The VA Fiduciary Program: A Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainry.

by Chris Attig

I would like to talk about the VA Fiduciary Program.

I often refer to this program as the “Fraud-uciary” program because of the problems associated with it.

It’s time to start clamoring for change about this process, and this is a very small step in that direction.

Why?  I think Obi Wan Kenobi Sums up the VA Fiduciary Program better than anyone:

What is the VA’s Fiduciary Program all about?  

Here’s how it works, generally.

The VA decides that a Veteran is not mentally capable of managing their own finances.

In many of the cases I reviewed, there was no medical or clinical evaluation to support this decision. In those cases where there was a medical or clinical evaluation to support “incompetence”, the VA did nothing to appoint a “guardian of the person” – leaving disabled Veterans with 5 or 6 figure fiduciary accounts to wander the streets, miss doctor appointments, have no access to necessary prescription medications – and in some cases, without food, clothing or shelter.   Here’s a story about one of those Veterans that the VA abandoned.

After making that decision, the VA appoints a “fiduciary” to manage the finances of that Veteran.  The VA will reach into the bank accounts of the Veteran, taking control of the Veteran’s savings and giving it to the “Fiduciary”.

In one case we are looking at, the VA (unlawfully) took the Social Security payments of a Veteran’s wife and gave those to the Fiduciary as well.

The fiduciary is most commonly someone that the Veteran does not know, and who does not know the Veteran.

The fiduciary is allowed to take up to 4% of the Veteran’s savings and monthly benefits as a ‘fee’ for managing the Veterans finances.

Why is this a problem?

To answer this, let me point out some of the abuses of the VA Fiduciary Program – I assure you, they are the norm and not the exception.

I have yet to find a fiduciary (other than Veteran Family members and State Court Appointed guardians) that  properly managed a Veteran’s money.

Sometimes the mistakes are small, sometimes they are not:

1) Joe Phillips, a Houston attorney, and his wife.  This “fiduciary” is currently pending a federal criminal trial in Houston for allegedly scheming (with his wife) to steal over $2 million from the bank accounts of the Veterans whose finances they were to manage.   This scheme is alleged to have started in 2003 – meaning it took the VA and the Dept. of Justice over 8 years to audit the fiduciary, identify the alleged fraud, and charge these individuals for their alleged malfeasance.  Read the story here on the Department of Justice website. (As of 2014, I believe these 2 individuals are serving time in Federal Prison – but that may not stop the VA from re-appointing them…see Example #5, below)

2)  Read about this Central Texas Veteran whose family had to pawn their possessions because the VA’s appointed “fiduciary” appears to refuse to communicate with the Veteran and refuses to provide the money the Veteran needs to take care of himself: Veteran’s Family Asking About Their Money.

3) Read about this Florida Veteran whose fiduciaries are taking a percentage of all of his money – not just his VA benefits.  Vets lose benefits as VA covers up mistake.

4) Read about this Tennessee Veteran whose fiduciary allegedly embezzled over $100,000 in money from the Veteran and the Veteran’s estate:  Surviving Family members fight for Memphis Veteran’s Benefits.

5) Read about how the VA appointed a convicted felon (!) to manage this Veteran’s money. VA Hires Convicted Felon to Manage this Veteran’s Money.

6) Updated from 2014: Read the VA OIG report on the Eastern Fiduciary Hub. It’s like Mos Eisley out there – a wretched hive of scum and villainry

I could go on with more – and worse – examples.

It is my opinion that the VA Fiduciary Program needs to be gutted completely.  

Why?

There is a process under every state’s guardianship  law for every Veteran.

This process involves the Veterans’ family, is managed and audited by the state court, and ensures that the Veteran’s physical, medical and other needs are being met (something that the VA’s Fraud-uciary program falls woefully short on).

Here is what should happen to effectuate change in the VA:

1) States should pass laws regulating the conduct of individuals who serve as fiduciaries of that state’s veterans.

These laws should include the appointment of special prosecutors at the state and county level to investigate and prosecute fraud, embezzlement, theft, etc., of Veteran’s money and property.   The Veterans Law Blog will draft Model Legislation for your State to use: contact Chris Attig (Support@VeteransLawBlog.org)  if you are a State Legislator who is interested in proposing legislation to protect your state’s Veterans from the VA Fraud-uciary Program.

2) Veterans should challenge the VA’s appointment of any fiduciary that they do not know – immediately!  

In a 2011 Decision issued by the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Freeman v. Shinseki), the court found Veterans should have an opportunity to file an appeal of the VA’s appointment of a fiduciary.

(This is going to be hard because in many cases the VA doesn’t tell the Veteran that they appointed a fiduciary and emptied the bank accounts of the Veteran until months later).

