Griffin Vietnam Vet owes $120K for benefits wrongly received. He's not the only one
Roland Taylor received a letter from the VA asking he return $120,000 in disability payments he received over 10 years.
GRIFFIN, Ga. - Thousands of military veterans start the new year with an old worry: where will they find the money to return disability benefits wrongly paid to them over the years?
The Veterans Administration said 9,900 veterans should have been ineligible to receive non-service related disability benefits because they made too much money. The program is designed to help only destitute veterans.
But Georgians like Roland Taylor who wrongly received those benefits believe the fault rests with the VA.
"They’ve done paid you too much, and they didn’t realize it at the time, and now they’re going to blame it on you to get it back," the 74-year-old Griffin man told the FOX 5 I-Team.
Glaucoma left Taylor legally blind in one eye with limited peripheral vision in the other. He said his disability is not connected to his service in Vietnam.
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VA says legally blind veteran owes $120K for accidental overpay
Thousands of military veterans in the U.S. are starting the new year with a big stressor: Where will they find the money to pay back disability benefits sent to them by mistake over the years? Veterans Affairs says the blame is largely theirs for not monitoring the program. FOX 5 I-Team reporter Randy Travis says the mistake is putting a Griffin man in a frustrating predicament.
The retired truck driver was living in Louisville, Kentucky, in 2012 when he visited one of the many VFW chapters scattered across the country. He said some of his fellow vets noticed his blindness and helped him apply for non-service related disability benefits from the VA.
Taylor started getting around $1,000 each month, doubling the disability money he was already collecting from Social Security.
Life got a lot better for Taylor, who earned a Bronze Star in Vietnam.
"I was able to live like people," he said. "Feel like I was winning then."
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Roland Taylor earned a Bronze Star and Vietnam Service Medal. He said he headed up the drug intervention program for the 101st Airborne in-country.
He even felt like he had enough money to remarry. But when Taylor sent the VA his updated marital status, that started a review of his benefits and eventually a ruling: the couple made too much money to qualify for the VA disability program.
"I wasn’t hiding nothing!" he insisted. "Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut. I’d still be getting it, huh? Then they’d get me for fraud."
As a certified nursing assistant, his wife doesn't make much money. Without that extra $1,000 each month, Taylor said they were forced to move from a comfortable home in Fairburn to a cinder block rental house in Griffin.
But then came the letter from the VA he struggled so much to read. Because Taylor was already getting disability benefits from Social Security at the time he applied, he never should have received any disability money from the VA.
The letter informed him they want it all back. All $120,634.
"I ain’t got $20," he said with a laugh. "What you talking about?"
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Glaucoma cost Taylor much of his eyesight. He said he relied on others to apply for VA disability payments. The VA says now he was never eligible.
But the VA has since had a change of heart, at least temporarily. They've paused all debt collection for those 9900 veterans.
VA Press Secretary Terrence Hayes issued this statement in the last days of 2023:
"Recognizing the hardship and distress that these pension debts may cause, VA has paused the collection of all established pension debts and the establishment of new pension debts while we determine the path forward. Because this is a particularly vulnerable population of veterans and survivors, VA is pursuing all available options to provide as much pension debt relief as possible. We will be reaching out directly to affected Veterans and survivors to let them know that pension debt collection has been paused while we pursue options for relief – and we will keep them updated throughout every step of this process. Additionally, to prevent issues like this from happening in the future, VA will be conducting a review to understand why the data discrepancies occurred and why it took so long to address."
Another 30,000 veterans could also be ruled ineligible. The VA is currently reviewing their cases. There is no estimate yet for the total amount wrongly paid to Veterans through this program.
Taylor said he realizes he should have had someone qualified to check his original application.
He’s since adjusted to life without that money. He just can’t see a life paying it all back.
For questions about debt management, the VA encourages veterans and survivors to visit their debt management website or call 800-827-0648.