Obama VA Budget Request Challenges Republicans

2016 Budget and 2017 Advance
Appropriations requests for VA

Veterans' care and benefits remain unpopular with congressional Republicans.

Obama's 2016 VA budget request is rough twice that of Bush-Cheney's 2008 budget request.

  

Care and Benefits for Veterans Strengthened by $169 Billion VA Budget

WASHINGTON – The President has proposed a $168.8 billion budget for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in fiscal year 2016. The proposed budget will support VA goals to expand access to timely, high quality health care and benefits, continue the transformation of VA into a Veteran-centric department and end homelessness among Veterans.

“VA has before it one of the greatest opportunities in its history to enhance care for Veterans and build a more efficient and effective system.  This budget will allow us to continue important progress to better serve Veterans, their families and their survivors,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert A. McDonald. “We are listening to what Veterans, Congress, employees, Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs), and other stakeholders are telling us.  We aspire to make VA a model agency that is held up as an example for other government agencies to follow with respect to customer experience, efficient and effective operations, and taxpayer stewardship.”

The budget includes $73.5 billion in discretionary funding, largely for healthcare, and $95.3 billion for mandatory benefit programs such as disability compensation and pensions.  The $73.5 billion total in discretionary spending, including over $3.2 billion in medical care collections from health insurers and Veteran copayments, is $5.2 billion and 7.5 percent above the 2015 enacted level.  The budget also requests $66.6 billion, including collections, for the 2017 advance appropriations for medical care, an increase of $3.4 billion and 5.4 percent above the 2016 medical care budget request.  As a first-time request for advance appropriations for 2017 for Compensation and Pensions, Readjustment Benefits, and Veterans Insurance and Indemnities, within our mandatory benefits programs in the Veteran’s Benefits Administration, $104 billion is requested for 2017.

“We remain committed to providing Veterans the opportunity to pursue their education, find meaningful employment and access high-quality health care and earned benefits,” Secretary McDonald added.  “From the men and women of ‘the greatest generation’ to the Veterans who have returned from our most recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, every Veteran deserves to have a seamless, integrated, and responsive VA customer service experience every time.”

However, more resources will be required to ensure that VA can provide timely, high-quality health care into the future.  VA is hearing directly from Veterans and their representatives that they would prefer to get their care in VA facilities from the medical professionals they know and with whom they have relationships.  In the coming months, the Administration will submit legislation to allow the Department to reallocate a portion of unused funding from the Veterans Choice Program to support essential investments in VA system priorities in a fiscally responsible, budget-neutral manner.  This flexibility will allow the Department to serve Veterans the way they want and deserve to be served.

VA operates one of the largest integrated health care systems in the country with approximately 9.4 million enrollees; the tenth largest life insurance program; monthly disability compensation, pensions and survivors benefits to more than 5.2 million beneficiaries; educational assistance or vocational rehabilitation benefits and services to 1.2 million students; mortgage guaranties to over 2 million homeowners; and the largest cemetery system in the nation.

Here are highlights from the President’s 2016 budget request for VA.

Health Care

With a medical care budget of $63.2 billion, including collections, VA is positioned to serve approximately 9.4 million Veteran patients enrolled to receive care in the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.  The enrollee total includes over 1.4 million Veterans who served in Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation New Dawn

Major spending categories within the health care budget are:

•     $7.5 billion for mental health;
•     $2.8 billion for prosthetics;
•     $556 million for spinal cord injuries;
•     $232 million for traumatic brain injuries;
•     $243 million for readjustment counseling; and
•     $7.5 billion for long-term care.

Expanding Access

The President’s Budget would ensure that care and other benefits are available to Veterans when and where they need them.  Among the programs that will expand access under the proposed budget are:

•   $1.2 billion in telehealth funding, which helps patients monitor chronic health care conditions and increases access to care, especially in rural and remote locations;
•   $446 million for health care services specifically designed for women, an increase of 8.3 percent over the present level;
•   $598 million for the activation of new and enhanced health care facilities;
•   $1.1 billion for major construction projects;
•   $86.6 million for improved customer service applications for online self-service portals and call center agent-assisted inquiries; and
•   $5.9 million to bring into full operation two new national cemeteries opening in 2015, and to activate one new national cemetery and one rural National Veterans Burial Ground in 2016.

Improving the Efficiency of Claims Processing

The President’s Budget provides for full implementation of the Veterans Benefits Administration’s (VBA) robust Transformation Plan -- a series of people, process, and technology initiatives -- in 2016.  This plan will continue to systematically improve the quality and efficiency of claims processing and assist the Department in processing all disability compensation claims within 125 days.

Major claims transformation initiatives in the budget invest $431 million to bring leading-edge technology to claims processing, including:

•  $290 million ($253 million in Information Technology and $37 million in VBA) to support the electronic claims processing system – the Veterans Benefits Management System (VBMS); and
•  $141 million for Veterans Claims Intake Program (VCIP) to continue conversion of paper records, such as medical records, into electronic images and data in VBMS.

In addition, the President’s Budget supports rightsizing VBA’s workforce to address staffing needs so it can continue to improve the delivery of benefits to Veterans.  As VBA continues to receive and complete more disability compensation rating claims, the volume of appeals, non-rating claims, and fiduciary field examinations correspondingly increases.  The request for $85 million for 770 additional full-time equivalent employees (FTE) will allow VBA to provide more timely actions on appeals and non-rating claims, and will ensure strong fiduciary oversight.

Eliminating Veterans Homelessness

The Administration has made the elimination of Veteran homelessness a national priority.  The budget request targets $1.4 billion for programs to prevent or reduce homelessness, including:

•    $300 million for Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) to promote housing stability;
•    $374 million for the HUD-VASH program wherein VA provides case management services for at-risk Veterans and their families and HUD provides permanent housing through its Housing Choice Voucher program; and
•    $201 million in grant and per diem payments that support temporary housing provided by community-based organizations.

MyVA

In 2014, Secretary McDonald introduced the MyVA initiative, an effort to reorient the Department around the needs of Veterans and make VA a more customer-centric organization.  This will ultimately be the largest department-wide transformation in VA’s history and will measure success based on Veteran outcomes and satisfaction.  The 2016 budget supports MyVA implementation, which will create a VA that is organized for success from the perspective of Veterans – combining functions, simplifying operations, and proving Veterans the care and services they have earned and deserve.  

Veterans Choice Act

The Veterans Choice Act provided $5 billion in mandatory funding to increase Veterans' access to health care by hiring more physicians and staff and improving the VA’s physical infrastructure.  It also provided $10 billion in mandatory funding through 2017 to establish a temporary program (the Veterans Choice Program) improving Veterans’ access to health care by allowing eligible Veterans who meet certain wait-time or distance standards to use eligible health care providers outside of the VA system. The Veterans Choice Program may provide a measure of short-term relief from the pressure of escalating health care needs as current patients in the VA system elect to receive their care through the program. These investments, together with the 2016 Budget, will provide the authorities, funding, and other tools to enhance services to Veterans in the short-term while strengthening the underlying VA system to better serve Veterans in the future.  However more resources in certain areas will be required to ensure that the VA system can provide timely, high-quality health care into the future. In the coming months, the Administration will submit legislation to allow the VA Secretary to best meet Veteran needs. This will allow the Secretary to make essential investments in VA system priorities in a fiscally-responsible, budget-neutral manner.

Other Key Services for Veterans

•   $266 million to administer the VA-run system of 133 national cemeteries;
•   $4.1 billion for information technology (IT), including investments to modernize Veterans’ electronic health records, improve Veterans’ access to benefits, and IT infrastructure; and
•   $1.7 billion in construction, cemetery grants, and extended care grants to include nine VHA major construction projects and four gravesite expansion projects.

