VA failures go beyond hospitals

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which is not known for its customer service, has been in the headlines because it failed to provide veterans with timely medical care and hid excessive wait times. But another VA injustice has not received as much attention: The department is effectively taking money from veterans' elderly widows by refusing to process their Aid and Attendance Pensions expeditiously.

Thousands of impoverished older people, many of them in nursing homes or assisted-living facilities, are entitled to these stipends but waiting in vain for them. Many of these surviving spouses, members of the Greatest Generation, die before they ever see a penny of their pension benefits.

My mother, who is blind and suffers from Parkinson's disease, was among the languishing claimants. After filing for her $90 monthly benefit in March 2013, she waited more than a year for a determination. She eventually succeeded only because I enlisted the help of my congressman.

Moreover, while I provided my mom with the clothing, shoes, toiletries, hearing-aid batteries, and other basics she needed while awaiting her VA checks - and even some "extras," such as a small television, radio, and telephone - others in her situation are not so lucky. They simply have to do without.

As a longtime student of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, I am fully aware of the bureaucratic hurdles, complexities, and complications plaguing large government programs. But even my extensive research on old-age policy and politics did not prepare me for what I encountered at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Checking the status of my mother's application became a full-time job as well as an exercise in futility. Dealing with the VA call center takes fortitude and time - lots of it.

Callers are greeted by a robotic voice that somewhat insistently urges them to use the VA website. Next, there is a dizzying array of menu options and sub-options. After pressing countless buttons, beleaguered callers are eventually told, "Your call is important to us," followed by, "Due to heavy call volume during this period, our benefit counselors are currently assisting other customers and are unable to assist you at this time." The system then attempts to redirect callers to the website once again, advises them to try again later, and unceremoniously hangs up on them.

I received the same automated message no matter what time of day I attempted to reach the agency. Intermittently, I hit pay dirt and was allowed to hold for a representative, usually for 25 minutes or more, or was offered a return phone call. But that was only when I was lucky.

On the infrequent occasions when I reached one, the customer-service representatives were neither friendly nor helpful. And in my experience, they were woefully uninformed, lacking the most basic knowledge. Depending on the employee, I was told either that they were still working on my mother's request or that they never received it. One representative was entirely unaware of the Aid and Attendance Pension.

At best, they read from notes left by the last person I spoke to or, in rare instances, someone who actually worked on the case. But they always repeatedly, and perfunctorily, thank callers for the veteran's service.

It is sufficiently appalling that widows are being ignored. But such backlogs and obstacles also affect our veterans. After long and challenging service in Iraq or Afghanistan, many disabled men and women are forced to wait for benefits that are rightfully theirs, unable to pay their mortgages or other household bills. As with the elderly widows, some die before their claims are resolved.

It is not enough to replace the Veterans Affairs secretary or promise a solution in the future. Veterans and their surviving spouses are suffering every day.

Social Security and Medicare certainly enroll eligible participants far more expeditiously, and lessons could be learned from these programs. Although it may cost a few dollars, the solution can't be very complicated. Hiring more claims examiners and representatives, and training them better, would be a good start.

Along with the VA health-care disaster, the department's failure to promptly provide earned benefits deserves attention and alleviation. Aren't our veterans, and their elderly widows, worth it?