Claim shark bill advances out of Minnesota House veterans affairs subcommittee

ST. PAUL — The House Veterans Affairs Division approved a bill to fight claim sharks in Minnesota on Wednesday, March 19.

The division is a subcommittee of the State Government Committee. It approved forwarding HF1855 to the Judiciary Committee.

Bill author Emma Greenman of Minneapolis said the state government can’t solve the difficult of the VA disability claims process, but it can solve the for-profit aspect of claim sharks.

“The fact that this bill is a top priority for the Commanders’ Task Force and for the department reflects the urgency of addressing the growing problem of claim sharks. It’s growing nationally and it’s growing in Minnesota,” Greenman said.

The “department” she mentioned refers to the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs.

Greenman told the committee that veteran service officers with the counties and with veteran service organizations, such as the Legion, VFW, DAV, go through rigorous training to receive accreditation to provide claim services for free to veterans.

“This bill doesn’t take away the private providers. It requires VA accreditation,” she said.

The Minneapolis VA Medical Center and the Minneapolis Veterans Home are in Greenman’s district.

Minnesota American Legion Legislative Chair Kristy Janigo said The American Legion and other congressionally chartered organizations in the CTF are asking for greater accountability and protections.

“I recognize that some veterans may choose to pay an attorney or a claims representative for a certain result, but what bothers me, chair and members, are when vulnerable veterans sign up to pay these fees,” she said. “I have worked with homeless veterans who had signed a private contract with a private attorney. And I ask you: Is it ethical for a private attorney or a business to profit off a homeless veteran. This bill won’t solve that, but it may help as a deterrent.”

Janigo is a Hennepin County service officer described shady tactics by unaccredited parties that happen in her line of work: gaining access to a veteran’s VA login, gaining access to their bank accounts, promising better VA disability ratings, stating the ability to speed up a claim, sending veterans to a private physician while asking them to not see a VA provider and submitting an intent to file while holding back the claim to maximize the back payment, so the shark gets a larger cut.

There was opposition at the hearing from an employee of Veterans Benefit Guide, a manager with Veterans Guardian and two Minnesota lawyers.

One of the Minnesota lawyers, Brian Lewis, was rebuked by a co-chair, Rep. Matt Bliss of Pennington, for disparaging accredited veteran service officers as “untrained and unqualified laypersons,” in what appeared to be nothing more than an argument claiming only lawyers know anything.

The one from Veterans Benefit Guide, Ryan Scalmanini, said the bill severely limits veterans’ access to benefits. He said county veteran service officers lack the time to keep up.

The one from Veterans Guardian, John Blomstrom, argued his company is not adversarial with service officers and said his company is upfront about fees. The veteran, he said, doesn’t owe a thing if the claim is unsuccessful. He said his company aims to be moral and ethical in its practices.

“We support the protections this bill offers,” he said.

However, Blomstrom asked to talk about changing the bill’s language “to get common-sense legislation with guardrails in place.”

Lewis had claimed the bill’s creation lacked input from a lawyer. However, during comments by legislators, it was pointed out that Greenman herself is a lawyer. Also, Minnesota Association of County Veteran Service Officers Executive Director John Baker is a lawyer and veteran who was involved in the bill’s crafting.

Baker, an American Legion member with North St. Paul Post 39, testified how service officers go through rigorous training and accreditation.

“There is no accreditation on these claim sharks in Minnesota,” he said.

Other testifiers were Goodhue County Veteran Service Officer Marissa LaCourt, MDVA Deputy Commissioner Ben Johnson, DAV of Minnesota Adjutant Stephen “Butch” Whitehead, Minnesota VFW Adjutant Barry Henriksen, Minnesota VFW Service Officer Jon Gohn and Marine veteran Ross LaCourt.

The LaCourts are both Legion members of Apple Valley Post 1776.

Ross LaCourt described his own experiences of claim sharks trying to get his disability rating of 90 percent increased to 100 percent for a fee.