When the first of several U.S. Veterans Affairs condolence letters about the death of Mary Ann Clough arrived at the Hampton at Clearwater senior housing complex before Christmas, no one was more distraught than Mary Ann Clough.
The 86-year old was certain that she wasn’t dead.
But, it took some doing to convince VA staffers, who by that time, had cut off her benefits as as the widow of a deceased Vietnam veteran who died in 1997.
Not only did the VA cutoff her monthly stipends, but so did the Social Security Administration. Both of those agencies also reached into Clough’s bank accounts and took back months worth of benefits, since they were sure she’d died in August. Clough believes they confused her with the second wife of her first husband whose first name was Mary.
Thanks to an intervention by Congressman David Jolly (R) Pinellas County, Clough’s benefits have now been restored, although she still hasn’t managed to convince the VA that she married another veteran last May and that the couple is due additional VA benefits from that relationship.
Jolly has just written VA Secretary Robert McDonald regarding Clough’s VA fiasco and pointing out there have been several other similar instances in the Tampa Bay area where the VA has prematurely “killed” beneficiaries in that agency’s records, when in fact they are still quite alive.
“It goes without saying that these occurrences are disconcerting and unacceptable,” Jolly writes.
“I would like you to provide me with information regarding how often such incidents have occurred over the past five years and how the process for designating someone as deceased has evolved over time.”
Meanwhile, Clough looked like the picture of health Thursday as she headed out of the Hampton housing complex to drive her husband Bob to the dentist. He has a few medical issues, but–for the record–is still alive, too.
