Chicago Sun-Times: VA official: Workers may be to blame

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-wvets05.html

"Illinois' wounded veterans are receiving among the lowest disability pay in the nation possibly because federal Veterans Affairs disability raters in Chicago are too harsh and inadequately trained, top VA officials said Friday.

"The difficulty comes in when the claims are subjective or vague -- lower back pain or a mental disability," VA Secretary Jim Nicholson told a crowd of veterans and VA officials at the Yorkville American Legion in Kendall County.

"There's a human factor of a guy sitting on this side of the desk rating and there's a veteran over there. That's a subjective call. That's where the difficulty is."

In his first official visit to Illinois since assuming the top post nearly five weeks ago, Nicholson said subjectivity in disability decisions is just one factor in the VA inspector general's investigation into the national disability system."

Hmmm . . .