###

FACT SHEET

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

The President's 2016 Budget is designed to bring middle class economics into the 21st Century. This Budget shows what we can do if we invest in America's future and commit to an economy that rewards hard work, generates rising incomes, and allows everyone to share in the prosperity of a growing America. It lays out a strategy to strengthen our middle class and help America's hard-working families get ahead in a time of relentless economic and technological change. And it makes the critical investments needed to accelerate and sustain economic growth in the long run, including in research, education, training, and infrastructure.

These proposals will help working families feel more secure with paychecks that go further, help American workers upgrade their skills so they can compete for higher-paying jobs, and help create the conditions for our businesses to keep generating good new jobs for our workers to fill, while also fulfilling our most basic responsibility to keep Americans safe. We will make these investments, and end the harmful spending cuts known as sequestration, by cutting inefficient spending and reforming our broken tax code to make sure everyone pays their fair share. We can do all this while also putting our Nation on a more sustainable fiscal path. The Budget achieves about $1.8 trillion in deficit reduction, primarily from reforms to health programs, our tax code, and immigration.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has before it one of the greatest opportunities in its history to enhance care for veterans and build a more efficient and effective system.  The Department is listening to what veterans, Congress, employees, Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs), and other stakeholders are telling us.  We aspire to make VA a model agency that is held up as an example for other government agencies to follow with respect to customer experience, efficient and effective operations, and taxpayer stewardship.

VA is charged with fulfilling President Lincoln’s promise to care for those “who shall have borne the battle, and for” their families and their survivors.  To support this mission, the 2016 Budget provides $70.2 billion in discretionary funding for VA, a 7.9 percent increase above the 2015 enacted level.  In addition, the budget includes $3.2 billion in estimated medical care collections, for a total discretionary budget authority of $73.5 billion (which includes $3.2 billion in Medical Care Collections), and $95.3 billion for VA’s mandatory benefit programs.

This funding level will provide the resources to fulfill VA’s mission to provide timely, quality health care and services to veterans.  It will allow VA to operate one of the largest integrated healthcare systems in the country, serving approximately 9.4 million veterans enrolled to receive care; a compensation benefits program for about 4.3 million veterans and 400,000 survivors, and a pension benefits program for 306,000 veterans and 216,000 survivors; the tenth largest life insurance provider, covering both active duty servicemembers and veterans; an education assistance program serving 1.2 million students; a home mortgage program with a portfolio of over 2 million active loans, guaranteed by VA; and a national cemetery system that leads the Nation as a high-performing organization projected to inter 129,200 veterans and their family members in 2016. Additionally, VA will be developing a legislative proposal to reallocate funding in order to ensure the continued improvements of VA operations and the timely access to care for Veterans.

 The Veterans Choice Act provided $5 billion in mandatory funding to increase veterans' access to health care by hiring more physicians and staff and improving the VA’s physical infrastructure.  It also provided $10 billion in mandatory funding through 2017 to establish a temporary program (the Veterans Choice Program) improving veterans’ access to health care by allowing eligible veterans who meet certain wait-time or distance standards to use health care providers outside of the VA system. The Veterans Choice Program may provide a measure of short-term relief from the pressure of escalating health care needs as current patients in the VA system elect to receive their care through the program. These investments, together with the 2016 Budget, will provide the authorities, funding, and other tools to enhance services to veterans in the short-term while strengthening the underlying VA system to better serve veterans in the future.   However more resources in certain areas will be required to ensure that the VA system can provide timely, high-quality health care into the future. In the coming months, the Administration will submit legislation to allow the VA Secretary to best meet Veteran needs. This will allow the Secretary to make essential investments in VA system priorities in a fiscally-responsible, budget-neutral manner.

 Funding Highlights:

The President’s 2016 Budget requests $70.2 billion in discretionary funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide needed care and other benefits to eligible veterans, their families, and survivors. VA also received $15 billion in the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014.

The FY 2016 Budget  invests in VA by:

    Improving veterans’ access to medical care by providing $60.0 billion, in addition to requesting $63.3 billion in 2017 advance appropriations;
    Supporting improvements in veterans mental health care, telehealth care, lifesaving treatment for Hepatitis C, specialized care for women veterans, long-term care, and benefits for veterans’ caregivers;
    Providing $1.4 billion for programs that will continue VA’s gains toward ending veteran homelessness in 2015;
    Strengthening veterans benefits programs by improving the timeliness of non-rating claims, reducing the inventory of veterans appeals, strengthening the fiduciary program, and further enhancing disability claims processing accuracy and efficiency through centralized mail and the national work queue.
    Increasing burial access for veterans and eligible family members with the opening of new national cemeteries and a rural burial ground.

 Reforms:

 Continues the largest Department-wide transformation in VA’s history through MyVA, an effort to reorient the Department around the needs of veterans.

 Sustains and Strengthens Services for Veterans and Their Families

 Improves Veteran Access to Medical Care. The Budget provides $60.0 billion for VA medical care, a 7.4 percent increase above the 2015 enacted level, to provide high-quality and timely health care services to veterans and other eligible beneficiaries.  The Budget proposes $63.3 billion in advance appropriations for the VA medical care program in 2017, a 5.5 percent increase above the 2016 request.

 Protects Critical Funding for VA Medical Care.  The 2016 Budget provides over $7 billion to continue VA’s focus on expanding and transforming mental health services for veterans to ensure accessible and patient-centered care, including treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, ensuring timely access to mental healthcare, and treatment for Military Sexual Trauma.  In addition, the Budget includes $7.5 billion for veterans' long-term care; $690 million for lifesaving treatment for veterans suffering from Hepatitis C, and $555 million to support veterans’ caregivers.

 Ends Veteran Homelessness.  Between 2010 and 2014, overall veteran homelessness dropped by 33 percent, and we have achieved a 42 percent decrease in unsheltered veteran homelessness.  Through unprecedented partnerships with Federal and local partners, we have greatly increased access to permanent housing, a full range of health care including primary care, specialty care, and mental health care; employment; and benefits for homeless and at risk for homeless veterans and their families.  As a result of these investments, in fiscal year 2014 alone, VA provided specialized homeless services to nearly 260,000 homeless or at-risk veterans. Nearly 72,000 veterans and their family members were placed in permanent housing or were prevented from becoming homeless.  Despite the significant progress and important accomplishments, much work remains.  The 2016 Budget requests $1.4 billion for VA homeless-related programs, including case management support for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-VA Supportive Housing  program (HUD-VASH), the Grant and Per Diem Program, VA justice programs, and the Supportive Services for Veteran Families program.  In addition to supporting all existing HUD-VASH vouchers, the 2016 Budget for HUD requests new Housing Choice Vouchers to support special populations, including homeless veterans, regardless of their discharge status.  Overall, the 2016 Budget supports VA’s commitment to ending veteran homelessness by emphasizing rescue for those who are homeless today, and prevention for those at risk of homelessness.

 Advances Medical and Prosthetic Research.  The 2016 Budget includes $622 million for development of innovative and cutting-edge medical research for veterans, their families, and the Nation.  One example includes continuing the Million Veteran Program (MVP), a groundbreaking genomic medicine program, in which VA seeks to collect genetic samples and general health information from one million Veterans in the next five years.  MVP will help provide answers to many pressing medical questions and lead to improvements in care and prevention to veterans and the Nation.  The Budget also includes funding for a new strategic initiative toward building a learning health care system that is responsive to new information, adapts to implement more effective clinical practices, and is committed to an ongoing mission of excellence, supported by a culture of self-reflection and continuing education.  In addition to the direct appropriation, medical research will be supported through an additional $1.2 billion from VA’s medical care program and grants.  As part of one of the largest integrated health systems in the United States, VA’s research program benefits from clinical care and research occurring together, allowing research to be directly coordinated with veterans’ care.

