TAI:  Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Lamborn, distinguished Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today regarding my experiences with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) claims process.  My name is Gunnery Sergeant Tai Cleveland (USMC, Ret.).  With me today are my wife Robin and my children, Brittiney and Rudi.  My other son, Tai Jr. could not be with us today.  With your permission, as Robin has most often dealt with the VA on our benefits and claims issues, I have asked her to deliver our testimony. 

ROBIN:  Thank you, Mr. Chairman.  My husband served his country proudly for 24 years as a United States Marine, and although we had many issues with the Department of Defense following his injuries, due to the subject of the hearing, I will limit my comments to our difficulties with the VA claims processing system and its impact on our family.  As I am speaking, however, please keep in mind, that a severely injured service member must navigate multiple systems, the Department of Defense, the Social Security Administration, Medicare and the VA.  It is quite overwhelming to say the least. 

Tai was injured in August 2003 during a hand to hand combat training accident in Kuwait where he was flipped onto his back injuring his head and multiple vertebras.  The resulting damage has left my husband a paraplegic with chronic neuropathic pain, spasticity and what is classified as a mild to moderate traumatic brain injury that has its own set of challenges.

Since Tai’s injury I have had to learn the hard way how to navigate the systems; keeping meticulous records of documents, recording dates and times of telephone calls, and confirming receipt of anything sent or hand delivered to federal agencies.  As such, I thought the best way to convey our situation was to share a timeline detailing our experiences with the VA.

In June 2005 we attended the Transition Assistance Program (TAP) class, provided by the Marine Corps and the VA to learn about the available options. We completed the VA’s Benefits Delivery at Discharge (BDD) process—including the benefits, specially adaptive housing, and adaptive vehicle program applications--and hand-delivered it with medical records, MRI compact discs, films, prescription reports, etc to 1722 Eye Street, Washington DC.

After having completed his compensation and pension exam, we called the VA Benefits number at 1-800-827-1000 in November of 2005 and were advised that the application was incomplete and medical records from the Military Treatment Facility were needed.  I delivered a second copy of MTF medical records to the DC Office.

A month later, I again phoned VA Benefits to see if the records were received and was advised that no application was on file.  I copied and redelivered the original application to DC Office

In January 2006, I made another call to VA Benefits and was advised that the claim was being reviewed but that medical records were required to make a final determination.  I AGAIN copied medical records and redelivered to DC Office. I was later told that the housing and vehicle grant were denied.

When I called in February of 2006, I was told that no determination could be made because Tai was still on active duty.  Additionally, I was told that no claim was on file for housing or vehicle which are allowed while on active duty.  We reapplied. 

In March of 2006, I met with a VA employee at Walter Reed regarding benefits and our difficulty with the claim.  She introduced us to a VA social worker at Walter Reed who enrolled Tai in the Adaptive Driving Program at the Richmond VA.  We were told to reapply for benefits because no applications were found. We resubmitted the original application and completed a new application for Specially Adaptive Housing, HISA, and Vehicle Grant, but were informed on April 5 that the applications were denied and advised to reapply yet again.

In June 2006 we were informed by the VA social worker that approval for the vehicle application was received but she was, “unable to locate our application because the clerk failed to separate application and keep an in-house copy.”   In addition our HISA and Adaptive housing grants were denied.  We re-applied.

Everything was quiet for the next 3 months until October 26, 2006 when we were advised to reapply for vehicle/housing grants since no official notification of approval was received. 

Again in November of 2006 we received verbal notification from the VA Rep at WRAMC of the latest vehicle and housing denial, and on December 13, 2006, we were advised to reapply for vehicle and housing grants and were contacted by VA to verify our address.

In January of 2007, Tai was medically retired from the Marine Corps and after filing BDD, we assumed we would get his disability check within a month or so. 

In February of 2007, our housing and vehicle grants were approved, and had supposedly been approved since April of 2006, but the hardcopy was no longer on file.  To date, we have still not received an official vehicle approval.

In late May 2007 we received verbal notification from the VSO helping us at the time that the VA was indicating that there was not enough information on file to rate the claim, and, therefore, additional information was necessary. 

In June, we received notification from the VA of an 80% partial rating.  We were advised that the rating was temporary and additional information was necessary in order to process the claim. As we were scheduled to be in Richmond shortly to obtain an adaptive cycle, we were advised to have Richmond perform the necessary evaluation for submittal to the Roanoke Regional Office.  While at Richmond, I also inquired about obtaining a vehicle grant hardcopy and contacted the VA to inquire about Aid & Attendance.  I was told that I was not eligible.

In July 2007 we delivered, via express mail, Tai’s medical records from Richmond to Roanoke and sent the VA an email advising that we still had not received a disability check approximately 6 months post-discharge. 

In August I phoned and emailed VA Benefits again and told them that despite the temporary rating, we still had no check.  I requested direct deposit information and requested to verify our address.

After having been contacted about our problems by a non-profit organization, a concerned representative from the VA’s Central Office called in September about the outstanding checks and we were told that a tracer would have to be placed on the missing checks before replacements could be issued.  I later received a call from the Roanoke office and was advised that replacement checks were going to be issued.

On October 4, 2007, a VA Representative told us that claim was being expedited and should be completed by the 14th.  We were informed on the 14th and the 30th that the updated medical report still had not been received.  However, on October 29 we began to receive the replacement checks for the temporary rating.   

At this point in the timeline it is important to note that our family had now been without our full disability compensation and benefits for almost 11 months.  Our college-aged children were forced to withdraw from school, and the overall financial strain, frustration level and emotional toll—in addition to the actual injury--were crushing. 

Finally, on January 7, 2008, after the intervention of Mr. Hall’s subcommittee and the Wounded Warrior Project, we received a final rating and back payment totaling thousands of dollars. 

As you can see we filed and re-filed, submitted and resubmitted, medical records, claims forms, applications, and so on, but no one seemed to be able to track anything, placing additional burdens on an already overwhelmed family.   In our case, only after the intervention of a Congressional Office and a non-profit organization were we able to get the benefits Tai had earned.  This process should not be this hard. 

Today, almost four years later, while we still have a few things to resolve with our rating and benefits, our family is trying to move on.  Many people have stepped in to help from government agencies to Congressional offices to non-profit organizations.  I am planning to return to work and school.  Our children are returning to school, and Tai is enrolled in a media careers program for veterans in Chairman Filner’s district. He has been a noted leader in the program and, ever the Gunny, has even spoken to the Wounded Warrior Project about being a peer mentor. 

However, our purpose in coming here is not only to tell you our story, but also to let you know that we are not alone.  People we know have had similar problems, and we know there are more out there.  We are hoping that our presence here will help you understand the obstacles faced by the wounded and their families and inspire all involved to work together to improve the efficiency of this vital system for the benefit of those who sacrificed so much for their country.   

Thank you and I look forward to answering any questions you may have.