For more than 90 years, The American Legion has acted as the nation’s leading advocate for proper health care, economic opportunity and legal benefits for U.S. military veterans. The Legion was instrumental in the creation of the Veterans Administration in 1930, and an ardent supporter of its elevation to cabinet status when it became the Department of Veterans Affairs in 1989. The relationship between VA and The American Legion continues to evolve today.
A ‘System Worth Saving’
American Legion Field Service representatives research and conduct site visits to VA medical facilities throughout the nation each year and produce a comprehensive assessment. The “System Worth Saving” report provides in-depth analyses of VA health-care performance in all 21 Veterans Integrated Service Networks. The project, launched in 2002, continues under the guidance of the Legion’s “System Worth Saving” Task Force and the Veterans Affairs & Rehabilitation Commission.
As it has for decades, The American Legion continues to aggressively lobby for adequate funding of VA health care, timely access to facilities, fair rulings on benefit claims, and economic opportunities for those who have come home changed by their military experiences. A nationwide network of American Legion department service officers works diligently to assist veterans as they pursue benefits and care they earned and deserve.
At the local, state and national levels, thousands of Legionnaires provide countless hours to help veterans obtain their benefits. The American Legion provides professional representation in claims appeals, discharge disputes and transition assistance from active-duty to civilian status throughout the country.
The Legion’s Network of Service Officers
The American Legion maintains a network of 2,000 professional, accredited representatives – known as service officers – who are officially recognized by VA to provide representation and assistance to veterans and their dependents. The service is free to all veterans. The Legion also maintains fullystaffed offices of professional appeals representatives at VA’s Board of Veterans’Appeals (BVA) and Appeals Management Center (AMC). National appeals representatives at the BVA and AMC provide direct representation to veterans and survivors whose claims are denied at the regionaloffice level and then appealed. The Legion has expanded national staffing to provide professional service officers at VA’s three Pension Management Centers (PMCs), centralized locations where VA processes all claims for pension, a non-service connected benefit for wartime veterans hardest hit financially. The Legion also has national service officers assigned to VA’s two Benefits Delivery at Discharge (BDD) rating activity sites in WinstonSalem, N.C., and Salt Lake City. They provide direct representation and other assistance to separating servicemembers filing VA disability claims prior to release from active duty. The American Legion works with the National Veterans Legal Services Program and the Veterans Consortium in court cases involving claims-decision appeals
Today, as the number of discharged veterans from the global war on terrorism has surpassed 500,000, the Legion’s federally chartered role to support them could not be more profound. The Legion strongly believes that a veteran is a veteran, no matter the war era, nature or location of service. In that light, The American Legion is the only organization that works on behalf of all 24.5 million U.S. veterans and all who will follow.
The American Legion stands on the front line of change in the pillar of service known as “Veterans Affairs & Rehabilitation.” It is a complex and vital part of the organization’s mission – particularly now, as a new generation of wartime veterans enters the civilian and VA worlds.
Following are Veterans Affairs & Rehabilitation issues of high priority to The American Legion:
VA Claims Backlog
The backlog of unresolved VA claims – from undecided initial applications to cases many years into the appeals process – has been estimated at upward of 1 million nationwide. The American Legion has strongly urged VA and Congress to reduce the amount of time it takes to decide a veteran’s claim, without reducing the quality of the decision.
Each claim is a separate, unique situation involving a human life and deserves careful analysis to assure the veteran receives all due benefits. The Legion supports careful implementation of new technology to better track medical records from enlistment through discharge and then on to VA, in order to improve the process. The era of paper-based claims processing, where folders of records and documents are stacked in VA regional offices, is not conducive to effective, efficient claims adjudication in today’s era of electronic data management. Further, The American Legion strongly supports the shifting of focus from quantity to quality when adjudicating claims. Currently, a rapid movement of claims known as “churning” allows claims to be processed several times to correct errors. The American Legion believes that working a claim correctly the first time may take longer individually, but will in the long term reduce the backlog because the claim will only be handled once. The American Legion is working closely with VA and Congress to bring VA claims processing into the 21st century.
