From a press release:
House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee Chairman Sam Johnson (R-TX) announced today that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing entitled “Ensuring Social Security Serves America’s Veterans” on Wednesday, February 7, at 9:00 AM in room 2253 of the Rayburn House Office Building. At the hearing, Members will examine the effectiveness of the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) initiatives to reduce processing times and expedite claims for certain veterans, as well as efforts by the agency to hire veterans.Our vets deserve a lot but do they deserve special treatment by the Social Security Administration? Shouldn't the goal be to provide good service to everyone?
16 comments:
I agree and have never understood vaulting them to the front of the line. Unlike non-vet claimants, the 100% VA cases are already receiving benefits and have healthcare (or "healthcare" depending on your view of the VA). And this, of course, without even getting into the way and extent to which the VA awards benefits.
You had the opportunity to serve, like more than 98% of the population you decided not to serve. They wrote a check to the government for up to and including their life, you concluded defending freedom was worth your life. So if they move to the front, there are not enough of them to make a sizable impact on wait times. Don't like it, sign up.
3:31...are you kidding??
You do realize that most veterans applying for SS benefits are already receiving VA disability benefits. Does it really make sense for them to jump in front of other citizens, who paid the same taxes, and likely don't have the safety net of VA benefits???
My only problem of moving Vets to the front of the line is that it allows people like Congressman Johnson to help just the military while giving the rest of us the shaft. If Vets had to wait, there would be more political pressure on getting the wait times down. I am curious: do Vets have higher approval rates for the same ailments? 3:31 PM. for some of us, military service was never an option. I had both epilepsy and Ankylosing Spondylitis by age 17.
By the way, could someone please help me find an attorney willing to go to Federal Court?
Oh heck, I was there when we put a number of these things into place and it was 100% done in response to political pressure from folks like Sam Johnson. The VA was getting it's head handed to them and they reached out to ask for help and a group came up with a few initiatives that could give good PR while being implementable with little or no resources. We diverted some staff from other initiatives, had to set up an SES person to represent, had to brief the Acting Commissioner, work with VA staff to make sure Sam got the same message from both agencies, squeezed systems resources and worked with the VA to try to put lipstick on a pig. None of this is intended to be disrespectful but in terms of utility, yes, very few people got any benefit from this and if scored along how useful this was, it'd have been below a lot of other things in priority. And that is mainly because the state of VA systems and their databases was such that it's very difficult to do anything useful with them without a lot of data massaging. Their data definitions and SSA's were (and likely still are) very different. Anyway, so glad to see Sam is at it again.
Just ask for a DD214 for one of these 100% "disabled vets" who gets a large service connected disability rating for PTSD - some never left the country, then worked for a number of years just fine. Then suddenly find out they can double dip, and the nightmares, etc. All suddenly start. The VA is so beaten down, they even give SC rating percentages for ED. Now they step to the front of the line to ask for SSD while receiving thousands monthly, and the guy who lives on the street just asking for SSI waits, and waits.
8:24 seems like the same argument could be made for your SSI guy down the street, at least the Vet had a job!!!!
The difference between Vets and civilians, one put a hand up in the oath, the other put a hand out for payment.
9:29 AM. We only want what we are entitled to. We paid premiums for the insurance. You know, spread the risk. As for SSI, are you people really that heartless to those who were never able or barely able to work? Or are you just so ignorant to the pain and suffering of others?
Do Vets deserve to be treated fairly and in a speedy matter due to their service to the United States? Of course! Do disabled individuals who worked for years paying into the Social Security Disability system and by no fault of their own find themselves disabled, unemployed and without medical treatment deserve to be treated fairly and in a speedy matter? Yes! Do individuals who due to their disabilities have never been able to hold down a job and are literally dying in our streets deserve to be treated fairly and in a speedy matter? Also yes! This isn't a competition.
Instead of spending taxpayer money on hearings on whether Vets need special treatment, Congress and the administration need to fully fund Social Security so all can be treated in a humane way.
9:57 pm -- contact NOSCCR @ 800.431.2804 and see if they can refer you to an attorney who does appellate work. Good Luck!
Priorities are always an issue but with SSA being serially underfunded, it becomes more of an issue. Sam is picking and choosing winners and losers and using a vets sense of greater entitlement because he/she served and is somehow a more worthy citizen than one who didn't serve. A situation that may or may not be true, but does seem to come from a sense that a vets citizenship has more value than a non-vets. Or more likely a political use by Mr Johnson to grandstand and score points about how bad SSA is and get vets groups to support him. a two-fer for his base. 1:28 PM has it right. Citizens deserve good treatment and special treatment would be much less necessary if SSA wasn't chronically underfunded.
The guy on the street asking for SSI more than likely never served. SSI is supplemental income not disability income. Veterans paid in just like everyone else and more. Did you get shot at on a daily basis and watch some of your friends die, day after day for more than 300 consecutive days. Right! Have something to say when you’ve done just that.
I have been a T2 CR for over 30 years and only seen one Vet that just about everyone could agree should get expeditious service. He had both legs blown off (above knee amputee) in Viet Nam. Was able to get approved w/o special Vet service in late 80s even though DLI was about 1972. I haven't seen a Gulf War or Afghanistan vet yet that was an amputee. I am sure there are many but everyone I have seen has been in the PTSD/mental or back/ortho groups. Not to say they aren't disabled and don't deserve to be paid but I think Congress and the American public frequently think of the guy with his legs blown off and don't want to make him wait. The Marine on leave who rolls his car in the US and has a disability because of it gets the preferred processing that a combat wounded vet gets.
1:28 got it right!
You people do realize that the Gulf War and Afghanistan War are the longest wars in US History, that we have never seen our military under such prolonged duress and stress both physically and mentally.
@104 Not sure the 2500 Americans who died on D-Day (more than the total in the longest war--Afghanistan) and wounded/survivors would agree about your comment.
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