Unhappy anniversary for Veterans Administration

Unhappy anniversary for Veterans Administration
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
July 21, 2013

Associated Press Today in History for July 21 had this reminder.

In 1930, President Herbert Hoover signed an executive order establishing the Veterans Administration, which later became the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Every week the VA puts out a report on how many disabled veterans are waiting to have claims honored. Reporters and some members of congress have jumped all over the VA because of the backlog leaving most to believe they are claims filed from OEF and OIF disabled veterans. The truth is far from it.

Characteristics of the pending Compensation Inventory

VA tracks claims that make up the pending Compensation Inventory by a Veteran’s era of service. As of Dec 31, 2012, claims from Veterans of the following eras make up VA’s inventory (total number of claims) and backlog (claims pending for more than 125 days):

VBA Claims Inventory by Era

Total Pending Claims 797,804

Total Backlogged Claims 519,270

Source: Dept. Veterans Affairs, 7/13/13
Backlog: Claims pending longer than 125 days
Post-9/11 (Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts) claims make up 21% of the total inventory and 22% of the backlog Gulf War (definition) claims make up 23% of the total inventory and 21% of the backlog

Peacetime (period between end of Vietnam and Gulf War) claims make up 11% of the total inventory and 11% of the backlog

Vietnam claims make up 37% of the total inventory and 38% of the backlog

Korean War claims make 4% of the total inventory and 4% of the backlog

World War II claims make up 3% of the total inventory and 3% of the backlog

Other era claims make up 1% of the total inventory and 1% of the backlog

Original vs. Supplemental Claims

VA’s current Inventory of compensation claims contains both "original" claims—those submitted by Veterans of all eras who are claiming disability compensation from VA for the first time, and “supplemental” claims—those submitted by Veterans of all eras who have previously filed for disability compensation with VA. Below is a breakout of the original and supplemental claims in the current VA inventory:

60% of pending claims are supplemental, 40% are original.

77% of Veterans filing supplemental claims are receiving some level of monetary benefit from VA.

11% of Veterans filing supplemental claims already have a 100% disability rating (receive $2800 or more per month) or qualify for Individual Unemployability (compensated at the 100% disabled rate).

40% of Veterans filing supplemental claims are already rated at 50% disability or higher.

43% of supplemental claims are from Vietnam-era Veterans; 19% are from Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.

There are 3.9 million Veterans of all eras who are currently in receipt of disability benefits from VA. Of those, 10% have a supplemental claim in the pending compensation inventory. In fiscal year 2012, VA delivered $54 billion in compensation and pension benefits.

We don't play politics here. There are things the VA has done better at and we need to remember those times. We also remember when it was a lot worse but reporters dropped the ball on reminding the other people in the country with a very short memory.

However for this anniversary of the VA we need to look at what has been missing from the news reports. Vietnam veterans are the highest percentage of the original and backlog claims. They are also the highest number of veterans committing suicide.

As bad as the reports are now on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and suicides for the newer veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, we need to acknowledge here and now that if we do not take action to take care of all our veterans, it will be worse for them 40 years from now as it has been for Vietnam veterans. It doesn't matter how long they served in the military when they were wounded by body or mind because they will forever be called veteran for the rest of their lives. No matter how long they live, this country needs to live up to what President George Washington said.

“The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation.”

Korean War veterans saw how WWII veterans were treated and expected to be treated the same way. They were not. Vietnam veterans expected to see the same way their Dads were treated. They were not only betrayed by the government but by older veterans. When it was their turn to fight for what was right, they made a promise that no generation would ever leave behind another. They kept that promise and they fight just as hard for those who came before them as those who came after them.

The newer veterans saw what happened to the Vietnam and Gulf War veterans. What will the next generation see when they look at how the Afghanistan and Iraq veterans have been treated?

In 1989, Bush nominated Mr. Derwinski to lead the new Department of Veterans Affairs. Bush said Mr. Derwinski possessed the “skill of a seasoned legislator, the patience of a practical administrator, the finesse of a diplomat and the heart of a man who knows what it means to start his government career as a private in the U.S. Army.”

Mr. Derwinski’s first task was daunting: revamping the beleaguered Veterans Administration into a Cabinet-level operation serving more than 27 million veterans and their dependents. He had 245,000 employees, a budget exceeding $25 billion and control over one of the largest health-care systems in the nation.

"One of Mr. Derwinski’s first decisions involved Vietnam veterans seeking disability benefits for exposure to the defoliant Agent Orange. For many years, the VA did not provide benefits to veterans who said the herbicide was toxic."

"Siding with the veterans, Mr. Derwinski reversed the government’s position and authorized payments to some veterans who had suffered from a rare form of cancer linked to Agent Orange."