Noteboom The Law Firm

VA Report Seek to Change How Veterans Receive Benefits

March 24, 2010 - Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Eric Shinseki made his goals while in office very clear: to treat America's veterans the way they deserve to be treated. Secretary Shinseki made it the VA's overall objective to not only continue advocating for veterans but to make it the VA's culture to give veterans their due.   

In attempting to reach Secretary Shinseki's goal, the VA's Gulf War Veteran's Illnesses Task Force has nearly completed a report expected to change the scope of the VA's treatment of veterans. More specifically, the report focuses on how the VA attends to Gulf War veterans' pain and suffering from various illnesses.

The Gulf War Task Force has one goal: discover gaps in benefits and services, how to fix them, and make sure veterans receive better service than ever before. Approximately 700,000 military personnel were deployed to Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm. More than 85% of the 300,000 veterans' disability claims filed following the two wars were granted for at least one service-connected condition. Over 14% of the claims were not granted anything.

The future of the VA is going to be very different than the past and the VA has to be prepared to handle whatever comes their way. This is the first step in developing a complete and inclusive plan necessary to treat the Gulf War veterans and can also be used as a guide in how to treat future veterans. The Task Force made very specific recommendations about how the VA could improve their distribution of benefits to veterans:   

• Improve data sharing between the VA and the Department of Defense regarding health care monitoring and potential exposures;
• Update VA policies regarding Gulf War Veterans;
• Update and expand training for VA examiners;
• Enhance the amount of studies focusing on veterans' care;
• Continue to research treatments for Gulf War Veterans; and
• Improve veteran outreach programs.

 The Chairman of the Task Force was a commander in the Gulf War and watched his troops suffer from unexplained illnesses following their deployment to the Gulf in 1990 and 1991. For him, and many like him, developing a plan on how the VA is going to compensate these veterans is personal.