Imagine filing a claim for veterans benefits you earned through years of military service, but nothing happens.
You wait, and wait, and wait. You check your mailbox over and over again.
But no word from the VA. Nothing.
What you don’t know is that your claim may not even be in the VA system.
That’s the disturbing situation veterans advocate Steve Miller says some veterans are facing right now. It’s like their VA claims are vanishing into thin air.
Miller spent nine years with the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division. Today, he runs Wellness for Veterans, where he helps former service members navigate the often bewildering process of obtaining the benefits they earned.
And he says he has uncovered what he describes as a VA “black hole.”
According to Miller, claims submitted through such organizations as the American Legion and Disabled American Veterans can be transmitted successfully, yet fail to show up inside the VA claims system.
The veteran, meanwhile, has no idea. He or she simply sits at home waiting for an answer that may never come.
So, this isn’t just an inconvenience.
These claims can involve compensation for injuries and illnesses connected to military service.
They can also affect how much veterans pay for healthcare and what services are available to them.
Miller says he discovered the problem while dealing with his own claim.He says a VA representative told him the system had been down and veterans had not been notified.
He says the problem had been going on for at least four months.
Think about that.
People who served this country may believe their benefit claims are moving through the system when, according to Miller, those claims may simply be sitting there untouched.
Miller is particularly frustrated because helping veterans obtain benefits has become his mission.
He says he has assisted more than 800 veterans, helping them secure more than $1.5 million a year in benefits — and he does it free of charge.
He also helps veterans obtain medical equipment and other assistance, including wheelchairs, hearing aids, diabetes monitoring equipment and housing support.
During our Lean to the Left podcast interview, Miller made another point that deserves attention.
This shouldn’t be about Democrats or Republicans.
It should be about veterans.
As Miller put it, country before party.
That is exactly right.
If there is a technical breakdown inside the VA that is preventing benefit claims from being properly recorded, the agency needs to come clean and tell veterans what’s happening.
Congress should demand answers.
How many claims are affected?
How long has the problem existed?
Are veterans losing benefits because of it?
And what is being done to find and process claims that may have fallen through the cracks?
Those are not partisan questions.
They are questions of basic responsibility to the men and women who served this country.
Watch my full conversation with Steve Miller on Lean to the Left.
And if you are a veteran — or know one — who has experienced unexplained problems or delays with a VA claim, I’d like to hear about it.
Sometimes accountability begins when people stop suffering quietly and start telling their stories.
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