Comment-Response #2 (2900-0002)

OMB # 2900-0002

VA Forms 21P-527, 21P-527EZ,

60-Day Notice, Comment Received 8-11-20

Comment #2:

A Ms. Noelle Amthor, on August 11, 2020 submitted the following comment: “I wholeheartedly disagree that the Department of Veterans Affairs is even allowed to request such a proposed change. I found the information given vague, ambiguous, and not complete enough in order to comment accurately. For instance, why does the Department of Veteran Affairs need to know what my or any other Disabled Veterans Net worth is in determining whether or not they should be able to claim for Total Disability Benefits? What we have earned throughout our lifetime working or inherited from family has no bearing on any claim for total disability. I believe this is an overreach and unacceptable invasion of privacy. What I earn, what my children or grandchildren earn, and who resides under my roof and their income and net worth has no bearing whatsoever to any person at the DVA and should not ever be a consideration in the application as to what qualifies as a compensation disability consideration.

I am not only a Veteran, but a former dependent of a Veteran, it would have been nice if the DVA had acknowledged my father's service connected disability before the 30 year mark, or recognize that his exposure to Agent Orange had ramifications not only to him but also myself as his child who was conceived after his first tour in Nam. He suffered needlessly and then when he finally did start to get compensation for the harm done to him during his time defending his adopted country, he passed away a few years later. In other words, he received about 7 years’ worth of 100% disability payments with no consideration for the 23 years he wasn't compensated for the harm done to him while in service. The financial burden he endured for being denied even a service connected disability due to exposure to Agent Orange, as well as what he had to pay out of pocket for medical expenses during those 23 years of not being compensated, is abhorrent to me as a Disabled Veteran myself.

The Department of Veterans Affairs needs to do more to help Veterans in need while they can do something to improve their quality of life and not further burden Veterans with unnecessary paperwork in an attempt to get them to not apply for deserved pension consideration. Reducing your paperwork but increasing that to the Veterans you are meant to support after honorable serving this great Nation should be your primary concern and not hindering Veterans from asking for help making a claim that should only be based on the merit of a Service

Connected Disability and being compensated accordingly.

I also cannot fathom that this would only concern 100,000 claimants, not with somewhere from the more than 20 million Veterans now existing in the US, but also not taking into account all the current active duty personnel and those of future generations to come in the years to come.

The reasoning, or lack thereof, behind this requested change lacks merit to say the very least!”

VBA Response #2:

VA Forms 21P-527, Income, Asset, and Employment Statement, and 21P-527EZ, Application for Veterans Pension are applications for VA Pension benefits. The Pension benefit is a needs-based benefit program for wartime Veterans, who are age 65 or older or have a permanent and total non-service-connected disability and have limited income and net worth. Eligibility is determined based on the income of and asset amounts for the veteran and their spouse. Completion of the dependent sections provides the VA with a clear understanding the dependency status of the Veteran. Additionally, Veterans who are more seriously disabled may qualify for pension at the increased housebound or aid and attendance rates.

The non-service-connected pension disability program is paid to Veteran’s who are deemed permanently and totally disabled from injuries or diseases that are not a result of active military service. While the VA appreciates both Ms. Amthor and her father’s service, the denial of service connection is not within the scope nor a subject of the Veteran pension program.

The estimated number of respondents listed within this collection is based on the total number of claimants who have claimed Pension within the previous year.