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House panel widens probe of VA Retro payments

A House subcommittee is expanding its investigation into delayed retroactive payments to thousands of disabled retirees.

The subcommittee has asked the Pentagon for related internal documents and records of its communications with the Veterans Affairs Department and the White House Office of Management and Budget.

In a letter sent Thursday, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform domestic policy subcommittee, asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates to supply key documents and records related to long delays in assessing thousands of claims under the Combat-Related Special Compensation program, which provides tax-free monthly payments for eligible retired veterans with combat-related injuries.

Some of those claims, as well as awards under the separate Concurrent Retirement and Disability program, were delayed some 5½-years, the subcommittee said.

In the subcommittee’s July 15 report and during a hearing the following day, investigators said the delays were due to poor performance by contractor Lockheed Martin, staffing shortfalls, and foot-dragging by the Pentagon and VA in putting the required data into the proper format to allow automated computations.

The subcommittee also found that thousands of decisions on retroactive payment claims made after March 1 were completed without a quality assurance review, a move made in order to quickly reduce what was still a backlog of some 60,000 cases at that time.

Retroactive payments were one-time disbursements made to reflect changes in retirees’ disability status under the two programs. At least 28,283 veterans were denied one-time retroactive payments based on decisions made by Lockheed Martin without review by DFAS.

And up to 8,763 disabled vets died before their “VA Retro” claims could be reviewed, the subcommittee report said.

Kucinich has requested all CRSC documents created by or in possession of the offices of Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness David S.C. Chu and Defense Department Comptroller Tina Jonas; all drafts of guidance and directives pertaining to CRSC; and all communications on the subject between the Office of the Secretary of Defense and both VA and OMB.

The documents are to be delivered no later than close of business on Aug. 7, Kucinich’s letter states.

About 223,180 disabled veterans receive monthly CRDP payments, while another 60,155 disabled veterans receive monthly payments under CRSC.