Lawmakers conflicted on VA claims fixes - Military News | News From Afghanistan, Iraq And Around The World - Military Times

Lawmakers conflicted on VA claims fixes

One reason that efforts to overhaul the veterans disability compensation system are taking so long could be conflicting pressures being applied by Congress.

On Thursday, the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee chairman said he wants to make sure changes are done right.

“We need to be deliberate as we work to develop solutions that will result in appropriate reform,” said Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii.

Noting that studies funded by the Veterans Affairs Department have shown that some veterans are underpaid and some are overpaid, Akaka said calculating the appropriate level of compensation for disabled veterans is “a complex matter.”

But while Akaka was talking about being “deliberate,” the committee’s ranking Republican was pushing VA to act now.

Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina said all he sees from VA are studies about reforming benefits that end up leading to more studies, while the window of opportunity for change rapidly closes.

“If the wounded warriors returning from conflicts with life-altering injuries are not enough motivation to make these commonsense changes, I am not sure what will be,” Burr said. “I am sure that I don’t want veterans 50 years from now to look back and ask why, in the face of overwhelming evidence that this system is outdated, we did nothing.”

Patrick Dunne, VA’s undersecretary for benefits, said his department is working on change, beginning with an overdue review of the disability ratings schedule to determine the appropriate level of disability to assign to particular problems.

A major focus, he said, is a review of mental-health problems such as post-traumatic stress, which studies have shown can be a bigger impediment to a veteran’s earnings potential that other disabilities.

Dunne cautioned that major changes won’t come easily, especially a possible change that would include a determination about quality of life as a consideration in payments.

He said such a standard would likely be subjective, require costly training of employees to administer, lead to more appeals by veterans and might have an unintended consequence of deterring veterans from seeking treatment and rehabilitation for disabilities if the result of a better life would be less money.

Committee members who have heard complaints from veterans for years are not satisfied with the pace of change, especially Burr, who warned VA that he would keep pressing for action.

“I am not going to let this out of my teeth,” he said. “I don’t care who I insult.”