Veteran says VA denied him coverage for cancer treatment: In another story about the Veterans’ Administration not providing adequate care, a veteran with stage-4 cancer says he was denied benefits due to his income. According to a report by local TV station WKYT in Lexington, Chuck Brewer, an Army veteran who signed up when he was 20 years old and served in the 82nd Airborne Division, was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer in March.
After his honorable discharge, Brewer earned a degree in social work and went on to spend his career in pharmaceutical and medical sales.
A paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team pulls security during a combat operation June 2, 2012, in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan. His fellow paratroopers and Afghan soldiers inserted into the rugged mountain terrain via helicopter. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Michael J. MacLeod.
A Tragic Story
“It was very difficult. It was scary at first, but I think I was more scared for my family,” Brewer told the TV station. As his medical costs began to mount, he turned to the VA for help. But the agency told him they couldn’t, because he makes too much money to qualify.
“There is apparently a dollar amount you earn yearly through your salary, there’s a cutoff for Southeast Kentucky. If you make more than 45,000 dollars, there’s no benefits for you,” Brewer told the TV station. “My brother said when we went in, they were telling us about all these benefits we’d have forever, regardless. And they’re not living up to any of them for you.”
As a result, the family launched a GoFundMe to help with Brewer’s medical costs, which is now more than halfway to its $20,000 goal.
“Chuck is the kind of man people naturally gravitate toward,” the GoFundMe says. “The one who can make you laugh when you need it most and remind you, without even trying, what a good heart looks like. Chuck has spent his life showing strength, resilience, and quiet courage. But beyond his service, he is, first and foremost, a devoted family man.”
“Everybody struggles a little bit financially, and they’re struggling too, but they still decided to give, so it means a lot,” Brewer told the TV station.
Another Cancer Controversy in North Carolina
Also, this week, the news came that the VA had released a report showing that the VA Fayetteville Coastal Healthcare System in North Carolina had taken nearly two years to provide a diagnosis of lung cancer and effective treatment for a patient.
According to the Fayetteville Observer newspaper, the VA’s Office of Inspector General received the complaint in May 2024, claiming that the health system “did not provide the patient with a timely diagnosis between December 2023 and May 2024.”
What was it that caused the delay?
“The patient’s primary care provider did not act on a radiologist’s recommendation for a chest computed tomography (CT) scan for over 15 months after an abnormal chest x-ray in March 2022,” the Inspector General’s report said. “After a CT scan confirmed a lung mass, a pulmonologist requested expedited community care, but staff delayed scheduling the appointment for more than five months. The OIG found no explanation for the delay, despite documented handoffs and reminders.”
The patient, who is not named in the report, was subsequently diagnosed with Stage III lung cancer and has required chemotherapy, radiation, and “care from a community pulmonologist and oncologist.”
Also found, per the newspaper report, were “deficiencies in reviewing a backlog of unscheduled consults for other patients.”
“Evaluative Rating: Impact of Medication”
This follows a controversy that made the news back in February, when the Department of Veterans Affairs announced a new rule called “Evaluative Rating: Impact of Medication,” which was described by Task & Purpose at the time as changing rules so that veterans “will have their disability compensation evaluated based on whether their prescribed medication or treatment improves their illness or injury.” This led to an outcry by veterans groups.
“They are going to be evaluated under this new criteria and potentially receive a lower disability rating based on this sudden interim rule, whereas last Friday, they likely would have gotten a higher evaluation because this rule wasn’t in place,” Michael Figlioli, the national service director for Veterans of Foreign Wars, told Task & Purpose at the time.
The following week, the VA had a surprising response to the outcry: They said they were not planning to ever do anything with the new rule.
“Our intentions were to put out a rule, which we thought would clarify our processes,” VA Deputy Secretary Paul Lawrence said while addressing a conference of Disabled American Veterans in late February. “But obviously, it did not. So we withdrew the rule. And candidly, we have no intention of ever doing anything or talking about it ever again.”
A few days earlier, the VA Secretary, Doug Collins, had announced on X that the VA was “halting enforcement of the interim final rule, Evaluative Rating: Impact of Medication,” effective immediately.
It follows a series of controversies and scandals involving the VA across several different presidential administrations. These have included the 2006 VA data breach, as well as reports of falsified VA wait-time data during the Obama Administration.
Last year, in the early days of the second Trump Administration, the era of Elon Musk’s DOGE led to large numbers of personnel departing the VA, a trend critics said was beginning to affect veterans’ care.
“The number of medical staff on hand to treat veterans has fallen every month since Donald Trump took office,” The Guardian reported last August. “The VA has experienced a net loss of 2,000 registered nurses since the start of this fiscal year, the data show, along with approximately 1,300 medical assistants, 1,100 nursing assistants and licensed practical nurses, 800 doctors, 500 social workers and 150 psychologists.”
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review, and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, national security, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
