Gallego Joins Colleagues to Call on VA to Protect Veterans Filing Benefits Claims
WASHINTON, DC – Rep. Ruben Gallego (AZ-03) joined 31 of his colleagues, including Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Jon Tester, to call on the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to enforce all existing protections for veterans filing initial claims for disability benefits and request additional tools they need to hold bad actors accountable for scamming veterans.
“Far too many Arizona veterans fall victim to benefits claim scammers,” Rep. Gallego said. “The half a million veterans who call Arizona home bravely fought and sacrificed so much for our country. The least we can do is make sure the benefits they earned are protected and kept safe from predatory scammers.”
“With the PACT Act providing the largest expansion of veterans’ benefits in decades, veterans are increasingly becoming the targets of predatory, quasi-legal claims consultants,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “The Department must exercise every enforcement tool at its disposal and request those it needs to better protect veterans from bad actors looking to take advantage of them.”
The lawmakers continued, “Our mission is to protect veterans and ensure they are not paying unqualified individuals to receive their benefits. As co-sponsors of the GUARD VA Benefits Act to reinstate criminal penalties, we believe VA must enforce the law and protect veterans from unaccredited individuals looking at veterans as a payday. Veterans shouldn’t have to turn to outside consultants to work through the initial claims process.”
Currently only VA accredited entities or persons can assist a veteran in filing a VA claim and fees for assistance, which are capped by the VA, may only be charged after the VA makes a decision on an initial claim. However, the VA cannot fully enforce the law because criminal penalties were eliminated by statute nearly 20 years ago.
The Gallego-backed GUARD VA Benefits Act would reinstate those criminal penalties for fraudulent claim representatives charging veterans unauthorized fees while helping file their VA claims.