 Strengthens Veterans Benefits Programs.  Improving quality and reducing the length of time it takes to process disability compensation claims are integral to VA’s mission of providing the care and benefits that veterans have earned and deserve in a timely, accurate, and compassionate manner.  VA has decreased the disability claims backlog by more than 58 percent, since its peak in March 2013, and is on track to meet the President’s goal to eliminate the claims backlog and provide all veterans with quality decisions on their claims within 125 days by the end of 2015.  In addition, the Budget requests an increase of $85 million for 770 new staff to improve the timeliness of non-rating claims, reduce the inventory of appeals, and strengthen the fiduciary program.  The 2016 Budget also supports continuation and expansion of these efforts through the Centralized Mail and the National Work Queue (NWQ) initiatives -- new approaches to increase the accuracy and efficiency of claims processing.  The Centralized Mail initiative expands VA’s capabilities for scanning and conversion of claims evidence, increases electronic processing capabilities, and assists in converting 100 percent of received source materials to electronic format.  In addition, with all claims placed in the electronic NWQ, Veterans’ claims will be automatically directed across all ROs to efficiently match claim demand with available expertise and processing capacity regardless of RO jurisdiction, delivering benefits to Veterans more quickly and accurately.  

 Provides Lasting Memorial Services and Increases Burial Access.  The 2016 Budget includes $266.2 million for the National Cemetery Administration (NCA) for cemetery operations and maintenance, to uphold VA cemeteries as National Shrines, and to increase burial access for veterans and eligible family members. The budget supports the activation of two new national cemeteries opening in 2015 at Cape Canaveral and at Tallahassee, Florida and activation of a third new national cemetery in 2016 at Omaha, Nebraska.  NCA anticipates conducting 129,200 interments of veterans and their family members, along with maintaining and providing perpetual care for approximately 3.6 million gravesites.  NCA will also maintain 9,120 developed acres and process approximately 360,500 headstone and marker applications.

Transforms VA through MyVA.  In 2014, Secretary McDonald introduced the MyVA initiative, an effort to reorient the Department around the needs of veterans.  VA is consulting private sector experts and is building performance improvement teams to enhance productivity, efficiency and customer-focused outcomes for our Nation’s veterans. This initiative will encompass programmatic and policy changes, the potential for new programs, as well as cost-neutral initiatives designed to make VA a more customer-centric organization.  This will ultimately be the largest department-wide transformation in VA’s history and will measure success based on veteran outcomes and satisfaction.

Fed Court Rules in PTSD Class Action Suit: Vets Should Seek Remedy in Congress and Dept of VA

via mal contends

Just in from Veterans for Common Sense:

The federal government is subjecting veterans to long delays in obtaining mental health care and medical benefits, but the power to change the system rests with officials and Congress, not the courts, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled Wednesday in dismissing a lawsuit by veterans' advocates.

The case, argued pro bono by attorneys at Morrison and Foerster, was a victory in established that veterans are experiencing unconscionable delays in seeking health care treatment.

But the relief will have to come from Congress.

From Veterans United for Truth

The Newsletter of VETERANS UNITED FOR TRUTH, Inc. “
Veterans standing up for each other”
26 June 2008

The judge has spoken. We’re gonna keep on truckin’

June 25, 2008

MEDIA ADVISORY

JUDGE RULES THAT VETS IN PTSD CASE SHOULD SEEK RELIEF FROM CONGRESS — VETS RESOLVE TO APPEAL

WHAT: Decision After Trial—VCS, et al. v. Peake, et al.
JUDGE Senior Judge Samuel Conti, United States District Court, Northern District of California.

Senior Federal District Court Judge Samuel Conti has issued his decision in the landmark case brought on behalf of veterans suffering from PTSD and traumatic brain injury in July of 2007.

The trial was conducted from April 21-30, 2008, and included a week of testimony in early March. The trial focused on the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care and adjudication systems for disabled veterans. The trial included testimony from the heads of national veterans’ organizations, top VA officials and some of the leading experts in the country on the widespread failings of the VA system.

In his decision, Judge Conti held that it is “clear to the Court” that “the VA may not be meeting all of the needs of the nation’s veterans.” He agreed with, and explicitly adopted, many of the factual assertions made by the veterans. Those include the following:

• “The suicide rate among veterans is significantly higher than that of the general population,” and there is “a strong connection between PTSD and suicide.”
• “One out of every three soldiers returning from Iraq was seen in the VA for a mental health visit within a year of their return” with PTSD being a “leading diagnosis.”
• “The high rates of PTSD among Iraq veterans are the result of various factors, including multiple deployments, the inability to identify the enemy, the lack of real safe zones, and the inadvertent killing of innocent civilians, ” as top VA officials admitted.
• “Initiatives such as screening veterans at risk, a suicide prevention database, emerging best practices for treatment, and education programs were all still at the ‘Pilot Stage’ three years” after VA’s Mental Health Strategic Plan was adopted.
• “It is beyond doubt that disability benefits are critical to many veterans and any delay in receiving these benefits can result in substantial and severe adverse consequences.”
• The VA’s track record with respect to delays in processing veterans’ appeals “is troubling.” It is taking veterans on average 4.4 years to adjudicate a benefits claim at the first two levels in the VA benefits system.

Nonetheless, Judge Conti concluded that the power to remedy this crisis lies with the other branches of government, including Congress and the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, holding VA’s failures to meet veterans’ needs are “beyond the power of this Court” and would “call for a complete overhaul of the VA system.”

Judge Conti’s opinion states that Congress, and not the courts, needs to resolve the crisis facing our nation’s veterans. This underscores the importance of the ongoing congressional hearings that seek to find the truth, and to address the problems faced by our veterans.

Now, more than ever, it is critical that Congress act. Plaintiffs very much appreciate Judge Conti's consideration, but disagree with his legal conclusions. Accordingly, Plaintiffs plan to appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit so that these important legal questions can be addressed by a higher court.

The full text of the decision can be found at www.veteransptsdclassaction.org.

Paul Sullivan, Director of Veterans for Common Sense, commented that, “This ruling will only cause us to redouble our efforts and our pursuit of justice for our nation’s veterans. We will not rest until our job is finished.”

Bob Handy, the Director for Veterans United for Truth, added: “Every time we feel discouraged or need to find our way, we always return to the VA’s motto, ‘To Care for Him Who Hath Borne the Battle, and His Widow and His Orphan,’ and that tells us what we need do.”

“The decision, if upheld on appeal, would suggest that veterans have no enforceable rights in America, and the Constitution does not apply to veterans.
For all Americans, the implications of this decision are profoundly disturbing,” remarked the lead counsel for Plaintiffs, Gordon Erspamer.

“Our fight on behalf of our veterans will continue.” Sid Wolinsky added, “I know that we will not rest until victory has been achieved and the suffering of our veterans ceases.”

Tragically, the VA has been neglecting wounded veterans returning from service in Iraq and Afghanistan who are in desperate need of ongoing care and support, including medical treatment and disability payments for living expenses.

Among those suffering the most are returning veterans with mental disabilities such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Veteran suicides have reached an epidemic level, with over 120 veterans taking their own lives every week, and 1,000 suicide attempts per month amongst veterans under VA care. This lawsuit was unprecedented in directly challenging the VA’s 600,000 case backlog in handling claims, appellate delays of five to ten years, the waiting lists that veterans face before receiving health care, and the inadequacy of VA care for PTSD.

The trial brought to light many critical facts that the VA had tried to conceal or downplay. An internal e-mail from the VA’s head of mental health, Dr. Ira Katz, surfaced during the trial. At a time when the VA was reporting only 790 veteran suicide attempts in all of 2007, Katz wrote, “Shh!...Our suicide prevention coordinators are identifying about 1,000 suicide attempts per month…Is this something we should (carefully) address...before someone stumbles on it?” At trial it was also disclosed that the suicide rate of veterans is at least three times the national suicide rate and in 2005, the suicide rate for veterans 18-24 years old was three to four times higher than non-veterans.

