OpEdNews - Page 3 of Article: Crisis at the VA as Benefits Claims Backlog Nearly Tops One Million

Gordon Erspamer, a San Francisco attorney representing the veterans groups, said in an interview that the case is "odd"- because Conti's "findings of fact departed from his ultimate ruling."-

Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, said in an interview that the motivation for the appeal to the 9th Circuit was VA's failure to fully implement its Mental Health Strategic Plan and to conduct oversight of it. He said he has received reports about veterans packing parking lots to wait for medical care.

Internal VA memos that surfaced during the trial last year showed that VA officials were aware that more than 1,000 veterans had attempted suicide per month, which attorneys representing the veterans advocacy groups argued could have been avoided if the MHSP, which called for the development of a "national, systemic program for suicide prevention," was implemented.

"The VA has provided no documentation that they implemented any aspect of their strategic plan,"- Sullivan said. "From our point of view, although it appears VA is taking some steps in the right direction VA's system still remains in deep crisis."-

A VA spokesperson would not answer specific questions about claims made in the lawsuit, specifically, whether the agency has conducted any oversight to ensure its mental health directives are being followed by its healthcare facilities around the country.

Sullivan added that number of suicides and PTSD cases will likely increase "with the escalation in Afghanistan and the increasing use of multiple deployments."-

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said earlier this year the Pentagon would end the so-called "stop loss"- program sometime in 2010--the program that ordered soldiers to remain in the military for months, and in some cases longer, after their enlistment contract had expired. News reports said that 40 percent of the nearly two million U.S. service members sent to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have already been deployed twice or more.

Lawmakers have proposed several pieces of legislation aimed at streamlining the backlog of benefits claims associated with mental health diagnosis.

Rep. John Hall, chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee introduced one such bill, HR 952, the "Combat PTSD Act" in February. The legislation, which has 85 cosponsors, would streamline claims for post traumatic stress disorder, some of the most difficult and time-consuming claims VA processes.

In addition, Hall and House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Bob Filner introduced and passed a comprehensive package of pilot programs to start repairing VA's broken claims system.

But without immediate intervention by Shinseki on the benefits claims backlog, the VA will continue to be mired in controversy.

"This is an unmitigated disaster, and grounds for the removal of top [Veterans Benefits Administration] and [Board of Veterans Appeals] officials,"- Sullivan said. "President Obama and Secretary Shinseki need to clean house at the Veterans Benefits Administration now, before VA's claim system collapses. Although hiring more claims processors will help, VBA also desperately needs new leaders and new policies.

"The wars and economic devastation continue to generate a flood of new patients and claims for VA. However, the Captain of the ship has changed at VA, and a new course has been plotted. Only time will tell if Secretary Shinseki can turn the ship around without additional damage to VA or harm to our veterans."-
Last Updated on Monday, 01 June 2009 11:46

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