‘A betrayal of the government’: Congressional leaders say VA needs to better serve families of veterans who die by suicide

By Jeff Winter, CNN

(CNN) — The leading Democrat on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee vowed to fix the system for approving benefits to the families of veterans who die by suicide after a CNN investigation revealed how the VA had rejected hundreds of applications from widows and other relatives.

“Denying benefits to veteran families who lose their lives to suicide is absolutely unconscionable — in fact, sickening,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal said, adding he intends to “fight to overturn any such practice or policy.”

Blumenthal’s frustration with the VA was echoed on both sides of the aisle.

“Veterans’ survivors should not have to navigate a complicated VA system to access the benefits their veteran loved one has earned,” said Mike Bost, Republican congressman and House VA Committee chairman.

Sen. Ruben Gallego, an Iraq War veteran and Blumenthal’s fellow Democrat on the Senate VA Committee, characterized the denial of benefits as “a betrayal of the government.”

CNN’s investigation found that even as the VA has invested hundreds of millions of dollars addressing the veteran suicide crisis, agency officials have for decades denied crucial benefits to the families of veterans who killed themselves after being discharged from active duty.

Strict VA rules require families to submit medical documentation showing their loved one’s death stemmed from their time in the military. But as the agency itself has acknowledged, many troubled vets never seek professional help for their mental health problems, making that proof all but impossible for some families to obtain after a suicide.

CNN’s analysis of thousands of VA case files found that nearly 500 families that filed claims following the suicide of a veteran had their applications rejected. Many were denied because they didn’t have VA documentation linking their loved one’s mental health issues to their service. Nearly 200 families battled the VA for years before a judge ruled the agency had improperly denied them benefits.

Some families, CNN found, were denied even though they could show their vet had been diagnosed with mental health conditions by VA doctors. Among them, 45 families of veterans diagnosed with duty-related post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, including 10 who previously attempted suicide, and more than 60 other families of veterans who were seeking a PTSD diagnosis prior to their deaths or who had been diagnosed with some other mental health disorder or traumatic brain injury connected to their time in the military.

Blumenthal said it was “abhorrent” the VA denied PTSD-related claims, and called on the agency to “immediately review the denied survivor benefits claims where PTSD was the cause of death.”

Emily Evans, who was featured in CNN’s report, was denied even though her husband, Michael, was diagnosed with combat-related PTSD and traumatic brain injury. The VA is currently re-evaluating its denial of her claim, according to a letter she received from the agency.

She said she was glad lawmakers were paying attention.

“It’s hard to put it out there,” Evans, a mother of four, said about sharing her story in CNN’s investigation. “But I’m hopeful that by doing that, people will start paying attention – especially to the combat-related PTSD vets – and do something about it.”

Evans and other surviving spouses interviewed by CNN said the VA’s application process was confusing, exhausting and traumatic.

CNN’s investigation was published amid plans by the Trump administration to cut some 80,000 jobs at the VA.

Sens. Blumenthal and Gallego voiced serious concern those cuts will only make the process worse for these families.

A VA spokesman acknowledged the system has failed in certain areas, but said that Doug Collins, President Donald Trump’s VA Secretary, would make the changes necessary to improving the system. He also blamed some of the problems on the previous administration.

“Even though the Biden Administration astronomically grew the department’s budget and number of employees, it failed to address nearly all of VA’s most serious problems, including rising health care wait times, benefits backlogs and major difficulties with survivor benefits,” VA press secretary Peter Kasperowicz said in a statement.

“Our message to Veterans is simple: Despite major opposition from those who don’t want to change a thing at VA, we will reform the department to make it work better for Veterans, families, caregivers and survivors,” Kasperowicz added.

Bost, the House VA chairman, was optimistic about the future.

“We continue to look at ways to modernize and streamline the survivors’ benefits process,” he said. “And I have and will continue to work with the Trump administration to improve the broader VA benefits system for veterans and their families.”

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