Ok, yes, we all want our vets taken care of. I work for a VA hospital and the claims that are clogging the system are not the veterans coming back from the current wars. They are done quickly. The backlog of claims are mostly for people trying to increase their service connection or trying to tie their current health problems to something that may have happened in their time in the service. Unfortunately, as a veteran ages and hasn't saved for retirement, upping a VA pension is the way to get it. I'm not saying it's deserved or not, that's not for me to decide, but that is why there is a backlog. It's not vets wounded in service, it's more on the order of someone who is claiming his back problems (while doing manual labor all his non-veteran life) are the result of basic training, the vet who was in for one month and now wants service connection for neurosis. Believe me, that's what's causing the backlog. The war veterans are being treated quickly and well, at least in my hospital.
|