In the last five years, The Veteran’s Administration has declared over 4,000 living veterans to be dead. As a result, these veterans and their families have had their benefits canceled. Among the reasons for this, the VA states, has been erroneous cross checking of facts and data by their computers as well as employee mistakes.
The scandal began when a small group of veterans from the Tampa Bay area appealed to their congressman, U.S. Representative David Jolly (R) of Florida, with the story of how the VA had canceled their benefits because the agency said that they were listed as dead in the files and computers. The VA has, since last November, restored these 4,200 veterans across the country to their rightful living status and their benefits.
Jolly said in a prepared statement on Wednesday that, “We simply cannot allow men and women who have sacrificed for this country see their rightful benefits wrongfully terminated because the VA mistakenly declares them dead.”
The VA had admitted that they had declared 4,201 veterans to be dead and canceled their benefits between 2011-2015. The VA, in a statement said that the 4,201 mistakes were just a small fraction of the supposed millions of transactions that VA personnel carry out every year and that the VA apologizes for what they termed an “inconvenience” for the veterans that they had mistakenly listed as dead.
Over 400,000 veterans die every year and about two million have died between the period of 2011-2015. The VA, while apologetic about the 4,201 vets that were declared dead, see it as a small fraction compared with so many veterans that die every year. The VA announced in December that they are putting new protocols into place that will allow veterans and their families to contact the VA and set the record straight if there has been a mistake before the VA officially terminates their benefits.
“These numbers confirm our suspicions,” said Jolly, “that mistaken deaths by the VA have been a widespread problem impacting thousands of veterans across the country. It’s a problem that should have been addressed years ago as it has caused needless hardships for thousands of people who had their benefits terminated and their world turned upside down.”
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