About 1.5 million U.S. veterans live in poverty. Although some veterans receive healthcare benefits in an attempt to decrease that number, the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) makes it difficult for many veterans to be eligible for these benefits.
A report was issued by the VA Office of Inspector General in Sept. of 2015. It was requested by the Chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. This report evaluated the contentions of mismanagement at the Veteran Health Administration’s (VHA) Health Eligibility Center (HEC).
According to that document, “As of Sept. 2014, more than 307,000 pending ES records, or about 35 percent of all pending records, were for individuals reported as deceased by the Social Security Administration.” This statement confirms the allegation that an outrageous amount of veterans died while waiting for healthcare benefits from the VA.
In addition to that statement, a further section of the report made by the VA explains another case of mismanagement, “…employees incorrectly marked unprocessed applications as completed and possibly deleted 10,000 or more transactions from the Workload Reporting and Productivity (WRAP) tool over the past five years.”
There are multiple reasons as to why veterans need healthcare benefits. Veterans undergo many obstacles when it comes to finding a job. It is difficult to translate military work experience into civilian terms. Also, disabilities such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, affect how some veterans go about their everyday lives.
Veterans receiving the proper health care that they deserve is an ongoing issue in America. On this year’s Veterans Day, citizens should educate others on the problems with the VA. There are multiple ways to help veterans in need of care, but the easiest way to help all veterans is to say “thank you”.
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