Video: Adithya Sambamurthy | Read full transcript U.S. Navy cook Hosea Roundtree watched the 1983 shelling of Beirut from the deck of a ship, feelings of helplessness washing over him as people perished onshore. That memory haunted him, resurrected in flashbacks eight years later after a tour in the Gulf during Operation Desert Storm. But […]
Benefits
The VA is working to reduce the wait time for disability benefits, which at its peak averaged 280 days. The president vowed to end the wait in 2014.
Posted inBenefits, Health Care for Veterans, Returning Home to Battle
Video: Errors at the VA
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs denied Navy veteran Hosea Roundtree’s disability benefits claim for post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, saying it could find no evidence that he was in combat. When a VA claims processor tried to intervene, she says she was forced out. Veterans’ advocates say Roundtree’s case illustrates the VA’s priorities: productivity […]
Posted inBenefits, Returning Home to Battle
Disabled veterans stuck in backlog limbo
Veterans waiting for decisions on their disability claims wait longer than the VA has acknowledged, especially if they come from larger urban areas. Solutions tried in four locations have not helped so far, as the backlog continues to grow.
Posted inBenefits, Returning Home to Battle
Map: Where is the veterans’ backlog the worst?
Compare backlogs and wait times at the 58 VA regional offices on this interactive map. Data on the number of veterans waiting, the number of veterans waiting more than 125 days, and the average delays veterans face update weekly, tracking in real time whether the VA is living up to its promises to improve. Other […]
Posted inBenefits, Health Care for Veterans, Returning Home to Battle
Video: Veterans’ disability benefits delayed
Marine Cpl. David Smith has struggled with PTSD since returning from duty in Iraq. The UC Berkeley student waited more than a year for approval of his disability benefits claim. TRANSCRIPT: [On-screen text: Marine Cpl. David Smith, now a political science student at UC Berkeley, has suffered from PTSD and depression since returning from Iraq. […]