The Alarm Bell: They're Coming for Your Veterans Benefits
A Senate Hearing You Missed Just Set the Stage to Cut Benefits for 6.9 Million Veterans
The Alarm Bell: They’re Coming for Your Benefits
The Gist
On October 29, 2025, a Senate hearing laid the groundwork to gut VA disability benefits for 6.9 million veterans.Senator Tuberville proposed creating a commission to “reform” the system. The star witness? Daniel Gade—a decorated, disabled veteran who claims disability compensation “robs veterans of purpose” and that “PTSD is curable.” He wants to eliminate conditions like hypertension and tinnitus, require mandatory treatment to keep benefits, and separate healthcare from compensation. Meanwhile, the VA is already limiting mental health sessions to 8-24 visits. This isn’t theoretical—it’s happening now. The fraud narrative is fiction (only 3.7% of investigations involve veterans), but they’re using it to justify massive cuts. You need to act.
Share this with every veteran you know.
While you were living your life—trying to make ends meet, get the kids fed, figure out how you’re going to pay for your kid’s broken arm, oh and your other kid wants to go on a field trip and you’re trying to figure out what you can cut to send them—yeah, that’s real life. A Senate hearing happened that should scare the hell out of every disabled veteran, their families, and the people who love them. This wasn’t about fixing the VA disability system. This was about building the case to gut it.
Why I’m Writing This
I’m a disabled veteran. I founded HadIt.com because I’ve been through this nightmare myself.
When I started fighting for my own VA disability compensation, I couldn’t make sense of the system. The regulations were scattered. The process was opaque. And forget about getting a straight answer. There was no “fill out a form, say the right words, boom—you’re compensated.” It was a battle just to understand what I was entitled to, much less how to prove it.
After one more hour on the phone with the VA—disconnected three times—I slammed down the phone and said “I’ve had it.” I registered the domain fifteen minutes later. That’s how HadIt.com was born.
I built it because I knew other veterans were going through the same hell. I wanted to create what didn’t exist when I needed it—a place where veterans could actually understand the system, learn how to navigate it, and fight for what they’d earned.
That’s what I do. HadIt.com. Tbird’s Quiet Fight. I cover policy threats like this because I know what’s at stake.
I receive VA disability compensation. It didn’t rob me of purpose—it gave me the stability to build platforms that have helped thousands of veterans win their claims and understand their benefits.
Daniel Gade says that makes my life meaningless. That I’ve lost my dignity. That I’m “trapped in idleness.”
He’s wrong.
I’m not letting his ideology—or the politicians using him as cover—dismantle what 6.9 million veterans earned.
But I can’t fight this alone.
What You Missed
The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee held a hearing called “Putting Veterans First: Is the Current VA Disability System Keeping Its Promise?” Nice title. Sounds reasonable, right?
The timing wasn’t coincidental. Three weeks earlier, the Washington Post ran a series of hit pieces painting the entire VA disability system as a fraud factory. They cherry-picked cases—a guy faking blindness for decades, a bodybuilder pretending he couldn’t walk—and presented them as typical of a system serving 6.9 million veterans.
The hearing used those articles as justification for what’s coming next.
The Players
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) wants to create a commission to “study” the disability system. Think BRAC, but for your benefits. A panel of “experts” who’ll spend 12-18 months writing recommendations that Congress can fast-track into law. Limited veteran input. Maximum damage potential.
Daniel Gade testified. Retired Army Lt. Colonel. Double amputee. Two Purple Hearts. Lost his leg in Iraq. And he told the committee that the disability system “robs veterans of purpose and dignity, trapping them in idleness and despair.” Called it “anti-thriving, anti-productivity, and ultimately, anti-veteran.”
Look, Gade’s service is honorable. What he overcame after losing his leg is remarkable. But his recovery isn’t typical. His path isn’t replicable for most veterans. And he’s using his exceptional circumstances to advocate for policies that would harm millions who don’t have his resources, education, or support system.
We need to talk about Gade. You need to know who this guy is.
The Washington Post articles provided the propaganda. Take 25 years of claims data, find the worst outliers, ignore 6.9 million legitimate beneficiaries, and boom—you’ve got your fraud narrative.
What They Want
Here’s what they’re actually proposing:
1. Eliminate “Lifestyle” Conditions
Gade specifically went after hypertension—a PACT Act presumptive. Called it what “old, fat people” get naturally. Never mind the science linking it to Agent Orange, burn pits, and chronic PTSD. He wants hypertension, diabetes, sleep apnea—all of it—reclassified as not compensable.
