I read this story over the weekend after the link was sent to me by a Stars and Stripes reporter, and at the end of it I am thinking there is now way it is going to turn out good.
Poor oversight and missing medical follow-ups led to nearly $1 billion in overpayments in veterans disability benefits over the last 18 years, and could lead to another $1 billion in improper payouts in the near future if left unchecked, according to a new investigation.
If the VA tries to take back the over-payments it will go over like a sunk rock, heck even if they try to stop these payments after someone has become used to them it will be very unpopular. I mean can these wounded warriors be punished if VA personnel failed to do their job?
IG officials found that in nearly half of the problem cases, officials simply forgot to schedule follow-up medical visits or update related paperwork, allowing veterans to continue their full payout even after recovery. In about 6,500 cases, those medical exams were delayed or canceled, causing the payouts to continue.
Check out the whole story at http://www.stripes.com/news/report-va-may-have-overpaid-disabled-vets-by-1-billion-1.132928
You pretty much summed it up, Toby… “This can’t turn out good”, especially if they demand the overpayments back, like I think they will.