While the Washington office of the DAV says the VA's denial of veterans' medical claims is a nationwide problem, one case in particular turned the spotlight on Denver.
What first caught the organization's attention was a 1996 case involving a Colorado veteran who was burned over 60 percent of his body in a house fire. He had a history of service-related psychiatric problems and had tried to kill himself by turning on the gas. The veteran and his family declined to be interviewed for this story, but Hoffman says that after the fire, he was taken to the nearest private hospital. He remained in its burn unit for treatment because his family was afraid his condition would deteriorate if he was moved.
The Denver DAV became involved when the veteran's claim to have his care at the private hospital was denied. His family appealed the decision to the Board of Veterans' Appeal in Washington.
In December 1998, the BVA overturned the denial and ordered the VA to pay his medical bills. Once the BVA makes such a ruling, there is no mechanism for further appeal by either side.
Nevertheless, E. Thorsland Jr., the Denver VA Medical Center's director, continued to refuse payment, arguing that it was too expensive.
DAV officials were dumbfounded. Never had they heard of anyone blatantly refusing such a direct order for payment. "That is either total stupidity or total arrogance," says Hoffman.
But Thorsland had been "advised by counsel that in any court proceedings there is a possibility to request the [BVA] to reconsider," says Joe Dean, a spokesman for Thorsland's office. He says Thorsland didn't know that the VA had little possibility for further appeal.
The veteran's family even went so far as to ask for help from Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell. Once the denial was overturned but Thorsland continued to refuse payment, the senator's staff intervened, putting pressure on the Denver VA. "We've made a promise to our veterans to provide adequate medical care, and I intend to fulfill that promise," Campbell said in a statement to Westword.
Ultimately, the veteran's claim was paid, but in many people's minds, the case signaled a continuing and very real problem.
Hoffman fears there is no way to reverse the current trend. "Where this is going to end is privatization," he says. And while there is nothing fundamentally wrong with privatization, "the transition is just not going to be smooth. They're going to let the system, as it is, wither on the vine until there are no services, and then they'll come along and pick up the pieces."
In 1946, the largest number of veterans ever returned to this country from World War II. Those veterans are now in their seventies and eighties and are dying at a rate of thirty a day. Even some Vietnam veterans are now in their late fifties. "What this means is that folks are going to need long-term in-patient care, which is very expensive," Hoffman says. "The greatest demand on the VA health-care system is right now.
