Letter to William Barr, Attorney General - Dr. Ruiz Sends Letter to the Department of Justice Urging Action to Protect Benefits for Families of Fallen Police Officers

Letter

Dear Attorney General Barr,

We write to you today regarding the widespread delays that the families of fallen police officers and other first responders experience in receiving their benefits through the Public Safety Officers' Benefit (PSOB) Program. This program provides essential benefits to assist grieving families, and we are concerned that delays in approving benefits is reducing the efficacy of the program.

As of April 19, 2019, there were 333 pending PSOB death claims and more than 200 pending claims for disability and education benefits. Some of these cases date back as far as 2008, and more than a hundred claims sit at the initial level of review more than a year after they were filed. The principal point of the PSOB program is to provide families with the resources they need to get their lives back on track in the aftermath of a traumatic event, a goal that is rendered moot when benefits are withheld for such extensive periods of time.

It has been more than a decade since the GAO first studied the PSOB program and issued recommendations designed to expedite the benefit approval process. In 2015, the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General also conducted a review and discovered certain deficiencies that urgently needed to be addressed. In addition, in June 2017, Congress passed the "Public Safety Officers' Benefits Improvement Act" (Public Law 115-36), which contained several provisions to streamline the benefits process. In spite of this continued focus on improving the PSOB program, persistent delays and a large backlog make clear that the DOJ has not adequately addressed some of the outstanding issues in benefit approval.

Please respond to this letter by June 21, 2019 with a detailed account of how the Department has incorporated the recommendations issued by the GAO and the DOJ OIG, as well as an update on the Department's implementation of Public Law 115-36. In addition, please provide information on whether the steps taken, including implementation of the June 2018 final rule, have resulted in any meaningful reduction in benefit approval times.

Law enforcement officers, fire fighters, and other first responders keep our communities safe and often do so at great risk to their own lives. The PSOB program provides support and peace of mind for families in the event that their loved ones do not come home at the end of the day. Any unwarranted delay in providing these benefits to the families of first responders who have sacrificed their lives is unacceptable.

We appreciate your attention to this incredibly important issue and hope to continue working together to ensure our nation provides first responders and their families with the benefits they have earned and deserve.

Sincerely,

Raul Ruiz, M.D.

Member of Congress

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