How some veterans exploit $193 billion VA program, due to lax controls

[Mosby]

Military veterans are swamping the U.S. government with dubious disability claims — including cases of brazen fraud totaling tens of millions of dollars — that are exploiting the country’s sacred commitment to compensate those harmed in the line of duty, according to a Washington Post investigation.

Taxpayers will spend roughly $193 billion this year for the Department of Veterans Affairs to compensate about 6.9 million disabled veterans on the presumption that their ability to work is impaired. VA officials say most veterans’ disability claims are legitimate.

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Over the past quarter-century, veterans have flooded VA with an escalating number of claims. In 2001, veterans received benefits for a total of nearly 6 million disabilities. By last year, that figure had risen to 41.7 million, a sevenfold increase.

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The surge in disability claims has come as the population of living veterans has shrunk by around one-third, from 26 million in 2001 to 17.6 million today. And in other critical ways, VA’s compensation system has failed to keep up with medical advances and changes in the workplace.

Washington Post