VA adds $50 to deceased vet's 59 cent bill

It's bad enough that the Department of Veterans Affairs billed a deceased Navy vet for 59 cents this summer. Now, the VA has added $50 to that balance - a charge for 2013 outpatient care at the Wilmington VA Medical Center that apparently is legitimate but that was somehow not included on the 59-cent bill sent to him more than a year after that office visit.

And you thought this story couldn't get any better.

"So now, the balance is fifty dollars and fifty-nine cents," said Helena Perry, the widow of David Perry, who died June 5 at age 86. "And to avoid late charges, to pay by 11.20.2014."

The previous 59-cent bill, first noted in a Sept. 29 News Journal story, had also warned of an additional charge - if not paid by Oct. 11. No charge on that amount appeared to have been levied on this latest bill, dated Oct. 16, which arrived Monday at Perry's home in Avondale, Pennsylvania.

Mrs. Perry, who'd already provided a VA-requested death certificate, never paid the 59 cents. In addition to noting the bill's ludicrous nature - the postage alone was 48 cents - she'd been told by a VA customer service to forget about it. Now, it has reappeared - with a substantially larger companion charge.

"I think it's kind of funny," she said. "But it's ridiculous. They'll probably take me to jail for opening somebody else's mail."

David Perry, a Wilmington native and World War II Navy veteran, never relied much on VA, going to the agency late in life to have his hearing checked and to be fitted for hearing aids. He did so on May 21, 2013. After Medicare or private insurance apparently paid a portion of the bill - if they did, Mrs. Perry said she was never notified - a total of $50 remained to be paid. Mrs. Perry said she had no idea there was a balance due.

VA had offered "its condolences to the Perry family" following publication of the earlier story. Mrs. Perry, who had taken VA's earlier missteps (see: flu shot reminder for her late husband) with a large dose of good humor, is increasingly less inclined to accept them. And she doesn't intend to pay the bill.

But feeling that she should pass along that intention to someone at the vast agency, she called the toll-free number on the bill early Tuesday afternoon, reaching a fellow named Sean, who told her he was at a call center in the Midwest. She won't have to pay, he told her.

"He said, `If you get any more of these, just send them unopened back to me'," she said. But, she pointed out to him, "It's a Wilmington address on it. And if you're in Kansas, you're not going to get it there, are you?"

His response? "Oh," she said. "So I told him thanks, and have a good day."

Contact William H. McMichael at (302) 324-2812 or bmcmichael@delawareonline.com. On Twitter: @billmcmichael