In the wake of a Washington Post investigation into fraud within the Veterans Affairs disability system and watchdog recommendations that the VA modernize its ratings schedule, a Republican senator has suggested creating a commission to review the VA’s disability compensation program.
At a Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing Wednesday in Washington, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., questioned whether the Veterans Benefits Administration — the VA arm that manages disability compensation, pensions, education and employment benefits — needs subject matter experts to examine the claims processes and recommend improvements.
According to Tuberville, the panel would be similar to the VA’s Commission on Care, which reviewed the VA’s health care system in the mid-2010s and made recommendations on veterans’ medical services.
The VA also had an Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission that reviewed the VA hospital system in the early 2020s and made recommendations to modernize it.
Those efforts resulted in mixed success, with some recommendations adopted, such as consolidating the VA’s community care programs, and expanding access to urgent care and emergency care. But others, including the AIR Commission’s recommendations to realign or close dozens of medical centers and clinics, were blocked.
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The Government Accountability Office has recommended the VA improve management of compensation programs and update its disability ratings schedule. It has put VBA on its “high risk” list for “significant waste mismanagement” and needs broad transformation, Elizabeth Curda, GAO’s acting director of health care, said during the hearing Wednesday.
A commission to address these concerns may not be the right approach, said Ryan Galluci, executive director of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Washington Office. Galluci said veterans service organizations generally have welcomed commission reviews but will object to any recommendations they see as reductions to VA services or facilities.
“I get nervous about the prospect of a commission,” Galluci said. “I remember with the AIR Commission … it couldn’t make it past the first marker and now we are seeing the repercussions of that. … I would argue that a forum like this is certainly a good start to have these discussions.”
The Washington Post recently published several articles showcasing veterans who have abused the VA disability compensation system, saying the $193 billion program is a target for fraud, including veterans who fake injuries or illnesses for money.
The Post cited VA’s own Office of Inspector General reports and Freedom of Information Act documents that showed veterans who claimed to be paralyzed for years could walk or feigned blindness to collect, at least in one case, nearly $400,000 in VA disability payments.
Nearly universally at the hearing, witnesses and lawmakers panned the reports, calling them “harmful” and “shaming,” blaming veterans for the actions of outliers and not addressing the system itself.
“The articles fail to understand or capture the purpose of [disability compensation]. Instead, they cherry pick anecdotes to wrongly claim that disability benefits system is fraught with widespread fraud,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, the committee’s ranking Democrat.
Blumenthal conceded that fraud does occur but said that the system should not be abandoned as a result.
Retired Army Lt. Col. Daniel Gade, a West Point graduate and Iraq War veteran, was a lone voice in the room, criticizing the system which he said incentivizes veterans to increase their disability ratings and discourages them from working or taking steps to improve their health by complying with treatment.
Gade said the current system “robs veterans of purpose and dignity, trapping them in idleness and despair.”
“This system is anti-thriving, anti-productivity and ultimately, anti-veteran. Further, it discourages future generations serving by painting veterans as a troubled problem class,” said Gade, who once served as Virginia’s Veterans Commissioner of Veterans Affairs Services.
According to VA Inspector General Cheryl Mason, 3.7% of fraud cases investigated by her office involve those perpetrated by veterans and the largest percentage of fraud investigated by the OIG is “against VA and veterans.”
The veterans services organization that testified had several solutions for fixing the system and ensuring that veterans receive appropriate compensation. Jeremy Villanueva, associate legislative director for Paralyzed Veterans of America, said the department needed to improve oversight of compensation and pension exams done by contractors and conduct more thorough reviews of claims paperwork submitted by veterans.
Jon Retzer, assistant national legislative director at Disabled American Veterans, said the VA must resource its claims department and optimize technology to streamline the application and approval process.
Gade recommended an overhaul of a system that gives ratings for illnesses such as hypertension — “forgive the expression, old, fat people” conditions, he said — requiring veterans receive mental health treatment if they get disability compensation for a mental health disorder and providing VA medical care for all service-connected conditions without tying them to disability ratings, “removing an incentive for false claims.”
Tuberville did not say whether he will propose legislation to create a commission. Mason said the idea would be “very well placed.”
“I think it is needed to look at the VBA process like it’s supposed to do at VHA,” Mason said.
Committee Chairman Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, promised more on the topic.
“This is not the first and will not be the last conversation we have in exploring how to better serve veterans and improve the disability system,” Moran said.
Patricia Kime is a senior writer covering military and veterans health care, medicine and personnel issues.
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