wants answers on denied reserve claims

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Oct 23, 2008 13:09:55 EDT

The head of the Reserve Officers Association said he hopes a study ordered by Congress will explain the big discrepancies in veterans’ disability benefits awarded to active and reserve forces.

Retired Marine Lt. Gen. Dennis McCarthy, ROA’s executive director, said Wednesday that there may be good reasons why National Guard and reserve members are more likely to have their veterans’ claims denied and to receive lower disability ratings — but those reasons are not immediately clear, and the Department of Veterans Affairs does not have a good explanation.

“We really need to keep on them until this study is done,” McCarthy said, noting that veterans must have confidence that the disability system is fair.

Retired Rear Adm. Patrick Dunne, VA’s undersecretary for benefits, met with McCarthy to discuss the discrepancies in disability compensation, which were first reported earlier this month by Military Times.

The report, based on information obtained by Veterans for Common Sense, showed that 45 percent of active-duty veterans of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq had filed disability claims, compared with 23 percent of Guard and reserve members who deployed to the war zones.

Just 4 percent of claims by active-duty veterans were denied by VA, while 11 percent of claims from Guard and reserve members were denied.
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