CHICAGO (CBS2) – As more American troops leave Iraq and Afghanistan, more are coming home with disabilities, but any say the wait for their disability benefits and medical care is longer and more complicated than they ever expected.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs says it’s working hard on the problem.
CBS 2’s Bill Kurtis has the first of two parts on what some veterans have to say about the issue.
They came back from battle scarred — physically and emotionally.
“I was in Iraq for a total of 26 months,” said Iraq veteran Crystal Colon. “It does a lot to your psyche.”
“We were actually in a convoy and we got ambushed,” said fellow Iraq veteran Derek Giffin.
Vietnam veteran George Fuentes said, “We were the last battalion there, doing all the final sweeps around Saigon.”
But those veterans and others who have talked to CBS 2 about being wounded in action said they feel like they’re still fighting, after coming back from war.
Now, it’s to get their disability benefits, and to see a doctor for their ailments.
Giffin said, “It really is frustrating.”
The V.A. said it’s working hard to cut delays in providing benefits, and that the average time to process a benefits claim is 250 days – about 100 more in Chicago.
But Giffin, who served in Iraq and now counsels other veterans, said he sees a different number.
“We usually tell veterans that they should expect to wait about 500 days before they receive a rating decision,” he said.
It’s not just frustration. Several veterans said they feel forgotten.
Take Fuentes, who was left with back and shoulder injuries after his unit was ambushed. He also suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Since April 2011, he’s been getting letters from the V.A., saying it’s working on his claim.
“I call them once a month, and the only thing they said, ‘Oh, your case is still being evaluated,’” Fuentes said.
Just last week, he even went to the V.A. processing center, where he said a clerk told him, “they’re working on it. They’re working on all the claims from 2010 now. … They’re working on it, that’s all she said. She said it three times.”
Colon, who served twice in Iraq, is still waiting for benefits, too.
While volunteering at a food pantry for homeless veterans, she told her story.
“I filed in Texas,” she said. “It took the V.A. months to move my claim from Texas to the state of Illinois.”
It took eight months and one week, to be exact.
Several vets, including Steven Thomas, said if they have an ongoing problem, just getting a doctor’s appointment can take several months.
Thomas has debilitating arthritis.
“I went to rheumatology in February, and I didn’t get an appointment for a follow-up until September the 18th,” he said.
Thomas said, last week, he learned he got into a pain management program, 10 months after making the request.
“This is how the V.A. operates,” he said.
But the V.A. begged to differ, pointing to new high-tech programs that are taking them light years ahead of where they’ve been.
Kurtis will have more on how the V.A. is addressing delays in providing benefits on Thursday.
Most of the veterans who spoke to CBS 2 about the delay in getting benefits also said they don’t look at the V.A. as the bad guy. In fact, Giffin said the V.A. is full of “great people,” there have just been problems with the system.
Report by Bill Kurtis | CBS2 Chicago
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/07/11/vets-frustrated-with-long-waits-for-disability-benefits-medical-care/
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July 12, 2012
V.A. Working To Speed Up Claims Processing For Vets
CHICAGO (CBS) – Many veterans have complained that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs keeps them waiting months for benefits and, in some cases, medical care; but the V.A. says it’s working to speed up its process.
CBS 2’s Bill Kurtis has more on the V.A.’s efforts to cut through the red tape when getting veterans the medical and psychological treatment they need.
“The Army has a saying: ‘Hurry up and wait,’” said veteran Steven Thomas. “That’s what the V.A. does.”
Thomas is one of many veterans who said they’ve had to wait months to see a V.A. doctor for ongoing problems.
“I’ve called for appointments for optometry as early as last month, and my appointments aren’t made until Oct. 17,” he said.
Dr. Jeff Ryan, deputy chief of staff for outpatient services at Chicago’s Jesse Brown V.A. hospital, said, “Overall we do a very good job on access, but we do recognize there are some areas where we do struggle.”
Jesse Brown alone takes 500,000 outpatient appointments a year.
Ryan said the V.A. cares about providing veterans the care they need, and is taking action by hiring more employees and improving communication.
What does he say to frustrated veterans?
“We want to hear from you,” he said.
To make that easier, the V.A. runs a call center where vets can report concerns and complaints, and the agency is hiring more advocates to serve patients.
The V.A. knows it has problems, and is trying to surge ahead, in what they describe as going from a steam engine to a jet engine.
Another problem is the long waits veterans face in getting disability benefits. Nationally, it takes an average of 250 days to complete a claim. In busy Chicago, it takes an average of 350 days.
“That’s too long,” said Beth McCoy, a regional V.A. director. “Our goal is that no claim will be pending more than 125 days.”
Another way of getting that jet engine going is implementation of an online program to give veterans self-service access to their benefits claims and appeals, 24/7.
“You can go onto e-benefits and check the status of your claim, or your appeal. You can download forms that may be helpful to you,” McCoy said.
Also on the site are new medical questionnaires for vets to take to doctors, in or out of the V.A. system.
Details left out on claim forms can delay processing benefits. The forms are so specific, they have all the information the V.A. needs, but perhaps the largest task is going paperless.
“We’re going paperless. We have to go paperless,” McCoy said.
It’s a work in progress. When finished, records would be stored, not in stacks, but electronically.
“If you file a new claim … then we will start paperless there and scan in the whole claims folder,” McCoy said.
That could have helped veteran Mickey Magnifico. She said she filed for benefits the day after she got home from Iraq, but several months later, was told the V.A. couldn’t find her claim.
“I had to re-file my claim,” she said.
That kind of frustration is what the V.A. wants to end.
“Our veterans deserve the best. They deserve the best quality, and the best timeliness in their decision-making that we can give them,” McCoy said.
The V.A. processes more than one million claims a year.
REPORT by Bill Kurtis
CBS2 Chicago
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/07/12/v-a-working-to-speed-up-claims-processing-for-vets/
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