A new study released today by the American Action Forum found that American veterans may have to go through 613 forms across 18 agencies to get help from the government they fought for.The American Action Forum also claims there are about 31 million veterans' claims each year, which takes federal employees 43.3 million hours to process, if at all.
“Navigating 18 agencies and more than 600 forms has produced absurd results and unnecessary delays,” stated the non-partisan organization.
The massive paperwork is supposedly necessary to avoid overpayment, like the kind U.S. defense contractors get to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.
According to Fox News, there has been a 2,000 percent increase in veterans' claims since 2009 while the Department of Veterans Affairs is trying to convert to a paperless online system.
However, the Department of Veterans Affairs started a new policy in 2011 to intentionally stop helping veterans through the bureaucracy if their appeals were not requested in the same region where they originally filed the claim, noted the Sun Sentinel.
When veterans advocates challenged the rule, the Department of Veterans Affairs promised a federal court it would stop enforcing the policy immediately, but the government agency lied.
A whistle-blower inside the Department of Veterans Affairs told attorneys for the veterans advocates that the agency was still using the rule in 2012.
There are even World War II veterans still appealing for help from the Department of Veterans Affairs, which often just waits until the veteran dies off, reported The Bay Citizen in 2012.
So far, nearly 19,500 veterans have died waiting for benefits.
Source: Fox News, Sun Sentinel, The Bay Citizen Reported by Opposing Views 18 hours ago.