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UPDATE: VA TO REPAY WIDOWS BUT NOT WITH
INTEREST --
VA's repayment program will not give surviving
spouses
lost interest or reimburse bank penalties that
may have been incurred.
The VA has just created a huge public relations
problem for itself.
For 12 years they have not been paying the "last
month" check for disabled veterans who died.
In 1996, the 104th Congress changed the law.
Prior to the change, benefits ended on the last day of the month prior to
death. The change allowed benefits to be paid to a surviving spouse
(usually a widow) through the last day of the month of death. That
means one extra check. The bill was S. 1711 sec. 506 (use Thomas
here...
http://thomas.loc.gov/ )
So, for 12 years the VA has been demanding
repayment from those who received a "last month" check. Background
with backlinks here...
http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfdec08/nf121408-4.htm
Now, the VA has officially announced that they
are going to repay. But, they forgot the lost interest on the amount
not paid. And they forgot to include reimbursement for any bank
charges that may have been incurred when repayment was demanded or taken.
Our veterans' service orgs should scream loud and
clear about this. They should demand interest and reimbursement.
These survivors deserve EVERY penny.
And, if the service orgs don't step up and do it,
I hope to be reporting about a class-action suit against VA to force them
to pay.
Or better yet, the VA should avoid more public
embarrassment and do the right thing and pay the extra money. Don't
hold your breath.
VA press release here...
http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/vap08/vap121808-1.htm
Press release below:
Your comments accepted at bottom of
page.
-------------------------
VA to Provide Payments to
Eligible Surviving Spouses
December 18, 2008
Quick Action Taken to Resolve Problem Identified by Senate Chairman
WASHINGTON -- The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) today announced
immediate actions to quickly identify and pay surviving spouses who are
eligible to receive a one-time compensation or
 pension
payment for the month of the veteran’s death.
“This benefit payment is long overdue to many of our beneficiaries,” said
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake. “In these difficult
economic times, it is imperative that we take aggressive action to fix
this situation for the families of our veterans.”
Problems in VA’s implementation of a change in law that was effective in
1997 resulted in some surviving spouses not receiving the veteran’s
compensation or pension payment for the month of death. This problem was
recently brought to VA’s attention by Sen. Daniel K. Akaka, chairman of
the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
Peake immediately directed the formation of a special task force to
identify and pay the beneficiaries who never received the benefit or were
inadvertently required to repay the money issued for the month of a
veteran’s death.
Surviving spouses most likely to be
affected by this processing problem are those who never applied to VA for
survivors’ benefits following the death of a veteran.
The task force is in the process of reviewing VA’s payment records for
veterans who died after December 31, 1996, and who are survived by a
spouse. The review will identify those to whom VA owes retroactive
benefits for the month of the veteran’s death. Current address information
is being obtained for as many of these beneficiaries as possible.
 VA
will begin issuing retroactive payments to eligible surviving spouses at
the end of this month. Payments will continue to be issued as additional
unpaid beneficiaries are identified and VA is able to obtain current
address information.
Because there are deceased veterans for whom VA does not have marital
status information, a special Survivors’ Call Center has been established
for spouses who believe they may be entitled to this retroactive
month-of-death benefit.
Surviving spouses are encouraged to contact the Survivors’ Call Center at
the toll-free telephone number, 1-800-749-8387. Call center agents will
assist surviving spouses in providing VA with the information needed to
determine their eligibility.
The Call Center is open Monday through Friday from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm
central standard time. Inquiries may also be submitted through the
Internet at
http://www.vba.va.gov/survivorsbenefit.htm.
VA is aggressively changing its processing procedures to ensure this
benefit is correctly paid to all surviving spouses in the future. VA’s
disability payment system will also be enhanced to automate the
month-of-death payment for all eligible surviving spouses.
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posted by Larry Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org
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