SHAME: Backlog of Veterans' Disability Claims Increases 179% Under Obama

Flintc · Jul 21, 2013

I guess when Obama started those wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, he should have simultaneously boosted the funding and staffing at the VA to handle what he had to know would be a drastic increase in claims. He should have done this in 2001 when it was obvious it was going to be necessary.

What a maroon!

pocket aces · Jul 21, 2013

Again then lets hire some more lazy government workers so that these heroes can get what they need. Any objections loser Cons?

Professor Peabody · Jul 22, 2013

Flintc said: ↑

I guess when Obama started those wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, he should have simultaneously boosted the funding and staffing at the VA to handle what he had to know would be a drastic increase in claims. He should have done this in 2001 when it was obvious it was going to be necessary.

What a maroon!
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Dems ignore Obama veto, join GOP to pass Veterans Affairs spending bill

By Pete Kasperowicz - 05/31/12 10:10 PM ET

Nearly all House Democrats joined Republicans late Thursday to approve a spending bill for military construction and Veterans Affairs, despite an Obama administration threat to veto the bill.

Members approved the bill in an overwhelming 407-12 vote in which only four Democrats opposed it. The bill was approved after a quick debate and quick consideration of amendments, most of which were approved by voice vote, another strong sign of bipartisan support.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) joined with 179 other Democrats in supporting the bill.

http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-acti...in-gop-to-pass-veterans-affairs-spending-bill
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Obama opposed funding the veterans and even threatened a veto.

way2convey · Jul 22, 2013

JEFF9K said: ↑

It's disturbing that you are trying to blame the wrong people.
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Really? Who are right people?

No one with common sense would take you and your fraud links seriously
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Fraud links? OK, prove'em wrong then hot shot.

waltky · Jul 31, 2013

Granny says, "Dat's right - the squeeky wheel gets the grease...

Shinseki: Bold backlog goal drew fire, also dollars
July 18, 2013 > In setting an ambitious goal three years ago to end the Department of Veterans Affairs disability claims backlog in 2015, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki exposed himself to criticism, including calls to resign as the backlog rose.

But that bold goal, Shinseki said, also helped VA get the funding it needed to modernize operations, including to phase out an inefficient, paper-driven claim processing system. If I had written a plan that said were going to end the backlog in 2025, I wouldnt have gotten any resources, Shinseki said in an interview while he visited the VA regional claims processing office in Newark, N.J. With extra billions of dollars appropriated for claims processing and other transformative initiatives, VAs backlog finally is falling. It stood last week at 536,400, down from 608,000 in March. Shinseki said he remains confident it will be gone in 2015. He sounds a little less confident of ending homelessness among veterans by that year, another determined goal. Regardless, the retired four-star general and former Army chief of staff doesnt regret setting bold objectives. Ive been writing plans all my life. I never wrote a tentative plan. Thats not what you expect from a guy you want to solve a problem.

A VA claim is in backlog if not decided within 125 days. When Shinseki became secretary, early in 2009, VA tracked claim performance with a different yardstick: average time to decision. The average then was 191 days, Shinseki said. The average sought was 125 days. So if I completed a claim in one day, and another claim in 249 days, thats a 125-day average, and that would have ended the backlog, Shinseki said. It just seemed to me a bad way to define the problem or try to solve it. So we said: No claims over 125 days. As newly defined, the backlog was 180,000 by September 2009. Over the next three years it more than tripled, passing 600,000, even as VA hired thousands more claim processors. VA was deciding a million claims a year, yet the backlog grew with as many as 1.3 million claims pouring in. Only part of the flood of claims is from veterans who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. As Shinseki explains to Congress and to his own claims staff, it was his decisions to aid more veterans, including from the generation he went to war with in Vietnam, that helped to create the backlog.

Under Shinseki, VA simplified the process for filing post-traumatic stress disorder claims from veterans of all wars. He made compensable more illnesses for 1990-91 Gulf War veterans exposed to toxins and other health threats in that campaign. He also added ischemic heart disease, Parkinsons disease and B-cell leukemia to the list of ailments for which Vietnam veterans can receive disability compensation, on presumption wartime exposure to the defoliant Agent Orange caused these conditions. This last decision alone resulted in 280,000 retroactive claims. As of last month, 166,000 veterans with at least one of these illnesses, or surviving spouses, received more than $4.5 billion in VA pay. Thousands of additional Agent Orange claims are being filed monthly. Shinseki stands by his Agent Orange decisions, citing scientific studies. But for two years, VA had to reassign 2300 of its most experienced claim processors a third of the staff to review old claims that qualified for special handling under a 1985 Nehmer court ruling.

