Working to Ensure Veterans Aren’t Saddled with Bureaucratic Red Tape

This week I sent a letter to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs about the fact that VA decisions to deny veterans benefit claims are being overturned at the rate of 50 to 70 percent by appeals courts.  This outrageous number was brought to light thanks to a recent Supreme Court case.  During the oral arguments, the Chief Justice himself called the situation “startling.”

The fact that VA decisions are overturned with this kind of frequency, meaning they were wrongfully decided in the first place, is an indication of serious, systemic problems with the way the VA considers the benefits claims made by veterans.

These decisions made by the VA mean more red tape and bureaucratic hassles for veterans.  They have to wait longer and go through court proceedings in order to access the benefits that they’re entitled to.  Plus, the VA is wasting time and money that should be going to processing claims because it’s instead dealing with appeals of its own bad decisions--making the claims backlog even worse than it has to be or even is now.

On top of this, when a claim goes to appeal and the court finds the government’s position to be unjustified, attorneys for the plaintiffs are then eligible to have their fees paid by the government under what’s called the Equal Access to Justice Act.  So both veterans as well as taxpayers are being needlessly harmed by what certainly looks like a systemic VA problem.

The VA needs to be held accountable and to fix what’s wrong.  Because, it’s clear the substantial increases in VA funding that Congress has provided aren’t doing the trick. Without reform inside the VA, veterans won’t get what they deserve and the funds won’t accomplish the good they should be doing to help veterans.