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| It could be now up to Congress to decide PTSD Claims...uh-oh. |
The Beginning Of
The Real End For The VA
In a major setback for suffering combat veterans, a federal
appeals court on Monday found that Congress, not the courts, is responsible for
fixing the VA's troubled mental health care system, overturning a previous
court that found the program riddled with "unchecked incompetence."
In a 10-1 decision, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
rejected a lawsuit that sought to force the Department of Veterans Affairs to
overhaul the treatment program and reversed an earlier ruling that would have
forced the government to speed up treatment requests and benefit claims.
I watched the news
last week with one of their "side track" stories about the blind guy
in China under house arrest. Side track stories are what I call news stories
that are supposed to deflect your mind from how bad things are in this USA and to
make people think our government really cares about human rights in a country
where we have no legal right to scold anyone about human rights. The
Chinese guy stated at one point that he wanted to come to America for a rest.
Think about that.
He's blind and can't work and if he came here he would get
Social Security and probably a house and we would support him and he isn't even
a citizen. He would get those things immediately, but U.S. veterans have to
wait years for a claim to be allowed through the complicated VA system.
The 9th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals took five years to make the ruling after the lawsuit was filed
in 2007. If it took five years just to consider who should be responsible for fixing the VA, how
long would it take Congress to figure out what to do? Asking Congress to fix
the VA Mental Health Adjudication program is about like asking first graders to
build and wire a moon rocket. They wouldn't have a clue about what to do, and
most wouldn't care because they aren't veterans.
This opens the door
to mass rejection of PTSD claims without any responsibility on the part of the
VA. What bothers me the most is that there are people in Congress who will once
again push to privatize the VA system. To them, the VA is one massive asset spread out
all over the country, ripe for picking. They have special interests in Congress, and
certain groups have been trying for years to take control of the VA. This would
make it a "for profit system" and combat veterans will take the hit
once again while those with the money make more money on veteran suffering.
The absolute worst
thing that could happen to the VA is asking Congress to fix it because they
will more than likely say to cut the budget which means unwarranted Comp Exams (to cut percentages) for existing
disabled veterans and massive turn downs (often
without proper reasoning) on open claims. The VA can also schedule
appointments for you but then doesn't notify you of your appointment and then
turns down your claim because you missed your appointment. They can continue to
stall claims without being held responsible, while veterans die waiting or lose
everything.
It seems to me that the Court has given
veterans the ultimate shaft right when we need help the most.
(Dennis Latham is a Marine Vietnam combat veteran and an expert on combat PTSD claims. Since 1994 he has helped over 4000 combat veterans obtain PTSD compensation from te VA.)
