In the two years since the PACT Act brought about a landmark expansion of veterans’ benefits, more than 1 million disability claims have been approved. But a number of for-profit companies are also reaping benefits, even though what they do is against the law. Patrick Murray, legislative director at the Veterans of Foreign Wars, joins Lisa Desjardins to discuss.
Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors.
John Yang:
In the two years that the landmark expansion of veterans benefits known as the PACT Act has been in effect, more than 1 million disability claims have been approved and more on the way but as Lisa Desjardins reports a number of more profit companies are also reaping benefits even though what they do is against the law.
Lisa Desjardins:
The bipartisan PACT Act is the largest expansion of veteran's benefits in a generation, including care for veterans exposed to burn pits. Some 3.5 million people could benefit, and the program could near $1 trillion in spending.
As the disability claims grow, so have the profits of private firms pledging to help those with claims. That's despite a federal law banning companies from charging vets for those types of services. According to a Washington Post report, scores of uncredited for profit companies are making hundreds of millions of dollars helping veterans file disability claims.
Patrick Murray is legislative director at the Veterans of Foreign Wars. And, Patrick, let's just back up. How is it that these firms are making money off of this work with veterans?
Patrick Murray, Veterans of Foreign Wars: What they do is falsely offer veterans hope that they can get their claims done better and faster if you pay for it. As you mentioned, it is illegal, but right now there's no penalty for actually breaking the law.
In 2006, that was removed. So these companies are operating in a legal loophole that allows them to charge exorbitant fees and not be held accountable.
Lisa Desjardins:
That's really odd to have a lawyer with no sort of penalty or criminal punishment. We've talked about this PACT Act before, but the idea that the federal government is prohibiting anyone from charging these benefits. We see that the companies involved, however, are advertising as if this service was legal.
For example, here's a company that the Washington Post mentioned in their story that offers sometimes a level of free advice, sort of as an entryway, and then later on, as you see here on this page, would charge a price, sometimes a percentage of any benefits that someone would get.
How is it that they're able to operate even if there's not a penalty without anyone kind of overseeing this? Is this about the bureaucracy at the VA or what's happening?
Patrick Murray:
So actually, VA has sent multiple demand letters to these companies telling them to stop. So it is illegal. And the agency of jurisdiction, the Department of Veteran Affairs, is telling them what you're doing is illegal. However, sternly worded letters are about as far as they can go because the criminal penalties were removed in 2006.
Lisa Desjardins:
I'm not sure everyone realizes how large the PACT Act is. Does this kind of misconduct and illegal activity? Does it predate the PACT Act? Did it grow because of the PACT Act? Help us with what's going on now.
Patrick Murray:
It did predate the PACT Act. Many of the larger companies operated for years. The PACT Act really amplified what it is that they're looking to take from veterans. VA just recently announced their 1,000,000th PACT Act claim granted. They're putting out so much more money into veterans' pockets, and these companies, a lot of unscrupulous actors around the country are seeing an opportunity to take a cut of that. So it was happening. The PACT Act really amplified that.
Lisa Desjardins:
You've been talking to veterans who've kind of fallen prey to this. What's their experience been like? What have they felt that they've gained or lost from this, and how is it that they've gotten involved with these companies?
Patrick Murray:
Many of these veterans that we've spoken to didn't know this is illegal, thought that this was just almost a fast tracked way to get things done. Much like, you know, a passport, you can kind of pay a company to walk it through for you. That's the way they advertise. But that's not true.
Anybody, whether it's the VFW, a county service officer, an accredited agent or attorney, or any one of these claim sharks, once they submit your claim for you, it goes into VA. And VA adjudicates that as they come in, first come, first serve. So the companies that say, if you give us 5, 10 upwards of $20,000 to get it done faster, it's a lie.
Lisa Desjardins:
Now, these companies, of course, have something to say as well. Veterans Guardian is one of these for profit companies that offer services like this. And in a statement that they sent us, they wrote, anyone who has filed a disability claim with the VA knows that the system is extremely onerous and time consuming, which has created a backlog of nearly 300,000 pending claims. We believe that more options and expertise is necessary to clear the backlog and provide the benefits that veterans have rightfully earned.
Dealing with many of these kinds of systems, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, can, in fact, be owners, especially for seniors trying to navigate the system. What's so wrong with having a service help them navigate?
Patrick Murray:
So what that statement is taking a real issue. There are claims that is called the backlog. It's currently taking about 150 days to go through the entire process for a veterans claim. But what they're misleading people about is that anybody on the front end can, frankly make that any faster.
Our accredited service officers help veterans every single day. But once we file, it's up to VA first in is how they actually look at these claims. So just sending someone a bill afterwards doesn't make the service any faster.
Lisa Desjardins:
But could it help them understand what documents they need, how to get those documents to the VA? That can be complicated.
Patrick Murray:
It can. And that's what we tell every veteran we work with. Make sure you have all your documents ready to go. Whether you work with someone like the VFW or you do it on your own, being armed with all the information ahead of time is the best way to get your claim process as effectively as possible.
Lisa Desjardins:
Is there any sign that these agencies are perhaps pushing peoples whose claims aren't valid?
Patrick Murray:
Yes, we know that VA is rejecting some of the claims of these folks, they'll ask a veteran in California to speak to a mental health professional in South Carolina. 30 minutes later, they get you know, what's called a Nexus letter for PTSD for someone they've never spoken to. VA's rejecting those.
So they're sending people to doctors, often in their own networks that they have financial ties with, and the appointments are worth the paper they're written on, because VA is just rejecting them outright.
Lisa Desjardins:
What advice do you have for veterans about how to approach this?
Patrick Murray:
What we try to tell everybody is, you know, do your homework first, right, whether it's work with the VFW, work with another organization like the DAV or your county or state service officer, or on your own. There's resources out there, some of these companies in their contracts even say that their expertise is the same as publicly available information. It's out there for everybody.
There are so many people looking to help veterans for free and like the VFW regardless of membership, for free. So that's what we want people to do, armed themselves with the most information beforehand.
Lisa Desjardins:
Patrick Murray, thank you for this and for your service.
Patrick Murray:
Thank you.