We are grateful to Judge Conti for hearing our case and for allowing a public display of VA’s enormous systemic failures.

Client Contacts:

Paul Sullivan, Veterans for Common Sense
(202) 491-6953

Robert M. Handy, Veterans United for Truth
(805) 455-5259 Counsel:

Gordon P. Erspamer, Arturo J. González, Heather A. Moser
Morrison & Foerster LLP, Lead Counsel (415) 268-7000
Sid M. Wolinsky, Ron Elsberry, Kasey Corbit, Disability Rights Advocates (510) 665-8644

Obama Goes All Out to Get Veterans Back to Work

The overall unemployment rate ticked down last month and our economy has added more than 350,000 private sector jobs over the past three months. But, over 850,000 veterans were unemployed as of October and the jobless rate for post-9/11 veterans was 12.1 percent. Having served and defended our nation, it just doesn’t make sense that so many of these well-trained, highly skilled, motivated and disciplined veterans can’t find a job worthy of their incredible talents.

As the President has said, "If you can save a life in Afghanistan, you can save a life in an ambulance. If you can oversee millions of dollars of assets in Iraq, you can help a business balance its books here at home."

See also Obama creates: 500,000 Jobs in Veterans Job Bank

By Matt Flavin

Ensuring our nation’s veterans get the opportunities they have earned has been one of President Obama’s top priorities as Commander-in-Chief. Having already sent 600,000 veterans back to school on the Post-9/11 GI Bill and having hired over 120,000 veterans into the federal government, this Administration continues to take action to help create job opportunities for veterans.

Today at the White House, leading veterans service organizations joined President Obama to announce their support for the Returning Heroes and Wounded Warrior Tax Credits, two provisions in the American Jobs Act Congress is scheduled to consider this week. The Returning Heroes Tax Credit provides firms that hire unemployed veterans with a maximum credit of $5,600 per veteran, while the Wounded Warriors Tax Credit offers firms that hire veterans with service-connected disabilities a maximum credit of $9,600 per veteran.

The President also announced a series of executive actions that will provide new resources for veterans to translate military experience to the private sector job market, give veterans additional career development support and better identify companies looking to hire veterans. These initiatives include:

Veteran Gold Card:Effective today, post-9/11 veterans will be able to visit dol.gov/vets/goldcard.htmlto download the Veteran Gold Card, which entitles them to enhanced services including six months of personalized case management, assessments and counseling, at the roughly 3,000 One-Stop Career Centers located across the country. This should help serve the more than 200,000 unemployed post-9/11 veterans. The President directed the Department of Labor to launch this initiative in his August 4, 2011 speech at the Navy Yard.

My Next Move for Veterans: The Department of Labor will launch My Next Move for Veterans (mynextmove.org/vets), a new online resource that allows veterans to enter their military occupation code and discover civilian occupations for which they are well qualified. The site will also include information about salaries, apprenticeships, and other related education and training programs.

Creating a Veterans Job Bank:Today, the Administration launched the Veterans Jobs Bank, at National Resource Directory (NRD.gov), an easy to use tool to help veterans find job postings from companies looking to hire them. It already searches over 500,000 job postings and continues to grow. Additionally, in a few easy steps, companies looking to hire veterans can make sure the job postings on their own websites are part of this Veterans Jobs Bank.

I still believe that all Americans can agree that veterans shouldn’t have to fight for a job once they’ve come home from the fight overseas. While this Administration has been fighting for veterans every day, this week we will commemorate and celebrate Veterans Day. In that spirit, I hope Congress can come together and do the right thing by our nation’s veterans. Together, these initiatives and the tax credits will lower veteran unemployment by increasing hiring, improving resources for veterans to translate their military skills for the civilian workforce, and providing veterans with new tools to aid their search for jobs.

Matt Flavin is Director of Veterans and Wounded Warrior Policy and a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan

VFW's Tradewell Betrays Veterans ... Again

Thomas J. Tradewell Sr., a Republican flack from Wisconsin who heads the Veterans for Foreign Wars (VFW), has an unusual give-away when he's lying. His mouth moves.

Now, Tradewell is lying about TRICARE, "the health care program serving active duty service members, National Guard and Reserve members, retirees, their families, survivors and certain former spouses worldwide."

Lying isn't new for Tradewell. Tradewell betrays veterans every day as his organization is joined at the hip with the neocon elements embedded at the U.S. Dept of Veterans Affairs who as any veteran or advocate besides Tradewell and his corrupt ban of cronies know: Screws veterans. [There is hope that this state of affairs at DVA is changing, just don't mention this to veterans attorney Bob Walsh for example, or any other veterans' advocate who are liable to explode at the suggestion.]

Now, Tradewell is bashing President Obama's health care reform with the same enthusiasm that he betrays other veterans, saying TRICARE will be undermined by the health care reform legislation.

Asked about the lies being peddled by Tradewell and the Republicans that somehow the Health Care Reform bill that was passed yesterday hurts veterans who have long been neglected and actively targeted by Tradewell, Veterans for Common Sense (VCS) executive director, Paul Sullivan, said, "Look, Sarah Palin lied about death panels. These are lies by people who don’t like health care reform. Essentially, we [at VCS] believe that health care is a basic human right, especially for our veterans. However, there some who believe there should be no health care reform and that insurance companies should continue to reap enormous profits by denying coverage resulting in premature and unfortunate and preventable deaths."

Such straight talk is in short supply over at the VFW where Tradewell penned his Republican talking points that are on a par with Sarah Palin and her death panels.

Said Sullivan in an e-mail statement, "Veterans for Common Sense applauds the efforts of President Obama, VA Secretary Shinseki, and Congress to pass comprehensive healthcare reform. We hope they will now focus on reforming the Department of Veterans Affairs, especially the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA). Currently, one million veterans wait an average of six months for an initial disability claim decision. About 200,000 wait an average of four to five years for an answer from VA about an appealed claim.

"VCS agrees with VA Secretary Shinseki’s comment: ‘Fears that Veterans health care and TRICARE will be undermined by the health reform legislation are unfounded. I am confident that the legislation being voted on today will provide the protections afforded our nation's Veterans and the health care they have earned through their service.’"

VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki has the definitive knockdown of Tradewell's malarkey. Shinseki's statement is reproduced below. As is the statement of the Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, Rep. Bob Filner's statement on Tradewell's lies. See also VFW Lies for the GOP, Attempts to Kill Health Care at Daily Kos.

As Secretary of Veterans Affairs, I accepted the solemn responsibility to uphold our sacred trust with our nation’s Veterans. Fears that Veterans health care and TRICARE will be undermined by the health reform legislation are unfounded. I am confident that the legislation being voted on today will provide the protections afforded our nation’s Veterans and the health care they have earned through their service. The President and I stand firm in our commitment to those who serve and have served in our armed forces. We pledge to continue to provide the men and women in uniform and our Veterans the high quality health care they have earned.

President Obama has strongly supported Veterans and their needs, specifically health care needs, on every major issue for these past 14 months – advance appropriations, new GI Bill implementation, new Agent Orange presumptions for three additional diseases, new Gulf War Illness presumptions for nine additional diseases, and a 16% budget increase in 2010 for the Department of Veterans Affairs, that is the largest in over 30 years, and which has been followed by a 2011 VA budget request that increases that record budget by an additional 7.6%.

To give our Veterans further assurance that health reform legislation will not affect their health care systems, the Chairmen of five House committees, including Veterans Affairs Chairman Bob Filner and Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton, have just issued a joint letter reaffirming that the health reform legislation as written would protect those receiving care through all TRICARE and Department of Veterans Affairs programs.