2. Mandatory Treatment as a Condition of Benefits
Gade wants to require veterans to undergo mental health treatment to keep receiving PTSD compensation. Don’t comply? Lose your benefits.
Here’s where it gets really ugly: While Gade’s pushing mandatory treatment, the VA is already cutting off access to that treatment.
Since Doug Collins took over as VA Secretary in January, mental health providers across the country are reporting they’re being pressured to terminate individual therapy after 8-24 sessions. Doesn’t matter if the veteran still needs care. Cut them off. Push them to group therapy or primary care.
The VA denies it publicly. But Stephen Long—former VA psychologist who retired in 2024—said he left specifically because he was being told to limit one-on-one sessions. He told The War Horse: “If you need insulin for your diabetes, you don’t stop it. Mental illnesses should be treated the same way.”
The VA’s lost nearly 150 psychologists this fiscal year. Staffing crisis. Session limits. And now Gade wants to make treatment mandatory for benefits.
You see the setup? Require treatment you can’t access, then cut benefits when you can’t comply. It’s designed to fail.
3. Separate Medical Care from Disability Ratings
The pitch: Give you healthcare for service-connected conditions but eliminate or drastically reduce the monthly compensation. They claim this “removes the incentive for false claims.”
What it actually does is strip away the recognition that service cost you something. Lost earning capacity. Quality of life. The financial compensation that helps you survive while managing your disabilities.
4. Redefine Disability
Gade’s version of disability: if you can work at all, you’re not disabled.
Tinnitus? Not a disability.
Flat feet? Not a disability.
Chronic pain you manage while working? Not a disability.
PTSD you’re holding together with medication and therapy? Not a disability.
Only total incapacity counts.
5. The Commission
Tuberville’s commission gets appointed. They study. They recommend. Congress fast-tracks it. Your benefits get “reformed.”
Translation: cut.
Let’s Talk About “PTSD is Curable”
Gade claims PTSD is curable. Therefore, no permanent compensation needed.
He’s wrong. Not opinion—medically, factually wrong.
The National Center for PTSD is clear: even the best evidence-based therapies only achieve remission in 53% of cases. That’s remission—not cure. You no longer meet diagnostic criteria, but triggers can reactivate symptoms. You still need ongoing management. The neural changes are permanent.
47% don’t even achieve remission with treatment. Are they not trying hard enough? Should we cut them off?
PTSD is a chronic condition. Like diabetes. Like hypertension—the very condition Gade wants to eliminate from the schedule because “old people get that.”
Treatment can achieve:
Symptom reduction
Better coping mechanisms
Improved function
Better quality of life
Treatment does NOT achieve:
Erasure of trauma
Elimination of triggers
Return to pre-trauma baseline
A cure
If PTSD were curable, the VA wouldn’t be running ongoing clinical trials for better treatments. If it were curable, the medical community wouldn’t describe it as requiring lifelong management.
Gade’s “cure” talk is ideological bullshit dressed up in medical language. It justifies mandatory treatment, cutting benefits when veterans don’t achieve impossible recovery standards, and blaming them when symptoms persist.
The Defense
VA Inspector General Cheryl Mason was direct: “There is no massive fraud going on. I take issue with that.”
Only 3.7% of OIG fraud investigations involve veterans. The rest? Claims sharks. Pension poachers. Predatory DBQ mills. Scammers preying ON veterans.
DAV, VFW, and Paralyzed Veterans of America testified that the real fraud comes from unaccredited reps charging illegal fees and operations exploiting veterans.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) called the Washington Post narrative “harmful” and “cherry-picking.”
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)—herself a disabled veteran—accused Gade of “downplaying invisible wounds and shaming claimants.”
But here’s the problem: Gade was the only non-VSO veteran witness. He was presented as the “reasonable” veteran voice. The one willing to tell “hard truths.”
That’s strategic.
Who Is Daniel Gade?
West Point graduate. Iraq veteran, wounded twice. Lost his right leg in 2005. Two Purple Hearts. Bronze Star. PhD in Public Administration. Former Virginia Commissioner of Veterans Services. Author of “Wounding Warriors: How Bad Policy Is Making Veterans Sicker and Poorer.” (See graphic at the end comparing Mr Gade’s experience with that of a typical veteran)
His ideology:
Disability compensation harms veterans by incentivizing the “sick role”
Most conditions aren’t real disabilities
Veterans should be rehabilitated BEFORE disability determination—even though the military already does this through MEB/PEB before discharge
VSOs are “interest groups” exploiting veterans for taxpayer money
Look, I know everyone gets frustrated with their VSO sometimes. Bureaucracy is bureaucracy. But these organizations have been fighting for decades to retain and improve our benefits. Agent Orange. Gulf War Syndrome. Burn pits. VSOs fought every one of those battles when the VA wanted to deny coverage.
