Note, this is a work in progress. Also, this is only geared for Pennsylvania. When this gets more attention and has signs of working we will expand this protection of all. Mainly, if suicide is an issue for anyone, this may help a little more than what the VA is promoting now, Talk to your buddy and sing kumbaya, and practice yoga. Sometimes you need more.
VETERAN PROTECTION ACT
Working Draft
by
MSGT WALTER TAGGART, USAF RETIRED
Proposal and Desire
To lower the rate of suicide and maintain stability among Veterans
OPENING REMARKS
Veterans are truly misunderstood. Veterans do not want handouts, however every once in a while, we would like to see a Veteran get a hand - to get up. Many feel that Veterans get to much anyway, some feel they don’t get enough. If you have never served in the military, you really do not understand what some of the Veterans were told to do and the environment they were in. You hear today that the VA has changed and helping the Vet. The only change that Veterans have seen today is the same as if you were to move around the furniture in the living room - everything is the same, it looks different.
What tasks did Veterans have that were so extreme that we deserve a helping hand quicker than what we are getting now? Just ask yourself. Were you ever in a job that TOLD you to or you have to:
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Put away your shot record, we are giving you an experimental drug.
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Here, Here’s your gun, go shoot as many as you can.
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Here, work in this environmental greenfield. (most of all Military bases are on the EPA list of greenfields)
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I love the smell of Napalm in the morning, and JP4, and whatever toxic chemical or fuel you work with.
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you need to put in a 35 hours a day for the next few months.
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Your mission starts as soon as we leave and not sure when we get back.
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And the list just goes on and on.
This list can go on forever, with each Veteran has a different story. And sadly, some are worse than others. Asking for help is not really in the Veterans genes. And it takes a lot for a Veteran to ask for help. For some reason it takes Veterans years to ask for help. Sadly, help is hard to find when you ask, and extremely hard to get. Veterans mainly do not file claims for the money, they file for help.
When a Veteran goes to the Veterans Administration, we know our claim will take over 8 years or more. We start using the VA doctors, and then you soon find out that the Veterans Administration doctors work for the VA, not you. How do I know that? Just ask one to help you file a claim for benefits and here is the form to fill out. Any VA doctor will all tell you, “we can’t help you, we don't do that”. And you then start to hear those words from everyone.
And so you file a benefits claim, and wait, and wait, and wait. If you ever want to know what Limbo is like, file a VA claim. You will be there for along, long time.
So while your waiting for someone in the VA to get up and look at your file, you are at home and draw no income. Then 8 years later, if your lucky, part of your claim is coming through and you have to file another appeals claim due to the fact they didn’t pay you enough or did not go back far enough. That claim is over a year.
And while you are waiting for the VA to send you your money, our State and local Governments can’t wait on the Veterans problems. They need their money now. And you explain to them that you filed a claim with the VA, you won partial and have to wait another 7 years for the rest….. And you lost your home, and family, and you hear those magical words over and over again from the State and Local Government officials…. Sorry, we can’t help you. Or, better yet, There is no process for that.
ISSUES
Background
On January 6th of 2017 in Fort Lauderdale Airport by the baggage claim area, an Army Veteran killed 5 and injured 8 people. That was his cry for help, the veteran wanted help, and had no place to go. He went to the Veterans Administration with no help. Weeks before his trip to Fort Lauderdale Airport, this veteran went to the FBI and told them he needed help. The FBI went to the local police and they could not help him. And then the Veteran went to Florida. He is now getting the help he asked for.
In contrast, in 2001, 1 US Army employee mailed out Anthrax letters and killed 11 people. The Department of Defence used this example to spend Billions of dollars to maintain a program that made every troop take several shots to combat that threat that we will never experience.
1 Veteran kills 5 - injured 8, no money, no problem. Army employee kills 11, spend millions. It’s hard to send a message to the Department of Defence and the VA for a cry for help when they themselves can’t see the problem.
Both of these examples are extreme, however, Veterans look for help everyday with no place to go. 20 Veterans commit suicide each day, 7300 per year, because they have no place to get help when they need it.