Shinseki said he could be faulted for not better understanding requirements that Nehmer imposed so VA was better prepared for the extra workload. They had to go through every page of every claim. It wasnt enough to say, Vietnam, exposure to Agent Orange and therefore Parkinsons disease [so] grant service connection. The Nehmerdecision required them to see if there was anything else in the filepage by page by page. And, by the way, Nehmer goes to the head of the line. Everything else waitsI should have asked more questions. Shinseki promised in 2010 not only to end the backlog in 2015 but also to raise the decision accuracy rate to 98 percent, up from the low 80s. These goals, Shinseki guessed while visiting the claims staff in Newark last month, must have made a few of them suck wind through your teeth. That was also the reaction by some at headquarters, he told me. Somebody said, Is he crazy? No, no, no, I said. Im just asking: Is this a good goal? If it is, then we will go figure out how to get there.

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leftysergeant · Jul 31, 2013

way2convey said: ↑

Really? Who are right people?
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Then stupid SOBs who decided a full-scale invasion of Afghanistan instead of the insertion of special operations units was the best way to get ObL, and that invading Iraq just for the hell of it would not be that big a drain on resources.

The drooling old moron Rummy thought he was the greatest military genius since Clausewitz, but he has, in fact, the tactical acumen of Husband Kimmel. (And that may even be a bit unkind to Kimmel.)

And then, to top it all off, the merry morons thought that they could still do the tax cuts that their corporate masters wanted them to do while they marched men and women into the meat grinder.

I was looking for a job myself in the summer of 2001, and thought that, with my preference points for being medically retired, I should try the VA hospital at American Lake..

They had just announced a hiring freeze. Years went by and they were still not hiring.

That's republicon personnel policies for you.

"Lighter, faster and more agile".....My ASS!

waltky · Aug 3, 2013

New tack on reducing the claims backlog...

VA offering retro benefits to encourage use of 'developed' claims
August 2, 2013 WASHINGTON The Department of Veterans Affairs is rolling out cash incentives potentially worth tens of thousands of dollars to persuade veterans to use their new Fully Developed Claims process, in an effort to fight the claims backlog.

Starting next week, any veteran who submits a new disability claim through the FDC process will be eligible for a years worth of retroactive benefits, once their case is completed. Typically, the clock on veterans benefits starts the day a claim is filed. Once raters have reviewed and approved the claim a process that has taken a year or more for many veterans in recent years they receive a check covering their payouts starting from the filing day. But last year, Congress approved new legislation allowing VA officials to award one-year retroactive benefits from the filing date, as an incentive for veterans to use the FDC process.

Fully Developed Claims, touted by department officials as the fastest way for veterans to receive a decision, require veterans to provide all relevant documentation, such as medical records and personnel records, before handing their case to the VA for review. They are usually done with the help of a veterans service organization. VA officials say compiling those documents is the lengthiest part of the ratings process, and that FDCs average well below the departments goal of 125 days to finish cases.

The department has taken harsh criticism throughout 2013 for its disability claims backlog. As of last week, more than 500,000 cases were pending for over four months. Thats down more than 100,000 cases since March, but still more than double what the backlogged case load was three years ago. The new FDC incentive only applies to first-time claims from veterans, and not any supplemental cases or appeals. VA officials said the incentive will be available for any FDCs filed starting Aug. 6, 2013, and lasting through Aug. 6, 2015.

More information on the FDCs is available at the departments electronic benefits website, www.ebenefits.va.gov.

http://www.stripes.com/news/va-offering-retro-benefits-to-encourage-use-of-developed-claims-1.233528
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Professor Peabody · Aug 3, 2013

I think Obama Hates Vets.

Molke · Aug 3, 2013

Rule 1. Everything the government touches turns to crap.

http://www.vanguardnewsnetwork.com/ Vanguard News

Professor Peabody · Aug 3, 2013

leftysergeant said: ↑

Then stupid SOBs who decided a full-scale invasion of Afghanistan instead of the insertion of special operations units was the best way to get ObL,
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Obama shifts focus to Afghanistan

By DAVID S. CLOUD & MIKE ALLEN | 2/17/09 9:54 PM EDT

By ordering as many as 17,000 additional troops to Afghanistan on Tuesday, President Barack Obama has begun shifting the countrys military effort away from Iraq, as he promised to do during the presidential campaign.

The situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan demands urgent attention and swift action, Obama said, announcing the deployment in a written statement. The Taliban is resurgent in Afghanistan, and al Qaeda supports the insurgency and threatens America from its safe-haven along the Pakistani border.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0209/18970.html
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I agree Obama is as dumb as a bag of hammers.

waltky · Aug 11, 2013

Obama got some `splainin' to do...

Obama: Progress made on disability claims backlog
10 Aug.`13 President Barack Obama assured disabled veterans Saturday that his administration is making progress on reducing a backlog of disability claims and said the number of requests for assistance has fallen by nearly one-fifth since peaking at more than 600,000 just a few months ago.

In an address at the Disabled American Veterans' convention in Orlando, Obama also announced a national plan to guide mental health research, as well as commitments from 250 community colleges and universities to help veterans earn college degrees or get the credentials they need to find jobs. A chief concern for veterans is the backlog of disability claims for compensation for illness and injury caused by military service. "After years of military service, you shouldn't have to wait years for the benefits you've earned," Obama said. The number of claims ballooned after Obama made it easier for Vietnam veterans who were exposed to the herbicide Agent Orange to get benefits. Access to benefits also was eased for sufferers of post-traumatic stress disorder and Gulf War veterans afflicted with malaria, West Nile virus or other infectious diseases.

The backlog is shrinking due to some aggressive steps taken by the Department of Veterans Affairs, including requiring claims processors in its 56 regional benefits offices to work overtime and moving from a manual to a computerized system to help speed the judgment of claims, administration officials said. About 780,000 claims are pending. About 496,000 are considered backlogged after the 20 percent reduction Obama highlighted, down from 611,000 at the end of March, said White House press secretary Jay Carney. A claim is considered backlogged if it has been in the system for 125 days, or roughly four months.

Even with that progress, Obama acknowledged the amount of work still needed to eliminate the backup by 2015 as VA Secretary Eric Shinseki has promised. "Today I can report that we are not where we need to be, but we are making progress," Obama said. "So after years when the backlog kept growing, finally the backlog is shrinking." The president also announced the release of a comprehensive national plan to improve the ability to prevent, diagnose and treat PTSD and traumatic brain injuries and mental health issues earlier and better, and to reduce suicides, according to a briefing paper the White House released Saturday before the president spoke. Beyond the claims issue, Republican lawmakers have started to hammer the VA on the issue of patient safety.

A congressional hearing in Atlanta this past week focused on poor patient care linked to four deaths. Another hearing is scheduled for next month in Pittsburgh, where five veterans died as a result of a Legionnaire's disease outbreak in 2011-12. Several dozen protesters greeted Obama as he arrived at the hotel. Some held signs that said "Kenyan Go Home," ''Impeach Obama," and "Obama Lies." Obama met privately with DAV members before the speech, the White House said. Afterward, he headed to Martha's Vineyard, Mass., for a family vacation.

http://news.yahoo.com/obama-progress-made-disability-claims-backlog-171141744.html
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Despite improvements at VA, problems remain
August 10, 2013 WASHINGTON When President Barack Obama spoke Saturday at the Disabled American Veterans national convention in Orlando, he touted recent improvements his administration has made in addressing the long waits veterans face in seeking benefits for their service-related injuries.

As recently as March, more than 611,000 veterans and their families had waited longer than 125 days to hear whether the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs would approve their claims. The backlog has since dropped to about 500,000, thanks to a new effort to give overtime to VA workers. But that improvement also has led to fears that the focus on these applicants comes at the expense of others particularly veterans who have been denied the benefits they want and are appealing the VA's decision. "The VA has a whack-a-mole problem," said Matthew Hill, an attorney who represents veterans seeking disability compensation.

Whenever the VA throws its budget of $138.5 billion at one problem, he said, another gets worse. And this time it's hurting those trying to appeal denials by the VA, a process that can drag on for years. Emblematic of the problem is the VA's regional office in St. Petersburg, which serves Florida. Claims are processed in the order they are received and as of last month, officials there were working appeals dating back to 2010. More than 21,000 cases are pending there. Among those waiting is Eddie Cruz, a U.S. Navy veteran from Orlando who served from 1978 to 1980.

