Department of Veterans Affairs
WASHINGTON, April 1, 2014 – One year after the backlog of
pending disability compensation claims peaked at over 611,000 in March 2013,
the Department of Veterans Affairs has reduced that number by approximately 44
percent to 344,000 claims -- a reduction of more than 267,000 -- while at the
same time improving the accuracy of the decisions being made on veterans’
disability claims.
Additionally, on average, veterans are waiting 119 days less
for a decision than they were at this time last year.
“No veteran should have to wait to receive earned benefits.
Through a combination of transformation initiatives and the hard work of our
employees, we are making significant progress toward our goal of eliminating
the claims backlog in 2015,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K.
Shinseki. “We still have more work to do, and no one is more committed than our
Veterans Benefits Administration employees, over half of whom are veterans
themselves.”
The current backlog, defined as claims pending more than 125
days, is at its lowest point since March 2011, when the backlog spiked in part
because of the need to readjudicate 150,000 previously decided cases involving
exposure to the Vietnam-era defoliant, Agent Orange.
The readjudication of these claims was mandated under the
Nehmer court decision and followed the Shinseki’s decision to add ischemic
heart disease, certain leukemias, and Parkinson's disease to the list of
conditions presumed to be related to exposure to Agent Orange. During this same
time period, VA also received and processed over 100,000 new claims for these
three conditions from Vietnam veterans and survivors newly eligible for VA
benefits as a result of this decision.
“We knew taking care of this ‘unfinished business’ for
veterans of previous wars would initially drive up the number of claims in our
system. But it was the right thing to do,” said Shinseki said.
Since establishing the goal in 2010 of processing all
disability claims within 125 days at a 98-percent accuracy level, VA developed
and is implementing a plan that transforms the decades-old, manual paper claim
approach into a state-of-the-art electronic process that leverages digital data
transfer and automated calculators to reduce processing time and input errors.
VA has also increased the productivity of its claims
processing workforce through enhanced training, streamlined business processes
and other initiatives such as mandating overtime and prioritizing the oldest
claims, allowing VA’s 56 regional benefits offices to exceed monthly production
records four times in fiscal year 2013.
At the same time, the accuracy of rating decisions continues
to improve. VA’s national “claim-level” accuracy rate, determined by dividing
the total number of cases that are error-free by the total number of cases reviewed,
is currently 91 percent -- an eight-percentage-point improvement since 2011.
When measuring the accuracy of rating individual medical conditions inside each
claim, the three-month accuracy level is 96.5 percent. VA’s accuracy measures
are statistically valid and the process has been independently verified by the
Institute for Defense Analyses.
VA claims processors continue to prioritize disability
claims for homeless veterans, those experiencing extreme financial hardship,
the terminally ill, former prisoners of war, Medal of Honor recipients, and
veterans filing fully developed claims. Filing an electronic FDC is the
quickest way for a Veteran to receive a decision on their compensation claim..
Regardless of the status of their compensation claims,
veterans who have served in combat since Nov. 11, 1998, are eligible for five
years of free medical care from VA for any illness associated with their
service.
Veterans can learn more about disability and other veterans
benefits on the joint Department of Defense/VA web portal, eBenefits.
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