I don’t know about you, but I want a lobby in Washington representing us. Because who else will besides other veterans? Gade wants to paint them as the problem. They’re not. They’re the only reason we still have benefits to fight over.
“PTSD is curable”—no permanent compensation needed
The contradiction: Gade receives VA disability compensation. Used Voc Rehab for his MBA. Built his entire post-military career on the foundation he now attacks.
The danger: He provides cover. When they want to cut benefits, they point to the double-amputee Purple Heart recipient and say “even HE says the system’s broken.”
He’s the token “good veteran” giving permission to attack the rest of us.
His “Independence Project” research? Funded by the Philanthropy Roundtable—a conservative think tank. His book? Promoted by Heritage Foundation.
This isn’t grassroots reform. It’s ideologically driven policy laundering.
Why This Is Different
Every generation fights this battle. Agent Orange. Gulf War Syndrome. Burn pits. The VA denied all of them for years.
But this attack is different. They’re not denying service connection. They’re redefining what disability means.They’re questioning whether compensation should exist for anything short of total incapacity.
And they’re using a decorated, disabled veteran to sell it.
The Real Numbers
Here’s what actual fraud looks like:
6.9 million veterans receiving disability compensation
3.7% of fraud investigations involve veterans
Less than 200 convictions annually out of 3+ million claims processed
That Philadelphia scandal? The one where a VA employee rubber-stamped 85,300 claims and 84% had errors? That was a VA employee, not veterans gaming the system. $2.2 million in improper payments from a system failure.
The massive fraud narrative is fiction. But they’re using it to justify massive changes.
What Happens Next
If the commission moves forward:
Panel gets appointed—likely includes people like Gade
They “study” for 12-18 months
Issue recommendations
Congress fast-tracks them
Your benefits get reformed
“Reform” means:
Elimination of common conditions
Mandatory treatment with benefits contingent on compliance
Means testing
Separation of care from compensation
Stricter evidence requirements
Aggressive reconsiderations and reductions
What You Do Right Now
1. Call Your Senators
Especially if they’re on Veterans Affairs Committee.
Chairman: Jerry Moran (R-KS) - 202-224-6521
Ranking Member: Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) - 202-224-2823
Script:
“I’m a veteran calling about the October 29th hearing on disability compensation. I’m concerned about the commission proposal and Gade’s testimony. The 3.7% fraud rate doesn’t justify punishing 6.9 million legitimate beneficiaries. Gade claims PTSD is curable—it’s not. Even best treatments only achieve remission in 53% of cases. And the VA is already limiting mental health sessions to 8-24 visits while Gade wants to mandate treatment for benefits. That’s a setup for failure. Oppose any commission or cuts disguised as reform.”
2. Support Your VSO
DAV, VFW, PVA fought back at the hearing. They need to know veterans have their backs.
3. Document Everything
If you’re rated:
Keep all medical records
Document conditions with private providers
Save all VA correspondence
This is real—your benefits could be re-evaluated under new criteria
4. Tell Your Story
The fraud narrative only works if we stay silent.
What does your disability compensation actually mean? Medication costs? Lost earnings? Ability to work part-time? Family stability?
Your reality counters their narrative.
5. Stay Informed
This is moving. The hearing was three days ago. More hearings coming. Tuberville hasn’t introduced commission legislation yet—but he will.
Watch:
VSO legislative updates
This platform—I’m tracking everything
The Bottom Line
They’re not coming for fake claims.
They’re coming for tinnitus. Hypertension. PTSD. Any condition they can redefine as “not really a disability.”
They’re coming for the monthly compensation that helps you afford medication, supplements lost earnings, and recognizes that service cost you something.
They’re using outlier fraud cases to justify systemic changes that will harm millions of legitimate beneficiaries.
And they’re doing it right now, while most veterans aren’t paying attention.
Consider yourself warned.
I’m tracking every development in this fight. Join thousands of veterans staying informed. Free updates when it matters.
The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee promised this is “not the first and will not be the last conversation” about reforming disability compensation. I’ll cover every development. Make sure your fellow veterans know what’s coming.
This is the fight. It starts now.
Next up: Deep dive on Daniel Gade—his ideology, his funding, his contradictions, and why he’s the most dangerous voice in veteran benefits.
Resources
The War Horse: “We Need to Terminate Treatment” (Aug 26, 2025)
CNN: “VA therapists say sessions being limited” (Oct 21, 2025)
Military Times: “VA mental health providers under pressure” (Aug 26, 2025)
A reflection of an administration that knows no honor?