A whistleblower at the Department of Veterans Affairs claims the Clinton administration is "going around Congress" to subvert benefits to the nation's veterans while allowing the bureaucracy to grow unchecked.

The employee, who requested anonymity, told WorldNetDaily the White House is engaged in a "program to limit benefits to veterans without the blessings of the legislative process."

"Basically, the current administration is trying to make it more and more difficult for a veteran to receive the assistance of the government which he or she defends once discharged from active duty," the employee said. "They have been raising a red brick wall."

One issue, the source said, is the move to private contractors for functions such as physical examinations for the purpose of benefit entitlement. Formerly conducted at VA medical facilities, a contract to perform the exams has been granted to a private contractor led by the former Acting Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony Principi.

"That's just a bit more than tit for tat," the employee said.

Overall, however, VA facilities "have become so downsized and limited that one wonders what their purpose is anymore," the employee told WorldNetDaily. "And there is a new initiative being implemented that essentially forces all applicants for benefits to give up in frustration" without receiving entitled care.

The employee gave the following example of VA bureaucracy to demonstrate the futility of navigating the new rules:

"Let's say that you had received an injury for which you did not file a compensation claim. Let's say that the injury was the loss of a hand. Now, you decide it's time to file. Well, good luck. You will now need a lay statement or medical statement that your hand may be missing. Next you will need a medical statement (from a doctor) clearly stating the diagnosis of your condition (you aren't smart enough to know that your hand is missing). Finally, you will need a statement of nexus from a doctor (that is, a doctor must clearly state that your missing hand is the result of your military service).

"If you do not have all three of the above," the employee said, "the VA will not review your service medical records. They will disallow your claim after giving you only 30 days to get the items," despite "obvious evidence" that the serviceman's military record lists service during war and the injury he received in battle.

"It doesn't take a genius to see that your hand is missing and that you served in Vietnam and that there is a likely chance that your hand is still in SE Asia," the source said. "They will conclude, 'Your claim is not well grounded.'"

Chapter 38, U.S. Code, directs the Veteran's Administration to provide basic benefits to compensate disabled veterans. According to Chapter 11, veterans are entitled to receive compensation "for disability resulting from personal injury suffered or disease contracted in line of duty, or for aggravation of a preexisting injury suffered or disease contracted in line of duty, in the active military, naval, or air service, during a period of war." The VA is also charged with providing benefits to military personnel who were disabled while on active or reserve duty during peacetime as well.

"That code also states that VA is the advocate of the vet," said the employee. "Furthermore, it does not contain any language that establishes a 'well grounded claim.'"

The whistleblower told WorldNetDaily that a court of appeals "came up with the 'well grounded claim' concept several years ago," but that the ruling has never been "clearly defined."

"The consensus is that a well-grounded claim is a claim which is plausible, nothing more, nothing less," the source said.

However, the employee said the Clinton administration has "taken the position, and implemented it on Sept. 20, 1999, that no claim is well grounded unless there is a preponderance of evidence which forces VA to concede the issue of well grounded."

Meanwhile, the employee said, "the 'good old boys' are fleecing the government of money, a la Principi and his QTC operation. And the political wags in Washington have been building a super grade empire in central office while laying waste to the staffing of the medical centers and regional offices, which actually have to deal with the claimants."

"We in the field have been under staffing cuts and hiring freezes for a few years while the staff of central office is growing at unprecedented rates," the source said. "This is supposedly 'reengineering government.'"

A second source, who is a nurse at a Veterans Administration hospital in Columbia, Missouri, verified much of the employee's allegations, adding, "It's just getting harder to care for these guys."

The VA employee also said that neither the Veterans Administration nor the Department of Defense "are interested in finding causes for Gulf War Syndrome that could be tied to the government."

According to VA documents, not all veterans may necessarily qualify for "hospitalization or outpatient services." In October 1997, the VA began a new enrollment system designed ostensibly to control costs and better facilitate care.

"Public Law 104-262 directed VA to manage access to its healthcare system by enrolling veterans according to a priority listing provided in the law," according to an online benefits document. "Under the law, effective October 1, 1998, veterans will need to be enrolled if they are to receive VA hospital or outpatient care."

But there were exceptions built into the provision. According to the document, "Veterans with service-connected disabilities rated 50 percent or higher, all veterans seeking care for their service-connected disabilities, and veterans who were discharged or released from active duty within the past 12 months for a compensatory disability that was incurred or aggravated in the line of duty do not have to be enrolled to be treated, but they are encouraged to do so."

In a tacit acknowledgment of downsizing, the document -- issued by the VA's Undersecretary for Health -- said that the "VA anticipates enrolling on a priority basis ... only the number of veterans it will be able to treat with the resources available to it."

However, a Sept. 30 press release from VA Secretary and former Army Secretary Togo D. West said, "VA medical facilities will enroll all honorably-discharged veterans who seek VA health care during the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1."

The release said, "The VA secretary's announcement ensures continued treatment next year for 'Priority Group 7' veterans, the lowest in a seven-group listing of veterans that began in 1998 under a nationwide VA enrollment system."

Priority Group 7 veterans do not have service-connected disabilities, the VA said. Instead they are rated as "zero-compensable" for service-connected disabilities; or their incomes exceed a threshold level.

"It is my intention to serve as many veterans as possible under the law and give them access to the full range of services they need," West added in his statement. But he recommended that veterans still "retain private health insurance, since it may cover services, such as emergency care, that VA does not usually provide."

A spokesman at the VA Consumer Affairs Department acknowledged that his division indeed received "some complaints about service" from veterans attempting to get cases reviewed. "But we're just one of many VA offices veterans can and do contact for complaints or other benefits-related questions," he added, saying he "didn't know" whether or not complaints about case reviews to his office were on the rise over the past few years.

The VA's Customer Service Center did not return phone calls for comment.