While onboard the USS Nassau, Cruz said he fell down a flight of stairs during an early-morning drill and hurt his head badly. Months of hospitalization followed, and Cruz said drugs given to him afterward eventually caused a condition known as "tardive dyskinesia," an affliction that can lead to involuntary tics. "I have so much difficulty picking up things, going into the shower and doing basic everyday functions," said Cruz, 53, who said the condition prevents him from working. Though it was not initially apparent, Cruz said the condition gradually has worsened, and in 2009 he filed a claim to augment the VA benefits he already received. But he was denied in 2010, and he's been appealing ever since. "You never think it's a lifetime injury," he said.

Backlogs across the VA have come under intense scrutiny lately. In the spring, Jon Stewart of "The Daily Show" ran a segment dubbed "The Red Tape Diaries" that lampoons the VA for its inefficiencies and its towering piles of paper files. Federal watchdogs have noticed as well. "Regional office managers did not assign enough staff to process appeals, diverted staff from appeals processing, and did not ensure appeals staff acted on appeals promptly because [initial] compensation claims processing was their highest priority," said a 2012 report by the VA's inspector general. The report estimated that the nationwide inventory of appeals had jumped from about 160,000 in 2008 to roughly 246,000 in 2011.

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waltky · Aug 20, 2013

VA startin' to make progress against claims backlog...

VA critics vow to keep up pressure as claims backlog falls
August 19, 2013 WASHINGTON Critics of the Department of Veterans Affairs will culminate a four-month petition drive Tuesday by demanding the president take immediate action to end the million-veteran disability claims backlog.

The problem? The backlog is already under 500,000 cases, and has been falling fast since the drive began. Supporters of the VA have dismissed the petition, organized by the conservative Concerned Veterans for America, as little more than a political stunt. But organizers insist their concerns about the still massive benefits backlog are still relevant, and the VAs recent progress is no guarantee of future success. There is still a lot of question about how they reduced those numbers, said Pete Hegseth, CEO of the group. And the problem is clearly not gone, so we have to keep focus on it. The backlog the number of claims that have taken more than 125 days to process never totaled 1 million veterans. It peaked this year, in March, at around 608,000 cases.

But thats four times more than in late 2009 just a few months after Obama administration officials first vowed to end the problem when the figure hovered around 150,000. VA officials have blamed the steady growth of the backlog on dramatic increases in the claims filed by veterans, a decision to open tens of thousands of new cases for illnesses related to Agent Orange exposure, and antiquated paper-processing systems that have taken years to update. For months, the department has been hammered by advocates, lawmakers and veterans for the problem. CVA and others have called for VA Secretary Eric Shinseki to resign, dismissing the explanations for the increase.

But the department reports it has made significant progress since that March peak, dropping the backlog to about 489,000 almost 20 percent as of last week. In June, raters finished all claims pending for more than two years, and officials insist theyre on pace to eliminate the backlog in 2015. Were turning the tide, President Barack Obama told the Disabled American Veterans convention earlier this month. And were not going to let up until we eliminate the backlog once and for all. The recent progress is in part a result of the departments new Veterans Benefits Management System a paperless ratings software and increased use of the Fully Developed Claims process, which ensures veterans have all relevant paperwork ready before starting their case.

But Hegseth notes that the department also hired new raters, instituted mandatory overtime this spring, and started issuing partial decisions on more complex cases to help pull down the numbers. He questions whether those changes are sustainable, systemic improvements, or whether the moves will provide only temporary relief. VA officials would not directly respond to CVAs comments, but in a statement said they are confident in the plans. The claims backlog is a decades-old problem, and fixing the outdated and paper-intensive claims system is an extraordinarily complex task, the VA said. While we have much more work to do, we are making progress, and we expect that progress to continue. If VA raters can keep up the processing pace of the last five months, the backlog would hit zero by early summer 2015.

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waltky · Aug 22, 2013

Veteran's ask that Shinseki be fired...

Veterans group wants VA secretary fired
August 21st, 2013 > A veterans group says it has accumulated 29,000 signatures demanding that Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki be fired over persistent delays in processing disability claims.

Concerned Veterans of America sent a petition to President Barack Obama this week maintaining that Veterans Affairs disability claims have increased nearly 2,000 % since he took office in 2009. Shinseki has been the only veterans affairs secretary under Obama. In response, the Veterans Affairs Department acknowledged that too many veterans have to wait too long for benefits. Thats unacceptable, and we are implementing a robust plan to fix the problem, a statement said.

