ptsd Va Disability Disparities Spotlighted

[vaf]

VA disability disparities spotlighted

Louisiana, Mississipi veterans get more than national average

July 20, 2007

RELATED LINK

Department of Veterans Affairs: www.va.gov/

Rankings

The top 10 states ranked from highest to lowest in the amount of average disability pay awarded to injured veterans in 2005, according to the Institute for Defense Analysis. The average pay nationwide was $8,890.

New Mexico, $12,395.

Maine, $11,734.

Oklahoma, $11,643.

Arkansas, $11,412.

West Virginia, $11,348.

Nebraska, $10,719.

Oregon, $10,677.

Louisiana, $9,815.

Vermont, $9,682.

Kentucky, $9,673.

Findings

PTSD claims generate among the highest disability pay, averaging $20,000 each year to more than 200,000 veterans. While VA staff expected PTSD claims would be more subjective from state to state, their ratings were actually more stable compared with other injuries and illnesses, such as cardiovascular problems.

Veterans who receive legal help or aid from advocacy groups receive on average $11,162, compared with $4,728 for those who go it alone. Currently about two-thirds of veterans get such advocacy help; the highest representation is in North Dakota (81.9 percent), while the lowest is in Maryland (44.8 percent).

Vietnam veterans received annual awards of $11,670, compared with $7,410 for those who fought in other wars. The lowest pay was given to Gulf War veterans "”--$6,506.

By The Associated Press

and John Andrew Prime

jprime@gannett.com

Louisiana and Mississippi, normally near the bottom in most national rankings, are instead above the norm in terms of average disability pay to veterans, a government study shows.

However, payments from state to state vary.

The 1½ year investigation conducted by the Institute for Defense Analysis is the first to examine scientifically reasons behind the Veterans Affairs' uneven handling of veterans claims for disability compensation.

The study was launched by the VA following reports in 2005 of wide differences in payments.

Louisiana's average was $9,815 per veteran, placing it 8th. But the state ranks 26th in the nation in terms of veteran population as of mid-2006, according to the VA, with 356,461 veterans. California was No. 1 with 2,203,727 veterans but was below the national average at $8,755 per veteran.

The 50-page report's findings suggest injured veterans could be shortchanged in their government disability pay depending on where they live, as shown by the wide disparities that exist from state to state.

"I have heard complaints of disparities, but I didn't realize it was on a geographical standard," says Shreveport Army veteran James Eames, a life member of the Disabled American Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Military Order of the Purple Heart.

The news doesn't surprise him, either, particularly findings that suggest veterans from the Gulf War and later may be underrepresented in the reports.

"I heard the other day that a lot of the guys are coming back from Iraq and are being discharged because of personality disorders," said Eames, who lost his left leg below the knee to an enemy machine gun and frostbite in Korea in 1951 and is 100-percent disabled. "But I haven't heard too many people saying anything about being denied their claims because of the locality they live in."

The report obtained by The Associated Press found that average annual disability payments swung widely, from $7,556 in Ohio to $12,395 in New Mexico. Nationwide, the average pay was $8,890.

"The process by which VA adjudicates claims has potential for producing persistent regional differences in rating results," said David Hunter, who compiled the study. "For certain claims, different raters could reasonably arrive at different results."

Since reports of disparities emerged in 2005, the VA has struggled to explain them. It has largely blamed problems on demographic factors beyond its control; for instance, whether a particular state had more Vietnam veterans, who on average receive higher payments, or whether a veteran had legal help when making a claim.

But the study released to the AP found that roughly one-third of the problems could be blamed on poor VA standards and inadequate training. As a result, disability raters in VA regional offices often had too much power and discretion to decide how much pay a veteran was entitled.

The report also faulted the VA for not collecting data on certain types of claims, such as how many post-traumatic stress disorder cases are rejected. As a result, it was impossible to determine whether part of the disparity might be due to a VA office inappropriately rejecting a high number of claims for PTSD, a signature injury of the Iraq war.

Some soldiers and veterans groups have charged that Army disability review boards, which are under the Pentagon's purview, unfairly reject PTSD claims to avoid paying disability pay. No data was available to determine whether that might be the case for the VA, the report said.

Shreveport's Eames said soldiers leaving service might help themselves by reading papers they sign when they leave that can limit their options to appeal.

"When you get out of the military, you sign a bunch of papers, and a lot of guys don't know what they're signing," he said.

[Pete53]

Frankly I was amazed at how high the average claim award is.