A July 13, 2017 Congressional hearing focused on a June 2017 Government Accountability (GAO) report related to Gulf War Illness (GWI) issues, with bottom line findings of an 87 percent overall denial rate that is three times worse than any other type of claim the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) adjudicates.
VCS provided recommendations for these GWI-related claims issues and their intertwined relationship with medical research. An attachment includes Gulf War veterans’ accounts of how their own VA claims for GWI issues were denied. The negative impact on these veterans compels us to seek to find solutions to favorably impact them and help to relieve their suffering however we can.
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- FULL TESTIMONY (PDF): 2017-07-13 VCS Hardie Testimony
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- HOUSE HEARING ARCHIVE: https://docs.house.gov/Committee/Calendar/ByEvent.aspx?EventID=106223
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- C-SPAN video of the hearing: https://www.c-span.org/video/?431259-1/hearing-examines-gulf-war-illness-claims-processing
