Posted on Jul 17, 2016
VA disability backlog tops 70,000 — 7 months after it was supposed to be zero
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More than 70,000 veterans disability claims are currently backlogged in Veterans Affairs processing centers, seven months after department officials missed their public goal of getting the number down to zero.
VA Acting Under Secretary for Benefits Thomas Murphy said that figure includes a substantial number of claims left open longer than four months intentionally to ensure veterans are receiving all of the payouts they deserve. But he acknowledged his agency needs to drive that number down further.
“This is still a continuous improvement process for us,” he said. “We are not satisfied with the number now, and we won’t be satisfied until we are much closer to zero.”
Roughly one in five benefits claims submitted to the Veterans Benefits Administration ends up taking longer than four months to process, the department’s long-held promise for processing the cases. That does not include appeals cases, which follow a different process and often take years to resolve.
That ratio and the total number of backlogged cases have remained steady since last fall, when department officials announced they would not reach the goal of zeroing out the backlog by the end of 2015.
The goal of eliminating the backlog was announced by President Barack Obama and VA leaders in 2009, part of an ambitious push for service improvements. As recently as three years ago, the backlog total topped 610,000 cases, causing an outcry from veterans and lawmakers frustrated with waits in some instances topping a year.
New electronic records systems and mandatory overtime for claims processors drew down the backlog by almost 90 percent over two years, but pulling it down even further has proven difficult.
Murphy said three years of mandatory overtime for processors ended in December, although voluntary overtime hours are still being used to keep daily workloads at between 4,500 and 5,200 cases a day.
The department also recently launched a new national work queue which allows employees across the country to help regional offices seeing spikes in filings, electronically moving that extra work across state lines to more quickly process the case load.
But department officials expect another record-breaking year for case filings in fiscal 2016, adding to the workload despite the processing improvements.
“That’s the new norm for us,” Murphy said. “We’re dealing with a volume and complexity of cases that’s growing every year.”
In the late 1990s, most veterans applying for claims received a disability rating around 30 percent. Today that number is close to 50 percent, reflecting the expanding list of illnesses and injuries eligible for compensation.
The number of veterans receiving some form of disability compensation from VA rose from 2.3 million in 2001 to around 4.2 million last year.
At least part of the remaining backlog is attributable to cases where veterans update their claim late in the process with new medical information or conditions, requiring extra processing time.
Murphy could not give a specific breakdown, but said he believes a substantial amount of the roughly 70,000 remaining cases fall into that category of veterans who need more than 125 days to have their cases properly handled.
Still, he said, “our challenge is to identify why some other [cases] do not finish in 125 days, and how do we address that.”
Leo Shane III covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He can be reached at [login to see] .
VA Acting Under Secretary for Benefits Thomas Murphy said that figure includes a substantial number of claims left open longer than four months intentionally to ensure veterans are receiving all of the payouts they deserve. But he acknowledged his agency needs to drive that number down further.
“This is still a continuous improvement process for us,” he said. “We are not satisfied with the number now, and we won’t be satisfied until we are much closer to zero.”
Roughly one in five benefits claims submitted to the Veterans Benefits Administration ends up taking longer than four months to process, the department’s long-held promise for processing the cases. That does not include appeals cases, which follow a different process and often take years to resolve.
That ratio and the total number of backlogged cases have remained steady since last fall, when department officials announced they would not reach the goal of zeroing out the backlog by the end of 2015.
The goal of eliminating the backlog was announced by President Barack Obama and VA leaders in 2009, part of an ambitious push for service improvements. As recently as three years ago, the backlog total topped 610,000 cases, causing an outcry from veterans and lawmakers frustrated with waits in some instances topping a year.
New electronic records systems and mandatory overtime for claims processors drew down the backlog by almost 90 percent over two years, but pulling it down even further has proven difficult.
Murphy said three years of mandatory overtime for processors ended in December, although voluntary overtime hours are still being used to keep daily workloads at between 4,500 and 5,200 cases a day.
The department also recently launched a new national work queue which allows employees across the country to help regional offices seeing spikes in filings, electronically moving that extra work across state lines to more quickly process the case load.
But department officials expect another record-breaking year for case filings in fiscal 2016, adding to the workload despite the processing improvements.
“That’s the new norm for us,” Murphy said. “We’re dealing with a volume and complexity of cases that’s growing every year.”
In the late 1990s, most veterans applying for claims received a disability rating around 30 percent. Today that number is close to 50 percent, reflecting the expanding list of illnesses and injuries eligible for compensation.
The number of veterans receiving some form of disability compensation from VA rose from 2.3 million in 2001 to around 4.2 million last year.
At least part of the remaining backlog is attributable to cases where veterans update their claim late in the process with new medical information or conditions, requiring extra processing time.
Murphy could not give a specific breakdown, but said he believes a substantial amount of the roughly 70,000 remaining cases fall into that category of veterans who need more than 125 days to have their cases properly handled.
Still, he said, “our challenge is to identify why some other [cases] do not finish in 125 days, and how do we address that.”
Leo Shane III covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He can be reached at [login to see] .
VA disability backlog tops 70,000 — 7 months after it was supposed to be zero
Posted from airforcetimes.com
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
Disabled Veterans
Disability
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 6
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I'm not surprised they haven't met the deadline. The VA has always been backed and will continue to be backed up when thejr understaffed and some of the claim examiners are either undertrained or overwhelmed with claims. I agree it starts at the top as far as funding and adequate training goes. Plus, factoring in the lack of accountability, the VA will always have an issue when it comes to claims filed. It seems that our government officials only give a damn about us election year, then to make it look like they are doing something, they push things through, or act as they're doing something for the people (i.e. Government shutdown) when in reality they are playing two ends against the middle. The VA has gotten better but it's going to take a lot more. It's a shame when Veterans have to wait years for benefits we've earned since we were sworn into our respective branches. They have no problem sending us to war but when it's time to give us our due, they take their sweet time and put us through red tape. It's like one of my friends who was a VSO used to say about the VA, "deny, deny, hope you die." It's sad but true. The people looking over Veterans claims either don't care, overwhelmed with a large caseload or the are undertrained. The only way the VA can get better is by being adequately funded and trained, have enough claim examiners to deal with the caseload, get rid of non-hackers who are just looking for a paycheck and not doing their job, and lastly accountability. Until those things are fixed, the VA will continue to be backed up. Congress and Senate seem to being nothing what so ever to correct the issue. Instead they are acting like bratty kids who don't get their way, they shut down the government so things don't get done and they should be taken to task for that because every time they've done that, it sets us back and prolongs a Veteran not receive the benefits and care we rightly deserve.
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SPC(P) Patrick Westbrook
From what I've seen, congress and the senate don't really care about us unless they're up for reelection. Sad but true, Veterans have always been a stone to help them out when needed. We are extremely loyal and will fall for the same trick so many times, just hoping...just hoping to see something done.
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Zero is a Wonderful Goal to shoot for but Very Unrealistic. I will accept Progress.
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I have been part of the VA disability backlog for some time SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL. Middle management tends to be the stumbling block as in most federal agencies.
Those closest to the constituents are more responsive to individuals while upper management is responsive to Congress and the administration. Middle management is entrenched in the middle.
Over the past 8 years I have seen middle management balk and drag their feet in resolving my issues. God is in control of this situation and I know in HIS perfect timing I will get relief.
Those closest to the constituents are more responsive to individuals while upper management is responsive to Congress and the administration. Middle management is entrenched in the middle.
Over the past 8 years I have seen middle management balk and drag their feet in resolving my issues. God is in control of this situation and I know in HIS perfect timing I will get relief.
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