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BUREAUCRACY FRUSTRATES VETERANS' QUEST
FOR AID -- Shawn Presnell says he loves his
country, but he fears his government.
Shawn Presnell points to the X-rays
of his injured knee and ankle in a mountain of paperwork he has
collected while trying to get more disability compensation from
Veterans Affairs. Presnell says an ankle injury while he was
serving in the Army in 1991 led to further injuries to his ankle,
knee and back. (credit: Erin Brethauer,
ebrethauer@citizen-times.com ) |
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Bureaucracy frustrates veterans’ quest for aid
by Nanci Bompey,
NBOMPEY@CITIZEN-TIMES.COM
published August 6, 2007 12:15 am
ASHEVILLE — Shawn Presnell says he loves his country, but he fears his
government.
The black knee brace on his left leg and a long scar are permanent
reminders of the battle the former Army soldier and National Guardsman
has been waging for nearly two years with the Department of Veterans
Affairs.
Since 2005, Presnell has been fighting to get additional disability
compensation for medical conditions he says are a result of an ankle
injury he suffered in 1991 in the Army. While the VA has granted the
41-year-old Asheville resident some disability compensation, Presnell
said additional money would help him pay off his medical bills and keep
him from living paycheck to paycheck.
The father of five has met with VA decision review officers, his
congressional delegation in Washington, and numerous doctors and
administrators to help resolve his problem.
“They all admit the system is broke, but no one is fixing it,” said
Presnell, who has two large binders that hold his medical and VA
records. “There’s not a vet I talked to up there (at the VA Medical
Center in Asheville) that hasn’t gone through one headache or another.”
Presnell is one of the estimated 806,000 veterans who filed for
disability claims last year. The VA has hundreds of thousands of
backlogged disability claims, and the number of claims is expected to
rise as more troops return home from Iraq and Afghanistan and as the
population ages.
Local veterans say the process can be frustrating. Many veterans have
trouble proving their conditions are related to their service, and those
who do prove their case can still wait for months or years before they
receive their compensation.
While increased attention to the care of wounded troops and the veterans
disability system has led to more funding, some think an even greater
change is necessary to address the problem.
A presidential commission on the state of military and veterans’ care
released a report last month recommending fundamental changes to the
system. A congressional commission has also been charged with looking at
how the system works.
But Presnell says he is skeptical that anything will change. For now, he
says he will continue to appeal his case and is prepared to take it to
court.
“We’ve worked hard all of our lives, and they told us we’d be taken care
of,” he said. “They’re not taking care of us.”
A long process
Today, there are 3.5 million veterans who receive compensation from the
VA. Veterans who have been honorably discharged from the armed forces
are eligible for disability payments for conditions incurred in or
aggravated by their military service. The level of disability to which
the veteran is entitled is based on the severity of his or her
condition.
Nationally, the VA has seen a 38 percent increase in disability claims
since 2000. The Winston-Salem Regional Office, which handles claims for
veterans in Western North Carolina and around the state, has had a 60
percent increase in disability claims from 2002 to 2006, and the office
has received more than 34,000 claims so far this fiscal year.
The VA said it expects the number of claims to increase as the veteran
population increases and ages. It said an increase in claims and
increasingly complex conditions have lead to a longer and more difficult
claims process.
Local veterans like Presnell complain of the lengthy process. The
Winston-Salem office said it has about 18,800 pending claims. That
office said it takes an average of 160 days to complete a disability
claim; about 3 percent of claims take longer than one year to complete.
Larry Fowler, an American Legion veteran service officer, helps veterans
at the Asheville VA Medical Center file their claims. He said it is
sometimes difficult for veterans to provide the necessary medical
evidence and service records.
“You can’t take a veteran’s word for it,” he said. “The law says that
the guy who rates those claims must have hard medical evidence.”
Susanna Euston, a constituent service representative in U.S. Rep. Heath
Shuler’s regional office who helps veterans, said those from World War
II and Vietnam often have trouble obtaining their records and face
difficulty in constructing their cases from decades ago.
A report conducted by the Institute for Defense Analysis concluded that
disability pay could vary depending on where a veteran lives. The
average disability payment for a veteran in North Carolina is $9,549,
higher than the national average of $8,890.
But some local veterans say they are unhappy with the compensation they
have been given and are appealing their claims, which can also add time
to the process. The regional office said it has received 948 appeals
this year through the end of June.
Beyond the regional office, veterans can appeal the case further. The VA
said about 4 percent of all decisions are appealed to the Board of
Veterans Appeals, and less than half of 1 percent are appealed to the
Court of Veterans Appeals.
Peter Sarda is one of only a handful of lawyers in North Carolina who
represents veterans in disability cases. He said the process can take a
few years and only about half his clients are satisfied with the
decision.
“It is a difficult process,” Sarda said. “ … They get discouraged. Some
people really don’t want to fight.”
Attempts to address the problem
There have been efforts to try to address the problems in awarding
disability. An emergency spending bill that passed the House of
Representative in May gave $62 million to hire new claims processors and
address the 400,000-claim nationwide backlog. It also included $20
million to help speed up initial disability claims.
The Winston-Salem office said its staff has worked overtime, and the
office has hired 26 decision-makers and is planning to bring in 24 more
in the next 45 days to help with the heavy workload.
But there may be more to the problem than funding and personnel issues.
A presidential commission, chaired by former Sen. Bob Dole and former
Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala, released a report
last month that recommends an overhaul in the way disability pay is
awarded.
The report recommends restructuring disability pay systems to give the
VA more responsibility in awarding benefits. It also urges the agency to
update the way it determines disability.
Congress has also charged an independent Veterans Disability Benefits
Commission with assessing and recommending improvements to the system. A
report from the commission is expected in October.
Presnell said he plans to fight for the compensation he feels he
deserves until he receives it and then he will help other veterans
navigate the system.
But the frustration and anger that Presnell feels for the VA system
hasn’t diminished his pride and love for the U.S.
“If I was able to go back in the Army, I’d go back into the Army right
now,” Presnell said. “Even with everything I’m going through, I’d go
back and do it again.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Larry Scott --
