A report in The Washington Post claims that pressure from Congress on the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to make it easier for veterans filing for disability claims would only make a bad situation worse: “The system is dysfunctional, an open invitation to fraud.”

Now, the VA has proposed changes that some believe will make fraud even easier to commit by limiting restrictions on the proof of disability so that claims can be processed more quickly.

PTSD Disability Benefits and the VA
According to the VA, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), an “invisible” disability, affects up to 20% of Iraqi and Afghanistan war veterans. Compare this to the 8% of the nonmilitary population in the United States affected by PTSD, which is the fourth largest cause for military-related disability. As of 2009, some 390,000 veterans were receiving benefits for PTSD.

A recent survey conducted by the Naval Postgraduate School and Stanford University estimates that PTSD claims from the current wars will reach 35% of the Iraq war veterans.

Too many soldiers are using the sympathies of the system to take advantage of the opportunity and gain financial freedom, according to Dr. Dan Blazer, a Duke University psychiatrist.

“The threshold has been lowered,” says Blazer. “The question is how many people will take advantage of that.” Blazer claims that PTSD is “among the easiest conditions to feign.”

Anyone Can Claim PTSD
Mark Rogers, a claims specialist with the Veterans Benefits Administration, states that he can obtain 100% disability benefits for any veteran who will falsify documents to wrongfully claim PTSD. “I just tell him what to say and where to go,” says Rogers.

The Post report offers “stolen valor” stories told by veterans who gained 100% benefits. These fake tales of wartime trauma cost tax payers millions of dollars for each awarded case since the veteran will receive the benefits for the remainder of his or her life.

A World War II veteran, living in Texas, who had his knees shattered in combat refused to accept disability benefits because he could still work. Some suggest that this type of valor is lost on the current-day Me Generation that is lost in a daze of self-entitlement.

VA officials claim that determining one’s eligibility for benefits requires a balance of respect for one’s experiences and consideration for the facts. Consideration for tax payers’ dollars was not mentioned.

In fact, no official statements are available determining how much the accumulating cases of fraud will cost tax payers over the next half a century, but estimates are in the billions.