Should veterans have to pay for VA’s benefits errors?
Military Times
By: Leo Shane III
March 20, 2019
“We’ve got to stop the VA from pulling the rug out from under veterans and their families.”
A group of Senate lawmakers is again arguing that if veterans are overpaid on benefits because of accounting errors, they shouldn’t be punished for the federal government’s mistakes.
Legislation introduced Wednesday would require changes to how the Department of Veterans Affairs handles benefit corrections, including limiting the amount they can withhold from veterans’ future payouts to cover the debt.
Volunteers gather at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., for a clean-up event on June 2, 2018. (Gene Russell/VA)
“It’s wrong to put the debt from the VA’s accounting mistakes on the shoulders of men and women who have served their country,” Sen. Jon Tester, ranking member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said in a statement. “For some veterans, these benefits make the difference between paying monthly rent or missing payments.
“We’ve got to stop the VA from pulling the rug out from under veterans and their families.”
Under current law, VA officials can withhold 100 percent of a veteran’s monthly benefits to cover past overpayments, even if those mistakes are the fault of federal officials.
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