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A web of for-profit companies assist veterans in claiming disability funds by helping vets navigate the tangled red tape of the VA. Critics of these companies call them claim sharks, while proponents say they're needed, and that's why veterans are willing to pay them. NPR's investigations team has been following the money and asked what, if anything, Congress is doing to regulate the Wild West of veterans claims consulting. Caley Fox Shannon and Quil Lawrence have the story.
CALEY FOX SHANNON, BYLINE: When Erik Jensen was a deep-water diver for the Navy in the late '70s, he wore a wet suit that weighed more than he did.
QUIL LAWRENCE, BYLINE: It's called the Mark V. It had a heavy copper helmet and a thick rubber suit, like something out of an old sci-fi movie.
ERIK JENSEN: We already had men on the moon that were still using a diving suit that was invented in the 1880s. It was horrible to have to dive in.
LAWRENCE: That took a toll on Jensen's body. During his years of service, he also developed psoriasis, which, decades later, caused painful arthritis.
JENSEN: All my joints started hurting. I'd wake up in the middle of the night. I couldn't move my fingers, couldn't move my wrists. It was just - it was like I was made out of stone.
SHANNON: Jensen saw an ad online for a company called Trajector Medical. They help with VA disability claims. Here's their pitch. You only pay the company if your monthly check from VA goes up, and then they charge five times that increase.
JENSEN: If they don't increase it, then you don't owe us anything. And so I went well, that sounds pretty good. You know, what do I got to lose?
LAWRENCE: It's illegal to charge vets money to prepare an initial VA claim. Nonprofits like VFW do it for free and get accredited by VA. But nearly two decades ago, Congress took away the fines for breaking that law. So even though it's still technically illegal, with no oversight, a cottage industry of VA claims consulting has boomed. In some cases, they could charge $20,000 or more.
SHANNON: In a recent NPR investigation, we heard from more than 350 veterans who used companies like Trajector Medical. Many of them said the private firms offered valuable help, and they were happy to pay for it. Others, though, felt misled.
LAWRENCE: Like Jensen. He said that Trajector exaggerated his symptoms and tacked on extra health conditions that he hadn't asked them to claim. Jensen became a nurse after his diving days, and he didn't think the medical evidence was up to snuff. Still, his claim through Trajector was successful, so he paid up.
JENSEN: I'm embarrassed to say I ended up paying 12,000.
LAWRENCE: Trajector declined requests for an interview, but a representative said the company doesn't file claims. They only provide medical evidence to vets.
SHANNON: There are scores of companies like Trajector across the country. Gage Coons is a former Navy mechanic who hired a company called Veteran Benefits Guide. He said it was worth the $5,000 he paid out of his newly increased benefits check.
GAGE COONS: That process went by super-fast. It was boom, boom, boom, and I got my new rating within, I would say, four months. I was more than happy with paying that, especially with the amount you get monthly, which helps out dramatically and especially in this economy.
LAWRENCE: As this industry has grown, competing bills to regulate it are percolating in Congress. Accredited veteran service organizations are pushing lawmakers to support a bill called the GUARD Act, which would reinstate criminal penalties and put teeth back in the law. Here's Kristina Keenan from the VFW.
KRISTINA KEENAN: These unaccredited companies that charge exorbitant fees to veterans - we call them claim sharks. And we're really trying to focus on a federal solution to rein in these actors and to ensure that they're not continuing to operate the way that they happen.
LAWRENCE: A competing bill, the Choice Act, would legitimize companies and set a cap for what they can charge.
SHANNON: While Congress is gridlocked, state lawmakers have been busy. The result is a patchwork of contradictory laws from state to state. But veterans' benefits are a federal program worth more than $170 billion a year. So Congress may have to weigh in.
Caley Fox Shannon.
LAWRENCE: And Quil Lawrence, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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