Filner urges quick approval of some VA claims

More and more claims will be made from veterans seeking treatment and compensation just as more and more claims wait to be honored. While they wait, there is not just the financial suffering they are subjected to as bills cannot be paid due to their wounds, there is the emotional harm inflicted that should matter to all of us.

Think of it this way. They risked their lives serving this country. Then because of that service, they were wounded yet when they come home, they are left to fend for themselves. They file claims to have their wounds taken care of and compensated for the income they can no longer work for. Delays in honoring those claims are dishonoring their service.

Just as advocates are reaching the Vietnam veterans so they seek help for PTSD because they are finally understanding what it is, now we have a flood expected from Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange. Does it end there? No because we also have two active military campaigns producing more wounded veterans every day. We also have Gulf War veterans still trying to be compensated for what the Gulf War did to them the VA still doesn't quite understand.

These men and women are suffering for having served. They should not have to see their lives as veterans subjected to delays in honoring their service wounds.

“If there is a 1 percent error, and there could be, so what? You would be helping the 99 percent of veterans who are honest,” Filner said.

Considering the service organizations like the DAV verify claims made before they even begin to start the process with the VA, most of the evidence is already gathered together. Very few claims presented are fraudulent. Doing this is the right thing to do for the sake of the veterans. After getting them through the process and honoring their claims, there would be more time for them to review claims for fraud. Then, they would be treated as any other criminal charged with VA fraud and would have to pay the money back, plus see some jail time. We need to stop treating them all as if they are already guilty.

Filner urges quick approval of some VA claims

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Mar 26, 2010 16:59:14 EDT

The Veterans Affairs Department’s large and stubborn backlog of benefits claims could be reduced almost overnight if VA automatically approved any claims prepared with the help of a certified veterans service officer from a veterans organization or a state or local government veterans office, says the chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee.

The idea, floated March 26 by Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, is not new — and is not endorsed by all veterans groups.

Filner has been talking for several years about the idea of VA accepting some claims without a long review process and then doing spot-checks to look for cheaters, which he has described as similar to the way tax return audits are handled by the International Revenue Service.

His current initiative is somewhat different in that he is now talking only about automatic payment of claims that are prepared by people who have undergone VA training so they have some expertise in the requirements for a valid claim.
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Filner urges quick approval of some VA claims