Gallego Reintroduces Bipartisan Legislation to Support Defrauded Veterans

WASHINGTON – Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ)joinedSenators Mazie Hirono (D-HI), John Boozman (R-AR), and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), members of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, to reintroduce theVeteran Fraud Reimbursement Act.This legislation would make it easier for veterans with disabilities to be made financially whole in the event they are defrauded of their benefits by allowing the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) to reimburse victims without first meeting unnecessary bureaucratic requirements.
“It’s unacceptable that the veterans who put their lives on the line for this country could be defrauded out of the benefits they earned. To make matters worse, right now, defrauded veterans often have to wait years before they get their money back. We owe it to them to cut the red tape and make sure they’re repaid quickly without having to jump through unnecessary bureaucratic hoops,”said Senator Gallego.
In January 2021, Congress enacted theJohnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act. The bill included a provision meant to improve the VBA fiduciary program, which helps deliver benefits to veterans who cannot otherwise manage their finances. Unfortunately, one unintended consequence of the provision is that all cases of benefits misuse now require what is known as an internal negligence determination by VBA before a veteran who is a victim of fraud can be made financially whole.
In a July 21, 2021report, the VA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) highlighted the significant wait times defrauded veterans in the VA fiduciary program face due to the universal negligence determination requirement. Some veterans even died before seeing their reimbursements. TheVeteran Fraud Reimbursement Actwill right this wrong by allowing the VBA to conduct a statistically valid analysis of the misuse cases to determine the rate and nature of negligence on the part of the VBA. The negligence determination would ultimately become a part of a quality assurance measure conducted after the affected veteran had been reimbursed.
Full text of this legislation can be foundHERE.
Senator Gallego has also been pushing back against the Trump Administration’s mass layoffs of VA employees that threaten essential services for veterans. He sent aletter to the OPMand cosponsoreda resolutiondemanding the immediate reinstatement of wrongfully terminated veterans with full back pay and benefits.