Bilirakis Meets with House Speaker Johnson on Veterans Issues

Washington, DC: As the newly appointed Advisor to the Speaker on VA Issues, U.S. Congressman Gus Bilirakis has the unique opportunity to discuss the ongoing needs of our nation's heroes with House Speaker Mike Johnson on a quarterly basis. Earlier this week, Bilirakis provided his first briefing to the Speaker to discuss specific policy recommendations developed after Bilirakis received input from countless Veterans throughout the country, including those who serve on his Veterans Advisory Committee.

"I'm fortunate to have many dedicated Veterans serving on my local Veterans Advisory Council who are passionate about improving the circumstances Veterans face when trying to access the care and benefits they've earned. Too often our heroes return from battle, only to face more conflict and unnecessary roadblocks from government bureaucrats who should be working to ensure a seamless transition to civilian life," said Congressman Bilirakis. "The Speaker and I had a productive discussion about the biggest hurdles Veterans face and how we can remove barriers. I look forward to working with him and his leadership team as we tackle these important priorities."

"While we can never fully repay our nation's veterans for their courage and sacrifice, Congress bears a solemn duty to take care of them after their service. Representative Gus Bilirakis's expertise and leadership will help ensure the House considers legislation that proactively extends a helping hand to our nation's heroes and their families and improves their quality of life," said Speaker Mike Johnson. "The promises to our veterans must be kept, and I look forward to working with him to do more to honor our veterans and better support their needs."

A list of each problem and policy recommendation are provided below.

