Veteran: You Shouldn’t Have to Fight So Hard for Benefits
By Julie Wootton, The Times-News, Twin Falls, Idaho | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Peterson -- who served eight years in the
"They feel that if you're standing and walking, you should be fine," she said about the
Peterson said she gets migraines due to chemical poisoning. She said she was exposed to Agent Orange while stationed at a base in
In the disability claims process, veterans must resubmit paperwork until they either die or get frustrated and give up, Peterson said.
And the paperwork required to submit a claim is "just horrendous," she said. "You shouldn't have to fight so hard for your benefits."
Nationally, the VA's goal is to eliminate the backlog of disability claims -- those pending for more than 125 days -- by the end of 2015. The backlog has been cut by 42 percent since
The number of backlogged claims has dropped from 611,000 to about 357,000.
At the
The office has received 500 claims for veterans in other states in the past three months, Malin wrote in an email to the
Last spring,
It seems some improvement has occurred, Crapo's spokesman
More than two-thirds of U.S. senators signed a bipartisan letter in
"
The major stumbling block in filing a claim is the beginning of the process, said
"Once you're in the system, things change."
McCoy -- who served in the
"The medical end of it is very, very good."
McCoy -- past commander of
A lot of changes have been made to the disability claims process in the past few years, McCoy said. "They're whittling it down as fast as they can."
He said he understands some people falsify claims, which creates a bad situation. "You can't blame everything on the VA."
Ultimately, it's up to veterans to follow up on their claim and stay on top of correspondence, McCoy said, but can be challenging collecting information to substantiate a claim.
Fitzpatrick said he had knee replacement surgery in 2005. In 2007, he found out he could reopen his disability case and was finally awarded compensation in 2010.
Now, he said his other leg "has gone bad" and he filed a new claim in 2011. He said he's waiting for an appeal hearing.
He reached out to the VFW's
Peterson, Harvey and Fitzpatrick all encourage veterans to reach out to service organizations to find an advocate.
As he waits on a pending claim, Fitzpatrick said he wants to reach out to new veterans, such as those who served in
"They're going to need someone to stand up for them."
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