Study says US government not doing enough to fix disparities in veterans' disability

[cato2]

Study says US government not doing enough to fix disparities in veterans' disability pay!

WASHINGTON: Injured U.S. veterans could be shortchanged in their government disability pay depending on where they live because of wide disparities from state to state, a new Veterans Affairs Department study concludes.

The report also faulted the VA for not collecting data on certain types of claims — for example, how many post-traumatic stress disorder cases are rejected. As a result, it was impossible to determine whether part of the disparity in payments might be due to a VA office's inappropriate rejection of a high number of claims for PTSD, formerly called combat fatigue, a signature injury of the Iraq war.

Some soldiers and veterans groups have charged that Army disability review boards, which are under the Defense Department's purview instead of the VA's, unfairly reject PTSD claims to avoid paying disability pay. No data were available to determine whether that might be the case for the VA, the report said.

The 1 1/2-year investigation, conducted by the Institute for Defense Analysis, is the first to examine scientifically reasons behind the VA's uneven handling of veterans claims for disability compensation. It was launched by the agency after reports in 2005 of wide differences in payments.

The 50-page report, made available to The Associated Press, found that average annual disability payments swung widely from $7,556 (€5,485) in Ohio to $12,395 (€8,995) in New Mexico. Nationwide, the average pay was $8,890 (€6,450).

Illinois, which was the lowest in the nation in 2004 at $6,961 (€5,050), was the seventh lowest at roughly $7,816 (€5,670).

on the PTSD claims, David Hunter, who put together the study, said, "The process by which VA adjudicates claims has potential for producing persistent regional differences in rating results. For certain claims, different raters could reasonably arrive at different results."

Since reports of disparities emerged in 2005, the VA has struggled to explain them. It has largely blamed problems on demographic factors beyond its control: for instance, whether a particular state had more Vietnam veterans, who on average receive higher payments, or whether a veteran had legal help when making a claim.

Still, the study released to the AP found a substantial portion — roughly one-third — could be blamed on poor VA standards and inadequate training. As a result, disability raters in VA regional offices often had too much power and discretion to decide how much pay a veteran was entitled to.

Vietnam veterans received annual awards of $11,670 (€8,469.41), compared to $7,410 (€5,377.75) for those who fought in other wars. The lowest pay was given to Gulf War veterans — $6,506 (€4,721.68).
The Bush administration is working to improve its veterans care system after disclosures this year of shoddy outpatient treatment at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the Army's showcase medical facility.

On Tuesday, VA Secretary Jim Nicholson unexpectedly announced he would resign by Oct. 1 to return to the private sector, leaving the helm of the VA's vast network of 1,400 hospitals and clinics which provide supplementary care to 5.8 million veterans.


Both Congress and a presidential commission are considering sweeping measures that could shift more responsibility for rating a veterans' disability from the Pentagon to the VA — a move that some veterans advocates say could further strain an already backlogged VA system.

In interviews, Patrick Dunne, VA's assistant secretary for policy, planning and preparedness, and Ronald Aument, the VA's deputy undersecretary for benefits, said they welcomed the findings and would take additional measures to improve training and oversight.

Study says US government not doing enough to fix disparities in veterans' disability pay - International Herald Tribune