The Patriot Post® · 35,000 Veterans Are 'Pending' at the VA

As veterans have been waiting for the wait-time scandal at the Department of Veterans Affairs to be resolved, here comes another snafu. According to VA whistleblower Scott Davis, more than 35,000 veterans have been languishing in “pending” status for enrollment because they have yet to complete a “means test” on household income. The Washington Free Beacon reports, “However, such a test is not required for combat veterans specifically, as is stipulated by the VA on its website. Veterans who served in combat operations are automatically eligible for five years of free health coverage with the VA, a privilege that expires after five years. Among the combat veterans being incorrectly denied coverage — most of whom served in Afghanistan or Iraq — 16,000 have had a ‘pending’ status for more than five years, indicating that their eligibility for free coverage has expired.” As we’ve noted before, this problem is endemic in bureaucracy. In keeping with the status quo for every government agency that is failing, Congress pumped $16.3 billion into the VA to give it some help — that after its budget nearly tripled between 2000 and 2012. And here we are, talking about yet another failure to serve our nation’s veterans. It’s appalling.