Washington Post Continues to Release Skewed Reporting on Veterans Benefits
The most recent article in the Washington Post’s skewed series on veterans benefits focuses in on the predatory, for-profit claims companies and coaches commonly referred to by veterans' advocacy groups as "claims sharks,"
VHPI Reporting Fellow Jasper Craven previously undertook the first investigative project on claims sharks, unaccredited agents that often charge thousands for services that are provided for free by county veterans service offices and veterans service organizations such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans, and the American Legion. They are not required to adhere to the same professional and ethical standards as accredited representatives. Many are poorly trained to help a veteran navigate the intricate rules and regulations concerning veterans' benefits, providing bad information that leads veterans to see their earned benefits unfairly denied.
The Post, however, adopted a different framing. As in previous stories, it continued to blame veterans for the problem of rising disability claims. The paper only glanced at the most obvious fuel for this trend – the toll from the longest war in American history — suggesting instead that it is proof-positive of rampant fraud within the benefits system. They inaccurately described this arcane process, which generally requires exhaustive medical evidence, as a “honor system,” and give air to the toxic rhetoric of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth who proudly has refused government benefits — in his words because “I don’t want to be dependent if I don’t have to be,” though, really it’s because he is fabulously wealthy and privileged
According to a recent report in The Guardian, the Post story also misconstrued remarks by former VA Secretary David Shulkin:
Shulkin was quoted as saying “my belief is that this is a flawed system. Many of these conditions are hard to measure.” He told the Guardian he said those words, but that they were used to “mean the opposite” of what he intended – which was that the system is flawed because it prevents or delays many veterans from getting their rightful benefits that they have earned.
The Post’s benefits series recently inspired a Senate hearing on the subject. Representatives from the traditional membership-based veterans service organizations expressed worry that the Post’s stories will be used as a pretext to reduce veteran benefits. On the other side of this debate was Daniel Gade, former Commissioner of the Department of Veterans Services in the state of Virginia who was liberally quoted in the Post’s series.
During the hearing, Gade echoed the pernicious rhetoric in his book, “Wounding Warriors,” castigating veterans for trying to bilk the system. “Millions of veterans,” he testified, “have been folded into a VA disability model that reflects a flawed understanding of human nature, an outdated view of current medical capabilities, and an antiquated assessment of the labor market. It operates like a misguided assembly line churning out diagnoses of disability and applying bandages of cash in lieu of the rehabilitative care veterans deserve.”
Gade went on to argue that the “impact of a disability diagnosis” can be worse than the disease itself. “It can disrupt a person’s identity, limit their opportunities, and constrict their vision for the future. But far too often, disability is both a symptom and a disease among veterans.”
VHPI is preparing an in-depth report on the disability system. It will respond to the misinformation that was circulated in this hearing. It’s worth noting now, however, that it is Gade’s vision of disability, not the VA’s, that is “antiquated” and “flawed.”