Disabled American veterans seeking benefits they are legally entitled to have found themselves facing another invoice, this time from private companies charging thousands for access to what is supposed to be free help. Washington is now scrambling to respond after fresh reporting exposed just how aggressively those firms have embedded themselves inside the claims system.
A bipartisan bill introduced in Congress this week would block for-profit benefits consultants from using automated dialling technology to repeatedly call federal agencies, a tactic lawmakers say has allowed companies to track veterans' disability payments and issue demands for money the moment those payments rise.
