THE INTERVIEW:
Veterans fight for disability benefits.
On Veterans Day, many who’ve served honorably remain locked in battle — only this fight is over health care or disability benefits. The Veterans Advocacy Clinic at Stetson University is at the forefront with legal help for many such veterans. To learn more about their top concerns, the Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board sought out Stacey-Rae Simcox, herself a veteran, who heads the Advocacy Clinic. For a complete transcript, go to OrlandoSentinel.com/Opinion
Q: We first interviewed Stetson about this clinic in 2014. Has the demand for the clinic’s services increased since then?
A: Yes, dramatically. With our Vietnam veterans aging and our younger veterans coming home from war in increasing numbers, the uptick in applications and outreach have definitely increased.
Q: What are the most pressing issues for veterans seeking help from the clinic lately?
A: Post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain-injury issues are always a large portion of the claims we accept into the clinic — because in our experience they are the hardest for a veteran to prove, but can cause the biggest impact on the veteran’s ability to work and live a successful and rewarding life outside the military.
We have also had an increase in the amount of veterans requesting discharge upgrades. When a service member is discharged from active duty, he or she receives a character of discharge ranging from honorable to dishonorable. The character of a veteran’s discharge determines his/her ability to receive all types of benefits from the VA from disability benefits to educational and post 9-11 GI bill benefits. If a veteran experiences PTSD while on active duty, it can lead to poor judgment and unfortunate behavioral choices that can cause the veteran to be booted out of the military with a bad discharge. These veterans then are often unable to receive medical care from the VA for the very issue that caused their bad discharge. It’s a vicious circle.
Q: Is the long backup of claims for veterans’ disability benefits getting any better?
A: The situation is not getting better. While the “backlog” of claims waiting for an initial decision has decreased dramatically, the new wait is on the appeals side. Here’s an example: When a veteran files a claim for disability benefits, the VA makes a decision, which in our St. Petersburg Regional Office is taking about four to six months on average. If the veteran does not like the VA’s decision, the veteran can appeal. After the veteran appeals, it is taking from three to four years for the VA to pick up that veteran’s claim again and review it. That is a tragedy.
We have noticed that, because the VA is moving more rapidly on the front end of these decisions, the decisions are often being made poorly, overlooking evidence in the record, and sometimes failing to schedule the veteran for a medical examination for the disability that a veteran is required to receive by law.
When the veteran ends up in the appellate backlog, the effects can be devastating waiting for a resolution. It can take years. One of our clients, an Iraq War veteran who has been homeless for several years while waiting for a decision since 2012, just received a hearing on his claims at the appellate level. Now it could take a year or more to receive a decision. That makes it six years or more that he has been waiting and wandering in and out of homelessness unable to work due to PTSD from combat.
Q: What can you do to help veterans who need affordable housing?
A: The disability benefits and correct diagnoses we get for veterans help to stabilize them and receive appropriate treatment in order to qualify them for affordable housing.