Camp LeJeune Contaminated Drinking Water
By Steve Fixler, Veteran Service Officer
I know this has been brought up before, but I am still getting questions about it, and I thought it would be good to reiterate.
There are a lot of commercials on TV and radio from attorneys asking to represent veterans and civilians who were at Camp LeJeune between 1953 and 1987. The lawsuit is based on drinking contaminated water at the site during that time.
One commercial says filing a lawsuit will not affect any VA benefits that the veteran is receiving. That is not true. Yes, the veteran will not lose any VA benefits, but any money the veteran receives from the lawsuit will be offset by any VA benefits received based on drinking the water.
Filing a VA claim for drinking the contaminated water is different from filing a lawsuit.
If a veteran is already receiving VA Service-Connected Disability Compensation for drinking the contaminated water at Camp LeJeune and that veteran files and wins a lawsuit, the award will be offset by any money or payments made in connection with health care or disability compensation payments related to the contaminated water for any VA, Medicare, or Medicaid program. You cannot be paid twice from the government for the same issue.
For example, if a veteran is receiving VA disability payments and wins a lawsuit:
Lawsuit Settlement: $200,000
An Offset: $100,000
Legal Fee (40%): $80,000
Net to Veteran: $20,000
In other words, if a veteran received money from the VA for drinking the water, they will subtract the amount of money the veteran received from the VA from the amount of money that the veteran gets from the lawsuit.
If you want to file a lawsuit against the government, make sure that it’s financially the right thing for you to do. Do not just let the attorney tell you that you should do it and join all the other veterans that are doing it. (There may not be a lot of veterans doing it.) Check out all your options on whether you should file the lawsuit and how it will impact your VA disability payments and hospital care.
As of this date, I do not know any veteran who has filed a lawsuit. I know they have filed VA claims. I am not saying it is wrong to file a lawsuit, but I just do not know of any veteran who has filed a lawsuit.
Another thing is that this is not just for Marines. If an Army, Navy, or Air Force veteran, or National Guard or Reservist was at Camp LeJeune, they also could be eligible for compensation.
Civilians and spouses of veterans filing a claim would not be affected by any VA benefits, but I do not know how that works if they are receiving any federal aid like Medicare. They need to check how that affects anything they’re receiving from the federal government.
Veterans also must watch out for scammers – not only to file a VA claim for drinking the water, but for any type of VA benefit. Last week, I had a wife of a veteran call me and say that she is working with an organization that will help her file for VA Aid and Attendance. The organization said that it will cost her $1,000.00. I told her no one ever has to pay to file a VA claim. She gave me his name and I have heard of him, but I always contact the Illinois Attorney General’s Office of Veteran and Military Affairs and report him. Like I said, no one ever has to pay to file a VA claim. Not only that, but they cannot guarantee that you will be approved for the claim and many times, they send you to a Veteran Service Officer who will actually send the paperwork to the VA.
Volume 77. Number 1. 2023
