Total of overdue VA disability claims balloons to almost 300,000

This is unforgivable. It's a feature right now, not a bug.

I don't see how this can happen to that extent and I wonder what the context is behind many of the numbers. My experience with the VA has been very favorable. I get that there are some that don't get the rating they desire or that there may be some evaluations that take longer to get scheduled/evaluated over others. But I highly doubt that covers a significant portion of the 300K. My initial claim, took a couple of months to be processed, back pay was provided, and I encountered no issues since. I added another claim to make sure my burn pit exposure was documented as well and while this did not increase my rating (which was my expectation), I was satisfied it was officially on record. My goal here was to make sure if anything surfaces down the road, they have a record of it all. Which leads me to the larger point... If you are not documenting your ailments, medical issues, and such through your military career, you're going to have a hard time getting your claim approved. I will also note that I know several people who work at the VA medical center in San Antonio and some who work in both the VA and Tricare. They have confirmed the service members coming to the VA system can be very belligerent, demanding, and unreasonable. Many do not read and understand how the system works and what needs to be done to continue their care. That's on them as there are more than enough resources to serve as a guide to navigate the VA. It's not perfect and there are challenges (especially on the administrative side), but as I said, I prefer it to the Tricare system.