Number of Veterans Who Die Waiting for Benefits Claims Skyrockets

[WilliamPitt]

Source: The Bay Citizen

After seven months of delay, the Department of Veterans Affairs finally approved World War II veteran James Alderson’s pension benefits last week.

But it was not a cause for celebration or relief for Alderson, whose life’s work was the farm supply store he founded near Chico after returning home from the Battle of the Bulge.

The 89-year-old veteran had died three months earlier in a Yuba City nursing home.

(snip)

In the fiscal year that ended in September, the agency paid $437 million in retroactive benefits to the survivors of nearly 19,500 veterans who died waiting. The figures represent a dramatic increase from three years earlier, when the widows, parents and children of fewer than 6,400 veterans were paid $7.9 million on claims filed before their loved one’s death.

Read more: http://www.baycitizen.org/veterans/story/number-veterans-who-die-waiting-benefits/

[judesedit]

1. Shameful

[L0oniX]

2. Be aware of this shit before you join the military or suffer later.

[AndyA]

3. Whatever happened to "support the troops?"

Guess that's only when we're spending billions on no-bid war contracts with companies owned by friends.

When they come home, not so much.

Want to talk about unpatriotic? This is a disgrace to everything our country should stand for.

[olddad56]

5. The govt wants the citizens of this country to support the troops, not them...

They throw that slogan around, but what they are really asking is that you support the govt's illegal invasions.

How can anyone not feel for the kids who have been conned into doing the governments dirty work, under the guise of defending their country. How can it be called defending country when our government is terrorizing innocent people in sovereign states in order to protect the oil companies and help them steal the oil.

It is the government that doesn't support the troops. not the people. Even the people who see through the govt's scam, support the troops.

How about we change the name of the department of defense to the Department of war, or the department of terror.

[dixiegrrrrl]

15. It USED to be the War Dept.

I like Dept of Terror, tho.

[Rocky888]

4. My father, now deceased

Was a Korean veteran on the front lines. As his tour was ending, he had contracted malaria (unknowingly). The symptoms did not appear until he had come state side. Although he was treated by the military for it. After he was discharged, he went to a local VA clinic to get treatment for a flair up. He was refused, base on no proof that he had contracted it during his time overseas. I t would take 3 decades for him to receive any VA benefits. They have a history of not taking care of their veterans of war. And John McCain has had a majar roll in depriving them of the many benefits he has always enjoyed.

My dad wasn't asking for a disability benefit, he was just asking for medical care he had for serving his country during wartime.

[Rozlee]

10. They tried to do that to a guy I knew that came back from Desert Storm.

He got some kind of lung parasite that's found in the Middle East. When he came home and became symptomatic with it and they discovered it, they tried to tell him that he couldn't prove he'd gotten it while on duty in the Gulf. He'd been seeing docs for three years about congestion and coughing and they'd never done any X-rays or diagnostics until he'd started coughing up blood. And then, to add insult to injury, they had the gall to tell him, after he told them that he'd never traveled out of the country since his deployment, that he couldn't prove he'd gotten this non-endemic parasite while overseas in it's natural habitat. It took him five years to get benefits and he only got a lousy 20% after the surgery he needed and considering all the problems he still has with his lungs and with his bowels, since it spread and damaged them too.

[rogus]

7. 13 years

Unfortunately this doesn't come as a surprise to me. I have been fighting the Va over PTSD claim for 13 years. VA doc's say I have it the VA pencil pushers don't care. The belief around veterans forums is thet the VA is justing waiting youi out, waiting for you to either die or just quit fighting. After all your just a number to the people who decide veterans disability claims. McClatchy did a in depth story about this a few years back where they told the story of a WWII vet who had been fighting the VA for 47 years!

Oh, and forget about detal care at the VA. My wife (who is also a vet) has an unknown degenerative condition simply eating away at her teeth to the point where she needs to have them all pulled and replaced by dentures. Think the VA will do anything to help. Don't hold your breath. Somehow we're expected to come up with 20K her dentist says it will cost to do the job. Every vet I have ever met will tell you that when you join you are told that you will get free medical care for life. Just something else the gov lied about.

[WilliamPitt]

8. Welcome to DU

I am sorry for your troubles.

[hrmjustin]

12. Welcome to DU and I hope you enjoy the site.

[sammytko]

16. Was she treated or diagnosed with this when she was active duty?

I have TMJ and it was diagnosed while I was active duty. All my dental care is covered by the VA. If you are 100%, your dental care is also covered.

[Quantess]

20. Welcome to DU!

[merrily]

9. Disabled civilians die waiting for Social Security benefits to be approved too.

[DollarBillHines]

11. It happened to DU's Redstone

It was Orange that did him in.

The VA fucked with him for forty years.

Ironically, the Gov sent some squirrelly little guy (wearing a suit, no less) to Dong Ha to tell us not to worry about the results of Orange that we were seeing.

The little shit had a can of Orange with him. He poured some into a glass and said he could drink it if he wanted with no ill effects.

Colin (Redstone) jumped up, pulled his ACP and yelled, "So fucking drink it!".

Maybe the funniest thing I have ever seen.
DBH

[Milliesmom]

13. My friends husband

He is a Veteran of Viet Nam , agent orange cancer, age 86 and just now receiving some benefits , paid monthly, nothing retro-active, he will not live much longer and my friend died last year.Rachel Maddow said that Dept of Veterans' Affairs are months and months behind on basic claims just for medical assitance and housing, what the hell are they doing, she said there are rooms over pouring with box after box of claims to be taken care of. Our Government is failing everyone. They are spending our tax dollars to line their own pockets and ignoring the wants and needs of the people that put them there to run the country in a sane manner, but it is far from sane. I see a revolution coming on if things do not change.

[The River]

14. My Experience w/the VA

took 14 months, which was about average, four years ago. Since then they've saved my life twice. One heart attack and one case of cancer (removed and gone so far), as well as ongoing care, meds, etc.
I have nothing but good things to say about them. Any organization serving so many people will fall behind when overwhelmed by the numbers.

We just need to stop creating so many war-time vets.

[Katashi_itto]

17. You what the VA motto is said to be? "...Deny, deny till you die..." I heard that when I started

working for my disabled benefits...its been 10 years waiting...

[Solly Mack]

18. K&R

[Joe Bacon]

19. The VA Does NOT have enough staff

They're shortstaffed at the VA just like we are at Social Security!

Both of us need more staff to process disability claims!