The VA’s $1.3B Error Problem: A Wake-Up Call for Veterans
When it comes to the Department of Veterans Affairs, precision should be the bare minimum — especially when veterans are depending on those benefits to survive. So when the VA admitted that it made $1.3 billion worth of benefits payment errors last year, it wasn’t just a statistical hiccup.
It was a red flag.
While that number is technically lower than the year before, that’s hardly a win when veterans are still battling to get the support they’ve earned. For those relying on every dollar for housing, medical treatment, and food — an error can mean disaster.
So let’s unpack what this means, how it happened, and most importantly … what you can do to protect yourself.
What Happened?
According to recent data released by the VA’s Office of Inspector General, the agency made over $1.3 billion in improper payments related to benefits like disability compensation, pensions, and education. These “improper payments” include both overpayments and underpayments.
Let that sink in.
That means thousands of veterans could have received too much — and now face clawbacks. Others may have received too little — and have no idea they’ve been shortchanged.
And while the VA has taken steps to reduce errors compared to the $2 billion the year before, the system still isn’t where it needs to be.
Where Things Go Wrong
These errors aren’t always malicious — they’re often systemic. Common causes include:
- Human error in claims processing
- Incomplete or outdated information in a veteran’s file
- Delays in updating eligibility status
- Confusing paperwork and lack of follow-up
But here’s the real kicker: many veterans never find out they’ve been underpaid or overpaid — until they’re hit with a notice months (or years) later. And for those who’ve already spent the money? That repayment demand can wreck lives.
How to Protect Yourself
Here’s the no-BS breakdown of what you should do right now:
- Review your benefit statements monthly.
Log into your VA.gov account and check your payment history and claims decisions. Look for inconsistencies or unexpected changes.
- Request a benefits audit.
If you suspect a mistake — or just want peace of mind — you can request an audit from your local VA office. This ensures your compensation is accurate.
- Keep your personal info up to date.
Report any changes in marital status, dependents, income, or health status. Small things can create big discrepancies.
- Appeal anything that doesn’t look right.
You have rights. Don’t just accept a decision or repayment demand without asking questions. The VA has a formal appeal process, and veterans’ organizations like DAV and VFW can help.
Work with an accredited VA claims agent or VSO.
These folks can advocate on your behalf and catch errors before they become problems.
Who’s Most at Risk?
While errors can happen to any veteran, those more vulnerable include:
- Veterans receiving multiple types of benefits (e.g., pension + disability)
- Those with complex medical conditions or multiple ratings
- Veterans recently retired or transitioned out of service
- Widows and survivors receiving dependency benefits
- Vets using education or vocational rehab programs
If that’s you or someone you love — take this seriously. What you don’t know can hurt your bank account.
What This Means for the Big Picture …
We can’t ignore that this is part of a larger pattern. As the VA system continues to modernize and automate more of its processes, accuracy should improve. But right now, those changes are a mixed bag — and the burden still falls on veterans to keep the system honest.
It shouldn’t be this way. But until the errors drop to zero (or close to it), vigilance is survival.
Final Thoughts
A $1.3 billion mistake isn’t just a line in a government report — it’s a missed rent payment. A delayed surgery. A fridge that stays empty. And veterans shouldn’t be the ones paying for the VA’s errors.
So check your paperwork. Ask questions. And spread the word.
Because when it comes to your benefits, trust — but verify.
I think the most important “Problem” being Totally OverLòóKeD regarding “Veterans issues”, is the total Bastardization of our “rights” under the U.S. Constitution, amendments to it, the Bill of Rights, etc…
All of those various “rights” are afforded to Each and Every legally U.S. born citizen At Birth…
According to the U.S. Constitution, these “rights” are: “UNALIENABLE”.
These “rights” as were afforded at birth by the U.S. Constitution, have been Stolen from Veterans…
Most Civilians (non military) get to keep and utilize all these amazingly protective “rights” their entire lives, rarely considering what the loss of such profound protections could mean for them or their future.
These “rights”, taken seemingly for granted by most all U.S. citizens, are truly at the heart of “what makes America so Great”…
We’ve all heard a lot lately about illegal immigrants “rights of due process” violations. ~But when are we ever going to hear about Veterans “Rights of Due Process” being STOLEN, much less the enormous need for all veterans too have them back, fully restored???
