VA Explains Disparities in Disability Payments

WASHINGTON —  Staffing shortages and an outdated system for assessing claims are among the reasons for wide differences in disability payments for veterans, the government said Thursday.

Examiners use 60-year-old claim guidelines to assess ailments that include nonphysical conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder, a report from the Department of Veterans Affairs says.

“When you got through some of the bureaucratic gobbledygook, the report did confirm some of our worst fears,” said Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee.

The average compensation payment last year was $8,378 per veteran. Illinois’ was the lowest, at $6,961; New Mexico had the highest, $12,004.

Daniel L. Cooper, the department’s undersecretary for benefits, said veterans were welcome to have their claims reexamined.

“Unfortunately, as we all know, if more claims come in, then it will take us longer to do each and every one,” Cooper said.

The report said that 65% of the claims assessors who were surveyed said they did not have enough staff to “ensure timely and quality service.”

More than one-third of the variance in disability compensation results from different rates of acceptance for certain ailments, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, an investigation by the department’s inspector general shows.

The benefits for veterans who are 100% disabled as a result of the disorder do not vary, but states with higher average benefits per injured veteran appear to accept more such claims, the report found.

The investigators also found that 25% of the approved cases of post-traumatic stress disorder they reviewed lacked proof of the required event or series of events that led to the ailment.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson said the report had turned up “some information that demands the attention of this agency.”

“The amount of dollars involved is huge and the lives involved are important,” Nicholson said.

“Our No. 1 goal is to take care of those veterans who are deserving.”