There are few things, if any, that the government does better than the private sector. That’s why a Congressional effort to ban private companies from helping veterans navigate the confusing VA benefits process is cause for concern. Leaders who are promoting this legislation would be wise to reconsider.
Since President Reagan elevated the Department of Veteran’s Affairs (VA) to cabinet level, funding under various administrations has been inconsistent. This has caused veterans to suffer. Following a much-heralded reduction in case inventories during the Trump Administration, wait times for healthcare services and a confusing benefits program have again started to grow leaving many unable to access the resources to which they are entitled.
Presently, over 222,000 VA claims for disability compensation and benefits are considered to be backlogged for more than 125 days, and that number is expected to remain above 100,000 until at least 2024. With an expected increase in claims associated with Agent Orange, new “Blue Water” exposure claims against the Navy, and health issues with toxic burn pits starting to present themselves, the number of veterans who will need VA assistance will likely grow significantly in the coming years. This can only worsen the backlog problem.
It's important to emphasize that this number isn’t simply a statistic. It represents nearly a quarter-million souls who sacrificed greatly for our country, but are stuck in this cumbersome system. This number represents homelessness, lack of health insurance, mental illness, and poverty. This is unconscionable. We need an all hands-on deck approach to ending this crisis once and for all.
While the latest Congressional budget proposal includes a 10% boost to the VA – a welcome development – it fails to definitively solve this problem. A real solution must include expanding veteran choice by bringing as many actors as possible into the fold to help navigate the benefits claims process.
Right now, veterans have several choices as to who can help them. Among them are veterans service organizations (VSOs), lawyers known as accredited actors, and private consulting agents. Various well-meaning but ill-advised pieces of legislation are seeking to ban the private consulting agents from helping veterans with their claims. This would be a mistake.
Eliminating these private experts could leave the veterans service organizations as virtually the sole avenue available to help veterans negotiate these complex procedures as legal assistance from accredited actors is often restricted to the appeals process after benefits are denied or only partially approved. While many dedicated VSOs mean well, they are often overwhelmed and challenged to match the professionalism and expertise of private consulting firms competing in the free market.
Relying on attorneys to fill the void that would be left by banning private consulting agents from assisting in the benefits claims process has its own issues as well. Some lack the incentives that other private sector agents receive, especially if those attorneys who operate on a fee-for-service model and are paid by the VA regardless of whether they win or lose.
Consulting agents, on the other hand, tend to work on a contingency basis and are rewarded when the entitled benefit increase for the veteran is secured. These private companies can have extensive staff and systems in place to be as efficient as possible and can support veterans at every step from starting a new benefit claim to assisting with an appeal.
During a recent House Committee on Veterans' Affairs hearing some members of Congress and some witnesses attacked consulting agents because the organizations involved could make a profit. Many veterans, however, believe that our political leaders should judge VA consultants on the quality of the job they do. Just as attorneys interacting with the Department on behalf of a veteran must be approved by its General Counsel, so it is normal that certain standards for additional competitive avenues of service should be fairly implemented as well.
Bringing the force of the private sector against this problem gives great hope in clearing the claims backlogs and securing for our veterans the help they deserve. Banning such services at a time when the VA is grappling with accelerating demand seems unwise and the opposite direction to be taking. We should look for ways to expand access and choice for our veterans, not narrow the avenues through which they secure their benefits. That is the least we can and should do for our veterans.
Bob McEwen represented Ohio in the Congress of the United States for six terms and served on the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.