As College Football comes to an end with Alabama crushing Notre Dame to take the BSC Title Championship, College Basketball is gearing up for March Madness.
Historically, Veterans receiving Pension benefits, to include Aid and Attendance, also experienced a March Madness of their own. On March 1st of each year, the annual Eligibility Verification Report (EVR) was due to the VA to substantiate that the Veteran was rightfully eligible for and receiving tax free income, called Improved Pension, to help offset medical expenses.
This year, the VA decided to dispense with the red tape and is eliminating the need for Veterans to complete an annual EVR. Instead, the VA is implementing a new process for confirming eligibility for benefits. The new process will involve the VA working directly with Social Security and the IRS to verify the Veteran’s annual income.
This will, presumably save the Veteran and the VA a lot of time and money, while allowing the VA to redirect staff to more pressing issues – claim backlogs.
Unfortunately, as a practicing lawyer who assists Veterans with their annual reports, I see a madness of another kind about to happen in March! The EVR did not just verify annual income. It also verified net worth, which now will not be verified. But, more importantly, the EVR provided a means to advise Veterans that they can and should submit an accounting of all unreimbursed medical expenses they pay out of pocket for on a regular basis. Many people would not be eligible for the pension but for the amount of money they personally pay for medical care. Without being prompted to submit this report each year, many Veterans will inadvertently lose their VA pension. This will lead to appeals and more backlog. But, more devastating than that, most Veterans will not seek the advice of counsel to see how they can get benefits reinstated. Instead, sacrificing medical care they no longer can afford.
For information on how you, as an attorney, can help, contact Lawyers with Purpose.
By Victoria L. Collier, CELA
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