Backlog of Pending VBA Claims Creates Veteran Job Opportunities
The backlog of pending Veterans Benefits Administration claims, as of March 21, 2009, had reached 700,917. Of these, 403,197 were rating cases. Since the end of 2004, when 321,458 rating cases were pending, the backlog has grown significantly. Between 2006 and 2007, the number of pending ratings cases increased by about 14,000. Over 25 percent of the cases were pending for longer than 180 days. At the end of fiscal 2008, the average number of days to complete a claim from date of receipt was 179, down 3.5 from the previous year. Inadequate staffing levels, lack of continuing education, and increased pressure to make quick decisions result in an overall decrease in the quality of work. These are among the most common complaints raised by regional office employees interviewed by American Legion staff during regional office quality checks. It is unrealistic to expect VA, at its current staffing levels, to continue to process an ever-increasing workload while maintaining quality and timeliness. The current wartime situation provides an excellent opportunity for VA to actively seek out returning veterans from Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, especially those with service-connected disabilities, for employment opportunities within VBA.
Careers for Veterans
The American Legion Economic Commission and the Legion’s Veterans Small Business Task Force actively pursue new career opportunities for veterans through job fairs and business workshops across the country. The American Legion has formal relationships with RecruitMilitary, LLC; Avue Technologies; and Military.com, a subsidiary of Monster.com, to participate in a robust schedule of career fairs throughout the year. The Legion has aggressively lobbied for improved compliance with laws requiring that no less than 3 percent of federal contracts be awarded to businesses owned by service-disabled veterans, along with other opportunities for veteran entrepreneurs. www.vetjobs.us www.military.com www.recruitmilitary.com www.legion.org/careers (202) 861-2700
Legion Supports VA Vet Centers
The American Legion strongly supports the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Vet Centers, community-based facilities with VA programs that provide readjustment counseling to veterans who have served in combat, or who have been victims of military sexual trauma or harassment. All services are free and also available to spouses and children of veterans. Vet Centers provide a wide range of services that include individual, group, marriage, family and bereavement counseling. They also refer veterans to other services when appropriate, and can help with problems concerning a veteran’s discharge status. Veterans are not required to be enrolled in VA health care in order to get Vet Center services. To learn more about Vet Centers and watch a video about their effectiveness, visit www.legion.org and click on LegionTV.
Access to VA Health Care
VA has undergone a well-documented evolution in the past 25 years, dramatically increasing its quality of care beyond that of the private or public sectors. An equally well-documented problem, however, is access to that high-quality care. Access to VA care continues to be restricted in many ways, including:
• The adverse effect on veterans as a result of the budget-driven suspension of Priority Group 8 veterans from new enrollment in the VA health-care system, which was in opposition to the Veterans Health Care Eligibility Reform Act of 1996. Last year, VA reopened its doors to more than 250,000 veterans who fit the Priority Group 8 definition, but the nation’s top veteran health-care services are still not available to all veterans. The American Legion continues to advocate for the elimination of priority groups and to open access to the VA health-care system to all veterans.
• Care for female veterans. The American Legion agrees with recent reports stating that primary-care settings should promote routine care within primary care, or be linked with specialized women’s clinics to enhance coordination and comprehensiveness and, thus, reduce fragmentation of care or potential overuse of care across health systems. However, due to that fragmentation of care, it is reported that 49 percent of women veterans have been pushed back to seek comprehensive care outside the VA health-care system.
• Long waiting times for appointments drive away veterans in overburdened VA markets. Waiting times for VA doctor appointments can stretch into months. At one point in recent years, more than 300,000 veterans were waiting 30 days or more for primarycare appointments. The waiting time to see a VA specialist is typically even more frustrating, often taking months.
• Construction. Although construction has begun in many areas, more VA facilities await in areas where veteran populations have grown and where the structures no longer meet today’s medical-services environment. The Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services (CARES) decision of 2004 identified urgent needs across the country for new VA hospitals and clinics in growth areas. While facilities are now under construction in Orlando, Fla., New Orleans and Las Vegas, many other underserved areas are in need. The average VA medical facility is over 50 years old and was not built with the proper infrastructure to support today’s health-care technology.
