The accusations came from Scott Davis, a program specialist at the VA enrollment center in Atlanta. According to Davis, the VA deprived thousands of vets of their guaranteed benefits by ignoring their applications until they expired after a five-year deadline or by using other dubious methods.
For instance, some of the applicants were made to believe that certain paperwork in their applications was unnecessary so that later the blame could be shifted toward them.
According to Davis, 34,000 enrollment applications had been delayed on the grounds of lacking income information, though by law, combat veterans do not have to verify their income when applying.
The VA’s inaction cost 16,000 of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans their eligibility for healthcare. The fate of 18,000 more put on hold is still unclear, Davis wrote in a letter to Senator Johnny Isakson.
An internal VA report indicated shocking statistics: one in three veterans who applied for healthcare benefits had died while waiting for their applications to be considered.
"This is not an accident, not when you get to those numbers," Davis told the Washington Examiner. "The VA, again, intentionally has artificial barriers to reduce the number of people who can use the system."
"[It] is my understanding that a number of veterans have had their healthcare expire due to inaction by VA," wrote Mike Coffman, head of the VA committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation, in his letter to VA Secretary Robert McDonald.
A delegation from the Office of Management and Budget was sent to Atlanta center by the White House to revise mismanagement by VA employees. However, the OMB never tried to meet the whistleblower, Davis said.
VA officials did not comment on the allegations.
