The revelation that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) currently has 570,000 disability claims that have not been processed within its 120-day benchmark for timeliness has subjected it to harsh national criticism and calls for widespread reform. The New York Times reports on one strategy the VA is testing to reduce that backlog. The VA implemented a six-month plan to make eligibility decisions on 250,000 claims filed by veterans who have been waiting for rulings and benefit payments for more than a year. The plan requires regional VA benefit offices to issue “provisional rulings” if a claimant provides a minimum amount of supporting evidence. Veterans issued favorable rulings will start receiving benefits immediately.
VA officials predict the plan’s focus on issuing decisions in older cases will temporarily increase the average time (now 286 days) it takes to process new claims. But it will not interfere with the expedited processing required for some claims, such as those filed by former prisoners of war and veterans who are terminally ill, homeless, or in financial distress.
In recent testimony before a skeptical U.S. House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki stated that the backlog will be eliminated in 2015, primarily due to the VA’s planned development of an electronic claims processing system capable of carrying out tasks that are currently done manually.
