Five years after the Martinez v Astrue settlement, a case in which the NSCLC obtained $700 million in Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits that had been wrongfully suspended or denied to 200,000 people, the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) has adopted the provisions of the settlement for programs under their jurisdiction.
Dechert LLP, a law firm which advocated for the change on behalf of the Homeless Action Project in Philadelphia and NSCLC, among others, considers this “a great victory in our efforts to help homeless veterans.” The statutory language governing Department of Veteran Affairs (DVA) programs is identical to the “fugitive felon” statute under any circumstance. The VBA letter announcing the provisions does not address whether or not the new policy will apply to health care provided by the DVA.
