This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Veterans’ Affairs Department

  • Veterans’ care is killing vets

    According to this report from Anderson Cooper on CNN, at least 82 veterans have died as a direct result of the Veterans’ Affairs Department failing to schedule screening procedures for veterans, despite promises from the president and his administrator of the department, Eric Shinseki to correct the department’s shortcomings and to become more responsive.

    CNN claims in the video that attempts to interview Shinseki and Obama have fallen on deaf ears, requests denied or ignored.

    Now, I remember the first four years of Obama’s term, him and his little group of propagandists told veterans how much he cared about our concerns, how much him and Shinseki had done to improve the VA, but, I guess the first term is over and he won, so he doesn’t need us anymore. These re veterans who already went through the long and grueling process of getting claims approved and were admitted into the system, now they’re waiting to get the treatment to keep them alive. If I didn’t know better, I’d think they’d rather that we all die.

    You’d think that a wounded veteran who went through the VA would make a good VA director, wouldn’t you?

    Thanks to reader, ohio, for the link.

  • Vets’ Data lost at eBenefits

    TSO sends us a link to the story at Fed Scoop that veterans enrolled at eBenefits may have lost their data to a breech this weekend.

    VA has been investigating a problem with the joint VA-Defense Department eBenefits system since Jan. 15, when several veterans reported being able to see the personal information belonging to other veterans when they logged into the system. An internal VA memo obtained by FedScoop showed approximately 10,000 veterans had logged into the system during the time frame when the glitch was discovered.

    But new video footage obtained by FedScoop from Eric Grzelak, a disabled veteran who has tried unsuccessfully to alert VA to the problems, shows the glitch exposed the private records of multiple veterans for every person who was logged in. In addition, Grzelak’s video evidence shows it was possible to alter the records, placing at risk the private information of potentially tens of thousands or more veterans.

    “I could see someone’s name, date of birth, Social Security number, what disabilities they had [and] how much they got paid,” Grzelak told FedScoop. “Everything you would look at would pull up someone else’s info. It would change every time you refreshed the page.”

    “I think its a huge deal that I was able to change someone’s info,” Grzelak said. “Everyone needs to check now to make sure all their information is correct. I mean, you could change anything — bank info, home address. It was all open.”

    Yeah, so you should check your eBenefits stuff, but keep your paws off of mine, OK? If you still haven’t got Lifelock or something similar, you really need to squeeze out a couple of bucks a month. Obviously, the VA doesn’t care as much about your information as they should, certainly quite a bit less than you care.

  • Your VA ID card might expose you to identity theft

    If you have a VA ID card, you’ll want to watch this video, and you’ll want to keep your ID card locked up when you don’t need it;

    As I’ve said before, get Lifelock if you’re in the VA system. As many times as they’ve lost your PII and as little as they care about your information being released to the public, you really have no other choice.

  • VA fraud alert

    Someone passed this along to us from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs;

    For Immediate Release:

    To All Veterans:

    FRAUD ALERT: Veterans should be aware of a marketing scam targeting callers trying to reach the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) National Call Center or GI Bill Call Center. A marketing company has established two fraudulent numbers that differ from the two official VA call center numbers by one digit. If the fraudulent number is dialed by mistake, the answering party will offer a gift card and try to obtain personal and financial information, including credit card information, from the caller. The answering party may even transfer the caller to the VA after the caller’s information is obtained. Note that VA will never ask you for a credit card number or banking information over the phone. Before giving personal sensitive information over the phone make sure you know who you are taking to.

    The numbers to be avoided are:
    800-872-1000 (the VA National Call Center number is 800-827-1000)
    888-442-4511 (the VA GI Bill Call Center number is 888-442-4551)

    VA has notified law enforcement authorities to address this situation. Please pass this information along and post on your websites.

    Be careful out there.

  • VA’s malpractice tab

    Tequila Volare and Ohio send us links to the revelation that the Veterans’ Affairs Department has paid out over $800 million in malpractice settlements over the last 10 years. From WHIO;

    The payouts reached a high point in 2012, a Cox Media Group nationwide investigation found, leaving government watchdogs and members of Congress wondering if the VA is learning from its mistakes.

    “The VA likes to say they’re accountable. I don’ t believe the word even exists in the VA dictionary,” said Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Florida, chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs.