In addition to the 20 suicides per day, thousands more need help, with no place to go.
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Many have pending cases with the Veterans Administration and have been waiting for years, some up to 15 years and more.
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If a Veteran has trouble and committed a crime in our state, that Vet is given help ASAP. There is a special Veterans court and sympathy with local officials. If a Veteran who needs help and doesn’t commit a crime, that Veteran is put in the back of the list for anything and just considered a worthless person by government officials. There is nothing we can do, is the standard response from all government officials. Along with the standard, “Sorry, we can’t help you”.
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IF a Veteran is losing his, or her home, sorry we can’t help you. Come back when you lose it and we’ll see what we can do. Then, you can go to the head of the line for help.
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And as we have seen lately, the VA is now working to find any WWII Veterans of the US Army that were experimented on for mustard gas that the Veterans Administration has been sitting on for years. That’s 79 years ago and the VA is now just looking for them.
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Vietnam Veterans are still being hurt by Agent Orange. And they are now approving Blue Water Veterans, that’s only 49 years ago.
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Gulf War vets have already waited 29 years for resolution to the Anthrax shots issues and the Department of Defense never followed up on that experiment that affected over 750 thousand service members who were given those shots.
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Extending issues with extended deployments.
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Service announcements, At this time the VA will be doing a survey of Gulf War Veterans. The VA is doing a horrible job letting the Veterans know and the State is not doing anything. Mandate a public service announcement to let Veterans know
How to contact the VA to be part of the study. This Study is also looking at the children of the Gulf War Veteran. A lot of these children have children themselves,
and they too may be affected by the vaccines that Gulf War Veterans were given.
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As of now, the Veterans Administration opened a 4 year study on Gulf War Veterans by an outside agency. After 4 years it will take the Veterans Administration another 3 years to review that study and another 3 to 5 years to implement the findings of the study.
Many Veterans are losing their families, homes, and their businesses when all they need is a little help. Unfortunately, in Pennsylvania, Veterans have to lose a home before they can get help to find new housing. They need to call the suicide hotline before getting the real help they need. And by the time they do that, it’s too late.
We have recently seen the firing, or release, of 1500 Veteran Administration employees. Those employees hurt past Veterans for years and as of yet no one has asked for a review of the Veterans cases they handled. This must change.
From U.S. Department of Commerce
Pennsylvania population, 18 years of age and over 10,227,381
Pennsylvania Veteran population (from Pa Veterans Affairs) 894,000
Pennsylvania Veterans and family members
(approximately 3 family members per veteran) 2,682,000
This shows that 25% of Pennsylvania families are affected by the well-being of Veterans. In no way am I saying that 25% of Pennsylvanians Veterans are having issues. What I am saying is that at least 25% of the population in Pennsylvania understand there is a problem.
PROBLEM
US Department of Veterans Affairs
Before I start, you need to understand what a Veterans Benefit Claim is. To break it down, it’s like Workmans compensation for Veterans. A Worker gets hurt on the job, He (or she) gets compensated. The difference is, as in Workmans comp, the injured person receives a monthly check, health coverage and monthly compensation. With the Veterans Administration, it’s a process for the Veteran who has no idea how to file, fill out paperwork, then fill out the proper paperwork, and file the evidence for the cause of the injury that happened 5, 10, 15, or 20 years ago. And no funds are given to the Veteran until the claim is satisfied. 10 years from now, on the average.
Most Veterans do not want to file with the VA, So from here on out through this section, I will be using my experience as a guideline and reference as I believe I am in the norm for filing claims. It took me 8 years for me to file and understand what the problem was, and is. So I filed my Benefit claim with the VA.
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I filed with the VA in 2012 on Ebenifits.com. The Veteran has 1 year to complete the file and have it in the VA. The time clock starts at the time the VA is notified that you are filing a claim.
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Find a Veterans Service Officer. These are people who are registered with the VA to represent you and help you with your case.
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Completed File online at Ebenefits in 2013. At that time the website was down and the VA help line told to bring in the file to the VA office and I did that. By me not submitting the file online, I just lost the 1 year of my start date. Now my new start date is 2013.
