There is a local and congressional push for change and information surrounding why some families of veterans are experiencing delays in the veteran’s death certificate getting signed. 

The local effort is with the Anoka County Commissioners, who, for some, have been addressing this for years after learning about a delay during the pandemic. From there, after connecting with policymakers from around the country, they realized this issue may span much further than the metro. 

“When you keep hearing the stories over and over again, you [realize] that [it] doesn’t happen to every veteran, but there’s enough of them out there that are having this issue,” Anoka County Commissioner Mike Gamache said. “And that really needs to be dealt with.”

In July, the commissioners sent a letter to the secretary of the Veterans Affairs (VA) — with more than 120 people signing on, including policymakers from 26 states — calling for a policy requiring VA doctors to sign death certificates for natural causes within 72 hours. 

“After four and a half years, we might just get there,” Anoka County Commissioner Jeff Reinert, who was one of the first behind this push, said about their work. 

“They’ve done the bravest and the most heroic thing that they could do for this country, and for each of us, that we haven’t done, and they deserve better,” Commissioner Julie Jeppson added. 

Jeppson said they’ve received confirmation that the VA received their letter, but tells us it did not have further comment. 

Alongside the commissioners on this effort is the director of the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office, Shane Sheets. 

“[This] probably popped up [on my radar] a few years ago when I started as the director,” Sheets said about some families experiencing a delay in the VA signing off on a loved one’s death certificate. 

“One month, we’ll get zero, but then the next month, we could have two to three refusals from the Veteran Affairs,” he said. 

Sheets told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS he believes the main reason it’s happening is because he says the care providers are not registered in the state to do it. 

“All it is going online to the state website signing up for it, you have an account, and now you can sign death certificates for your patients,” Sheets added. 

If the refusal continues or nobody is responding back to his office, Sheets says they accept jurisdiction of that case. 

“[That’s] to make sure that that family can get access to those records and be able to continue to provide support for their family,” Sheets said. “We have some families crying, trying to get their death certificates completed for their family — a lot of it comes down to benefits. They’re locked out of checking accounts, savings accounts.”

In statements, the Minneapolis VA tells us approximately 25% of their full-time physicians are registered with the state to sign off on death certificates. It adds that in its “large, integrated health care system,” that number is “adequate for the need” — and that “any eligible provider” can register “at the time the death certificate is required.”

As for why families may experience a delay, the Minneapolis VA did share one example in which if a veteran was not a registered patient with an assigned ‘Patient Aligned Care Team,’ “some families may experience a delay in receiving a death certificate.” 

One case that Sheet’s office helped with was the Julin family. 

Ron Julin was a Marine veteran who died of cancer in late August 2023 — he was receiving care through the VA, including in Minneapolis. 

He died in his wife’s arms while camping, as it was how he wanted to spend his final days. 

“I’m glad that I was able to give him that,” Julin said while tearing up. 

It wasn’t until three weeks later that Ron’s death certificate was signed by a doctor outside the VA. 

“Nobody would sign off on the death certificate; nobody would take responsibility for, you know, declaring that, yes, he’s gone,” Julin said. 

To better understand this issue and its scope, there is language in the congressional bill that funds the VA surrounding it. 

“We need to understand this so that we can fix it,” Minnesota Republican Congressman Tom Emmer told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS. 

“No family should have to suffer through this, you know, while they’re trying to deal with the sadness of losing a loved one,” Rep. Emmer added. 

In the bill, lawmakers are calling on the VA to compile data dating back five years surrounding the average time it takes to sign a death certificate, the average number of delays longer than 72 hours, how many refusals there’s been and why. 

It passed the House in May and the bill is now with the Senate, which would need to pass it before making it to the president’s desk.