How does the Veteran challenge the decision?

File a Notice of Disagreement with the VA Regional Office just as you would for your disability compensation appeals.

3) Veterans should contact attorneys in their geographical area to ask for help ensuring that the Fiduciary has complied with their own State laws involving the VA Fiduciary’s Duties to the Veteran.  

In many cases, state law provides avenues to take the Fiduciary to State Court and sue in civil court for damages if the VA Fiduciary is mismanaging a Veteran’s money or has breached a VA fiduciary duty to the Veteran.

(This is one reason it is hard for Veterans attorneys to really fix this system – so many of the issues depend on state law, and so few attorneys that represent Veterans have familiarity or working knowledge of State Guardianship laws.  This is one of the drawbacks of the VA not allowing Veterans to retain attorneys prior to an adverse decision.)  

4) If you feel that your fiduciary is stealing money from a Veteran – contact your City and County District Attorney’s Office.

If that doesn’t work, contact your States’ Attorney General’s Office.

If that doesn’t work, contact your State legislators.

If that doesn’t work, contact your Federal legislators.

Keep reaching out to these folks until someone answers and helps investigates whether your VA Fiduciary has committed a criminal act or act(s).

5) Everyone should contact their Federal legislators and ask them to hold hearings into the abuses visited on Veterans by these “fiduciaries”.

Only through these hearings will the legislative needs of our Veterans become clear.

It’s time to scrap the Fiduciary program – Veterans don’t need any more Paternalistic & Government Sponsored Fraud than they already have to deal with.

Full Article & Source:

The VA Fiduciary Program: A Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainry.

My father and the dysfunctional, broken VA

Maureen Callahan and her father,Vietnam War veteran Bill

In 2014, after it was revealed that at least 75 US veterans had died while waiting to get appointments at their VA hospitals — with more than 120,000 never tended to, just abandoned or deliberately shuffled from one bureaucratic boondoggle to another — public outcry forced the following: congressional hearings, an internal VA investigation, an Obama administration investigation, an FBI criminal probe, a RAND Corp. investigation, an Office of Special Counsel investigation, and the “early retirement” of VA chief Dr. Robert Petzel and Eric Shinseki, secretary of veterans affairs.

“I assure you, if there is misconduct, it will be punished,” then-President Barack Obama said. “I want every veteran to know we are going to fix what is wrong.”

Yes, the federal government was going to internally fix what was wrong with a massive, federally funded institution.

Last Thursday, more than three years and two new secretaries later, the New York Times reported that current head David Shulkin is fighting to keep out the director of the Washington Medical Center, Brian Hawkins, who was fired last month for running a hospital at “the highest levels of chaos.”

Hawkins has appealed to the government’s Merit Systems Protections Board, claiming wrongful termination. The board gave him a stay, even though President Trump signed a law in June eliminating appeals by senior department executives to that body. But because disciplinary action was initiated against Hawkins in April, his lawyer claims wrongful termination — such action predates the new law.

So Shulkin now says he’ll use new evidence to keep Hawkins out, even though Hawkins can then appeal to a new internal review board, about which we know little.

What is clear is that multiple federally appointed boards and committees are working at cross-purposes to ostensibly fix the VA.

Sound absurd? Like the height of dysfunction and bureaucratic infighting, siphoning time, money and attention away from the very people Veterans Affairs and the federal government are meant to protect?

Welcome to the VA.

If you’ve never dealt with the VA, it’s impossible to understand how infuriating, dispiriting and broken it is. My initiation dates back to November 2013, when my father, a Vietnam vet, was scheduled for surgery to remove a supposedly localized mass in one lung.

We were told to arrive at the hospital at 11 a.m., before he’d be wheeled into the OR — which we did, only to find an empty hospital room. Where was he?

Oh, we were told, he was wheeled in at 7 a.m.

Why? No one had an answer.

Four hours later, a very kind resident emerged to tell us they had been wrong: My father actually had Stage IV lung cancer. There was nothing they could do and they were closing him up now. The doctor who’d made this catastrophic misdiagnosis, it turned out, was also the lead surgeon, and I asked to speak with him.

The resident told me that wasn’t possible. Why? He couldn’t say.

“No, really,” I said. “Why can’t I speak to my father’s surgeon?”

“You just can’t,” came the reply.

It was a harbinger of stonewalling to come. The VA loves to claim all kinds of outreach, services and benefits, but you’d better know your way around. At the Brooklyn VA, the DAV (Disabled American Veterans) maintains offices, but if you seek help from them, you can’t seek help directly from the VA — and DAV reps often aggressively pursue confused veterans.


