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09 Mar 07
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Staff Sgt. Gregory L. Wilson, from the Texas National Guard, waited nearly two years for his veterans’ disability check after he was injured in Iraq.
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Allen Curry of Chicago has fallen behind on his mortgage while waiting nearly two years for his disability check
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The V.A. is supposed to provide uniform and f
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Allen Curry
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V.A.’s focus is to assure consistent application of the regulations governing V.A. disability determinations in all states,” the department said in a written statement.
Many new veterans say they are often left waiting for months or years, wondering if they will be taken care of.
Unable to work because of post-traumatic stress disorder and back injuries from a bomb blast in Iraq in 2004, Specialist James Webb of the Army ran out of savings while waiting 11 months for his claim. In the fall of 2005, Mr. Webb said, he began living on the streets in Decatur, Ga., a state that has the 10th-largest backlog of claims in the country.
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The problems partly stem from the agency’s inability to prepare for predictable surges in demand from certain states or certain categories of service members, say advocates and former department officials. Numerous government reports have highlighted the agency’s backlog of disability claims and called for improvements in shifting resources.
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Veterans face serious inequities in compensation for disabilities depending on where they live and whether they were on active duty or were members of the National Guard or the Reserve, an analysis by The New York Times has found.
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Staff Sgt. Gregory L. Wilson, from the Texas National Guard, waited nearly two years for his veterans’ disability check after he was injured in Iraq
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waited nearly two years for his veterans’ disability check after he was injured in Iraq
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waited nearly two years for his veterans’ disability check after he was injured in Iraq
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waited nearly two years for his veterans’ disability check after he was injured in Iraq
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the average annual disability payment for those troops is $3,603, based on 2006 V.A. data for unmarried veterans with no dependents. Active-duty soldiers on average receive $4,962.
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The backlogs are worst in some states sending the most troops, and discrepancies exist in pay levels.
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received a Bronze Star for his service in Iraq
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Agency officials say they have begun an aggressive oversight effort to determine if all disability claims are being properly processed and contracted for a study that will examine state-by-state differences in average disability compensation payments.
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appointed a commission
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$7,803 a year
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Where are the new vets showing up?” Mr. Meskin said he kept asking. “They just shrugged.”
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where they live and whether they were on active duty or were members of the National Guard or the Reserve,
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Veterans
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“The V.A. is supposed to provide uniform and fair treatment to all,” said Steve Robinson, the director of veteran affairs for Veterans for America. “Instead, the places and services giving the most are getting the least.”
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He said that while active-duty soldiers often received medical disability evaluations in about 30 days, many reservists he knew waited two years or more to get an initial appointment. Active-duty personnel also routinely received legal advice about appeals and other issues from military lawyers, while reservists had to request those hearings, he said.
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active-duty soldier
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active duty soldiers.
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The claims from returning war veterans plus those from previous periods increased by 39 percent from 2000 to 2006.
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Many new veterans say they are often left waiting for months or years, wondering if they will be taken care of.
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The influx of veterans from the Iraq war has nearly overwhelmed an agency already struggling to meet the health care, disability payment and pension needs of more than three million veterans.
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“It makes no sense to wait until the troop is already back home to start preparing for them,” Mr. Sullivan said. “But that’s what the V.A. does.”
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ease the backlog and address disparities by hiring more claims workers,
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the system was shelved by program officials
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the staff for handling claims has remained relatively flat, a problem the department highlighted in its 2008 proposed budget.
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In Pennsylvania, which has sent the fourth-highest number of troops, the claims office in Pittsburgh is tied for second for longest backlogs, where 4 out of 10 claims have been pending for more than six months.
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“It makes no sense to wait until the troop is already back home to start preparing for them,”
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“Instead, the places and services giving the most are getting the least.”
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If he had filed his claim in a state deploying fewer troops than Illinois, Mr. Curry, who was injured by a bomb blast when he was a staff sergeant in the Army Reserve in Iraq, would most likely have been paid sooner and gotten more in benefits.
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active-duty soldier
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The average disability payment for Illinois veterans — $7,803 a year — is among the lowest in the nation, according to 2005 V.A. data.
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President Bush has appointed a commission to investigate problems at military and veterans hospitals
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Unable to work because of post-traumatic stress disorder and back injuries from a bomb
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Many new veterans say they are often left waiting for months or years, wondering if they will be taken care of
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The V.A. is supposed to provide uniform and fair treatment to all,”
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active-duty soldier
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flux of veterans from the Iraq war has nearly overwhelmed an agency already struggling to meet the health care, disability payment and pen
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repeatedly urged agency managers to track data so they could better meet the needs of former soldiers. “Where are the new vets showing up?” Mr. Meskin said he kept asking. “They just shrugged.”
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his previous life as a $60,000-a-year postal worker
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Bronze Star for his service in Iraq
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a study that will examine state-by-state differences in average disability compensation payments.
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When 5,000 new troops get deployed from California, you can logically expect a percent of them will show up at the V.A. in California in a year with predictable types of problems.”
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Allen Curry of Chicago has fallen behind on his mortgage while waiting nearly two years for his disability check.
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red tape.
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W ASHINGTON, March 8 >
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“It makes no sense to wait until the troop is already back home to start preparing for them,” Mr. Sullivan said. “But that’s what the V.A. does.”
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“Instead, the places and services giving the most are getting the least.”
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Veterans face serious inequities in compensation for disabilities depending on where they live and whether they were on active duty or were members of the National Guard or the Reserve
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more in benefits.
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state deploying fewer troops
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active-duty soldier
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