Nicholson promises changes in VA offices
Monday, May 23, 2005
Printable FormatMEGAN REICHGOTT
Associated Press
CHICAGO - The head of the Department of Veterans Affairs promised Friday he would make changes to a system that grants far lower average disability benefits to Illinois veterans than to their counterparts nationwide.
Secretary Jim Nicholson told veterans at a town hall meeting in Chicago that every claim should be treated "fairly and equitably" no matter where it comes from.
"We are committed to doing what's right for our veterans," Nicholson said. "If that entails a special operation to review claims, we will do that."
U.S. Sens. Barack Obama and Richard Durbin invited Nicholson to the meeting after a Chicago Sun-Times analysis in December showed Illinois ranked 50th out of 52 states and territories in the compensation that veterans were paid for disabilities in 2003.
A 200-page report released Thursday by the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of the Inspector General showed staffing shortages and a World War II-era compensation plan are some of the reasons why the average Illinois veteran with a disability got about $1,400 less last year than veterans in other states. Illinois ranked 50th each year from 1985 to 2004.
The report also said workers who examined the claims use outdated guidelines to make subjective assessments of ailments.
Obama and Durbin said after the meeting they were encouraged by the secretary's promise to deal with a backlog of potential claims in Illinois and to place more staff in the Veterans' Affairs' Chicago regional office, the object of scorn from many of the veterans attending the meeting.
"All the promises that were made, we expect to be kept," said Obama, a member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee. "We are going to hold him to that."
Still, many veterans said they were skeptical that the reforms would be strong enough or come fast enough to affect real change. The secretary was intermittently interrupted by audience members venting their anger over specific complaints.
"I'll be dead and buried before I ever get my money!" 74-year-old Korean War veteran Ben Wagner of Lake Forest shouted, drawing large cheers from the crowd. "Why is one lost leg worth more in Montana than a lost leg in Illinois?"
The average compensation payment last year was $8,378 per veteran, according to the VA report. Illinois veterans received an average of $6,961, while New Mexico veterans got the highest average at $12,004.
Veterans who think they have been shortchanged can have their claims re-examined, Nicholson said.
"We are going to make a special ... commitment to review those who want to be reviewed," he said. "The past is the past. The future is now."