Billy Wide was a Navy petty officer during the Vietnam War. Wide, an Ohio native, served on ships transporting Marines in Vietnam. He was denied disability claims related to exposure to Agent Orange. Wide serves on a ship transporting soldiers and equipment in Vietnam in September 1972. (Jeremy Burt)
WASHINGTON — Navy veteran Billy White of Columbus, Ohio, has filed five disability claims with the Department of Veterans Affairs in a 15-month period, citing a chronic neurological condition he says he developed after exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.
But the VA denied all claims for disability compensation related to his diagnosis of central nervous system vasculitis, a rare disease that causes swelling in the spine and brain.
To make matters worse, he said, the VA sent him a lengthy denial notice about the status of his claim and his rights to appeal — a notice that was 10 to 20 pages long and full of legal explanations that he said were difficult to understand.
“I’m 71 years old and I have problems because of my health. The legal jargon is confusing for an average veteran like me. I feel like I’m just defeated,” said White, a non-commissioned officer who served from 1969 to 1973, including deployments to the Philippines, Japan and Vietnam.
The challenges White and many disabled veterans face trying to decipher VA letters informing them of decisions about disability compensation and health care have been a focus for House members who have called on the VA to simplify the language.
The letter contains important instructions that veterans must follow to receive their benefits, appeal a denial or complete a pending claim.
“The letters from the VA are often unclear and confusing riddles that only a lawyer could decipher,” Rep. Morgan Luttrell (R-Texas) said Wednesday at a hearing of the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Issues.
The hearing examined veterans’ complaints and concerns about the lengthy citations to federal regulations and laws that were included in the letters. Veterans groups, including the American Association of Disabled Veterans and the National Association of Veterans Advocates, told lawmakers that veterans often panic after receiving the letters and give up on their claims.
Luttrell, a former Navy SEAL and the committee’s chairman, acknowledged he was troubled by the VA’s determination of his disability and asked VA officials to word the notice in easier-to-understand language.
“The notice is supposed to be easy to understand, but the instructions seem to be a maze,” Luttrell said.
Rep. Chris Pappas, D-N.Y., said the Government Accountability Office has documented problems with the clarity of the notices for years, and while improvements have been made, more work needs to be done, he said.
Lawmakers discussed the need for VA to better balance the legal information required in notices with clear messaging and instructions.
VA Deputy Chief Counsel Brian Griffin said the agency was being careful to provide a legal explanation for its decision because the letters are “subject to litigation.”
Another issue involves reporting errors in the letters, according to Rep. Morgan McGarvey (D-Ky.), who has questioned the accuracy of “automated decision technology” used by the VA.
Beth Murphy, senior principal counsel for compensation services at the Veterans Benefits Administration, defended the computerized assistance, saying it was used to help staff glean information from veterans’ files to make decisions.
Diane Boyd Lauber, president of the National Association of Veterans Advocates, said information about how to file an appeal is often buried in the decision letter, and she cited cases of veterans who have been asked by the VA to provide additional documentation after they had filed a disability claim, saying mistakes are common.
Upon receiving the completed form, the VA inquired about the location of the original claim, so he had to submit the claim again.
Luttrell criticized VA officials for mismanagement and lack of oversight.
“This issue should not have come up in this committee. It should have been dealt with at a lower level,” Luttrell said.
He called on the VA to resolve the issue and submit a report to the committee within 30 days.
Waid followed the instructions in the VA letter to reapply for the same condition, but was denied again and received new instructions to apply again. Waid is now appealing the denial, a process he has been told could take years.
“My illness could cause me to die before my claim is resolved, and then the case would simply be closed and the VA would have no liability,” Wide said.