Disability claims are denied more for Black veterans, data shows

New data received by NBC News ­­from the Department of Veterans Affairs shows that Black veterans were denied disability claims more than white veterans across the VA healthcare system in the last 20 years.

The disparities were highlighted in a series of reports by NBC News Now and NBC local stations in a series called “American Vets: Benefits, Race and Inequality..“

Two local veterans from the Boston area say generations of mistrust at the VA need to be repaired. 

“We served this country. We raised our hands and said we will fight” said Heywood Fennel, a Vietnam veteran.

We met Fennel at the Gourdin Memorial in Nubian Square. It's a park in the heart of Roxbury that honors all black veterans.

“This one is about the Civil War. This one to my left is about the American Revolution. And it goes on down through to Afghanistan," said Fennel.

Fennel was stationed in Okinawa during the Vietnam War.

“A lot of Black veterans came back with all kinds of illnesses, particularly around substance abuse. It turned into other things," he explained.

Twenty-eight years ago when Fennel sought treatment for addiction, he didn’t go to the VA for help. He says that’s very common for Black veterans of his era around Boston.

“They won't go to the VA because they don't trust the VA. And the VA doesn't listen in terms of how do we develop a bridge to our veterans to help them and not make them feel that they don't belong there?" Fennel said.

Fennel points to a study from the Boston Public Health Commission in 2007 that found 78% of Black veterans who responded felt they experienced discrimination at the VA.

Through a public records request, NBC News received over 17 million records from the Department of Veterans Affairs that detail disability claims going back 20 years. That data showed that since 2003, Black veterans have been denied at a higher rate than white veterans every single year. 

Even though Massachusetts doesn’t have denial rates as high as most states, there’s still disparity. In the last 20 years, Black veterans had their disability claims denied 20% of the time compared to white veterans who had their claims denied 18% of the time.

Last November, Yale Law School’s Veterans Legal Services Clinic filed a lawsuit on behalf of Conley Monk Jr., a Connecticut Vietnam war veteran, who claims the monk was repeatedly denied home loan, education and medical benefits because he is black.

Last week, the U.S. District Court in Connecticut heard arguments to go forward in the case.

“And we hope that the court ultimately recognizes the legal duty that the VA owes to the Monk family, to generations of Black veterans, to administer benefits in a non-discriminatory manner,” said Deja Morehead, a member of Monk’s legal team.

In July, the Government Accountability Office released a report that found between the years 2010 and 2020, Black veterans had the lowest approval rate for disability claims among all racial and ethnic groups.

Black veterans' approval rate for disability claims was 61% compared to 75% for white veterans.

The report includes possible factors for the disparities, claiming veterans from disadvantaged racial and ethnic groups may not have the proper medical records needed to file a claim, and they may be unaware that veterans service organizations can help them submit their claims.

Rep. Seth Moulton, a Marine veteran who sits on the House Armed Forces Committee, says the VA needs to do a better job reaching communities that might be reluctant to seek treatment.

“I think that given that the VA is ultimately in charge of getting veterans the benefits that they have earned, it is incumbent upon the VA to dig into this more, to try to figure out what's what's going on,” said Moulton.

In March, VA Secretary Denis McDonough announced the creation of an equity team that will be responsible for investigating and eliminating racial disparities inside the agency.

Vincent Ng, director of the Boston VA Healthcare System sent us this statement: 

“It’s our mission at VA Boston Healthcare System to provide exceptional care and benefits to all Veterans – no matter their age, race, ethnicity, gender, religion, disability, or sexual identity. If you’re a Veteran who believes that you’re not getting the care and benefits you deserve – or if you believe you have been discriminated against for any reason – please contact our patient advocates or our minority, women or LGBTQ+ Veteran care coordinators, whose contact information can be found on our website, www.boston.va.gov. These advocates work with our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, and leadership to help ensure a welcoming environment of care for all our Veterans, visitors, and employees. We assure any Veteran who reaches out that we will do everything in our power to get them the health care and benefits they’ve earned.

VA Boston regularly surveys Veterans to gauge trust that VA will fulfill their health care needs and our country's commitment to them and their families. Our trust scores consistently demonstrate that Veterans of all backgrounds have trust in VA Boston HCS. Our overall trust rating from the most recent digital surveys, tracked over 12 months through Nov. 6, 2023, was 92.7 out of 100, and our rating with Black or African American Veterans was 94. Moving forward, we will continue to work to build trust with Black Veterans and all Veterans – and stop at nothing to provide these heroes with the world-class care they deserve.”

Randolph native Arafat Knight, an Iraq War veteran who drove trucks, left the Marine Corps in 2005. 

“See, the thing about it is that when I was in the Marine Corps, we never complained about anything. You know, you were taught the mission came first and you didn't complain about anything,” said Knight.

It was over a decade later that he started feeling the physical effects of his service.

“So four years ago, I realized that I've gone through knee braces like crazy. My knees were bad,” Knight said, “but they felt that it wasn't service connected because I never complained about it when I would serve.”

In 2019 a veteran service officer from the Wounded Warriors Project helped him re-file his disability claim.

“You look at the application form to the VA, and it's like they're confusing. If you've never filled out an application, it's confusing,” Knight added.

That helped inspire Knight to change careers. He’s now a veterans service officer.

“I think that's where Massachusetts is an example, you know, how veterans should be treated, because in the state of Massachusetts, every city and town has a veteran service officer associated with it,” Knight said.

But even now as a VSO, he sees racial disparity firsthand.

“When a Black veteran comes in and you look at your disability rating. And they were coming in saying I was at 30, 40%, whereas a white counterpart was at 70, 80, 90 or 100%,” said Knight.

Moulton believes the state could be doing more to close the gap.

“We can't just sit here in Massachusetts and say, well, let's just let the VA figure it out. Right. We should be looking at this. The administration should be looking at this to see if there's anything that we fund or we control in the Commonwealth that we could that could be contributing to this injustice," Moulton said.

We can't just sit here in Massachusetts and say, well, let's just let the VA figure it out. Right. We should be looking at this. The administration should be looking at this to see if there's anything that we fund or we control in the Commonwealth that we could that could be contributing to this injustice

Rep. Seth Moulton

The General Gourdin Memorial Park just opened this year. For Fennel, it’s a long overdue reminder to the city of how people of color have served this country for generations.

“It speaks to the need for people to understand our contributions and to bring forth the support that we can solve and remove ourselves from this systemic racism that we are living in now,” said Fennel.

Find a veterans' service officer in Mass.