Roberts called Lewis' district representative, Janet Scott, who had intervened with the VA earlier on his behalf. Within two days, Roberts had his rating. Lewis declined comment. Bob Epley, director of the VA's compensation and pension service, said the agency was paying disability benefits to 120,000 Gulf War veterans, including 3,500 who were suffering from ailments that doctors could not diagnose. Epley said it typically took five months to process a veteran's original claim.
Appeals prolong the process.
I knew if I told them I was going to be on TV that the VA would want to jump in there. That's why I called their bluff. Not your typical soldiers Joe Violante, national legislative director of Disabled American Veterans in Washington, D.C., said the payments, which are set by Congress, had long been considered inadequate. But the reality may seem especially grim to Gulf War veterans, many of whom were serving in the reserves or the National Guard when they were sent to the gulf. A lot of them already had good careers, and many were college graduates.