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SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court on Wednesday put on hold its ruling that ordered a dramatic overhaul of the Department of Veterans Affairs health care system, because it wants to reconsider the earlier decision.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said a special 11-judge panel will reconsider the appeal of two veterans group who accused the VA of shoddy medical treatment and ignoring rising mental health problems, including an increase in suicides. The veterans alleged in their 2007 lawsuit filed in San Francisco federal court that the VA was taking too long to process claims.
A three-judge panel of the same court in May agreed with the veterans and ordered a new mental health care plan that implements a speedier process to appeal denied benefits, provides timely mental health treatment and ensures suicidal vets are seen immediately.
In the strongly worded ruling in May, the 9th Circuit said it takes the department an average of four years to fully provide the mental health benefits owed veterans. The court also said it often takes weeks for a suicidal vet to get a first appointment.
The "unchecked incompetence" in handling the flood of post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health claims is unconstitutional, the court said.
Chief Judge Alex Kozinski dissented from that ruling, writing that the ruling trampled congressional limits on judicial review of VA decisions.
That 2-1 ruling was invalidated Wednesday when a majority of the court's judge's voted to rehear the case. Kozinski, as chief judge, was automatically assigned to the new panel. The other judges will be randomly selected.
Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans United for Truth filed the lawsuit in San Francisco federal court in 2007 alleging the VA was falling down on its duty to provide timely care for the mental health needs of the country's military veterans. After a two-week trial in 2008, U.S. District Judge Samuel Conti said he was powerless to act because Congress narrowly limited the authority courts have in reviewing VA benefit decisions.
Conti didn't find a system-wide crisis in which health care is not being provided within a reasonable time to the roughly 5 million veterans enrolled in the VA's health care system, which includes 153 hospitals and 800 clinics.
