Legal Meets Practical

Last week, CNN broadcasted the horrific story of a “secret” waiting list at the Phoenix Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Care Center, resulting in the deaths of at least 40 veterans.

The secret list was part of an elaborate scheme designed by Veterans Affairs managers in Phoenix who were trying to hide that 1,400 to 1,600 sick veterans were forced to wait months to see a doctor, according to several extremely reliable sources.

One of CNN’s key sources was a former doctor at the Phoenix VA Health Care Center, Dr. Sam Foote. He came forward after spending 24 years with the VA, revealing that the VA works off two lists: an “official” list that’s shared with officials in Washington and shows the VA has been providing timely appointments, which Foote calls a sham list. And then there’s the real list that’s hidden from outsiders, where wait times can last more than a year.

Dr. Foote told CNN that the “official” list was put in place so the VA could evade its own rules, which requires it to provide care to patients in a timely manner (generally within 14 to 30 days). Rather than doing its job and taking care of the veterans it was entrusted to care for, the Phoenix VA Health Care Center shredded documents, deliberately omitted to record appointment requests, and took other measures to avoid a paper trail that would evidence its deplorable treatment of veterans.

This practice is similar to what the VA is currently doing with its backlog initiative. The VA pats itself on the back by releasing statistics about the decrease in backlogged claims. What it doesn’t tell the public is that because of its focus on getting initial claims off the table, the claims in the appeals process are facing much lengthier wait times. Before the backlog, appeals at the Roanoke Regional Office were taking a year to resolve. Now it’s up to two.

After this story hit the wires last week, the VA quickly launched into defensive mode. Today it told the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee that a preliminary review of the Phoenix VA Health Care Center showed no evidence to support the recent allegations of corruption and unnecessary veteran deaths. However, the VA’s Office of Inspector General has launched an official investigation into the matter, after which a hearing will follow.

This is just more of the same, isn’t it? I’ll tell you the truth – I don’t like blogging about these topics. I would love for the timely topic of the week to be an amazing, positive development brought about by the VA. Unfortunately, I have no material.

Did you find this blog informative? If so, sign up for my weekly blog on veterans issues at: https://legalmeetspractical.com.

by Sarah Schauerte

From June 16th through June 19th, the National Veteran Small Business Coalition (“NVSBC”) will host its annual symposium in Reno, Nevada. The four-day conference will give veterans the opportunity to network with prospective teaming partners that offer complementary skills and past performance. They can also attend training sessions, workshops, and participate in one-on-one business sessions.

As Scott Denniston, the Executive Director of the NVSBC shared with me, “this is the only national veteran small business conference run by veteran business owners for veteran business owners.” As such, the conference is organized by veterans who have decades of experience in the federal procurement sector. Who better to create this type of conference? They know what kind of structure will give veteran business owners the best value.

If you are a veteran business owner who is interested in learning more about how to be successful in pursuing government contract opportunities, this is one you might want to invest in. After all, many veteran business owners looking to expand their business do so by seeking out trusted partners – LinkedIn is fabulous, but wouldn’t you rather meet that person face to face?

Also, word on the street is the annual veterans conference put on by the VA might not happen this year. My spies tell me that we’re looking at December for a conference date (if it happens), which will reduce attendance. The NVSBC picked a great time and a beautiful location to have a conference, and the folks in charge have decades of experience in growing veteran businesses. This is worth the investment.

In general, the conference is fairly affordable – the cost of flying to Nevada is offset by the extremely cheap hotel cost – only $79 per night at the Silver Legacy Hotel in Reno, if you book it by May 25th. How much do you think a hotel would cost if you were staying in D.C. or another big city? Pre-registration is $325 or $375 depending on if you’re a member of NVSBC.

If you’d like more information about the NVSBC’s Veteran Training Symposium (or would like to register), their website is available here. Take a look!

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After receiving benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) since 2011, the 92 year-old widow of a Pearl Harbor veteran is being told she must pay more than $20,000 back.

John Edson served in both the Army and the Navy. He gave his life to the government until he passed away in 1997 at the age of 82. His widow, Florence Edson, was later informed that she may be entitled to benefits through the VA. She applied, and began receiving a check for $837 monthly in August of 2011. This was around the same time she entered into an assisted living facility.

In December of 2013, Ms. Edson’s son, Mark Edson, was asked to send supporting documentation to the VA relating to medical expenditures incurred by his mother. In response to the documentation provided, the VA sent a letter indicating that it was overpaying the war widow and that she owed the VA $23,252. In addition, any further payments were terminated.

