Many Americans agree that military veterans deserve our respect and gratitude and access to ongoing

health care for any service-related injuries.

Presumably fewer would agree they deserve lifelong cash

payments for minor ailment. From KERA in Dallas, this is Think. I'm Chris Boyd. I'm talking really

minor here. Yes, there are just under 11,000 veterans drawing disability compensation for severe

and penetrating brain injuries sustained

since the year 2000, and not quite 1,700 who get money for having lost limbs in Iraq

or Afghanistan.

But the VA also pays out monthly stipends to half a million veterans diagnosed with eczema,

330,000 who have hemorrhoids, and nearly 700,000 who have

allergic rhinitis. You and I call that hay fever. There are also payments associated with more

serious diagnoses. But as my guest and his colleagues discovered, the honor system that operates

to ensure all veterans get the care they deserve means at least some of them

have motivation to exaggerate or even outright lie about what ails them.

Craig Whitlock is an investigative reporter who specializes in national security issues at the

Washington Post, where you can read the story how some veterans exploit $193 billion VA program due to

lax controls. Craig, welcome to think. Thanks for having me, Chris. You and your colleagues looked at

25 years of data here. How about the amounts American taxpayers are spending on VA disability care and payments?

How have they changed over that time?

It's gone up by an extraordinary amount.

So this past year, taxpayers are spending about $193 billion on disability compensation for veterans.

And that's, again, distinct from health care from veterans.

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