From Rep. Filner:

Health Care Reform Will Not Jeopardize VA Health Care Services
March 21, 2010

Washington, D.C. – House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Filner (D-CA) released the following statement regarding legislation to reform America’s health care system:

“Now that the President and Congress have laid out a strong plan for reforming the current health insurance system, I would like to take the opportunity to remind America’s veterans that the plan will not affect the VA health care system. I continue to work in concert with leaders in the House of Representatives to ensure that veterans receive the world-class health care services they have so bravely earned.

“As a result of these efforts, I am pleased to sign a letter with House Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton, House Ways & Means Chairman Sander Levin, Education and Labor Chairman George Miller, and Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman affirming that current health care reform legislation does not undermine or change the Department of Veterans Affairs mandate to provide comprehensive health care to veterans. Enrolled veterans meet the individual responsibility requirements under the bill to maintain quality health coverage.

“Under the leadership of Speaker Pelosi, the House maintains an aggressive agenda to ensure that the promises made to veterans are kept. Over the last three years, Democrats have worked to secure landmark veterans’ health care budgets, provided a G.I. Bill for the 21st Century, revamped the VA home loan program, and improved health care and benefits for veterans.

“I firmly believe all of our citizens should have access to health care. I am proud that Congress has crafted a plan to bring stability and security to Americans who have insurance today, and affordable coverage to those who do not. This plan, however, will not jeopardize the current health care services and benefits provided by VA. We will keep our promise to our Nation’s heroes of the past, present, and future.”

Forcing the VA to Follow the Law

Demonstrated anew is the fact that we live in a democracy where a small group of people can lie us into war to devastating consequences [See Iran, Lessons of Iraq, for example]—burning $ trillions and traumatising a generation of American troops.

One consequence of war, we make victims of veterans. Honoring them requires more than waving a flag or slapping a bumpersticker on our cars.

In our country honoring veterans means following the law mandating veterans care.

Putting aside the horror of war victims abroad, those serving in the armed forces come home physically and psychologically mangled, many never to live the same again. The U.S. Dept of Veterans Affairs (DVA) is charged with delivering aid and support. [Pictured above is Gordon Duff, Vietnam War Marine Combat veteran and veterans advocate at Veterans Today.]

Politicians selling war are not faced with the prospect of caring for the 100,000s of newly made victims. They did their damage and leave it to veterans to live their lives. But as new veterans are created, new fictions and lies are called for in the name of political expediency.

Here in Wisconsin, for example, the DVA actually orchestrated criminal proceedings against one Vietnam-era veteran who tenaciously pursued a benefits claim, per the advice of his own Veteran’s Service Officer], just another victim of the DVA benefits denial mill that persists to this day.

One critical step in the project to hide away the damage wrought upon our veterans is to trivialize the plight of millions of veterans from invasions past—the Vietnam War wounded. So, Sally Satel M.D., Resident Scholar of the American Enterprise Institute, happily tosses around the lie that only specific classes of veterans truly suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Most of the troops came back from service in the Vietnam combat era unscathed because they did not fight in heavy combat, we are told, though most any veteran will tell you it is often the troops essentially waiting to be attacked who suffered the most when they got home. But you veterans from the Vietnam War who think you are suffering, don't worry, you're not; Dr. Satel says so.

The problem for politicians is: Serving our veterans is the law. The process and procedures of the DVA bureaucracy for veterans seeking disability benefits is supposed to be non-adversarial, under the Veterans' Judicial Review Act (1988) and related enabling legislation passed over the last few decades.

The Veterans' Judicial Review Act empowers veterans with the right to special judicial review of decisions involving their benefits under the exclusive authority of VA adjudication procedures. But these procedures can't be just made up out of thin air by DVA bureaucrats; rules have to be promulgated and created per the mandates of the Administrative Procedures Act.

But under the Bush administration—in addition to simply denying disability compensation and needed medical services to veterans [see Veterans For Common Sense et al. v. Peake] in the manner of a particularly mean-spirited health insurance company—the DVA simply made up new procedures intended to deny large-scale benefits to deserving veterans, in defiance of the Administrative Procedures Act and the Veterans' Judicial Review Act.

Now, there is a change in the air in hope that President Obama's administration will change the deny-the-claim culture at the DVA and in the legal arena.

United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

Across the nation a few thousand attorneys, veterans and advocates are seeing success in the courts, including in an obscure federal, administrative appellate court, United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that most Americans have never heard of.

In two recent decisions, the Court is rectifying what Congress and the federal court system has thus far failed to do: Making the government, specifically the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) and the DVA, follow the law.

Cushman v. Shinseki (No. 08-7129)

In an August ruling in Cushman v. Shinseki (No. 08-7129), the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit proclaimed that a Marine veteran is entitled to a "fair hearing" in a ruling that has veterans advocates turning their heads.

A fair hearing may seem basic due process but if this ideal is realized in DVA practices, the result for millions of veterans is the halting of the DVA creating new rules and ignoring rules in an attempt to deny veterans' claims seeking benefits.

Now, it's up to Congress and Obama to see the DVA funded and begin investigations into schemes in the DVA to deny veterans their benefits. Investigating former VA General Counsel attorney and VA national Director of Compensation and Pension Services, Renee L. Szybala, and DVA officials receiving hefty performance bonuses while sitting on the boards charged with recommending payments are a beginning. The DVA is still a rats' nest of corruption and careerism.

Military Order of the Purple Heart of the USA, and National Veterans Legal Services Program v. Secretary of Veterans Affairs (2008-7076)

In the Military Order case decided September 10, the federal appellate court rules that the Bush-led DVA's newly illegally created rules, called "Fast Letters," that sought to reverse and decrease large-scale benefits granted to veterans is a violation of the Administrative Procedures Act. Reads the Court's opinion:

It is apparent that the (DVA) procedural change that is here challenged affects the veteran’s substantive as well as procedural rights, and is 'a change in existing law or policy which affects individual rights and obligations.' ... It is apparent that the procedure set forth in the Fast Letters does not comport with the governing Regulations, particularly 38 C.F.R. §3.103(c), and was not implemented in compliance with the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act. Applying the criteria of 5 U.S.C. §706(A), the new procedure is not in accordance with 'law, rule, or regulation,' and is invalid.

That's the summary of the ruling of the Purple Heart decision. It means some of the rights of American citizens for which our troops are ostensibly fighting have been violated by our government in a scheme to deny veterans deserved benefits.

Mark my words here. Veterans for Common Sense and Paul Sullivan, veterans attorney Bob Walsh, the people at Veterans Today and its allies, and the 1,000s of veterans advocates around the nation who work for peanuts will see this tragedy of dishonoring our veterans turned around.
Despair and inaction are not options. Victory is certain.

- via mal contends

Wisconsin Rep. Derrick Van Orden: 'Too Easy' for Veterans to Commit Fraud

Wisconsin Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R) reprises Joe McCarthy. 
This time, Van Orden takes aim at veterans, holding papers claiming 
massive fraud in House VA Subcommittee that Van Orden chairs, 
(Forbes). The former Navy Seal now levels his guns against 
veterans in service to Trump administration, planning cuts in
veteran benefits that would cut 80,000 VA workers who serve 
veterans, (AP). Rife with abuse, easy to defraud, says Van Orden.

Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR and E) Program Is Boogeyman Used to Hit Veteran
Benefits
False Accusations Provide Cover for Trump Admin to Cut Veteran Benefits

Madison, Wisconsin — Veterans are committing fraud and the VA is making it too easy, according to an old defamation against our guys.

Now, Wisconsin Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wisconsin), who represents a gerrymandered district in western and central Wisconsin, is bringing this slander back.

Derrick Van Orden served 26 years as a Navy SEAL Senior Chief operator with multiple combat tours before being elected to Congress. 

