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VETERANS DAY EDITORIAL: VA PUTS
CREDIBILITY
THROUGH SHREDDER -- St. Petersburg Times:
"Documents such as key medical assessments
may get destroyed as a way to make denials
easier.
All stories regarding the VA's shredder and
document handling scandal can be found on this page... click here...
http://www.vawatchdog.org/VAshredderscandal.htm
Editorial here...
http://www.tampabay.
com/opinion/editorials/article898342.ece
Editorial below:
Your comments accepted at bottom of page.
-------------------------
A Times Editorial
VA puts credibility through shredder
When veterans need health care, they at least expect their claims will be
fairly evaluated. Yet Department of Veterans Affairs investigators have
found that VA benefits offices around the country had documents stacked in
a queue for shredding that were key in making decisions on veterans'
pension and disability claims.
The VA has been dogged for years by accusations that it is at best
careless and at worst deliberate in its misplacement of veterans'
documents. Now it appears as though there is truth to some of the
allegations. An internal review found that nearly 500 documents were put
in shredding bins improperly. Such documents were found at two-thirds of
the VA's 57 benefits offices, including at Bay Pines in St. Petersburg.
Investigations are continuing, but the findings so far demonstrate that
the VA needs to employ more electronic record-keeping. The agency
processes 162-million pages a year. With all this paper-pushing, important
material is bound to get misplaced or lost. And when that happens, it can
delay a determination on a benefits claim for months or years, and lead to
an improper denial.
We remember the botched attempt at computerization at Bay Pines VA Medical
Center, where more than $100-million was spent on a
 system
that failed to perform properly. But a technology transition for the VA's
benefits offices is necessary — albeit one with tighter controls and
oversight. And at some point, every veteran should have Web-based access
to his claim file.
Another issue is the VA's compensation system, which encourages
adjudicators to move claims rather than judge them correctly. Documents
such as key medical assessments may get destroyed as a way to make denials
easier. These kinds of shenanigans have been unearthed before.
A problem can't be solved until it's identified. Now that it's clear that
improper document shredding is occurring, the VA has a big job to do,
starting with changing the culture of carelessness that seems endemic. A
new policy that requires more oversight of shredding should help, but
Congress should proceed with plans to take a closer look.
-------------------------
posted by Larry Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org
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