Video: New VA scandal shows vets cheated out of benefits

[Valin]

Hot Air:

Ed Morrissey

February 25, 2015

 

And some of them never lived to see their rightful benefits from service to our nation. The VA in Oakland, California routinely ignored the query letters from veterans seeking various benefits, despite regulations requiring a response. When the issue came to the attention of VA leadership in 2012, they assigned a team to go through the records — and then deep-sixed those records when it became obvious that something very wrong had taken place. In fact, as one whistleblower tells CBS News, the cover-up lasted until “a few months ago,” cheating thousands of veterans:

 

 

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Unlike the wait-list scandal, there may not be a ready alternative. Congress can and should end the monopoly on health coverage for veterans at the VA by setting up a health-insurance exchange similar to Medicare Advantage, so that veterans can choose a wide range of providers for their care. For veteran benefits, though, there aren’t other options. The federal government is the sole provider of those benefits; there are no free-market alternatives. Perhaps Robert McDonald, already under fire for embellishing his service record, can provide Congress with more information on how this one got past everyone even while McDonald was supposedly cleaning up the VA. He can tell even more fables about how many people he’s fired, and when he does, Congress can recommend that Barack Obama fire one more.