Standardized Episodes of Care (SEOC) Guidelines- The VA's use of SEOC guidelines arbitrarily limits the number of alternative treatment/chiropractic appointments for our Veterans. For the "chronic" care phase, a Veteran is usually only given 8 appointments over a 180 day period and that is not enough frequency to manage the pain for many/most of them. Once a month appointments do not maintain the successful foundation that Veterans establish (with the more frequent appointments) in the earlier stages of the SEOC structure. The VA took Veterans off their pain meds and when alternative/complementary therapies proved to be helpful for pain management. The VA limited the frequency to the point that our Veterans no longer benefit and find themselves in frequent/constant pain without any viable VA options. Veterans shouldn't have to pay out of pocket to supplement their acupuncture and chiropractic care appointment schedules or, in the alternative, suffer because the VA won't allow the treating the VACC providers to develop treatment plans based on what each individual Veteran needs to manage their pain.CONCURRENT RECEIPT - Military retirees with 20 or more years of service qualify for retirement pay based on their dedicated service to our nation. These retirees may also qualify for disability compensation for any injuries that were caused or aggravated by their military service. Prior to 2004, military retirees could not receive both retirement pay and disability pay because it was erroneously perceived as a duplication of benefits or "double dipping." In 2004, Congress implemented concurrent receipt for retirees who are rated 50 percent disabled or greater. Remaining to be approved are those who are with a disability rating below 50% and those who were unable to complete 20 years of service due to service-connected injuries or illness. There are approximately 210,000 of these individuals, known as Chapter 61 retirees. Some retirees who suffered from injuries incurred in combat are eligible for Combat Related Special Compensation (CRSC) which mitigates to varying degrees some loss in pay due to the offset. There are approximately 42,000 of these individuals. Military and Veterans Service Organizations have long argued that retired pay and VA service-connected disability compensation are fundamentally different benefits, granted for different reasons. Military retired pay is an earned benefit for vested years of service. Service-connected disability compensation is for injury. To deny retired pay because of a disability is an injustice. The Major Richard Star Act, which has 320 cosponsors in the House and 60 in the Senate would rectify the injustice of concurrent receipt for Chapter 61 Retirees. HR 333 would rectify the injustice of concurrent receipt for Veterans with a disability rating below 50%. Expanding Dental Services to Veterans - Approximately 9% of all Veterans have access to oral health care through the VA (this benefit is limited to those with 100% disability rates, those with a service connected disability involving the teeth, and certain Veterans enrolled in homeless programs). Scientific data clearly shows that oral health care is an important component of overall wellness and that dental conditions, when left untreated, exacerbate underlying chronic health conditions, such as diabetes. Millions of dollars are unnecessarily spent each year in the United States on emergency room visits to address untreated oral health conditions that have caused infection. The VETCARE Act would create a pilot project to provide oral treatment to a small group of Veterans with chronic health conditions for which they are currently being treated by the VA. The goal of this legislation is to demonstrate the potential cost savings for the VA that can be attained by providing preventative oral health treatment to Veterans with chronic health conditions. The use of unqualified Veteran Benefit Administration (VBA) Contractors to Assess Claims- Contractors for Compensation & Pension Examinations (VES & QTC) are using some inadequate/unknowledgeable examiners to conduct C&P exams. Veterans have been scheduled with providers at weight loss clinics and other questionable locations for exams with providers who have no knowledge of military service conditions nor knowledge of the ailment/injury affecting the Veteran. These exams should be scheduled with specialists for the condition being evaluated. The VA should consider using vacant space in its VA Regional Offices (freed up from VA employees now working from home) to set up C&P exam facilities onsite and staff them with retired/former military medical providers to conduct the C&P exams. PACT Act Benefits for Widows- Accrued Benefits, that would have been due to the Veteran, should be paid to the surviving spouse when the Veteran died prior to the passage of the PACT Act (while the claim/appeal was pending) and allow the spouse to continue a claim/appeal as a substitute claimant. If the Veteran were still alive, the new PACT Act recognized exposure locations (such as Guam) would move the claim into the presumptive exposure category and the Veteran would have been owed retroactive payment back to the filing date of the claim. It should be applied in the same way for a spouse acting as a substitute claimant. The VA is applying the PACT Act retroactively for DIC (service-connected death claims) for surviving spouses but this is different from the accrued benefits (sometimes very large payments) that would have been due to the surviving spouse if the Veteran was still alive when the PACT Act became law. Travel Pay Reimbursement Program- The recent decision to require travel pay reimbursements to be processed online prohibits some of our most vulnerable seniors from being able to access this benefit. Many elderly Veterans simply don't have the technological skills to complete these forms online and there are large swaths of rural areas in which wi-fi is not available. The former system of kiosks at each location needs to be returned to Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOC) - even if it means VA staff members have to take the info from kiosks to process the info through the VA portal. Problems with Community Care- There has been a significant increase in the number of delays Veterans report in receiving care and timely referrals through the community-based care program. Our casework team has identified that the number of complaints is at the highest level since implementation of the MISSION Act. Stopping Veterans from Being Scammed- Legislation is needed to punish "VA Claim Consultants" - bad actors who are non-accredited representatives charging Veterans and their families to prepare claims or advise on claim preparation (it is essentially a loophole to charge for filing a claim which is not allowed). Diversion of VA funds for Border Crisis- have been allegations of VA funds being diverted to pay for migrant care due to border crisis. Our office has received reports that each local VA hospital is having to claw back funding from operations because of demands placed upon the entire agency to assist with migrant care. Persons with knowledge of our local VA hospital's finances report that James A. Haley alone must cut 61 million from its operating budget for this purpose. If true, this is a gross injustice to our nation's heroes and should be investigated. Increase in Claim Denials- Local Veteran Service Organizations report significant problems with claims processing since the Appeals Modernization Act was implemented. They report a high percentage of claims being initially denied as a matter of practice and a huge increase in the number of denials being overturned by the judges. The Veteran is faced with unnecessary delays because the case wasn't processed correctly from the start of the process. The number of denials and subsequent favorable judicial findings since the law was enacted should be reviewed to see if these anecdotal accounts are validated by data. High percentage of PACT ACT Claims Resulting in Zero DisabilityRating - Veteran Service Organizations report an alarmingly high percentage of PACT Act claims resulting in a 0% disability rating. It is important to make sure the VA HAS not erected additional bureaucratic barriers to prevent Veterans from obtaining the benefits they deserve. Suicide Rates - While we have finally seen a small decrease in the number of Veterans committing suicide, the statistics are still staggeringly high when compared to suicide rates in the general population. We know that 50% of all Veterans who commit suicide have had no contact with the VA in the year proceeding their death. This statistic demonstrates that the VA cannot work in isolation to solve the problem. In 2021, we passed legislation to require the VA to contract with community stakeholders to provide outreach, suicide prevention and intervention services to Veterans. While this initiative is showing signs of progress, it must be expanded in order to make further reductions in Veteran suicide. Supportive Services for Veterans Families (SSVF) Eligibility Threshold Concern - SSVF has been an effective tool in combatting homelessness within the Veteran community. However, with the recent spike in housing prices in certain markets throughout the country, there are now some Veterans who fall between the cracks and cannot utilize this program because they make too much money, based upon SSVF income eligibility requirements to qualify for assistance but not enough to safe housing within their community. Congress should consider increasing the eligibility caps to more accurately reflect current market conditions. HUD VASH Voucher Rates - With the cost of housing spiking in many areas of the country, some fiscal agents report difficulty finding homeowners who are willing to accept a VASH voucher in order to get a Veteran out of homelessness because the maximum value of the VASH voucher is less than what the landlord could receive in the market. Congress should consider linking the amount of each voucher with the actual cost of housing within the community. DFAS Payment Problems Leading to Active Duty Personnel Experiencing Delays in Payment -*While technically an armed services issue rather than VA, we have also received reports that Issues regarding Defense Finance Accounting Service (DFAS) pay were brought up by two Navy Captains in our district. According to these constituents, DFAS pay issues for active duty service members have become common place since the services were consolidated into specific sites a few years ago. They each have over 20 examples of sailors who served under them on active duty in the last 24 months who had pay problems that DFAS took months to resolve. The Congressman was very concerned about these reports - as no one who is serving our country - especially those deployed around the globe - should have to worry about pay issues or how their families will pay rent back at home due to a clerical error.

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