Really interested in "fraud and abuse?" Take a look at veteran's disability claims

[Shrink726]

Yet The Post found that millions of the claims are for minor or treatable afflictions that rarely hinder employment, such as hair loss, jock itch and toenail fungus. 1
About 556,000 veterans receive disability benefits for eczema, 332,000 for hemorrhoids, 110,000 for benign skin growths, 81,000 for acne and 74,000 for varicose veins, the most recently available figures from VA show. Individual payouts for such mundane conditions vary, but collectively they cost billions of dollars a year. 2
In contrast, far fewer veterans receive compensation for certain combat-related injuries. About 10,900 service members who have suffered “severe” or “penetrating” brain injuries since 2000 are eligible for benefits. Fewer than 1,700 receive disability payments for losing limbs during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/interactive/2025/veterans-affairs-disability-claims-fraud/?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=wp_news_alert_revere&location=alert

 

[holbritter]

Wow. This needs to be looked at.

 

[lynnwinslow]

It's paywalled for me so I can't dig in.

Could the problem be the way the ailments were recorded and counted? If someone only has acne, of course they shouldn't get disability. But if they report depression, PTSD and acne that's a different story.

 

[BirdinHand]

one thing I’ve noticed regarding VA benefits is that there seem to be 2 “classes” of individuals.

A class of veterans that do NOT reach out and access the benefits that they are, indeed, deserving of.

Another class of veterans that will hire attorneys, etc so that they can claim every potential benefit - even if their “disability” may only be one that exists “on paper”


I’m not willing to harm either of them - and I’m willing to give BOTH classifications any and all benefits that they may be entitled to.

I may not agree with the one class, but they also wore boots I’ve never worn and for that, earned their benefits.

 

[Shrink726]

See, that's the difference between the US and almost every other westernized country.

We put something in place to help our citizens and it gets scammed and abused instead of appreciated. Europeans don't do shit like that.

 

[roguenuke]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/interactive/2025/veterans-affairs-disability-claims-fraud/?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=wp_news_alert_revere&location=alert

Many of those things are caused or related to being in the military.

I broke my nose while on watch because a part failed and resulted in me hitting a spinning handwheel. The military leads to hemorrhoids in many because of the conditions and food we basically have to endure. Both my husband and I were exposed to radiation and chemicals that most civilians are not, including industrial asbestos. Sun exposure without proper sun protection regularly available can lead to skin issues. And another thing that can cause skin issues is standing watch in a space where the atmosphere has a constant concentration of oil. Loud noise exposure is common for almost all military members. PTSD is not limited to being in combat situations or killing people or having your buddies killed. Knees are destroyed by the military. Both my husband and I have knee problems, as do most of those I know who served.

 

[BirdinHand]

See, that's the difference between the US and almost every other westernized country.

We put something in place to help our citizens and it gets scammed and abused instead of appreciated. Europeans don't do shit like that.

Human nature.

There will ALWAYS be individuals that seek to take advantage.

We can’t stop doing the right things because of them.

We do the right thing IN SPITE of them.

 

[roguenuke]

See, that's the difference between the US and almost every other westernized country.

We put something in place to help our citizens and it gets scammed and abused instead of appreciated. Europeans don't do shit like that.

I fully support simply going to a system where it doesn't matter, where everyone gets healthcare without having to justify their service or type of service at all.

I want universal healthcare in the US. But every military Veteran should get free healthcare for the rest of their lives without having to show which injuries or illnesses are related to service at all.

 

[Shrink726]

I fully support simply going to a system where it doesn't matter, where everyone gets healthcare without having to justify their service or type of service at all.

I want universal healthcare in the US. But every military Veteran should get free healthcare for the rest of their lives without having to show which injuries or illnesses are related to service at all.

They do have access to free HC thru the VA. But that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about permanent disability payments where they receive monthly payments forever because of their presumed inability to work. Whether you're a former service member or a civilian, I think the bar for those kinds of payments should be very high.

 

[BirdinHand]

They do have access to free HC thru the VA. But that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about permanent disability payments where they receive monthly payments forever because of their presumed inability to work. Whether you're a former service member or a civilian, I think the bar for those kinds of payments should be very high.