What might that do for insuring Veterans have the same customer quality assurance legally, regarding anything Veterans Affairs, as compared to what civilians have in the private sector?
Civilian workers compensation laws are vastly different than the VA, & have way better protections built in by law, than Veterans Affairs equivalent atrocity.
Anyone beginning to see the vast differences there are between Veterans & Civilians, that desperately
need to be made equal again, by restoring veterans full constitutional rights?
Fixing that enormous glaring problem would go a long way towards fixing a lot of the biggest problems with the department of Veterans Affairs…
Your likely asking by now, so What Exactly IS the biggest “Problem” all veterans truly face?
~The Total Loss of our Birth Right too the full measure of protections afforded too All U.S. Citizens of legal birth, as afforded by the Constitution of the United States, etc.
These protective “rights” were intended to keep American citizens “safe” from becoming needless victims of all manner of crimes perpetrated against them without any means of legal recourse, ergo; “rights of due process”.
***Somehow, somewhere along the way in time, someone, thought up the idea that; “it might be a good idea”, to, “somehow make it legal”, too: “totally and completely, circumvent specific U.S. Constitutionally mandated legal protections, specifically applying (both of & for) ONLY US Veterans, as “Fully Legal US Citizens”, there by; totally & completely Denying (only-?) Veterans their full rights of due process, among other such rights…
***Why would “they” , “want or need”, to steal veterans “rights” is another HUGE question we Never Hear much about either.
My best guess is so that “they” could, mathematically make the gov’s budget “balance”, way back when “someone” 1st realized the ongoing nature of, & added up the full itemized list of “the real $ cost of war, unedited secret squirrel version”.
Simply put, the sum total $ cost of all things like;
ongoing medical care, rehab, work rehab, disability pay, pensions, caretakers, etc,etc (I mean everything included here), equals the
“true price of any war”.
The original idea’s behind certain now “Legal Documents” like the “Farris / Pharris (spelling?) Doctrine”, and another one like it, (I can’t recall the name of atm), likely others too, (anyone with knowledge of such things , I’m requesting an assist from, here, thanks in advance;)
~Which in all too Real Legal Effect; discreetly & quietly ENDED, DENIED ACCESS TO, and ALEINATED All Veterans from, their true Constitutionally Mandated Legal Rights of Due Process… versus:
~Anything Veterans Affairs related,
“the government”, or “anything” having to do with your government paid for service connected (if ur lucky) medical disability benefits, including any and all “medical care” or rather the distinct lack there of: ~byway of simple comparison of “normally accepted standards of care” as actually received at most civilian hospitals, versus; “normally accepted standards of care” as received from Veterans Affairs…
Do your own research, don’t just take their word for it. I’ve lived those very different experiences 1st hand many times, dif places, both civy & VA, resulting in a far too long list of legal grievances to list here, and the kicker is, that I do not having any legal recourse, I’ve tried.
When you discover you were blackballed, red flagged as disruptive behavior, Fraudulently, thru false allegations & made up lies, & then find out that’s why your medical care was so screwy for decade+, treated like a criminal, lied to repeatedly, denied access to normal standards of care, treated very wrongly, for no reason of your own doing, it makes you want to sue.
A serious Class action suit is very needed for The whole Disruptive Behavior Committee fiasco that secretly destroyed vets chances of recovering from serious medical conditions, ruins there lives from improperly treated ailments, makes a mockery of trying to live again post military service, have a family, go to school, have a career, enjoy life at all.
Also very different are VA’s ways of determining $ need & service connection level in order too receive medical care, the actual $ levels of care you are entitled to, based on ur income, & % of service connection, ~”magically granted” or more likely not, by “gov employees posing as drs”, using canned rehearsed statements to deny care, fraudulently, & conveniently cover it up, refusals to write clear cut obvious Nexus Letters, never ending wait-lists, fake Neurologist specialists (dif kind of paid actors) that don’t know about anything modern medical research has proven or confirmed in past 20 years, & mock you when you bring them up., & outright lies about known medical facts,… I could go on…
…insert more red tape here…
Things like Medical Fraud, Malpractice, Negligence, Mismanagement of care, Assault, Sexual crimes against patients, etc, it don’t matter, bcuz as a civilian non veteran, you can readily
access lawyers eager to sue the perpetrators in court.
