By Rick Maze - Staff writer
The Department of Veterans Af¬fairs may have reached a turning point in its long battle to process a huge backlog of benefits claims - for the first time in years, the VA is processing more claims than it is receiving.
Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, the Senate Veterans' Affairs Com¬mittee chairman, called this "grat¬ifying news," but expressed con¬cern that faster processing may cause more errors on claims.
"Timelines cannot take prece¬dence over accuracy," Akaka said at a July 9 hearing.
While pleased with the VA's progress, Akaka said it is far too soon to declare victory in the claims battle. Processing an ini¬tial disability claim takes an aver¬age of 185 days, about two months longer than the VA's goal.
"That is two months of waiting in limbo for a benefit that was earned through selfless service to this nation," Akaka said.
Getting a handle on incoming claims is important, Akaka said, because the workload will only in¬crease because of a combination of new Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans with service-connected disabilities and an aging population of veterans whose health and disabilities worsen with age.
Retired Rear Adm. Patrick Dunne, acting VA undersecretary for benefits, acknowledged that the workload is growing. The VA expected to get 855,000 claims this year but now projects it will receive 883,000, a 5 percent increase over 2007, Dunne said.
But even with the increased vol¬ume, "we are now completing more claims than we receive," Dunne said. "As a result, the pending inventory at the end of May was reduced to 390,000."
That is the lowest level since September 2006, Dunne said.
He said he expects additional improvements as VA brings on more staff and upgrades the use of technology to help process claims. The VA has hired 2,700 new claims processors since January 2007 and plans to hire at least 3,100 more by this fall, he said.
Veterans groups hope progress continues. Kerry Baker of Dis¬abled American Veterans said the claims process is "bewildering" to many veterans and their families and needs to be simplified so it is easier to file and prove a claim, which would cut down on the number of appeals.
William "Bo" Rollins, field ser¬vices director for Paralyzed Veter¬ans of America, echoed Akaka and said getting claims done right is just as important as getting them done quickly.
"The claims system is charged with meeting the financial, med¬ical and vocational needs of the men and women who have served this country honorably, often at great physical and emotional ex¬pense," Rollins said.
"While we generally agree that the claims process takes far too long ... we do not believe simple quick fixes are the solution to overcoming this problem."
Rollins said such delays are an inherent part of the VA claims sys¬tem because "claims are often very complicated."
http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/07/airforce_claims_071208p/