• Adequate staffing. VA health-care facilities must be adequately staffed with healthcare providers who receive competitive compensation. In too many markets across the country, doctor, nurse and technician shortages lead VA to seek more expensive and less efficient services from outside providers. Inadequate staffing prevents VA from keeping timely appointment schedules, and drives veteran patients away in many markets.
• Contractor dependence. Restricted access unnecessarily sends veterans to private contractors for health care formerly available to them in VA facilities. Particularly for long-term care and mental-health services, VA increasingly relies on outside contractors who do not understand the unique needs of veterans consistently suffering from such conditions as combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, Agent Orange exposure and other service-connected problems.
• Rural health care. Veterans in rural areas are often denied access by the sheer distance between their homes and the VA medical centers equipped to serve them. Many plans have been piloted to enhance care for rural veterans, but significant improvement – aside from recent mileage-reimbursement increases – has yet to be realized. Without greater VA clinical presence in many areas of the country, access is denied to these veterans.
A Better Funding Formula for VA Health Care
The discretionary process of funding the Veterans Health Administration is flawed because it fails to match actual dollars with actual demand. This breakdown has led to numerous emergency funding actions by Congress. While advance appropriations, which The American Legion strongly supported for VA health-care funding, can avoid budget delays in the future, VA must be funded on the basis of real cost, without burdening veterans on fixed incomes by doubling deductibles and installing new enrollment fees that do not guarantee timely access to care. The Legion strongly opposes the imposition of enrollment fees for veterans. The Legion is of the opinion that enrollment fees are paid through honorable military service, not out of veterans’ pockets as a hedge against a miscalculated discretionary budget.
The American Legion supports:
• Funding reform for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health-care system that will ensure sufficient, timely and predictable funding.
• The authorization of VA to collect Medicare reimbursements for services provided to enrolled, Medicare-qualified, non-service-connected veterans, similar to the authorization granted to Indian Health Services and TRICARE For Life.
• The full reinstatement of Priority Group 8 veterans and improved performance standards in collections from their insurance companies.
• Protection from a doubling of prescription co-payments and/or the introduction of annual VA health-care enrollment fees.
Veterans with Special Needs
The American Legion supports efforts to improve services, advance research and deliver compassionate treatment to veterans with special needs, such as:
• Those who have become homeless since discharge from the service.
• Those who suffer from traumatic brain injuries and/or mental illness.
• Those who have suffered multiple combat injuries, defined as polytrauma.
• Those who battle conditions related to Agent Orange exposure, Gulf War illness, radiation exposure due to atomic testing, mustard-gas exposure, and other medical problems linked, or presumably linked, to military service.
The Legion specifically urges VA and Congress to fund and adequately staff more Vet Centers, which provide mental-health and occupational outreach to thousands of veterans who otherwise look to the VA medical system for help, or end up on the street. The Legion also supports recommendations from the president’s Commission on Care for America’s Returning Wounded Warriors to enhance the focus on traumatic brain injury and PTSD among veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. The Legion also supports new VA polytrauma centers across the country, to manage unique problems faced by OIF and OEF combat veterans.
Volunteering
In fiscal 2009, 6,307 American Legion members volunteered 916,598 hours of service to hospitalized veterans in their communities. Based on an independent-sector rate of $20.25 per volunteer hour in 2010, this is a total cost savings of $18.4 million to VA. The American Legion added 202 new volunteers in 2009 and had an increase of 7,118 hours. In addition, The American Legion recently partnered with volunteer organizations such as Habitat for Humanity and Rebuilding Together to ensure that veterans are able to live in quality housing. The American Legion developed a Suicide Prevention and Referral Program to help connect a servicemember or veteran experiencing a mental-health crisis with VA’s National Suicide Prevention Hotline.
The American Legion also strongly supported the Ride 2 Recovery program, a weeklong cycling event in several locations across the United States that helps injured veterans speed up their recovery and rehabilitation process. The American Legion is committed to volunteering and serving veterans in the community. To join our volunteer ranks, or learn more about programs in your community, go to www.legion.org/volunteers.