    From WSBTV;

    Despite Channel 2’s repeated requests to interview any of the agency’s top leaders about all this, the VA only responded with a short statement that it takes these issues serious, and is “Committed to continuous improvement; providing training, counseling, and other resources to ensure we continue to provide the high-quality, safe, and effective care our veterans have earned and deserve.”

    “It’s not just harming the taxpayers, they’re harming public health,” said Daniel Epstein, from the D.C. based watchdog group “Cause of Action.” He called for an Inspector General’s audit when Channel 2 showed him VA malpractice costs soared to a 10-year high in 2012 to nearly $100 million.

    The highest payout in 2012 went to Marine Vet Christopher Ellison. He was awarded a $17 million judgment. He had a stroke following a dental procedure. He is now paralyzed.

    If anyone wants the VA to admit to their own culpability for substandard care, they haven’t been paying attention. VA leadership won’t accept responsibility for those lavish training sessions or for the backlog of disability claims, why would they start accepting blame for this. All of this points at a leadership failure, and we know where that buck stops – the Beret Master.

  • About That Proposed National Cemetery Law . . . .

    Burial in a National Cemetery is a benefit accorded to most veterans.  However, as is the case with most government benefits, it’s not a right guaranteed by the Constitution.  Congress created the benefit, and Congress can set the rules as it sees fit.

    Congress occasionally does change the rules about burial in National Cemeteries, or allow the VA to do so.*  Today, those rules are considerably more lenient than I’d personally prefer.  A veteran with a Dishonorable Discharge is banned by law from burial in a National Cemetery; all others who qualify legally as veterans – including those who accepted discharge in lieu of court-martial or received a Bad Conduct Discharge – can be.  (Those with less than an honorable discharge are evaluated on a case-by-case basis and can be buried in National Cemeteries if the VA approves.)

    Congress has placed a number of legal restrictions on burial in National Cemeteries.  The aforementioned ban on those with a DD being buried therein is one such legal restriction.  Another is the fact that even an honorably discharged veteran loses the benefit if he or she (1) is convicted of a capital crime, (2) dies before they can be tried for a capital crime, or (3) if clear and convincing evidence exists that the individual committed a capital crime.

    However, there is presently no legal authority for the VA to order the removal remains once interred.  And that apparent omission in the law has led to the following conundrum.

    (more…)

  • VA’s John Sepulveda pleads the fifth

    Remember those training seminars a few years ago that the VA held which cost us American taxpayers millions of dollars? Well, Congress has been exercising it’s oversight responsibility finally and questioning the people responsible for those lavish parties. John Sepulveda is the latest, the third, to hide behind the fifth amendment, according to the Washington Times link sent to us by Country Singer;

    John Sepulveda oversaw the pair of human resources training conferences that cost more than $6 million combined, drawing comparisons to an infamous 2010 General Services Administration conference scandal that drew taxpayer ire.

    “It’s a privilege to remain silent, sir,” Mr. Sepulveda told House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell E. Issa, California Republican.

    His refusal to answer questions comes months after two other officials appeared before Congress and pleaded the Fifth Amendment in unrelated scandals.

    I guess we have no right to find out what happened to our six million bucks and who made the decisions to hold these fêtes for the folks who won’t process veterans’ disability claims in a timely manner. I don’t think they’re protecting themselves, but rather a former general who was fixated on a hat that he lost in 1979.

  • Backlog claims fall at VA, says VA

    Military.com reports that the Veterans’ Administration is telling us that their backlog of claims has fallen since the government shutdown began, despite the fact that they said the shutdown would hinder their progress;

    In an email, VA officials acknowledged that the backlog did not increase during the shutdown but insisted that it did remain flat during the days department funding was restricted. That ignores a Oct. 14 report putting the backlog about 6,000 cases lower than where Shinseki had indicated just a few days earlier.

    The department attributes the 10,000-case drop from Sept. 28 to Oct. 19 to the five non-shutdown days included in that reporting period, and the “hard work of our Veterans Benefit Administration employees” despite the distraction.

    Well, since VA operations were funded before the shutdown, the convenient excuse of the shutdown really didn’t apply, other than cutting back overtime hours. So, because they weren’t taking in claims during the shutdown, it only makes sense that the stack would have been reduced.