Rep. Van Orden chairs the House Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity for Veterans. He said at the conclusion of his July hearing: "This, [VA VR&E (Veteran Readiness and Employment)], is a fantastic program. But it is rife for abuse. And it's too easy to defraud this program." 

Rep. Van Orden made his remarks at the House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing on July 16, entitled "Path of Purpose: Restoring the VA VR&E (Veteran Readiness and Employment) Program to Effectively Serve Veterans."

"Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E) (Formerly known as Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment) services to help with job training, education, employment accommodations, resume development, and job seeking skills coaching," reads a VA explanation of the popular program.

The new blast against veterans follows years of the Bush-Obama administrations using the offices of the Inspector General and DoJ to contrive criminal complaints against veterans for applying for disability benefits in what is supposed to be a paternalistic process, not an adversarial process. 

Congress and VA bureaucrats parading the specter of dishonest veterans appear a government disease that will never die, and charges of fraud commonly precede the McCarthyite slurs against military veterans, and dishonest work of VA Office of Inspector General.

National Associated Press writer, Allen Breed, took point on the neocon slurs against veterans some 15 years ago. See Tide of new PTSD cases raises fears of fraud (2010), for example. 

From Agent Orange, to PTSD to now trying to find a job and assimilate at home, veteran bashing is back in style.

After the AP's Breed cited benefits-hostile Dept of Veterans Affairs bureaucrat, Mark Rogers, in 2010 in his hit piece on veterans, in which Rogers said the VA benefits processes, especially PTSD, are an open invitation to fraud, veterans advocate and attorney Robert Walsh was more pissed-off than usual.

Robert Walsh of Battle Creek, Michigan, (U.S. Army, 101st Airborne Division, RVN 1971-72), said, "What about the claims of all the honest veterans that languish in the system for decades until they die? They freeze to death on the streets or blow their brains out in the garage. The veterans' benefits claims system is a national tragedy, and men like [longtime claims specialist with the Veterans Benefits Administration] Mark Rogers are the problem, not the solution for our veterans and their families."

The U.S. VA Office of Inspector General began accelerated referrals to the U.S. Dept of Justice when Vietnam veterans reached retirement age, and the VA and neocon press began its dishonest propaganda campaign against veterans to provide cover.

Van Orden's remarks against veterans this month were first reported by Forbes in late July 2025, citing almost identical language as veteran bashers regarding PTSD 25 years ago.

During the Veterans Affairs Committee hearing this month, Rep. Van Orden (R-WI) opened and closed the hearing about the VA's Veteran Readiness And Employment program with unsupported hyperbolic allegations of criminal fraud and waste.

One of the primary gripes of veterans advocates is the VA does not follow the law in administering (and adjudicating) veterans benefits, and the VA and its Congressional allies' work results in nothing less than death, with the VA Office of Inspector General ready to slur, lie and cheat in this macabre quest to stop veterans from using their benefits.

Said veterans advocate Walsh today, "Maybe VA OIG (VA Office of Inspector General) makes it 'too easy' to circumvent the law and kill innocent disabled and dislocated veterans. That's the problem."

The Forbes video footage from the House Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity for veterans, on the VR&E (Veteran Readiness and Employment) Program, is below. 

        

Attorneys Fight for Veterans Against VA and VSOs

The Disabled American Veterans (DAV) organization is targeting the use of attorneys by veterans (the Attorneys for Veterans right) to obtain benefits to which veterans are entitled, sending veterans into the hands of the veritable enemy— the Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs).

The 'Attorneys for Veterans' or 'choice' legislation took effect in June 2007 and now the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) seeks a roll-back after years of working against the right of veterans to obtain legal counsel.

The adversarial system veterans face is bad enough but with the U.S. Dept of Veterans Affairs now being pushed by VSOs that have become part of the problem in denying and delaying veterans disability claims, the DAV seeks to make a horrible situation worse.

Don't veterans deserve the right to legal counsel as early as possible when they confront a hostile bureaucracy? Just what the hell is the DAV's problem?

A letter by veterans advocate Kurt Priessman to the Senate and House Veteran Affairs Committee Chairpersons and members reveals the main issues.

March 15, 2010

Good Evening,

Recently the DAV, after testimony by its Commander, Roberto Barrera, sought to overturn legislation providing basic choice to veterans to seek attorneys to represent them ((Public Law) P. L. 109-461) [the 'Attorneys for Veterans' legislation]. Many individuals I correspond with are in complete disagreement and feel that the Veterans Service Organizations in the rural areas cannot do an adequate job as they are undermanned, overworked, lack training and resources, and despite many representatives doing yeoman's duties are at a distinct disadvantage.

To portray attorneys as complete scoundrels is absolutely unwarranted, as is portraying veterans as complete dolts, and many veterans feel this position by the DAV is a flagrant misrepresentation fed by a definite conflict of interest. In fact, many veterans feel that there should be an expansion of the attorney - claimant relationship to allow veterans the opportunity for attorneys to begin representation at the onset of the claim.

Many of the basic fundamentals of the Constitution are denied veterans serving on active duty (Feres Doctrine, etc.), and this is no less than a restriction of a veterans right to due process. There can be little doubt that rather than being advocates for veterans, there are too many instances of delays and denials, discouragement of valid claims, and failures of the Department of Veterans Affairs adversarial system and its extensions, the VFW, the DAV, AmVets, and the American Legion.

As example, the VFW argued my claim had no merit, that it was legally held by the Haas Stay (repudiated directly by the Haas staff attorney Ethan C. Kallet, Esq.), and would not assist me in attempts to solicit information concerning any phase of my claim. In essence, they appear to be instruments of the DVA, repeating whatever the VBA says.

Please convey this sentiment to members of the Senate and House Veteran Affairs Committee Chairpersons and members of the respective Committees. There can be no less an evil than the DVA's action in Cushman vs Shinseki, (2008-7129), decided in the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, or the conversation with Chief Justice Roberts in Astrue vs Ratliff, who was startled that 'in litigating with veterans, the government more often than not takes a position that is substantially unjustified'. Veterans deserve a choice at the earliest opportunity possible, we cannot afford to continue a 1,000,000 claim backlog, or a process lasting eight (8) years or more to decide.

Respectfully submitted,


Kurt Priessman, MSgt, USAF (Ret)
B.A., M.B.A., C.P.M., Veteran Advocate

Veterans Day 2023 — VA Is Lying; Veterans Are Dying

Betrayal of Our Veterans Seems American Way

 

Commentary

Madison, Wisconsin — Americans veterans are our guys; our men and women who served our country.

Like most Americans, I love these people. This long Veterans Days weekend, we honor veterans as a country.

Vietnam veteran Patrick Newberry of Fitchburg, Wisconsin
was welcomed home with other Wisconsin-area veterans in
April 2023. The veterans were honored during the
46th Badger Honor Flight. Patrick was in-country. Vietnam, 1967.
(WMTV-Madison) Patrick Newberry is a man of honor.

The plain truth is we also routinely dishonor and betray our veterans to such a degree that November 11, Veterans Day, seems a day of irony.

Bob Walsh of Battle creek, Michigan, served as a combat infantryman in Vietnam with the 101^st Airborne Division, (RVN 1971-72).

Walsh came home; went to law school; worked as an attorney for the Veterans Administration, U.S. Dept of Veterans Affairs, and found out Veterans Administration bureaucrats often could not care less about veterans, much less honoring their service.

Bob Walsh is a man of honor.  

 

Walsh represented many other men of honor the last several decades.

But in facing bureaucrats at the VA, Walsh and a growing number of veterans face these people with no honor, no respect.

Dirty Cop Raymond Vasil

Raymond Vasil is a rogue agent with the Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General, living on the public dole for screwing over our veterans, the type of nothing Walsh and veterans have to contend with when they get home.

