VA's Hickey: 'We're not perfect, but we're better'
Veterans Affairs Under Secretary for Benefits Allison A. Hickey speaks to the National Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation Commission at the Legion's 97th National Convention in Baltimore. (Photo by Lucas Carter)

VA's Hickey: 'We're not perfect, but we're better'

Department of Veterans Affairs Under Secretary for Benefits Allison Hickey points to areas that her department has shown strong improvement. But she also admits problems remain.

Addressing The American Legion’s Veterans Affairs & Rehabilitation Commission during the national convention in Baltimore, Hickey went over the progress the benefits side of VA has made – most notably, that the claims backlog that once topped 611,000 recently dropped below 100,000 for the first time ever.

“We’re still making some mistakes, and thank you when you point them out to us,” said Hickey, a member of Legion Post 2001 in Loudoun Co., Va. “We’re not perfect, but we’re better, and we’re going to keep working ‘til we get even better.”

Hickey said that the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) already has surpassed or is on track to surpass 2014 numbers for total number of benefits paid out and claims adjudicated. “We do that because you help us every single day,” she said.

VBA was handling 2.7 million medical issues and 980,000 claims in 2009, Hickey said. To date this year, those numbers are 5.2 million and 1.2 million. Claims granting is holding steady at 70 percent, she said.

Helping VA handle that number of claims has been the Legion’s efforts in filing fully developed claims, Hickey said. “You took the lead … and you have done an awesome job. Fully developed claims are one of the reasons why we have gotten the backlog down.”

Hickey asked for the Legion’s help on a few fronts, one of which involves the claims appeals process. She said the best solution to improving the claims process, in her opinion, is to close the evidentiary record at the time the decision is made and file again as a new claim.

“I know where you stand on it,” she said. “I still think that’s the best thing to do for all veterans so we’re not in this constant cycle. But if they can’t do that, then … I need about a thousand more people to do a really inefficient, ineffective process. One of those two things has to happen or I can’t fix the appeals process. I need your help. If you don’t want No. 1 to happen, then please go fight for a bunch more (employees) for me. That’s what it’s going to take to get us down to (adjudicating appeals) in a year.”

Hickey praised the employees she has. “Nobody’s doing this job … for the money,” she said. “They’re doing this job because they have a passion for this mission. And when you find one that doesn’t, please let me know. I’ll handle that personally.”

Starting this fall, Hickey said a veteran’s electronic file will be available via eBenefits, VA’s electronic portal to benefits information. “If they’re on eBenefits, they can see everything we’ve got,” she said. “They don’t have to call us and say, ‘Did you get my letter?’ Everything we have will be on eBenefits. They’ll be able to see what we’re seeing.”

The commission also heard from Dr. David Shulkin, who took over as VA’s under secretary for Health this summer. In his first public speech since taking office, Shulkin also praised the Legion for what it does for veterans.

“I’m very grateful for all of your service you’ve given to the country and how you’ve continued to be involved and help support the country and help support veterans health care,” he said. “The more that I learn about The American Legion … I’m really amazed at the work the Legion does. I’ve seen the number of hours that are donated and volunteered throughout 164 of our facilities across the country. It adds up to millions of hours and millions of dollars that are donated. And frankly, without the support groups like yours, I just can’t imagine us being able to do the work that we do every day.”

Shulkin said that the problems at VA that gained national attention in spring of 2014 had been building for some time. “The resources had not been put into the VA to be able to care for the amount of veterans that needed care,” he said. “What really caught up with us was the aging of the veteran population, the new war efforts that were going on in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the amount of people that now we were covering for justifiable reasons like Agent Orange and other war-related conditions.”

Shulkin also cited higher survival rates and more sophisticated methods of treating veterans also contributed to the VA scandal. “All this created a huge, huge demand for care that, frankly, we just weren’t able to keep up with.”

Right around the time that Shulkin joined VA, it was announced that the department had a $2.6 billion shortfall that he said now is closer to $3 billion. “Since then, what I’ve been doing … is try to learn as much as I can about the VA,” Shulkin said. “My first official meeting was with The American Legion and the (veterans service organizations) because I think that there are no better organizations to get the feedback on how we’re doing, where we should be going (and) seek support than organizations like The American Legion.”

Shulkin admitted that VA staff morale “is probably at an all-time low. And … I see that as my job to be … make sure that people feel that the work that they’re doing is supported and valuable. If we don’t make the people who are serving our veterans feel good about their work environment, it’s going to be very hard to make progress.”

Philip Longman, whose book “Best Care Anywhere: Why VA Health Care Would Be Better for Everyone” is now in its third edition, told the commission that now is a very critical time for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“We are at a moment where there is a real movement afoot to quasi-privatize veterans’ health care,” said Longman, policy director and managing editor at New America’s Open Markets Program. “What that specifically involves would be some kind of voucher system … where instead of (the government) running VA, veterans would be told, ‘Well, here’s your voucher. Go out and find yourself some health care.’”

During his presentation, Longman brought up the Congressional Commission on Care, which was established via the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014 to evaluate access to care throughout the VA health-care system.

“I urge you all to keep your eye on this commission,” Longman said. “Its meetings will be open to the public. It will be taking testimony from various concerned people."I also would urge you to consider lending your support to the idea of getting (former VA Secretary and Legion Distinguished Service Medal recipient) Dr. Ken Kizer on this commission. There’s probably no one in the country more qualified to be on this commission than he is. Most of what I know about veterans’ health care he told me.”

U.S. Rep. Donna Edwards, D-Md., briefly addressed the commission. She also spoke out against changing the way VA delivers health care, saying “When I hear some of these proposals that would morph the Department of Veterans Affairs into the Department of Defense, I think, frankly, that’s a slap in the face to our veterans.”

Edwards also said that the cost of war should include the cost of caring for those who fight it. "I don’t think a day should go by when we are making decisions about war and peace that don’t take into consideration what that means to people who are wearing the uniform,” she said. “It’s our responsibility to provide quality health care to our servicemembers and their families. No exceptions, no getting out of it. You met your responsibility, so now it’s time for us to meet our responsibility to you."