Although there has been progress reported in slimming down the backlog for veterans benefits at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Military Times is reporting that the issue is not going the way VA officials would like currently. The backlog of cases pending for four or more months has risen by approximately 1,000 cases, nearly reaching 400,000, according to VA officials.
Although there are many politically motivated misconceptions with regard to those with dsiability qualifying conditions, a recent study from Columbia Business School showed that it is not as easy to get disability benefits as many think. The report, titled “Unemployment Insurance and Disability Insurance in the Great Recession,” found that those who are unemployed and uninsured are not able to easily procure Social Security Administration benefits.
Prison and jail are never good, but being incarcerated does not completely eliminate the ability to get veterans benefits for those who have served the country. The Journal Times said of the 23 million veterans in the U.S., 140,000 are in prison or jail currently. However, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will still grant benefits after imprisonment. In fact, a veteran is considered to be free as soon as their sentence is completed. This can be key for procuring benefits that could help save a veteran’s life and treat them for illnesses.
As anyone with disability qualifying conditions who have applied for benefits with the Social Security Administration can likely tell you, there are some glaring flaws in the system. D. Randall Frye, an administrative law judge for the SSA, wrote in an editorial for The New York Times that there are many inefficiencies in the system that he believes can be improved upon.