Vasil was a dirty cop chased out of the Lombard, Illinois Police Dept where Vasil, aka Raymond Vasilopulos, worked between 1990 and 2000, and was cited in multiple misconduct cases in DuPage County, legal filings note. Vasil no longer lists his past employment with Lombard, Illinois Police Dept in his Linked-in page.

Rogue VA agent Raymond Vasil has persecuted and
lied about dozens of veterans after being fired from the
Lombard, Illinois Police Dept in 2000. The lunatic Vasil
sports a the Gadsden Flag, trolling veterans.
Don't Tread on Me symbol in his Facebook page.
Screenshot image is above.

So, naturally Vasil joined the Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General where this objectively dopey, inadequate personality can have freer reign against innocent human beings.
Raymond Vasil is a veteran-hating, psychopathic jerk working unimpeded, and unsupervised, taking it out in out veterans.To many veterans' advocates, Vasil is known as, "the idiot with a badge," who lies and defames innocent veterans over the last 30 years.

---
Astrue v. Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586 (2010)

At the U.S. Supreme Court in 2010, Chief Justice John Roberts questioned Assistant to the Solicitor General Anthony Yang during oral argument in a major federal benefits-related case, Astrue v. Ratliff, 560 U.S. 586 (2010).

Asked Justice Roberts of Assistant to the Solicitor General Anthony Yang, "In litigating with veterans, the government more often than not takes a position that is substantially unjustified?"

Yes, Justice Roberts was informed.

Roberts found this "really startling."

Yeah, startling.

Justin Perez-Gorda is a man of honor.

Justin Perez-Gorda

Vietnam veteran Don Kosterman of Fitchburg, Wisconsin
was welcomed home with other Wisconsin-area veterans in
May 2023. Veterans were honored during the
46th Badger Honor Flight. Don was in-country. Vietnam,
1965-66. Don Kosterman is a man of honor.

Justin Perez-Gorda died in federal custody pending trial in Feb 2022. Perez-Gorda is a combat veteran wounded in the Afghanistan War. He suffered a debilitating spinal injury, diagnosed and treated by numerous medical professionals, after being blown up by an IED in Afghanistan on January 5, 2011.

Perez-Gorda lived 33 years.

When he arrived at a federal facility after ridiculous fraud charges, his wheel chair was taken from him and thrown in a dumpster. He was denied clean catheters associated with his spinal condition.

Perez-Gorda died of Sepsis after 108 days in pretrial custody, having been denied any meaningful and competent medical care.

Folks, we kill people whom we should honor.

This Veterans Day, this long weekend, please consider what the VA does: The VA lies, and veterans die.

There are people at the VA in administrative positions, who actively oppose or act to block efforts to fix these problems that cost our guys their lives and liberty.

Funds unspent, programs unfunded. Contract examiners trained and encouraged to deny PTSD claims.

Plenty of blame to go around in our government, but it is the VA that deserves a lion’s share of the criticism.

God bless Bob Walsh; God bless all our veterans, men and women of honor. 

But the hell with the VA.

PTSD Continues as Veteran Bashing Grows

by Michael Leon

As the political fallout continues over Allen Breed's AP hit job published over the weekend asserting that U.S. veterans and reformist DVA elements effectively colluding to commit widespread fraud, we note that blaming veterans for illness and injury has a long tradition.

There is a wide political coalition of forces in American politics of several parties who are proficient at waving the flag and giving lip service to our veterans, while simultaneously shafting these very same veterans, even going to far as to bad mouth and dishonor them explicitly.

This obscene veteran-bashing tradition applies emphatically to Vietnam War-era veterans, many of whom U.S. Census enumerators count this year as they encounter them with non-permanent residences, living in non-sheltered areas, i.e., homeless.

To put it a different way, membership in the Republican and Democratic parties means nothing when it comes to veterans' advocacy. A Texas libertarian like Tom Dillman of the Veterans Today's community supports veterans every bit as much as our lefties here, though we agree about little else.

Veterans Today and mal contends will have more on this story in the following days.

[VT Senior Editor and General Manager's Note: Veterans Today's managing editor and staff writer, Mike Leon, broke the story on Wisconsin Navy veteran Keith Roberts and has done much of the original reporting identifying the nexus of veterans, the U.S. Attorneys Scandal and ideological antipathy toward delivering benefits to veterans generally. Leon says, "Roberts is the tip of a very deep iceberg composed of some cold characters, one of those characters is Renée L. Szybala, the Bush administration's national DVA Director of Compensation and Pension Services during the DVA targeting of Roberts." Szybala is number two at the U.S. VA Office of General Counsel (OGC) in charge of the Ethics office. Mike Bailey, Veterans Today staff writer, veteran of the Vietnam War Era, Gulf War One, U.S. Army, Infantry, SSG, and Operation Desert Storm Medical volunteer Edgewood Arsenal 1974 (Cold War Experiments), has reportedly told a VT colleague that he promised not to drop dead after hearing that Szybala is still at the VA and is number two at OGC Ethics.]

Paul Sullivan's people over at Veterans for Common Sense have a piece knocking down Allen Breed's AP article and it is printed below in its entirety.

Veterans for Common Sense (VCS) was formed in August 2002 as a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization by war veterans who believe that we, the people of the United States of America, are most secure when our country is free, strong, and responsibly engaged with the world. Our mission, based on the pragmatic ideals of the American patriot Thomas Paine, is to raise the unique and powerful voices of veterans so that our military, veterans, freedom, and national security are protected and enhanced, for ourselves and for future generations.

PTSD Is Real, PTSD Fraud Is Not
Written by VCS
May 3, 2010, Washington, DC (VCS) - Last weekend, the Associated Press printed an incomplete and inaccurate article about veterans who file disability claims against the Veterans Affairs Department (VA) for post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The AP wrote, “The problem: The [VA claims] system is dysfunctional, an open invitation to fraud. And the VA has proposed changes that could make deception even easier.”The AP is wrong, and VCS asked AP to correct the story.

Here are two very important facts the AP overlooked. If AP had included these two facts, then readers would understand more about VA and veterans suffering with PTSD after deploying to the brutal Iraq and Afghanistan wars, sometimes two or three times.

Fact Number One. There is no widespread fraud problem at VA. Out of more than one million claims per year, less than a score are ever investigated for fraud.Furthermore, in November 2005, VA auditors randomly selected 2,100 PTSD claims. After an exhaustive investigation, VA found zero cases of fraud. VA has extensive methods to prevent fraud, contrary to AP's baseless assertion.

VA’s investigation began when a reporter at the Chicago Sun Times observed that VA pays different average amounts in disability benefits based on a state-by-state comparison. The true culprit: poor leadership, staff shortages, and a lack of consistent training. VA Secretary Shinseki is taking bold steps to address these challenges, and he has broad support among veterans’ groups.

A few people opposed to healthcare and benefits for our veterans have attacked PTSD in the past. VA Watchdog wrote an op-ed about this, and Boston Review published a news article.

The AP article was a disservice to veterans as it may perpetuate stereotypes of veterans with PTSD as frauds, when the science shows they are not. At VCS we encourage our veterans with PTSD symptoms to seek care from VA. They may have to wait and wade through red tape, yet we are working hard to fix that, too.

Fact Number Two. The standards for reviewing PTSD claims won’t be “loosened” as AP asserted without attribution.

VA and independent scientists overwhelmingly agree, the diagnosis of PTSD is very real. Our goal at VCS is for the scientific evidence to match VA’s rules for obtaining disability benefits and healthcare.

Here’s what independent scientists found. In 2007 the Institute of Medicine at the National Academy of Science reviewed scores of peer-reviewed and published scientific studies and validated PTSD. In VCS July 2007 Congressional Testimony describing how the previous Administration fought against PTSD healthcare and benefits for our veterans.