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In 2014 I had my first claim review. That is where I see a doctor.
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On 9/1/2015 I received my first compensation payment of $133.17 (I should have received approximately $3200) and that is what I am working my way up to. Only 1 out of 6 of my claims were granted. I was awarded with a 10% disability. Note, since I have a Military Retirement, the amount of $133.17 was taken away from my Military Retirement and the $133.17 was paid by the Veterans Administration. Net increase of zero (0).
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And then an appeal was filed.
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And my Representative was not following up on my file and I was denied all other claims without me knowing.
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In June of 2018 I started with a new Representative with 8 claims and it took till December 20th of 2018. 2 more claims were excepted. I am now up to $1,215.86 per month with a 60% disability rating with 6 more claims in the system. Note, after 50% disability a Veteran can receive all Military Retirement pay plus the Veterans Administrations benefit pay.
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In June I have to again get a new Representative since that Representative left his position. And I still have 6 claims in the VA system that should bring me up to the 100% disability rating.
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I was told by the VA people in the VA office in Philadelphia, “A current appeal right now will take 5 years”. As of now I have 6 claims in Appeal.
Note, the Representative I have now if an Attorney who I pay 20% of the amount of funds I get in arrears for my claim. Also note that I have 3 claims sent back to the VA for review and that will take 4 years and 3 claims set up for have my claim heard by a judge and that is over 1 year away. The appeal is the first of a series of appeals if needed. I am still looking at over 5 years for relief. Or, to file another appeal.
The VA has been out of touch with Veterans for years. Lately we have seen changes, however, those changes are “just moving the furniture around for a different look”. Before all the changes of the current Administration it could take a veteran well over 12 years, or more, to have a benefits claim satisfied. At the present time, it could still take a veteran over 10 years - and that’s with everything going well.
Pennsylvania has a Department of Military and Veterans Affairs office. This office should have more control over the help, and needs, of Veterans. It is a known fact that Veterans do not file for claims until they must, or it’s too late to stop a crisis.
Example. A Veteran has an issue and files a claim with the Veterans Administration for monetary benefits. Veteran is under Veterans Administration Doctors care, given prescriptions, and having difficulty working. As time moves on, so does the claim. The average claim in Philadelphia takes over 6 years to even get to a decision. During these 6 years, the Vet still has to pay taxes, maintain his/her property, and so on without an income. Well, sometimes the Veteran can’t manage these responsibilities, with the local town, city, county, and state all wanting their money. Even though the Veteran has a good chance of winning that award payment that is much more than what is owed, the Local, County, and State cannot, and are not willing to wait, and frankly, don’t give a damn. So now the Veteran owes Taxes, fees, interest payments on fees and taxes, attorney fees from towns, and other expenses. However, please note that these government entities will gladly thank a Veteran for a day off in November when everyone loves a Veteran.
And then it gets worse for the Veteran. The Veteran finally gets some relief and wins an award of 60% disability. The Veteran is entitled to receive back funds from the Va to the time the Veteran filed the claim. The VA will give the Veteran the monthly payment they were awarded within a few months. The back portion of the funds may take up to 4 years to receive. So while the VA owes money to the Veteran, our State, County, and Local governments say, that’s too bad, Sorry, can’t help you. Thanks for your service.
PARTIAL SOLUTION
When a Veteran files a claim with the Veterans Administration, the Veteran also should file with the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs at the local level.
By doing this, the local County Veterans Affairs Director should notify the local Township, Borough, Village, City, County, and other State agencies to safeguard the Veteran. The County Director can then work out issues and see both sides of what needs to be done to work out issues between the 2 parties.
The Local Directors have the power to talk with the Veterans Administration to make sure the Veteran is doing everything he, or she, should be doing.
Also, it should be mandatory that the Veteran join a local Veterans group to obtain more help for himself/herself. By doing this, the Veteran meets others that have been where the Veteran is now. Also, it should be viewed that the Veteran wants help, and the local County Director wants to make sure the Veteran is helping himself/herself.
Together, this will be a partnership between the Office of Veterans Affairs, local Veterans organizations, State, County, Local communities, and the Veteran.
