A major veterans’ benefits bill continues to divide the normally tight-knit military community, drawing attention from local and national leaders.
The Take Care of America’s Veterans Act, a combination of 62 pieces of legislation for veterans, has caused a rift between veteran service organizations, most notably the VFW and the American Legion.
The groups agree on a majority of the legislation found within the bill, specifically a provision to allow medically retired, combat-injured veterans to receive their full retirement and full disability pay at the same time.
But they are struggling to see eye to eye on the inclusion of a controversial funding mechanism. In order to pay for the benefits legislation within the bill, Congress included a provision that would change the disability rating going forward for tinnitus and sleep apnea, two of the most commonly filed VA disabilities.
The American Legion and supporters of the bill believe passing this legislation, much of which has stalled for years over funding concerns, is worth the change to the rating system. The VFW’s side argues that the bill takes benefits away from one group of veterans and gives them to another.
On Wednesday evening at a VFW in San Antonio, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson weighed in on the issue.
“This is a serious issue,” Johnson said. “…this provision was put in, and I don’t think it was fully understood by all the members of the body when it came.”
The Republican-led bill has stalled in Congress, largely over the funding provision. Democrats are unified in opposition to the bill as it is written, but some Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Chip Roy (R-San Antonio), are concerned about the tradeoffs.
Johnson acknowledged the provision at a veterans event with Texas Congressional District 35 hopeful Carlos De La Cruz, saying that VA Secretary Doug Collins has been considering changing the disability rating system.
“He came out with a statement that said the VA was planning to reduce or remove some of the funding for tinnitus treatment anyway,” Johnson said. “…the announcement of those plans came out pretty late in the process, and so there was just a lot of confusion about this.”
Fears that the VA will move ahead with lowering ratings for sleep apnea and tinnitus, which it has attempted to lower before in order to cut costs, is an argument that some veterans have used for supporting the bill. They say they would rather see the money saved from this change go directly toward veteran benefits, as it does in the bill.
When asked by the San Antonio Report if he had a stance on the bill, De La Cruz, who is a retired U.S. Air Force veteran, said he discussed it with veterans at the event, but he does not have an established opinion.
“It’s funny you bring that up because we were just talking about that with our local veteran leaders here today, and I can tell you, just like I told them, having not thoroughly reviewed that particular bill, when I get to Congress … every piece of legislation that comes across my desk, I am going to read thoroughly and make sure that we’re doing the right things for veterans,” he said.
The bill was originally scheduled for a vote in mid-July, but with such a slim majority, Republicans needed nearly unanimous support, which they appeared to lack. At the time, leadership indicated it would likely be called to a vote again after August recess, but Johnson said the bill is not ready.
“No immediate plans to put this on the floor next week when we get back. We have to resolve it first, and we’ll see how that goes,” Johnson said. “There’s a lot more discussion and analysis that is going into it.”
For veterans at the event, the bill was still front of mind.
“The VFW doesn’t want to see, they don’t want to see other benefits being hurt or being taken away. For example, tonight is sleep apnea. You know, we don’t want to see that taken,” said Ralph Alvarado, commander of the post for VFW 9186. “…it just doesn’t make any sense to help veterans here, but hurt veterans there.”
Currently, veterans with sleep apnea who require a CPAP machine receive a 50% rating. The proposed changes would take away this automatic rating, and disability percentage would be assessed based on severity of the condition. The bill also removes the existing 10% rating for tinnitus in most cases. All changes would apply to future claims only.
“Tinnitus should not be a symptom of hearing loss. It should be a standalone, like it is now, and they want to remove it and make it a symptom of hearing loss. That’s wrong. And sleep apnea. No matter how many CPAP machines you have, you’re still going to have issues,” Alvarado said.
Alvarado is a medically retired, combat-injured Navy veteran who completed two tours of duty in Afghanistan. He said though he would personally benefit from the changes in the bill, he cannot support it given the changes to future veterans’ compensation because he said these conditions are difficult to live with.
“I’m at 50% of sleep apnea, and it took me years for them to acknowledge my disability, as far as that goes, last night I’ve been up since two in the morning. Like a gerbil,” said Lee Rivera, senior vice commander of the post for VFW 9186. “It’s affected my life. It’s affected my family.”
Rivera says he developed sleep apnea from his time in the Navy, when he would work for sometimes 36 consecutive hours landing planes on an aircraft carrier, some days only having one hour of rest between shifts.
And for Dereck Olivares, adjutant of the post for VFW 9186, the tinnitus he lives with was present in the moment.
“I hear it right now, ‘bing!’”
The San Antonio Report’s military and veterans coverage is supported by Report for America.