Who benefits and by how much is unclear, but DAV employees aren’t always transparent with these veterans, some of whom my father and I met one winter weekday.

These men were older, sick and frail. One had risen early, made a very long drive, and now sat with the others outside these offices. They were waiting for their representative to show for their scheduled appointments.

I asked how long they’d been waiting. Hours, they told me. Their rep might not show up at all. It happened all the time. They had no choice but to wait.

Couldn’t they complain?

They laughed. To whom?

My dad and I walked down the hall looking for help. There, in a big office overlooking the river, sat a well-fed, well-tended anonymous chief of something. His role was deliberately ambiguous, but he had a corner office. Surely he could do something.

We walked in and I asked where the DAV rep was. Did he know there was a line of older vets waiting for help?  (Click to Continue)

Full Article & Source:
My father and the dysfunctional, broken VA

Mysterious signature adds to confusion in Patterson Guardianship case

by Michael Volpe:
WASHINGTON, September 2, 201 6- A mysterious signature has deepened the confusion over Martin Patterson’s already controversial guardianship.

Patterson, only 37 and a former Army Ranger, was deemed incompetent as a result of being hit by lightning and placed into guardianship in 2011. Under guardianship, he is unable to make his own financial decisions.

Several neurological and competency tests have found Patterson competent.

Patterson alleges his mother Gail, an employee of the Erie, Pennsylvania VA Medical Center,  is responsible for the guardianship petition. He also alleges that since he has been in guardianship, approximately $100,000 has been misspent.

On August 1, 2014, Karen Boatwright signed off on the accounting for Patterson’s yearly budget- a total in excess of $75,000.

But Boatwright is an individual Patterson doesn’t know.

“I’ve never communicated with her,” Patterson said.

Patterson further stated the name was totally foreign to him until he discovered it on his document. He said that it was his understanding that his VA Fiduciary- the individual solely responsible for managing his money while in guardianship- was Laura Eaton of the local nonprofit MECA Inc. Not so, said Lisa Goebel, the spokesperson for the VA Fiduciary Hub In Indianapolis, which is overseeing the case.

Full Article & Source:
Mysterious signature adds to confusion in Patterson Guardianship case

See Also:
Former Army Ranger Claims Forced Guardianship

Former Army Ranger claims forced guardianship

WASHINGTON, August 19, 2016 – A former Army Ranger says he was forced into guardianship by his overbearing parents, assisted by the Veterans Administration, despite being mentally fit and able to care for himself.

Martin Patterson,  37, was an Army Ranger from 1998 to 2005. He was struck by lightning in 2004, but recovered and completed a tour of duty in Afghanistan in 2005.

His parents, Gail and Roger Patterson, believe the accident left him mentally unable to care for himself.

After his divorce in 2011, Patterson moved back to Erie, Pennsylvania, where his parents live. His mother, an employee the Erie VA Medical Center, then petitioned to have Patterson deemed incompetent and put into guardianship.

Guardianship is a legal process whereby persons deemed mentally unfit to take care of themselves have legal guardians take care of them.

An initial report done by the VA found Patterson to be competent.

However, his parents were not deterred. Gail Patterson continued her efforts and reached out to the VA fiduciary Hub, the agency within the VA that handles guardianship matters.

The VA Fiduciary Hub In Indianapolis, which handled Patterson’s case,  dismissed concerns that Gail Patterson’s employment with the VA created a conflict of interest, stating, “The Indianapolis Fiduciary Hub has no need to know where Mrs. Patterson works.”

 The Erie VA Medical Center issued this statement: “The health and well being of our veterans is our number one priority. We take these issues very seriously and we will continue to follow up with the veteran directly to address his concerns. Out of respect for patient privacy, we are not able to get into specifics of the case.”

There are others who believe Gail Patterson’s employment did create a conflict.

Kristen Davis is a veteran herself and a friend of Patterson’s told CDN that Patterson’s mother’s role at the Erie VAMC was critical in creating a conflict of interest. She said, “Martin Patterson was deemed incompetent by VA Field Examiner Carla Amendola in March 2011 at the request of Gail Patterson. They are coworkers and have a personal history. The VA Fiduciary Hub was aware Gail Patterson is an Erie VAMC employee, as evidenced by her own email communication about the investigation into Martin’s VA funds being misused by Laura Eaton. Laura Eaton was recommended by Carla Amendola as a VA Fiduciary.”

A fiduciary Hub appointed Laura Eaton, who runs a local nonprofit, to be Patterson’s VA fiduciary.

Eaton is no stranger to controversy; in 2011 she was indicted for theft,though the charges were eventually dropped.

Eaton did not respond to a voicemail request for comment.

