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SALT LAKE CITY — The Department of Veterans Affairs set a goal of getting rid of a backlog of disability claims older than four months. At the moment, that backlog represented more than 400,000 veterans, but Iraq War vet, Curtis Thayer, is not one of them and he's been waiting for a decision on claims for years.
In 2010, Thayer of St. George, filed claims for injuries for PTSD, hearing, back, hand and other injuries and received a relatively quick ruling. He appealed a low rating for his back. The claim for his hand injuries was denied and he appealed that as well.
Thayer said he has been waiting on the appeals for three years and expects to wait another year and a half.
There are a 250,000 appeals similar to Thayer's, and they are not considered part of the backlog of claims the VA is currently battling. Veterans who go through the entire appeals process currently wait an average of four and a half years.
Thayer admitted part of his problem is that he didn't seek help when he was first hurt. He said he has repetitive strain injuries left over from his job as a Harrier jet mechanic. At the time he noticed the pain and numbness, but he said he didn't get medical treatment.
"Because I didn't think I needed it," Thayer said. "I've always been a strong-willed person. I'll fix everything myself. I can manage my life on my own."
After Thayer left the service, he had a hard time adjusting to civilian life and ended up homeless, living out of his truck.
"I continued to drink and continued to drink and just got worse and worse," he said. "The depression got worse, to the point where I was done and I just didn't want to go on any farther."
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"He told me, ‘You've got to do this. You've got to get help and that's what the VA's there for,' " Thayer said. "That's when life kind of took a turn for the better."
He filed disability claims, but because he didn't get help when he first hurt his hands, he didn't have necessary documentation, and he said he was turned down.
Thayer currently works at a part time job in the meat department of the local Costco, but his back and hand injuries sometimes slow him down.
"Some days are a little better than others," he said. "Some days are harder."
He said he visits the local plasma center two times a week for extra cash and he waits for more financial assistance that may come, but he doesn't think it will anytime soon.
A VA spokesman said the Board of Veterans Appeals, which handles formal appeals, has added 100 more lawyers to deal with the workload and are using more video teleconferencing to speed up the process. However, unlike new claims, most of these appeals exist only on paper, and can't be handled with the VA's new computer system.
The government shutdown also delayed the process. During the shutdown, the Board stopped handing down decisions.
"I think that the VA is really trying," Thayer said. "Their goal is to take care of us, but I think it's a little beyond them."