PTSD is a very real and very serious problem increasing in scope the longer the current wars continue. The scientific challenges understanding PTSD are similar to the many years scientists and VA took to recognize disabilities associated with Agent Orange / dioxin poisoning among Vietnam War veterans. Science is now catching up.

This important regulatory victory for veterans, based on decades of peer-reviewed, published scientific research, represents a bold, pro-veteran improvement by VA Secretary Erik Shinseki to open the doors for benefits and treatment to hundreds of thousands of deserving veterans suffering years or decades with PTSD who earned and who need VA assistance.

In our view, PTSD is real, and charges of PTSD fraud are not.

PTSD Vets File Class Action

Veterans diagnosed with PTSD know well the VA's systemic hostility to disability claims. Now, vets have filed an unprecedented class action lawsuit with the powerhouse legal firm, Morrison & Foerster LLP, which is taking the case pro bono.

PR is below.

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Legal Updates & News

Press Releases

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Class Action Filed Challenging Government’s Mistreatment of Returning Veterans Suffering From Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

07/23/2007
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Veterans’ Civil Rights Case, first of its kind, includes Department of Veterans Affairs and U.S. Attorney General Gonzales as defendants; focuses on veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts; alleges “unconscionable delays” and other violations of veterans’ constitutional and civil rights

SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON (July 23, 2007) --Attorneys at Morrison & Foerster LLP have filed an unprecedented national class action lawsuit alleging “shameful failures” by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”) and other government institutions to care for those veterans who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan and are now suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (“PTSD”). The firm is handling the case on a pro bono basis.

The action was brought on behalf of veterans and their families seeking or receiving death or disability compensation for PTSD, as well as those who have pending claims or who have applied for VA medical benefits based upon the disorder. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California.

Morrison & Foerster estimates the class size as between 320,000 and 800,000 veterans, by multiplying the number of military personnel serving in Iraq and Afghanistan (1.6 million) by the estimated percentage of PTSD amongst the returning troops (20% to 50%). The non-profit Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans United for Truth are among the plaintiffs.

Defendants include R. James Nicholson, Secretary of the VA (who resigned on July 17, effective later this year); Alberto Gonzales, Attorney General of the United States, Dr. Michael Kussman, Under Secretary of the Veterans Health Administration; Daniel L. Cooper, Under Secretary for the Veterans Benefits Administration, Pritz K. Navara, Veterans Service Center Manager, VA Oakland Regional Office, and various other government officials.

The plaintiff class seeks declaratory and injunctive relief only – no monetary damages – and challenges the constitutionality of the Veterans Judicial Review Act, and related administrative policies and procedures. Plaintiffs allege a number of policy failures on the part of the VA, including:

repeated violations of federal statutes guaranteeing health care for returning veterans;
unconscionable delays and prohibitively complicated procedures in the adjudication of claims seeking benefits or medical care and appeals, coupled with the VA’s providing misleading timeliness statistics to the American public;
the VA’s premature and intentional denial of claims, and other administrative abuses calculated to boost incentive bonuses for VA employees;
exertion by VA officials in Washington, DC of bureaucratic pressure and influence upon the adjudication of PTSD claims by regional VA offices; and
a pattern of chronic under-funding and under-staffing of VA programs.
According to Gordon P. Erspamer, a litigation partner in Morrison & Foerster’s Walnut Creek office: “This isn’t a case about isolated problems or the type of normal delays and administrative hassles we all occasionally experience with bureaucracies. This case is founded on the virtual meltdown of the VA’s capacity to care for men and women who served their country bravely and honorably, were severely injured, and are now being treated like second-class citizens.”

“The delays caused by the VA have created impenetrable barriers to relief for thousands of impaired veterans, whose suffering is compounded by a VA system that denies them their fundamental constitutional and civil rights that all the rest of us share,” Mr. Erspamer added.

Mr. Erspamer is acutely aware of the plight of veterans with serious health problems having to endure interminable waits for treatment and benefits from the government. His own father, Ernest, was exposed to extensive radiation during atomic bomb tests in the Pacific Bikini Atoll in 1946 and later developed leukemia, which took his life in 1980. Even with her son’s help, it then took his mother more than ten years to obtain disability and death benefits from the VA, a journey that included the first case ever heard or decided by the newly created Court of Veterans Appeals (now Court of Appeals for Veterans’ Claims) in 1990. Erspamer v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 3; 1990 U.S. Vet. App. LEXIS 1. Morrison & Foerster also represented the National Association of Radiation Survivors in the landmark due process case of NARS v. Walters, 473 U.S. 305, which addressed many of the same types of abuses as today’s filing.

Paul Sullivan, Executive Director of Veterans for Common Sense, explained his organization’s participation in the class action: “Since the Iraq and Afghanistan wars began, VA has betrayed our veterans. Instead of hiring more doctors and claims processors, VA instituted new policies that block veterans’ access to prompt mental healthcare. America should be outraged. While we are reluctant to file suit against VA, it is VA’s anti-veteran policies that leave us no other option than to fight for what our veterans earned after fighting on the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

Bob Handy, Chair of plaintiff group Veterans United for Truth, emphasized the non-partisan nature of the suit, stating that “We believe that this is a case that all points of the political spectrum will support, as regardless of one’s views on the current wars, we all share the strong belief that we should take care of those who die or are wounded in battle.”

The current complaint explains how the large influx of veterans from Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq has finally crippled a long-struggling system — with 200,000 new disability claims arising from these two actions alone. The complaint further reveals the existence of over 600,000 back-logged claims covering all manner of illness, with many taking more than 10 years to be fully adjudicated.

The Plaintiffs assert that the existing VA system for obtaining benefits or medical care is especially ill-suited for dealing with PTSD. The complaint cites a recent report issued by the Defense Department’s Task Force on Mental Health, which found that 38% of soldiers and 50% of National Guard members who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan report mental health issues ranging from post-combat stress to brain injuries.

“PTSD is prevalent in troops returning from the current wars because of multiple rotations into combat, the absence of battle lines, widespread use of improvised explosive devices, the moral ambiguity of killing combatants dressed as civilians, the unprecedented use of National Guard and Reserve troops, and the use of body armor that saves lives but leaves minds and bodies shattered,” the complaint explains.

The complaint further alleges that federal government officials have improperly induced many soldiers suffering from PTSD to accept “personality disorder” discharges, precluding veterans from obtaining disability benefits or receiving ongoing medical treatment because the disorder is then classified as a pre-existing condition.

“More than 22,500 soldiers across the armed forces have been suspiciously diagnosed and discharged with ‘personality disorder’ in the last six years, condemning them to a lifetime of disability without any compensation or access to VA medical care,” the complaint states.

“Many of these veterans simply give up in frustration and despair or die—some committing suicide,” added Morrison & Foerster’s Mr. Erspamer.

The complaint summarizes: “Unless systemic and drastic measures are instituted immediately, the costs to these veterans, their families, and our nation will be incalculable, including broken families, a new generation of unemployed and homeless veterans, increases in drug abuse, increases in alcoholism, and crushing burdens on the health care delivery system and other social services in our communities.”

For further information, please contact lead counsel for Plaintiffs, Gordon P. Erspamer, 925-295-3341, GErspamer@mofo.com.

Other sources for information include Russell K. Terry, CEO/Founder, Iraq War Veterans Organization, Inc., 909-494-6218, webmaster@iraqwarveterans.org, Ronald B. Abrams, Deputy Director, National Veterans Legal Services Project, 202-265-8305, ron_abrams@nvlsp.org, Michael Blecker, Executive Director, Swords to Plowshares, 415-252-4787, extension 321, mblecker@stp-sf.org, and Amy Fairweather, Director of Iraq Veteran Project, Swords to Plowshares, 415-252-4787, extension 356, afairweather@stp-sf.org.

The complaint can be viewed at http://www.mofo.com/docs/pdf/PTSD070723.pdf

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