Why?

People aren’t getting rich off VA disability checks.

They served this country in a uniform - give them their couple hundred or thousand dollars a month.

 

[roguenuke]

I also want to point out that many people do not get compensated for most of their injuries or illnesses beyond the treatment and healthcare for those things. You don't get a check or given amount of money simply for having a service connected disability, as they are claiming. Much of the time, you are given access to medical care specifically for those things for free, and then you might get additional access to other medical care for a cost once you have that approval to be seen.

 

[roguenuke]

They do have access to free HC thru the VA. But that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about permanent disability payments where they receive monthly payments forever because of their presumed inability to work. Whether you're a former service member or a civilian, I think the bar for those kinds of payments should be very high.

Not all medical through the VA is free. It has to be considered service connected or you are means tested after that.

It is already pretty high, despite the claims of this article. The majority of the cases they mention are cases of out right fraud, not simply someone getting compensated because they have multiple smaller medical issues that either came from or could have been exacerbated by their service.

When you have to take time off work to get knee surgery, that affects your civilian life. When you have to get tested for cancers or get various treatments, that can affect civilian jobs. When you have anxiety or PTSD because of your service, you will be limited in employment. You can say those things aren't enough, but why aren't they? Many in the military were discouraged while in from seeking medical care to the point of harassment if you dared challenge being told "walk it off" or "suck it up". Those are things endured and then when we finally get out and find that we have things that make our lives harder, either physically, emotionally/psychologically, we are told that putting in to get compensated for that is "petty", "fraud".

 

[Shrink726]

Why?

People aren’t getting rich off VA disability checks.

They served this country in a uniform - give them their couple hundred or thousand dollars a month.

No way. People are supposed to work for a living the last time I checked.

Someone I know was in the military for a few years and took a two year online course in 'video game development.' A complete waste of taxpayer money. Needless to say, he has been completely unable to find work in that idiotic field. All while collecting ~$2500/month in veterans benefits. It's just ridiculous.

 

[hooligan]

All while collecting ~$2500/month in veterans benefits.

Benefits for what?

 

[roguenuke]

No way. People are supposed to work for a living the last time I checked.

Someone I know was in the military for a few years and took a two year online course in 'video game development.' A complete waste of taxpayer money. Needless to say, he has been completely unable to find work in that idiotic field. All while collecting ~$2500/month in veterans benefits. It's just ridiculous.

And my husband has had knee surgery on both of his knees, suffers from PTSD, and still can't get approved for disability. It isn't all that easy simply because some will claim it is.

As for the "video game development" course (likely courses), sounds like it was part of his GI Bill benefits. It's also anecdotal, with no way to verify what exactly it was he was getting a check for, why his rating would be over 80% (since that's the most likely way to get that much).

 

[Shrink726]

Benefits for what?

Not sure. Perhaps "being a student" during this time? Perhaps some kind disability claim. This is from a friend of his family.

Bottom line for me is why are my tax dollars going to fund an education for a field where the likelihood of gainful employment is about the same as my becoming the starting QB for the NY Giants? If he had been pursuing a degree or certification in something realistic I would have had no problem with that.

 

[BirdinHand]

No way. People are supposed to work for a living the last time I checked.

Someone I know was in the military for a few years and took a two year online course in 'video game development.' A complete waste of taxpayer money. Needless to say, he has been completely unable to find work in that idiotic field. All while collecting ~$2500/month in veterans benefits. It's just ridiculous.

Sounds like jealousy and not really based on whether or not that individual is actually entitled to benefits.

 

[BirdinHand]

Not sure. Perhaps "being a student" during this time? Perhaps some kind disability claim. This is from a friend of his family.

Bottom line for me is why are my tax dollars going to fund an education for a field where the likelihood of gainful employment is about the same as my becoming the starting QB for the NY Giants? If he had been pursuing a degree or certification in something realistic I would have had no problem with that.

See, there it is.

You want to decide what education and benefits other individuals can get.

If you don’t personally approve, you want to deny them access.

 

[Shrink726]

Sounds like jealousy and not really based on whether or not that individual is actually entitled to benefits.