On April 12, 2012, a temporary status conference was held in front of Erie County Pleas Judge Stephanie Dimotrovich.

Judge Dimotrovich, after hearing the pleas of Patterson’s parents and Eaton, placed Patterson in temporary guardianship, and Eaton was assigned to be his guardian.

Judge Dimotrovich did not respond to a call at her chambers for comment.
Patterson has remained in guardianship even though the VA has found him competent. Here’s part of a letter to his mother, “On October 20, 2014, a letter went out stating that your son, Martin J Patterson was found by our Behavioral Health Clinic to have decision making capability.”

Throughout the process, Patterson’s parents have argued that their son is not able to make “life decisions” because of damage from the lightning strike. However, neither Patterson’s parents nor Eaton has any expertise in brain injuries. They have never called a neurologist to testify regarding the case.

Patterson said that though he technically maintains his freedom, effectively he’s at the mercy of his guardian.

“Anything which needs a signature needs her approval,” Patterson said.

He said he can’t get his own apartment because his monthly allowance Is too small, and he can’t get work since no one will hire someone deemed incapacitated.

Patterson currently lives in a house on his parents’ property.

In a statement, the Indianapolis Fiduciary Hub suggested this was all for Patterson’s benefit, “VA has the honor of providing a broad range of benefits to eligible Veterans, and has a statutory requirement to protect the VA funds of Veterans who due to Injury or disease are unable to manage their financial affairs.”

Rather than managing his finances, Patterson said, the VA has stood by while nearly $100,000 of his funds was misused by his parents, ex-wife and Eaton.

Full Article & Source:
Former Army Ranger claims forced guardianship

Memphis VA retaliates against Veteran who exposed neglect

MEMPHIS, Aug. 28, 2015 – The patient who leaked shocking videos showing paralyzed veterans left unattended at the Memphis VA says the only change since the video is that the hospital is now retaliating against him.

Last week, CDN broke  the news that paraplegic and quadriplegic veterans at the Memphis VA are left alone while nurses attend staff meetings.

The story was first released on CDN, and then was picked up by the Fox News Channel, featured on Fox & Friends as well as on its website, sparking national outrage about lack of care at the VA.

Instead of rectifying a bad situation, hospital staff appears to have taken punitive action against the source of the video. Staff placed the patient, whose identity CDN is protecting for safety concerns, on bed rest after they speculated he could be responsible for the video. On bed rest, he is not allowed to move from his bed. “Before the videos, I was able to get up for an hour or so,” he told CDN. “I don’t understand why I can’t get up for an hour. It (moving around) helped with my mental health and with my overall outlook, I was able to go outside and get fresh air.”

The source noted, however, that there has been no change in terms of leaving patients unattended during staff meetings, which take place three times a day. “So far as I know it’s still the same thing. I’m in a room where I can actually see the front desk from my room.”

Willie Logan, the Memphis VA’s press representative, told CDN in its last story that a nurse was always at the nurse’s station and patients only needed to push a button to reach a nurse.

The source disagrees. He noted, “It’s apparent from the video that there is not somebody at the nurse’s station at all times. The room where they have that meeting is not a patient’s room so I’m not sure if they can hear the call.”

On the foxnews.com article, several commenters pointed out that a quadriplegic, someone paralyzed from the neck down, isn’t able to push a button.

A follow-up email to Logan on this issue was left unreturned, but the patient said shortly after the email was sent, several nursing managers who had never been in the ward before were working in the ward. “I’ve seen people in here I’ve never seen before,” he said. “They’re flipping beds and cleaning under mattresses and everything.”

Following the exposure, Paralyzed Veterans of America released a statement condemning the deplorable conditions. “This video speaks to a need that our organization has stressed to VA leaders, Congress and the public for quite some time: VA needs more nurses in specialized care services like spinal cord injury centers.”

The patient said his current care is indicative of the quality of care at the Memphis VA for years. “The treatment was so bad that I made up my mind not to come back,” he said of his experience four years ago.

Because of the severity of the injury, he said he was forced to get treatment at the Memphis VA because he didn’t have proper insurance for treatment outside the VA system.

Sean Higgins, the whistleblower who brought these videos to the attention of CDN, said this case is a microcosm of a bigger problem at the Memphis VA. “The situation in the Memphis VA has been out of hand for quite some time. To care for those who shall have borne the battle is clearly not the agenda at the Memphis VA,” Higgins said in a text message to CDN. “We veterans see the neglect from management that is filtered down to the staff that actually cares for these veterans. We continue to see more of the same: deny, delay, and hope you die before they have to pay.”

Full Article & Source:
Memphis VA retaliates against Veteran who exposed neglect