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Monday, March 18, 2024
March 18, 2024

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VA erases debt of terminally ill veteran after outcry

The Columbian
Published:

SEATTLE — On the Tuesday before Christmas, Debbie Shafer went to her post office in Gold Bar and found a letter with welcome news: $6,324 in debt relief from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

The debt resulted from Shafer’s marriage in January to her longtime boyfriend, Rob Arthur, a Vietnam veteran who’s coping with terminal brain cancer.

The marriage has been a source of comfort for them both.

But the $22,000 a year Shafer earned as a nurse’s aide put the couple over the financial limits for Arthur’s income-based VA pension. The couple notified the VA of their marriage a few weeks after the ceremony, but it took the agency more than six months to determine that Arthur no longer qualified for the pension.

The VA wanted the couple to repay all the money they received during the time it took to make that decision.

“It’s amazing to get that letter today,” Shafer said. “It’s a relief. A big relief not to have this debt.”

In a story earlier this month, The Seattle Times reported that Shafer and Arthur accepted the VA’s decision to eliminate his pension. But they were angry at the VA’s request to pay back the money and said the collection demands had become a big source of stress during a difficult time in their lives.

VA officials said the department had no choice but to request the back payments. They said federal law requires that changes in a pension be made retroactive to the date a veteran’s status first changed.

The Seattle Times story triggered dozens of calls and emails from readers.

Many were concerned that the couple were being held accountable for a delay that resulted from the VA’s inability to keep up with a massive caseload of veterans who turn to the agency for benefits. They offered to chip in money to help pay off the debt.

But Shafer and Arthur had said they hoped the VA would approve a debt waiver they requested Nov. 11 due to financial hardship.

“We simply cannot afford to survive should we be held responsible for this debt,” they wrote.

In a letter dated Dec. 18, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Bothell, backed their request.

“I am deeply concerned by the financial, physical and emotional harm that collecting this debt would have on Mr. Arthur, who is currently receiving radiation therapy for his terminal brain-cancer diagnosis,” DelBene wrote.

Apparently, the VA had made its decision one day before DelBene’s request arrived. The VA letter dated Dec. 17 that arrived in Gold Bar on Tuesday said the financial-hardship waiver was approved, and “there is no need to take further action in regards to the debt.”

Arthur was resting Tuesday afternoon and unavailable for comment.

Shafer said that she will be working for the next several days as a nurse’s aide in Everett.

But on Monday, after she completes those shifts, she will cook up a dinner of turkey and all the trimmings. Then, the couple will celebrate not only Christmas but also the VA’s decision.

“We’ll be celebrating freedom from debt. We have never liked debt and tried very hard not to create it,” Shafer said.

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