War veteran widows wrongly denied help

Imagine having to bury your husband or wife and then being told you owe the government their last paycheck because they did't live long enough. Well, that's what has been happening. I wonder if they will get back their money with interest considering this has been going on for 12 years.

War veteran widows wrongly denied help
By HOPE YEN – 18 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Surviving spouses of war veterans have been wrongfully denied up to millions of dollars in government benefits over the past 12 years due to computer glitches that often resulted in money being seized from the elderly survivors' bank accounts.

The Veterans Affairs Department said Saturday it wasn't fully aware of the problem. It pledged to work quickly to give back the pension and disability checks — ranging from $100 to more than $2,500 — that hundreds of thousands of widows or widowers should have received during the month of their spouse's death.

"This problem must be fixed," said VA Secretary James Peake. The department indicated in an "action plan" provided to The Associated Press that up to millions of dollars in back payments could be given to the surviving spouses sometime after next February, once it can identify them.

To expedite matters, the VA said those who believe they were wrongfully denied payments can call its help line at 1-800-827-1000.

Congress passed a law in 1996 giving veterans' spouses the right to keep their partners' final month of benefits. It instructed the VA to make changes as needed to comply with the law, which took effect for spouses of veterans who died after Dec. 31, 1996.

But the VA never updated its automated computer systems, which send out checks and notification letters. As a result, widows or widowers were either denied the final month of payment or asked to send the checks back. In many cases, if the checks were already deposited or spent, the U.S. Treasury moved to seize the money directly from their accounts.
click link above for more

National Guard and Reservists’ Disability Claims from Iraq and Afghanistan Wars More Likely to be Denied by VA

From Veterans For Common Sense

Last night, VCS released our latest VA Fact Sheet. VA now reports that
there are more than 300,000 new disability claims among Iraq and
Afghanistan war veterans. Last month, VA reported nearly 350,000
unexpected veteran patients from the two wars.

The Army Times wrote an excellent article about the enormous and
disturbing discrepancies in disability activity among Iraq and
Afghanistan war veterans when comparing veterans from the National Guard
and Reserve with veterans from Active Duty:
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/articleid/11288


Due to a large number of requests from Congressional staff, we are
attaching the superb and informative graphics published by the Army
Times.

There are two new and important points from our latest VA Fact Sheet:

1. More than 50,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans' claims remain
pending and incomplete due to VA's enormous claims backlog.

2. Only half of the veterans diagnosed with PTSD by VA receive
disability compensation for PTSD from VA.

Thank you for your continued interest in the consequences of the Iraq
and Afghanistan wars.

Best, Paul.

Paul Sullivan
Executive Director
Veterans for Common Sense
Post Office Box 15514
Washington, DC 20003
(202) 558-4553
Paul@VeteransForCommonSense.org
www.VeteransForCommonSense.org

Sep 30, VCS in the News: National Guard and Reservists’ Disability Claims from Iraq and Afghanistan Wars More Likely to be Denied by VA

Rick Maze
Army Times
Sep 29, 2008

October 8, 2008 edition - National Guard and reserve members are more likely than active-duty Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans to have disability claims denied and more likely to receive the lowest possible disability ratings — even though they are only half as likely to file claims in the first place.

An analysis of benefits claims prepared by Veterans for Common Sense, based on data obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, shows Guard and reserve members who served in Iraq or Afghanistan are twice as likely to have a veterans’ disability claim denied as other veterans of the same operations.

The higher rate of denials and low ratings among reservists do not appear to be the result of filing frivolous claims. Forty-five percent of active-duty veterans of the two ongoing operations filed disability claims, compared with 23 percent of Guard and reserve members who deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, said Paul Sullivan, executive director of the nonprofit veterans’ group.

Sullivan said he is unsure what has caused “such an enormous discrepancy” but thinks Congress and veterans deserve an answer. “With 300,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans filing a claim [with the Veterans Affairs Department] so far, we owe it to our veterans to make sure their claims are adjudicated completely, accurately, quickly and fairly,” Sullivan said.

click above link for more

This is what we should have heard last night in the VP debate since both Palin and Biden have sons in the Guards. You would think it would be an important issue to both of them enough to have been mentioned.

Two programs assist veterans with disability

Allan Appel: Two programs assist veterans with disability

Vero Beach Press-Journal - Vero Beach,FL,USA

By Allan Appel
Monday, June 30, 2008


The Veterans Administration administers two disability programs designed to help veterans with support and benefits.

Eligibility for the Veterans Disability Compensation Program is not based on financial need. Assets and income are not qualifying factors and therefore do not affect eligibility. The veteran's injury or disease, however, must have been incurred or aggravated while on active military duty.

On the other hand, the Veterans Disability Pension Program is tailored for low-income veterans who are totally and permanently disabled. The disability need not be connected to time spent on active military duty. Unlike the previously mentioned compensation benefit, this is a needs-based program, similar to Medicaid or Supplemental Security Income.

click above for more