Vietnam Vets file lawsuit against US military for discharge upgrades

Jim Fausone, Esq.

Veteran Disability Lawyer

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a widely accepted disability today and I have been writing on the topic frequently. It was not always so. Now the condition is at the center of a lawsuit against the US Military. The lawsuit, which seeks class action status, could ultimately affect tens of thousands of veterans.

Five Vietnam War veterans sued the U.S. military on Monday, March 3, saying they were denied some veterans services after receiving other-than-honorable discharges for actions that resulted from PTSD.

The lawsuit called on the military to upgrade the discharges of veterans of the conflict who suffer from PTSD. Veterans need an honorable discharge status to receive benefits and services. However, the military did not recognize PTSD in the 1960s and 70s at the time of Vietnam.

According to the lawsuit, “The military gave these service members other than honorable discharges based on poor conduct such as unauthorized absence without leave, shirking, using drugs, or lashing out at comrades or superior officers. These behaviors, however, are typical of those who have recently experienced trauma and were symptoms of the veterans' underlying, undiagnosed PTSD."

The lawsuit further notes that the US armed forces now have procedures in place to diagnose PTSD and will offer honorable discharges to soldiers, sailors and airmen who suffer from the condition, but have not retroactively applied those benefits to Vietnam veterans.

The men involved in the lawsuit were 17-20 years old when they enlisted in 1967-70, and all are in their 60s today. One was the victim of a poison gas attack on his first day in Vietnam, and another’s duties included sorting through body parts of soldiers killed in combat.

Law students working in Yale’s Veterans Legal Services Clinic prepared the suit on behalf of the five veterans.

After repeatedly running into cases of veterans with PTSD who were effectively being denied benefits because of their condition, the law clinic decided to file suit. We applaud this effort and we recognize the problem is real and the court solution maybe a long shot.

At Legal Help For Veterans, our experienced staff can also help with PTSD claims. You can learn more about our PTSD veterans’ services at our website, http://www.legalhelpforveterans.com/practice-areas/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/.

To read more about this lawsuit, see the Reuters report at: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/03/us-usa-veterans-ptsd-idUSBREA2225S20140303

Also check out LHFV’s past blog on changing the stigma behind PTSD for veterans:

http://www.legalhelpforveterans.com/2014/03/a-new-way-to-erase-the-ptsd-stigma-for-vets/

Social Security Launches Expedited Veteran Disability Process

Kristina Derro, Esq.

Veterans Disability Lawyer

The government has launched a new process to expedite Social Security disability claims for a special category of veterans, the Social Security Administration announced Tuesday, March 18.

Under the new process, Social Security claims from veterans with a Veterans Affairs Department disability compensation rating of 100 percent Permanent and Total will be treated as high priority, and qualifying veterans will receive expedited decisions.

However, the VA rating does not guarantee an approval for Social Security benefits; it only ensures the process will be expedited for those veterans. The veterans still must meet the strict eligibility requirements for a disability allowance.

Carolyn Colvin, acting Social Security commissioner, said the new process is similar to the way the agency currently handles disability claims from wounded warriors.

"We have reached another milestone for those who have sacrificed so much for our country and this process ensures they will get the benefits they need quickly," Colvin said in a news release. "While we can never fully repay them for their sacrifices, we can be sure we provide them with the quality of service that they deserve. This initiative is truly a lifeline for those who need it most."

To receive the expedited service, veterans must tell Social Security they have a VA disability compensation rating of 100 percent Permanent and Total and must show proof of their disability rating with their VA notification letter.

Congressman John Sarbanes (D-Md.), who introduced legislation in Congress to promote the initiative, praised the change.

“No one wants to put America’s veterans through a bureaucratic runaround,” he said in the release. “As the baby boomer generation ages and more veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan need care, this common sense change will help reduce backlogs and cut through unnecessary red tape so that our most disabled veterans receive the benefits they’ve earned.”