Not a bit. I've worked hard my entire life and I do pretty well. As opposed to Elon Musk and his idiotic DOGE abuses I'm sincerely annoyed by what I view to be any waste of taxpayer money. I have no idea why you would even think for a moment, that this had anything to do with "jealousy."

 

[Shrink726]

See, there it is.

You want to decide what education and benefits other individuals can get.

If you don’t personally approve, you want to deny them access.

On my dime? You better believe I do. If they want to take a course in some nonsense field and pay for it themselves, that's fine.

 

[roguenuke]

Not sure. Perhaps "being a student" during this time? Perhaps some kind disability claim. This is from a friend of his family.

Bottom line for me is why are my tax dollars going to fund an education for a field where the likelihood of gainful employment is about the same as my becoming the starting QB for the NY Giants? If he had been pursuing a degree or certification in something realistic I would have had no problem with that.

Why do you think you should get to decide how someone else uses benefits they paid into? Are you unaware that we pay into the GI Bill while serving to get that benefit? It cost a military member $1200 for the first year of service, out of their paycheck.

I personally got screwed by the 9/11 GI Bill coming out because I chose $10k college fund bonus as my "bonus" for enlistment rather than $8k sign on bonus. At the time I enlisted, the GI Bill alone was very little but if you got the college fund, that was paying $30k and then an additional $10k was added to that as a bonus for certain military jobs taken to help pay for college. Then 9/11 came around, and everyone serving who opted into the GI Bill got access to the 9/11 GI Bill which paid all or most tuition for so many credit hours, regardless of how much it cost as long as you got into the program, and then also provided BAH. You couldn't get both. So essentially my $10k bonus was lost within the system, became void because the 9/11 GI Bill was a completely better option just available to everyone.

 

[Manc Skipper]

See, that's the difference between the US and almost every other westernized country.

We put something in place to help our citizens and it gets scammed and abused instead of appreciated. Europeans don't do shit like that.

They do, but it's heavily policed. The UK is currently clamping down on disabled people to save money, while the rich get a free pass on taxes.

 

[hooligan]

Not sure. Perhaps "being a student" during this time? Perhaps some kind disability claim. This is from a friend of his family.

Bottom line for me is why are my tax dollars going to fund an education for a field where the likelihood of gainful employment is about the same as my becoming the starting QB for the NY Giants? If he had been pursuing a degree or certification in something realistic I would have had no problem with that.

The bold appears to be the most salient bit.

Being a veteran myself - I don't know of any way you get close to that amount without a relatively significant disability.

There are very clear requirements about what the GI Bill can, and cannot, be used for. https://www.va.gov/education/about-gi-bill-benefits/how-to-use-benefits/ ... you can earn a degree, diploma, or certificate, or you can use your benefits for on-the-job training and apprenticeships. You can also get reimbursed for the cost of tests to become a licensed or certified professional...

Sorry if you don't like it, but it is what it is.

 

[Juks]

See, that's the difference between the US and almost every other westernized country.

We put something in place to help our citizens and it gets scammed and abused instead of appreciated. Europeans don't do shit like that.

Yes, your system is outdated, which means some conditions that today are considered minor end up receiving significantly higher compensation ratings than others we would regard as more serious. But the difference to Europe (at least compared to Sweden) is that the system isn’t tied to work capacity, whereas Sweden’s is. Sweden has a more centralized, income-tested and work-ability assessment with a strong link to actual ability to work. VA compensation is fundamentally not income-tested and is tied to diagnosis plus service connection, not to whether someone can work full time, which is why many veterans rated at 100% are also employed. That’s a deliberate political choice in the US system.

 

[BirdinHand]

Not a bit. I've worked hard my entire life and I do pretty well. As opposed to Elon Musk and his idiotic DOGE abuses I'm sincerely annoyed by what I view to be any waste of taxpayer money. I have no idea why you would even think for a moment, that this had anything to do with "jealousy."

The pittance of benefits that go to Veterans is absolutely nothing compared to the benefit individuals such as Elon Musk draw from your tax payer dollars.

Let’s not spit on veterans.

If we stopped giving people such as Musk tax cuts and government funding…we could take much better care of ALL veterans.