VA likely to assume disability rating duties

[unhappycamper]

VA likely to assume disability rating duties
By Tom Philpott, Special to Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Saturday, October 13, 2007

Congressional action to end the services¡¦ authority to assign disability ratings and put the Department of Veterans Affairs in charge can¡¦t come too soon for retired Army Lt. Col. Michael A. Parker.

Parker, 45, has complained for a couple of years to lawmakers and to the Veterans¡¦ Disability Benefits Commission about lax DOD oversight of the disability rating process and unfair disability decisions across the services.

He wasn¡¦t alone. Veteran service groups and plenty of individual veterans had beefs, too. The Government Accountability Office released a critical report on military disability systems in 2006. Momentum for reform got a lift last February when The Washington Post exposed bureaucratic neglect of outpatients at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

But Parker showed special doggedness. He attended most VDBC meetings, testified himself several times, and created slideshows of facts and data on the issues for commissioners and journalists. Informing his arguments were his own experiences with the Army¡¦s disability process and his volunteer work helping other members, even members of other services, through their own maze. With each one, Parker said, he found fresh evidence that laws and regulations are ignored in holding back benefits.

This month Parker felt satisfaction when the VDBC released its report. Among its 113 recommendations are three calling for immediate action to correct disability evaluations and one long-term fix all evaluations to VA. Defense officials or the services should:

ƒÞReassess past disability ratings set at less than 30 percent for any servicemember separated as unfit to determine if the rating was fair, given disturbing inconsistencies found across services ratings and between ratings awarded by DOD and those routinely raised later by the VA.


Rest of article at: http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=49456



uhc comment: Sorry about the funky text, but that's the way it is on s&s. This may be good news, provided another right wing nutbag is not assigned to fill Nicholson's tiny shoes place.