New benefit delay hits disabled vets
June 19, 2005
BY CHERYL L. REED Staff Reporter Advertisement
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-wvets19.html
The most seriously disabled veterans will now have to wait for their
claims to pass a second review before they can receive any disability
pay from the federal Veterans Affairs Department, according to a new
policy ordered last week.
Veterans who have been granted disability for post-traumatic stress
disorder or are judged to be 100 percent disabled or unemployable by
one VA disability reviewer must now receive a second VA nod before the
agency will grant any disability pay.
VA officials defended the policy, which went into effect immediately
Tuesday and was issued to all 57 regional VA offices through a memo, a
copy of which was obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times.
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
"It's always good to have an extra set of eyes on this stuff," said
Scott Hogenson, a VA spokesman.
Obama fears trend of denials
Denials for those same disabilities, though, do not require a second
review. Veterans advocates, as well as Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.),
fear the new policy sends a message that VA disability reviewers are
not to grant high-paying claims.
"It appears there's going to be a bias towards the denial of PTSD
claims," said Obama, who serves on the Senate VA Committee.
Some veterans advocates fear the new policy is the VA's way to get
back at veterans who complained about low disability pay, which
ultimately resulted in the agency being investigated by its inspector
general this year. Other advocates say the extra review will just
increase the existing backlog of cases.
Currently it takes an average of 167 days for the VA to decide a new
claim. At the Chicago VA office, it is taking 206 days. The VA
estimates a second review could take a day or two if the second
reviewer agrees with the first decision. But if there's a
disagreement, officials admit it will take much longer.
"I think a lot of this is being driven by policy as opposed to trying
to look at why these differences are occurring and correcting that,"
said Joe Violante, legislative director for the national Disabled
American Veterans.
A VA inspector general's investigation concluded last month that the
wide disparity in disability pay from state to state derives from the
number of veterans who are deemed 100 percent disabled with PTSD.
30% may be affected
Disabled veterans in New Mexico receive the highest average payment of
$12,004, and 12.6 percent of that state's disabled veterans are rated
100 percent disabled for PTSD. But Illinois disabled veterans -- who
receive the lowest disability pay in the nation -- get $6,961 per
veteran, and only 2.8 percent of Illinois' veterans are rated 100
percent disabled for PTSD.
Mental health experts estimate that as many as 30 percent of all
veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan will suffer from PTSD, a serious
mental disorder characterized by violent flashbacks and paranoia that
can render a veteran unemployable. Veterans diagnosed with PTSD and
deemed unemployable are in among the highest-paying categories of
disability.