Broken Promise

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)

As I think of dysfunctional systems or organizations, many come to mind. We have in this country, for example, a system where a person can be fed and housed from cradle to grave and never contribute a single thing to society. I have lived long enough to witness this happen. I know many people maintain that everyone contributes but that is not accurate. It is also not the purpose of this essay so we’ll let it go there. Then we have the many situations where a person works every day, sometimes for years, and becomes injured. They will have to fight, sometimes for years, to get the benefits that they actually earned.

There is one system that I find absolutely out of touch with their mission statement. That is the Department of Veterans Affairs. I write as both a veteran and someone who has witnessed both family and friends try to navigate the system.

I do not take pleasure in writing this essay. I have experienced some great things, including treatment, at VA facilities. I have also met some amazing people there. People who care and want to help. Many of them are veterans themselves. The problem is not the people, it is the system. A system that does not care. A system often implemented by people who have never worn a uniform or have no idea what military life is like or what it does to the body. How does that happen?

I believe it important at this point to state my beliefs concerning the Department of Veterans Affairs. It is unlike nearly all other programs. It is earned. It is a continuing promise to care for those who have served and their families should the service member die or can no longer care for themselves or their families. I know most people will comment that I am a veteran so, of course I feel that way. I can assure the readers of the essay that I felt the same way in high school when I suffered a serious illness that nearly made me ineligible for service.

There are sections of the VA that have made great improvements since I watched my grandfather die in a VA hospital in the nineties. That is also the decade that I had my first experience as a patient at a VA hospital. There honestly was very little good that can be spoken of about care at that time except that it was free or at very little cost to veterans. As time moved on so did the quality of care and there continues to be, in my opinion, improvement. It is not always top care but it is good, helpful care.

It is the other half of the VA system that is still lacking in any quality of services. I have experienced prolonged delays and ridiculous decisions myself. I offer the following as evidence. I served for just over seven years as an infantryman. Specifically, I was a mortarman. The time also includes a brief stint in combat. I have some significant hearing loss and as a result, I filed a claim. The VA sent me a letter explaining that they feel my hearing loss was the result of something other than military service. If I disagree, the letter said, I could appeal.

Enough of that for now. I would like to write about a veteran, with permission from the veteran, whose experience is much much worse. No name, rank, branch of service or detailed medical information will be mentioned. I will talk about the disability rating of the veteran. Again, this is with permission from the veteran. If we added the totals of the veteran’s individual ratings it would reach 160 percent. In addition, there are three ratings of 0 percent. All of the ratings are service connected. According to the VA’s math, the veteran is only ninety percent rated.

Let’s look into this a little deeper. How does this happen? According to the VA, this is because the system was designed to consider what part of the body is disabled. This is especially true for body parts of which a veteran has two. For example, a veteran seriously injures an arm. The veteran has earned and will, after an exhaustive wait, get a rating. It will not be much but there will be something. If the same veteran seriously injured both arms, it will count more towards a 100 percent rating. That is an admittedly loose example but easy to understand.

Back to the veteran used for this essay. This veteran has been suffering from injuries to two limbs for decades. Recently, both limbs required total joint replacement. This was done at the VA hospital and the Department of Veterans Affairs sent a letter to the Veteran stating that the veteran was 100 percent, permanently and totally disabled. This included some back pay and enough monthly income that the veteran could now care for his family.

The veteran’s home was in desperate need of expensive repairs so the veteran took out a mortgage on the family's home and spent thousands on repairs and upgrades to make the home livable and safe. Most important of all, the veteran prepared to retire. No more losing a job due to issues with the veteran’s service connected disabilities. The bills were now always paid on time. There was more joy in life than disappointment and the overwhelming feeling of uselessness.

Now fast forward about two years. The veteran receives a letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs. The letter states there was a mistake made on their part and that the awarded 100 percent rating was a mistake and was going to be changed to ninety percent. According to VA math, the veteran would soon be losing half of the family’s income, health insurance for family members and college benefits for the child. The family, especially the veteran, was spiritually and emotionally crushed. The veteran could now barely make the mortgage payment, let alone properly care for the family.

The veteran requested and was granted a hearing. I personally listened to the hearing which was conducted over the phone. The veteran asked for the name of the individual who made the mistake so the veteran could take civil action. Everyone else can be held accountable for mistakes that cause great harm to others. Why not a VA employee? The VA representative stated that it was just a computer glitch. When the veteran pointed out that computers do not glitch in that way, the veteran was told that the VA employee who financially destroyed the veteran was protected from being held accountable.

The veteran’s health has continued to deteriorate. The health issues are nearly all related service connected disabilities. There has been an appeal in the system now for over eight years. The veteran is on the verge of losing everything.

Still the VA sent out a letter proudly exclaiming how many claims they have processed and how great a job they are doing for American veterans. The veteran I am using for my example has been waiting over eight years on an appeal. The VA attempted to justify that in a letter stating that they did process certain parts of the appeal.

My observation in this case is that the VA is a poorly managed bureaucracy that is accountable to no one. They will wait until a veteran loses their home and possessions before acting in many cases. If you can take pride in dragging out a claim for years and do as much as possible to deny a veteran a long standing promise of taking care of them,;you and your department are not a well run efficient operation. I will go as far as using the term “you are horrible people”. The often used phrase “At least they mean well”. Can not even be applied.

During the previously mentioned hearing of my example, the veteran made this statement. “I always hear the VA talking about reducing the number 22. Do you know that the VA and their treatment of veterans actually add to the number.” The VA official had no response. I do however have a response. The Department of Veterans Affairs is responsible for the loss of hope and willingness to keep fighting. I have lost many friends who gave up waiting on the VA. Some were missing limbs, or sight or had other serious injuries. Some had PTSD and could no longer take the pain of waiting. Many will disagree and some will even get angry at this statement but I firmly believe it to be true. The veteran may have pulled the trigger or taken the pills or jumped, but the Department of Veterans Affairs killed them.

Finally I would like to talk about the effects of politics on veterans. Regardless of party, every politician makes great promises of improving the VA system. The politician that gets elected then does very little for the veterans. In fact it would seem that many of them forget about veterans outright. Many turn their attention to people who are not even citizens of this country. That would be from both major parties. It is a disgrace and a genuine miscarriage of commitment to those who have served. The VA’s defense of this awful mess is a lack of funding.

That would bring me to an important but more than fair question.

To the politicians of all parties who have made claims of caring about veterans. Why is there not enough funding?

This is just a slice of what this veteran and thousands of others have gone or are going through. The system is truly broken.

I also am compelled to note that there are veterans who have not suffered that mistreatment that I have written of. Some have even expeditiously and successfully navigated the system. I do not begrudge them nor should any other veteran. In fact I celebrate them and hope it represents a step in the right direction.

I know there are other systems that are also just as unfair or even failing. I chose VA because it is dear to me and affects some many people that I know and love.

I would say to anyone who reads this, take up the challenge and write about it. Let us know. Just be honest. I would personally love to learn more about it.