Pennsylvania veterans homes seizing patients' savings

When my Dad passed away my Mom was taken care of simply because my Dad had 100% service connected disability claim with the VA. When my Father-in-law passed away, there wasn't anything for my Mother-in-law or even help to bury him. The man was a WWII veteran with a Bronze Star and Purple Heart. The difference was, he never filed a claim for anything. He was one of the countless veterans too proud to ask for anything and under the impression it was a hand out instead of something they earned.

This is a story about WWII veteran who didn't fall thru the cracks. She was pushed into the abyss.

Pennsylvania veterans homes seizing patients' savings

By Walter F. Roche Jr.
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, August 9, 2010


It seemed reasonable.

When Rosella Stitzell checked into the state-run Southwestern Veterans Center in 2002, the World War II veteran was told 80 percent of her monthly pension would pay for her stay. Twenty percent would go into a personal savings account maintained by the home in Lincoln-Lemington.

Over the next seven years, the savings account grew, eventually topping $20,000.

But when Stitzell, 97, checked out late last year, she and her three children got a surprise. Not only did the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs refuse to let her have the $20,000, the family learned she owed more than $200,000 for her stay.

The Stitzells had run headlong into a little-known knot of state bureaucracy, a knot that grabbed up the savings of dozens of deceased veterans, including homes and a coin collection.

What's more, some relatives must go to court to fight the state for money to bury their kin.

A review of court records across the state and interviews with family members show many were unaware they would be billed for thousands of dollars after their loved ones died.
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Pennsylvania veterans homes seizing patients savings