Final respects
The American Legion works closely with the National Cemetery Administration, Arlington National Cemetery, and other federal and state governments and entities to ensure a proper burial for all veterans, as well as honorable burial services for the veteran, the family of the veteran and other loved ones. The Legion also serves as a major coordinator of the Missing in America Project, which ensures that cremated remains of veterans, long forgotten in funeral homes, hospitals and other establishments, are respectfully laid to rest. The American Legion provides a large portion of the Missing in America Project’s volunteers. The American Legion also provides all U.S. flags for veterans’ graves in cemeteries overseen in Europe by the American Battle Monuments Commission.
Heroes to Hometowns
The American Legion’s Heroes to Hometowns program, under the Economic Division, helps severely-injured servicemembers transition back into their communities and civilian lives. Heroes to Hometowns cannot work without the grass-roots efforts of American Legion posts. The Legion works with DoD and VA to identify veterans in need and provide readjustment help and mentoring. In 2008, The American Legion entered into a pilot program with VA to create H2H VA Voluntary Service (VAVS) coordinators at 10 sites: Boston; Dayton, Ohio; Louisville, Ky.; Phoenix; Providence, R.I.; Richmond, Va.; St. Louis; San Diego; Washington; and West Haven, Conn. Coordinators work with the VA medical centers to identify transitioning servicemember needs and make connections for community support and assistance.
Transition Assistance
The American Legion’s Economic Commission operates a number of programs, provides outreach and testifies before Congress in order to help veterans make the transition from military to civilian life. This important arm of service has a place upon the Veterans Affairs & Rehabilitation pillar but stands as an independent division of the organization. The work of the division can be divided into three main parts: jobs for veterans, business opportunities and education. Support for homeless veterans also fits into the division’s portfolio of service.
Homelessness
The American Legion works with VA and numerous local posts and organizations to provide relief for veterans who have found themselves homeless. As veteran unemployment runs higher than that of the general population, so too does veteran homelessness. The Legion builds, manages or supports homeless shelters for veterans across the country and actively advocates for programs to put roofs over their heads.
GI Bill Benefits
The American Legion has maintained a strong connection to the GI Bill since 1944, when Past National Commander Harry Colmery crafted it on stationery at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington. Since then, the GI Bill – considered the most significant social legislation of the 20th century – has educated millions of Americans, and gave birth to a half-century of economic prosperity. The Legion provides assistance for veterans trying to decide which of today’s multiple GI Bill programs is the best fit for them as individuals, and also lobbies Congress and works with VA to strengthen the benefits. www.legion.org/mygibill
Employment, Business and Education
The American Legion actively participates in numerous outreach efforts for veterans seeking employment or business opportunities after military service. The Legion aggressively lobbies for veterans-preference laws and compliance with laws designed to provide incentives for disabled-veteran entrepreneurship. Similarly, the Legion’s Economic Commission assists in job and career fairs throughout the country and works to protect the careers and benefits of reservists and National Guardsmen during military deployments. The Legion’s Business Task Force is composed of veteran entrepreneurs who give regular workshops and conferences to help veterans draft business plans, learn about their benefits and help them compete for government contracts.
Help with Financial Planning
The National Executive Committee of The American Legion recently passed a resolution to establish a relationship with VeteransPlus, a nonprofit financial-education and counseling company. VeteransPlus provides financial education and counseling to veterans, servicemembers, Reserve and National Guard members, and all their family members. Licensed financial counselors from VeteransPlus conduct seminars at American Legion posts across the country, aimed at addressing a host of financial issues: basic budgeting, debt management, credit counseling, identity theft, credit-score awareness, and housing and mortgage counseling. VeteransPlus, founded by veterans, hosts returning-warrior workshops, yellow-ribbon events, association meetings, educational seminars, Web-site engagements, veterans-benefit fairs and other outreach initiatives. “Given The American Legion’s unique perspective as the nation’s largest veterans service organization, we believe that they are in a position to identify with our mission of serving those who have served us,” said VeteransPlus Executive Director John Pickens.“(But) without a basic financial education, the men and women who have borne the battle may not be able to afford the life they have fought to defend for themselves and their families.” www.veteransplus.org