As stated by Mark Edson in an article posted on My FOX Austin’s website: “The idea that she somehow got these monies in such a way that she should now have to pay them back is ridiculous. Much less the idea that as she lies in a nursing home unable to pay for the care she is currently receiving, somehow they are going to garnish her income to pay this debt.”

Ms. Edson’s son also notes that this horrific news is coming at a time when his ailing mother’s health continues to deteriorate.

This story is terrible on so many levels. On a basic level, it illustrates how strictly the VA interprets pension and benefits as “entitlements” in its favor. In the VA’s view, if someone (here, a war widow) received benefits to which she is ultimately not “entitled” per VA regulations, she must pay them back. It doesn’t matter if it was the VA that (possibly) made the mistake in granting them, that they were not obtained through misrepresentation, that no notice was received to alert the widow to possible error, or that she apparently hasn’t been given the opportunity to respond to the VA’s determination of overpayment.

Meanwhile, if someone who is entitled to benefits has to wait five years to receive them due to VA error and delay, they receive absolutely no interest on these back-dated benefits. Furthermore, take into account the large number of veterans who give up – or die – while waiting for the benefits to which they are entitled. The VA has “saved” a great deal of monies due to veterans in these situations, which could be applied to take care of this war window whose late husband spent his life serving this country.

Ms. Edson resides in Texas, and I understand that her son has already sought the involvement of U.S. Senator John Cornyn. If you would like to approach him with this same issue, his contact form may be accessed here.

Unfortunately, however, this is not akin to pressuring a company to take action through pressure and bad press that might hurt its business. This is a matter of swaying the VA, and if their interpretation of their regulations is that Ms. Edson is not entitled to her benefits received, public outcry might not be enough.

Still, it’s worth a try.

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Last week, members of the House Small Business Committee voted unanimously in favor of several revisions to the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) budget proposal, with the result of putting several existing programs in peril.

One of these programs is the Boots to Business program, which targets military veterans-turned-entrepreneurs. I will tell you up front that I love the concept of the Boots to Business program. It uses a multi-phased approach to introduce transitioning service members to the fundamentals of small business ownership, as well as the SBA tools and resources available to them. This is a fantastic idea, as many military members transitioning out of the service are faced with a big question: what do I do now? And with the opportunities out there for veteran-owned small businesses (especially in the federal sector), it’s worth going for a piece of the pie.

Following a pilot program in 2012, the SBA tested the Boots to Business initiative by working with the United States Marine Corps. The SBA delivered a streamlined version of the Boots to Business program by delivering entrepreneurship training to approximately 20,000 transitioning Marines in four pilot locations. This training consisted of three phases: 1) a video which provided a short introduction on entrepreneurship; 2) a 90-minute training course on entrepreneurship; and 3) an eight-week online/distance learning course that led to the creation of a business plan.

Unfortunately for the Boots to Business program, the Congressional panel has recommended that it get the axe. This is part of a $50 million trim from the SBA’s $710 million budget proposal, and it’s based on the lack of results.

This just goes to show that even a great idea can fail in execution. But why, exactly, is the SBA Boots to Business program – a wonderful idea – a no go?

My suspicion is it’s because being a small business owner isn’t something you learn in a class. Yes, you can learn some things, but the most valuable lessons are gleaned from practical experience – identifying your skills and a niche market, finding people you trust to do business with, landing a good mentor who can help you along, and figuring out how to market yourself and your business.

Also, as a small business owner myself, I can tell you that if in the beginning of my journey, someone had pointed me to a similar program, I wouldn’t have gotten much value out of it because I wouldn’t have known how to use it. You need to come into these types of programs with an idea of what you want to learn and a concrete idea of the questions you need answered, and I suspect that most of these transitioning service members simply don’t have an idea yet.

The Boots to Business program is like a hammer in a fledgling workman’s toolkit. It has value, sure, but it has less value if the workman doesn’t know how to use it to fix his roof, or build the bird feeder, or repair the stairs…

But who knows? If it didn’t work, and the SBA knows why, it might be able to build upon it to create a program with more practical value. After all, failed programs are often test programs for ones that work. I have faith that the Boots to Business program will be one of these.

Did you find this article informative? If so, sign up for my weekly blog at: https://legalmeetspractical.com. Also, check out the SBA’s webpage on the Boots to Business program at: http://www.sba.gov/bootstobusiness.