Veterans can not Sue the VA, ~not with out so much red tape requirements involved it’s plum lunacy too try, even if your lucky enough too find an attorney willing to give you 5 minutes of their time to discuss it, & soon as they learn your a veteran, they evaporate like water in the desert.
I wish you good luck finding any lawyer willing to accept the 15% fee cap per the little known Civil War era law that capped fees there, versus today’s ambulance chasers making 30% legal fees from civilian non veterans having similar cases.
Good luck finding any lawyers to help you pro-bono either, especially if complex case going back decades.
A currently sitting now Congressman lost his composure, smirked, laughed out loud, smiled smugly, turned around & walked away from me…after asking him, approx 12yrs ago now at a VA town hall meeting, something like;
Why can’t I find an attorney that will help me with very serious Veterans Affairs matters…?…
IDK then, that he was an attorney, nor did I know about anything else I’ve written in this post at that time.
It is no small wonder that the veterans suicide rate is double the civilian rate. Anybody notice the ironic coincidence there, of attorney legal fees for civilians also being doubled vs veterans?
Unless or until “we the people” force Congress to abolish all Legal doctrine that creates any form of inequality between Civilians and Veterans legal rights of due process, the suicide rate for veterans will remain double vs civilians, and far too many vets, theirs & their families lives, will continue to suffer needlessly from unfair small-minded discrimination, implicit and explicit Biases, pro buerocrats more interested in lobbyists moneys than restoring Equality of constitutional rights back to Veterans.
Veterans Deserve Equal Rights, even more so, exactly because of our and our ancestors sacrifices made of blood sweat tears taxes and lives paid, so that our fellow countrymen can live their lives free from the stuff other countries peoples live in constant fear of…
Dear U.S. Civilian non-Vets;
How would you feel if put in my shoes, forced to cope for decades w out adequate fake medical care, constant chronic pain issues, & having TBI damages done that keep you from being able too work, in bad need of entitled benifits to survive, told lies repeatedly, treated like a third class citizen in your own country & then told you can’t even do anything legally about why/how they destroyed your life, ruined all your dreams & expectations, all because of things like the Farris Doctrine, which allow them bean counters too falsely justify their need to “balance the budget”…
When you go to VA, you should make it clear that if anyone who is not medical doctor writes anything down pertaining to your health that you will walk out. That’s a simple and reasonable request, and if the can’t respect that, just walk out. Trust me… you’ll save yourself a headache later no matter what your health condition might be.
Even if the doctor or person with the masters degree isn’t denying care, you gotta get though some administrator hiding in a bunker setting the tone. Folks, this system is never gonna work. Just stop cheerleading for it. The kinds of people who end up working for VA, they are precisely the people who veterans shouldn’t have to deal with. Through choice and insurance program, we can avoid them and all the pressure can be put on fewer people for denial of care. Right now, just too many layers of people denying care and being paid big bucks to do so.
The incompetence and dereliction of duty and lawless insubordination at VA will continue until it is completely annihilated or the courts start to play their part in our democracy. Until then, government in the USA is dysfunctional and political structures derelict.
Ten years of physical therapy for cervical spinal disk herniation? That’s malpractice because that would only cause this problem to get worse and of course more pain. That’s what the VA forces doctors to do when they deny care. Just put on a show in an attempt to cover up the denial of care, because by law they at least have to do at least something. But if that something only causes more harm and suffering then how is that not a human rights violation? How is denial of care when they receive hundreds of billions considered carrying out the laws set by Congress? What is the logic and reason behind such nonfeasance? What is the justification? There is none. Courts need to hold the VA accountable for the fraud, incompetence, and irrational decisions that lead to suffering and sometimes death.
Just steer clear of the bogus system. It’s not worth shots and pills. Compensation and pension maybe but not worth risking having to stop your life and sue them. Takes ten years. Not worth ten years of your life and the pain and suffering that comes with it.
Trump healthcare plan is to fuck over humongous groups of people all at once so the courts will be discouraged from granting remedy for the sheer volume of death and suffering. Just no conceivable way to pay that many people for that much destruction.
That’s their error… and they try to involve as many people as possible in that error by trying to take back payments. What they should do is take the hit and allow the money to be kept by the veteran. Otherwise, the VA pays no penalty which is why it’s so fucked up to begin with. Woe to those so unfortunate to have to get medical care from that wreck.