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Tangled in red tape, America asks a lot of our soldiers. We ask them to give up their family life, train to fight our battles and in return we give them red tape. Oh we don’t mean to, we just don’t know how to get our act together when it concerns our military. Stop and think about it a minute. Our government knows how to find you on or before April 15th every year. Our government penalizes you if you do not make your payment on April 15th. However, that same government does not pay a penalty for not properly handling the paperwork of returning war veterans - either disabled or not.

In February, 2007 the Washington Post broke the story about the neglect and delays at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Mind you Walter Reed is almost within walking distance to the capital and is also where a great deal of “important” government employees get their health care. It is now June, 2008 and what has happened in the past year to correct the inequities? Most say just a fresh coat of paint was applied. Time goes by - people forget. In a lot of respects this is true…the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports that there has been very little progress on rectifying the shortfalls at Walter Reed.

But wait we can’t dump all over poor Walter Reed..there is plenty of blame to go around..The Department of Defense and The Veterans Administration need to be held accountable too because they cannot even agree on how to share data between themselves. There is no co-ordinated system that allows the 2 government bureaus to communicate by sharing military records. To make matters worse it is possible for a soldier to receive one rating from the DOD and a totally different rating from the VA. The current VA disability payment system was originated in 1945 and has changed very little according to the GAO to keep up with the growing world of technology. The military and VA have separate health care and also separate benefits systems…and you can trust me both are as complicated as your current years IRS instructions.

What does that mean to the average soldier needing care? It means a back log of at least 6 months, with an estimated over 400,000 pending claims. The average wait time is generally around 183 days. If your claim is approved you are on to the next paper shuffle…if your claim is not approved then you can expect a wait of at least 657 days or just about 2 years. Can you wait? It should also be noted that the DOD and the VA have been working to improve their information sharing systems by implementing a electronic medical records database. Progress has been slow though..they have only been working together since 1998. In addition to the slowness there has been many calls for better manpower to get the paperwork under control but that call has gone unheeded. You see some disability claims require the paperwork be sent to the VA from the US Army & Joint Services Records and Research Center. On average the Center has been taking one year to respond to requests from the VA. One final discouraging thought is that where you live means a difference in the payment you receive…certain states receive more like New Mexico compared to say Ohio.

This all boils down to our veterans, who have risked their lives for our freedoms being denied their right to medical and benefit care that they are entitled to. When the approval finally comes through - a sigh of relief can be heard around the world…but wait you do know there will be a slight delay while the paperwork is input. That is right..we have to make sure the paperwork is all in order..and we have all the pieces of paper.

As I have said before, it doesn’t matter which side of the war you stand on, it only matters that we take care of our own. No one is asking for a handout or a free ride..just what should rightfully be theirs in a timely fashion. As you look across the dinner table this evening at your growing son or daughter stop for a minute and think about how you would feel if it were happening to your family.

In summary I ask that you take a moment to email your Congressional Representative and ask them to work for the people. Ask them to help our soldiers returning home. If you do not know who your Representative is I would be happy to supply you with that information..just email me at info@boomersmagic.com and tell me where you live.

Thank you for reading this article and for remembering the right thing to do for all the sons and daughters who are serving and have served our country.  Maybe we can help shed light on this problem so our returning troops won’t get “tangled in red tape” - veterans fight another war!

“Building Healthy, Wealthy and Wise Families Worldwide”

Boomers Magic

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