Disability reforms can't wait
By Tom Philpott
Congressional action to end the services' authority to assign disability ratings and put the Department of Veterans Affairs in charge can't come too soon for retired Army Lt. Col. Michael A. Parker.
Parker, 45, has complained for a couple of years to lawmakers and the Veterans' Disability Benefits Commission about lax Defense Department oversight of the disability rating process and unfair disability decisions across the services.
He wasn't alone. Veteran service groups and plenty of individual veterans had beefs, too. The Government Accountability Office released a critical report on military disability systems in 2006. Momentum for reform got a huge lift last February when The Washington Post exposed bureaucratic neglect of outpatients at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
But Parker showed special doggedness. He attended most VDBC meetings, testified himself several times, and created slide-shows of facts and data on the issues for commissioners and journalists. Informing his arguments were his own experiences with the Army's disability process and his volunteer work helping other members through their own mazes. With each one, Parker said, he found fresh evidence that laws and regulations are ignored in holding back benefits.
This month, Parker felt satisfaction when the VDBC released its report. Among its 113 recommendations are three calling for immediate action to correct disability evaluations and one long-term fix all evaluations to VA. Defense officials or the services should:
Most of these recommendations were made earlier, either by the Independent Review Group established by the Defense Department to improve treatment of wounded warriors, or by the White House-appointed Dole-Shalala Commission, which released its finding in July.
To Parker, the most compelling recommendation by the VDBC is to have the services reassess rating decisions for tens of thousands of members who were denied disability retirement and separated with less than a 30 percent rating, going back at least to 2000.
"They are basically saying that those decisions are not to be trusted, and DOD needs to make sure they were complying with all the regulations and policies," Parker said.
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