PREVENTION IS KEY
Program outline
Veterans Affairs Officer
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Veteran files with local County Veterans Affairs Officer with intent to file a Veterans claim with the Veterans Administration.
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Veterans Affairs officer helps Veteran file initial claim.
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This starts the VA’s time clock for claim.
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This also give the Veteran an idea of what is needed for claim.
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Veterans Affairs Officer will give the Veteran a list of local Service Organizations to join.
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Veteran Affairs will maintain a statewide Veteran list of Veterans seeking help.
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Veterans Affairs officer shows Veteran how, and where, to pick a registered Service organization to help the Veteran with the Veterans claim.
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Veterans Affairs Officer will follow up with Veteran weekly until the Veteran has located and maintained contact with assistance to complete claim and join a local Service Organization. Each Veteran should have a knowlable Case Manager.
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Veterans Affairs Officer will then maintain a monthly report to follow up on progress of Veteran and the Veterans claim.
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Veterans Affairs Officer will do everything they can do to help maintain the Veterans welfare.
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County Veterans Affairs Director will be responsible for having general meetings with local Service Organizations every 3 months to outline the program and desires to help the Veterans. When the Director, and Service Organizations are satisfied they understand, and work out kinks in the program. The meeting will be every 6 months for updates.
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Veteran Affairs Officers will have dual authorization to contact the VA and Service Organization helping Veteran with claim to assure VA claim is moving forward. This should be done every 30 days.
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The Veterans Affairs Officer should maintain a list of qualified doctors who understand Veterans needs and issues. Also give the doctors the website so they understand what the VA is looking for in a Veterans Claim. Give that list to the Veteran
Service Organizations
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Intake. The Service Organization will contact the Veterans Affairs Officer to let them know the Veteran has signed up with them.
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The Service Organization will maintain a log of support and encourage Veteran to be active within the group.
Local Communities.
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If any issues arise with the Veteran. Veterans notifies the Local Veterans Affairs Office the office will then contact the local community and advise them that the Veteran is under the Veterans Affairs office oversight program.
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The Veteran Affairs Officer will maintain a balance to try and work things out between the 2 parties and work out a plan to satisfy both.
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The Veteran should not be fined, charged interest from any Government entity if the Veteran has a valid claim with the VA.
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VETERANS WITH SMALL A BUSINESS
Our State always had issues with small business and helping them out, so I understand this will be a hurdle. But maybe you can look at this.
If a Veteran who has a claim with the VA for more than 2 years, that business will need help. I would like to propose our State bend over backwards and help them with small business loan.
If reviewed by a review board set up by the local review board of other Veterans who have small business, a lender, and a representative from the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs office. They can review the needs and if it makes sense, do it. If the cash flow is not there and there are no assets then do not do the loan.
Proposal, If a small business can show cash flow within 6 months and has enough assets, the State can approve a Small Business Loan at low interest rate (or no interest) for the time the the VA claim is being processed plus 2 years. Once the VA claim is completed the loan should roll over to 15 year low interest loan backed by the state.
The loan should not be more then $250,000.
COST
There are 67 Counties in the state of Pennsylvania, each county has at least 2 members in each County Veterans Affairs office. This cost is already paid for. If it is determined that a more people are required, That person should be a social worker. The Social Worker would be responsible to track the Veterans claim with the VA and the Veteran.
Another option would be when the State, city, township, village, of bourgh gives a benefit, tax break to a company, a percentage of that should be put in a Veterans fund
Leadership.
This program should be under the Governor's control. The Governor should appoint one person to oversee this program
This person should oversee;
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Orientation of program
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Implementing the program
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Maintaining the program
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Overseeing the program
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And selection should be person who understands the goals of the Veterans.
Conclusion
Veterans understand know one really cares, we are as tired of hearing, “Thank you for your service”, just as the family's suffering from mass shootings are hearing, “you have are thoughts and prayers”. It doesn’t affect you, but it should.
Veterans who file claims with the Veterans Administration need help, some more than others. This program is a start where Veterans can go for help and really get it.
This is a grassroots program that supports and truly puts back saying, “No one left behind”.