About a dozen veterans each month have their benefits halted after being mistakenly declared dead by the Department of Veterans Affairs, but now agency officials and a Florida lawmaker think they have a fix.
The problem was brought to light by Rep. David Jolly, R-Fla., earlier this year after several of his constituents complained about paperwork mistakes that left them classified as deceased. That halted their benefits and led to bureaucratic nightmares in trying to disprove the errors.
"It sounds humorous, but it's really not," Jolly said. "Veterans told me this was a devastating problem to work around."
Jolly's office said they have handled six such cases since mid-2014, including the widow of a veteran who had more than $6,000 in benefits withheld for months while the problem was reviewed.
In a letter to Jolly's office earlier this month, VA officials acknowledged 115 such cases from June 2014 to April 2015.
The problem stems from mistakes in the Social Security Administration's shared records with VA. Department officials said 99.83 percent of cases referred from the other government agency are accurate, but that leaves a small number of beneficiaries left vulnerable to mistakes.
As a result, VA officials are changing their policy of cutting off benefits as soon as those death notices are received and instead giving individuals 30 days to provide proof of an error.
"The new process will allow beneficiaries … an opportunity to correct the error prior to VA terminating (their) monthly benefit," Acting Undersecretary for Benefits Danny Pummill wrote in the letter.
Jolly calls it a positive step forward to fix the ongoing problem. He has been petitioning the department for action since the spring, and said he is pleased that VA officials have found a solution.
"With all the issues VA has been facing, not all of them can receive the highest priority," he said. "But this should be an easy one. Let's not declare people dead when they aren't."
Jolly has scheduled a press conference in Florida on Tuesday morning to discuss the new fixes and to pledge continued oversight on the issue.
VA officials told Jolly's office they are continuing to review their records protocols to see if other fixes are needed.
Leo covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He has covered Washington, D.C. since 2004, focusing on military personnel and veterans policies. His work has earned numerous honors, including a 2009 Polk award, a 2010 National Headliner Award, the IAVA Leadership in Journalism award and the VFW News Media award.