To read further on this issue, check out the Stars & Stripes article: http://www.stripes.com/news/some-veterans-will-now-have-their-social-security-disability-benefits-expedited-1.273397

The Truth of How Long it Takes

Brig. General Carol Ann Fausone (ret)

 

In the last year, I have spoken to VA representatives over 600 times for clients of the firm.  I am asked to call on files where the VA process seems stalled for our clients.  The reason for the stalled claim process varies in each case.  I have to call ROs all over the country.  By and large, the VA employees that I talk to are hard working and dedicated but overwhelmed.  I recently spoke to a RO coordinator that told me they are working on late 2009 and 2010 claims.  Even remands from the Board are taking 3 years.  I know our clients are frustrated and some people will tell you they can move the claim faster, but it is not true.  If you want the truth, it is what I hear from talking to VA every day.  Do not get so frustrated you do something silly like dismissing your claim that has been pending for 2.5 years and starting over because you think it will go faster.   It won’t and all you did was give up the back pay award to which you are entitled.  We will keep marching forward together.

 

If you are waiting on your claim to be decided, even if it’s on remand, the old rule of 1 year has stretched to 3 years.  That is just the truth of the matter at many ROs. 

It Takes Too Long

Jim Fausone
Veterans Disability Lawyer

We talk to hundreds of veterans a month about their VA disability claim status.  Many people want to know why it takes so long and when will their case be decided.  Well it is not getting any better based on a recent VA report.  The delays in processing went up 40% in 2012.  In fiscal 2012, the average days to complete a VA disability compensation or pension claim rose to 262 days, up from 188 days in fiscal 2011, according to a recently completely VA performance report. During that same period VA hired more staff and poured resources into training. The department has seen a massive increase in claims from veterans in recent years, both younger ones from Iraq and Afghanistan and older ones who have recently been able to file claims on new conditions. Claims the past four years have topped 1 million a year.  We do not expect that 2013 will be any better.  We advise patience and persistence with dealing with VA.

http://www.stripes.com/news/veterans/va-claims-processing-delays-hit-highest-level-in-20-years-1.198825

Large State – Long Wait

Jim Fausone
Veteran Disability Lawyer

 

While the official U.S. policy is to support disabled veterans with medical care, financial support and retraining, the support they receive has been found to be less than timely. Veterans located in Northern California, for example, wait, on average, more than nine months for war-related disability claims filed with their regional VA office. Meanwhile, vets who live in Nebraska or North Dakota receive their benefits sooner than those who live in Atlanta, Chicago or New York. Geographic inequity has been found to be rampant in lower-populated areas, according to a report by The Bay Citizen and the Center for Investigative Reporting. 

"Everyone agrees that we need to do a better job supporting our veterans when they return home," says veterans disability lawyer James Fausone. "It's no surprise that the entire system is painfully overloaded, but knowing that doesn’t help get disability support into the hands of our vets."

On average, the Office of Veterans Affairs takes more than eight months to process a claim, and despite claims of improved processes, a new $300 million computer system, and more than 3,000 claims processors hired in the past two years, that time is only increasing: The Bay Citizen reports it takes 50 percent longer to have a claim processed in 2012 than in 2011.  The new computer system has been placed in only four VA offices; claims are still on paper, in files and must be handed from office to office and onto a claims representative's desk to be processed. Meanwhile, veterans in both New York and North Texas are waiting, on average more than 12 months. An appeal filed on a denied claim, the report states, can take as long as three-and-one-half years for resolution.

While the VA has publicly pledged to process all backlogged claims by 2015, the number of vets waiting is only growing. As of the end of this July, there were more than 907,000 claims, with 832,000 individuals waiting on disability or survivor benefits, and thousands waiting on pension or GI Bill education benefits. The agency reports that new claims filed annually have increased by 48 percent, though the number of new claims representatives has increased by only 5 percent.

The Bay Citizen has posted an online interactive map to help vets find out the wait times in store for them, based on their location. The map information updates weekly and can be accessed at http://www.baycitizen.org/veterans/interactive/map-disabled-vets-stuck-backlog-limbo.