Christy Riggins, Z-Politics

An older story from the Atlanta VA is beginning to resurface, as new revelations tell that 34,000 veterans lost their health benefits because the Atlanta system delayed actions on their applications until they expired.

According to Military.com:

…34,000 veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan lost their eligibility for healthcare after the VA sat on their applications until they expired. The applications were designated as pending because they lacked income information. However, combat veterans are not required to verify their income when applying for VA benefits.

Scott Davis, a program specialist at the Atlanta VA enrollment center, was the first to step forward and report the gross mismanagement.

In an interview last week with the Washington Examiner, Davis claimed that a letter to Senator Johnny Isakson, who chairs the Senate Committee on Veteran’s Affairs, noted that 18,000 returning Iraq and Afghanistan veteran were waiting to learn the fate of their pending applications, and another 16,000 combat veterans from the recent wars had lost their health benefits eligibility due to VA inaction on their applications for more than five years.

“This is not an accident, not when you get to those numbers,” Davis told the Washington Examiner. “The VA, again, intentionally has artificial barriers to reduce the number of people who can use the system.”

In 2014, Davis testified on Capitol Hill that he and others who have spoken out have been fighting “harassment” from sources that he believes may go as far as the White House.

“…My whistleblower complaint to White House Deputy Chief of Staff Rob Nabors was leaked to my manager, Sherry Williams, who stated in writing that she was contacting me on behalf of acting secretary Gibson and Mr. Rob Nabors,” Davis said in his testimony. “Neither Mr. Gibson nor Mr. Nabors have responded to this fact.”

As retaliation, Davis said that his employment records were illegally altered, and that he was placed on involuntary administrative leave at the same time the Office of Inspector General was conducting an investigation at the Atlanta location. He also believes that once his claims surfaced, as many as 2,000 benefits applications were shredded.