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House chairman calls delayed payment to veterans 'an insult'

By Michael O'Brien - 11/11/09 02:40 PM ET

Delays in disability benefit payments are "an insult" to military veterans, the chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee said Wednesday.

Committee Chairman Bob Filner (D-Calif.) urged the federal government to cut through red tape in deploying benefits.

"People have died before they've gotten their benefits or they've lost their houses because they didn't have a check coming in," Filner said during an interview on Federal News Radio. "What I would like to do is just cut through all [the] red tape."

The chairman said that the government's slowness to respond to claims from disabled veterans is "an insult."

Filner called on the Department of Veterans Affairs to process claims as quickly as the IRS handles tax returns, guaranteeing a three-week turnaround in benefits payments.

"Why don't we do the same thing with our veterans?" Filner asked. "We send out a check as soon as we get their application, and audit it whenever we ... as much time as we have to take. But at least recognize that the soldiers that deserve compensation, we ought to get it to them quickly."

Source:
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/67379-house-chairman-says-delayed-disabilities-payment-to-vets-an-insult

Comments (4)

Mr. Filner, I agree with you. Delaying payment owed to Veterans who served our country, should be criminal.BY Mark X on 11/11/2009 at 20:24
Dealing with the VA is a joke———even members of the SSA joke about how long it takes to get any action. Its all the govermental red tape and stupid questionaires that have to be filled out by way too many people. Moreover, most of the people don't know what the stupid questions mean and how to answer them correctly and they're responsible for filling out the damn forms. Go figure. I guess someone has to justifiy their job. Idiots.BY Steve Hawkins on 11/11/2009 at 21:27
I agree one hundred percent with Chairman Bob Filner because I have been fighting the VA for (17) years and have seen my claim file get lost or destroyed. Falsified dates on VA letter lying to me and a lot of other mess. I talked with your Executive Editor a year ago and would to send you guys proof that the VA is lying, as Chairman Bob Filner says it is "in sult," that they are being allowed to get away with the criminal acts such as tampering with federal documents and also changing doctors letters that veterans issue as evidence, they reject doctors diagnosis without having a license to practice, they violate United States Code Title 38 Sections 1110 Basic Entitlement; 1111 Presumption of Sound Condition; 503 Administrative Error; these are laws legislated by the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate. If you send me a email address I promise you that we will prove evry word written in this email.Chauncey L. RobinsonHome-518-813-4457Cell-518-528-9553BY Chauncey L. Robinson on 11/11/2009 at 23:49
The VA went from being the veteran's advocate to the veteran's adversary during the "W" years. Bonuses were paid to VA employees for quickly adjudicating claims. Unfortunately a stamp of "DENIED" without any review of the evidence met the definition of "Adudicated". There was no incentive to help the veteran receives a fair review and compensation but all the incentive in the world to reject a claim without review for immediate an reward.Step one in fixing the VA is forcing out all non-veteran employees to other agencies or giving them early retirements while replacing them with veterans as only veterans can understand the plight of their disabled brothers and sisters and be willing to give each case the full evaluation it should.BY Jaxter on 12/11/2009 at 19:04

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