Benefit Cuts Never Heal
Posted by Greg in 
by Greg Jacob
Greg is the policy director at SWAN and a former Marine Corps infantry officer.
Senator Tom Coburn has introduced an amendment to the Military Construction bill which would undo decades of policies regarding how this country takes care of veterans that have been exposed to Agent Orange, and could have a negative impact on future claims filed with the Veterans Administration (VA). It would also undercut much of the work SWAN has done on VA claims reform for cases of Military Sexual Trauma. Coburn’s amendment was introduced on the floor this week and could come up for a vote as soon as today.
Veterans who served in Vietnam or who were exposed to the herbicide Agent Orange during the Vietnam War are presumptively service-connected for several illnesses known to be caused by Agent Orange exposure. What this Agent Orange presumption means in practical terms is that veterans who served during the Vietnam War and are diagnosed with certain illnesses don’t have to prove an association between their disease and their military service. This speeds up the process of getting veterans much needed benefits by automatically finding the veteran’s claim to be service connected for these conditions. It is known that well over 100,000 veterans were exposed to defoliants and herbicides while serving in Vietnam and other areas, and that number will only increase with the recent inclusion of Navy sailors who served on vessels in adjacent areas.
Senator Coburn’s S.AMDT 564 to H.R.2055 would strike the words “positive association” between listed illnesses and exposure to Agent Orange, and replace it with “causal relationship” which would once again require evidence be presented to prove a service connection for what are now presumptions by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs of service connected diseases associated with exposure to Agent Orange. Senator Coburn’s amendment is designed to save the government money, but balancing the budget on the backs of suffering veterans is deplorable.
As a physician, Senator Coburn should know that proving a service connection in cases of chemical exposure has found to be a virtually impossible evidentiary threshold for the veteran to meet. That fact coupled with the medical research on Agent Orange, was why Congress passed Public Law PL 102-4, the Agent Orange Act of 1991, three years before Senator Coburn took office. Now, Senator Coburn stands ready to drive a stake through the heart of that hard-fought law. This would have disastrous consequences not only for veterans who suffer from illness brought on by Agent Orange, but also for our new generation of Post 9-11 veterans.
There are many other types of medical issues that the VA is just now encountering. We have yet to discover the full effects of current exposure to burn pits, depleted uranium, and white phosphorous. Even the Gulf War Syndrome remains largely a mystery. Veterans who develop illnesses as a result of exposure to chemicals which are now commonplace on today’s battlefield are guaranteed to experience untold suffering in the future under Senator Coburn’s amendment.
This amendment would also have a direct impact on the work that SWAN has done in trying to bring fairness to the VA’s processing of Military Sexual Assault claims. If Congress is willing to set aside long-standing policies regarding presumption, it likely means that they will be less inclined to permit future presumptions and continue to keep unfair evidentiary rules regarding sexual assault claims in force.
The Service Women’s Action Network is strongly opposed to this amendment, and stands alongside the VFW, American Legion, Paralyzed Veterans of America, VoteVets and Vietnam Veterans of America in telling Senator Coburn that regardless of the intentions, cutting veterans care is no way to cut costs.
S.AMDT 564 to H.R.2055 - introduced by Senator Tom Coburn