Claims that have been pending for more than 125 days are said to be backlogged, according to the agencys web site. There were more than 516,000 pending claims that fit the definition at the end of June, VA figures show. That was more than two thirds of all pending claims at the time. One reason for the backlog, according to the agency, is that more veterans are seeking claims, including those from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Oh, I'm so embarr-assed

Under Shinseki, the VA recognizes for the first time conditions related to Agent Orange exposure, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Gulf War illness, which has led to a nearly a million new claims, it said. There is also the growing number of claims from World War II, Korea and Vietnam vets who hadnt applied for medical help until recently.

These reasons have not eased concerns of the veterans group. Military commanders given a mission and necessary resourcesare not allowed to fail for four years and keep their job. Nor should Secretary Shinseki. His time is up. Its time for new leadership, its petition read. The VA said it is making progress in reducing the backlog, saying it has gone down by nearly 20 % in the past five months. Once it fully digitizes its system, the VA expects that figure to fall further.

http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2013/08/21/veterans-group-wants-va-secretary-fired/
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waltky · Sep 6, 2013

Investigation into VA manager bonuses...

Lawmakers to hold hearing on bonuses for VA managers
September 5, 2013 WASHINGTON — Lawmakers will hold a field hearing in Pittsburgh next week to ask why local Veterans Affairs administrators received hefty bonuses in the wake of the preventable deaths of five patients.

But what they really want to know is whether there is any accountability within the VA bureaucracy. The rare outside-the-beltway hearing follows a series of reports condemning how the department has handled merit pay and benefit assistance oversight. It also comes after months of pressure from veterans groups and members of Congress for the VA to take tougher action against poorly performing employees. The criticism that VA employees are rarely held accountable for failings cuts across numerous problems faced by the department in recent years, including the shrinking but still massive disability backlog.

Last week, Republicans on the House Veterans Affairs Committee launched a website to call out midlevel administrators by name for receiving sizable bonuses despite significant questions about their effectiveness. They include a VA construction chief who received $55,000 in extra pay despite numerous delays and cost overruns with major projects; a disability benefits executive who got $60,000 in bonuses despite the mounting claims backlog; and a St. Louis facility director who received $25,000 in award pay despite “persistent patient-safety issues” including HIV exposure of several patients.

Chairman Jeff Miller, R-Fla., said the goal is to expose “VA’s long and well-documented history of rewarding failure” and force a culture change within the organization. “VA executives who fail in their jobs shouldn’t receive bonuses or glowing performance reviews,” he said. “They should be disciplined or fired.” In a statement, VA officials said that some performance awards – including individuals in the health administration medical networks – have been suspended pending further review. "All employees are expected to help VA achieve its mission of providing veterans the highest quality care possible,” the statement said. “When an incident occurs, VHA leadership conducts a prompt review to understand what happened, hold those responsible accountable and prevent similar incidents in the future. “If employee misconduct or failure to meet performance standards is found to have been a factor, VA will take appropriate corrective action immediately.”

Top officials at AMVETS and Concerned Veterans of America this week penned an editorial charging that underperforming VA workers “face no serious consequences” for failure. “Welcome to the twisted world of federal executive branch employment, where it’s nearly impossible to be fired for poor performance,” the piece said. Department officials have insisted the vast majority of VA employees are hard-working and dedicated individuals who have veterans’ best interests at heart. Thus far, they haven’t responded to committee requests to justify the bonuses. In August, the Government Accountability Office portrayed the VA’s merit pay systems as dysfunctional, with no real connection between work accomplished and bonuses awarded. The review results — requested by congressional Democrats — dismayed lawmakers. “It is clear to me that too often those who do not perform above and beyond are reaping rewards they do not deserve,” said veterans committee ranking member Mike Michaud, D-Maine.

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waltky · Sep 11, 2013

Newest wounded veterans struggling but resilient...

Survey: Newest wounded veterans struggling but resilient
September 10, 2013 WASHINGTON Three in four troops wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan suffer from post-traumatic stress and even more struggle with depression, according to a new survey released Tuesday by the Wounded Warrior Project.

The report the most comprehensive look to date at the next generation of disabled veterans chronicles the struggles facing that population but also several positive signs of their ability to adapt. More than 85 percent of individuals surveyed said they had friends or family they could rely on to help with their challenges, and more than half said they believe they have the strength to overcome their injuries. The annual survey polled nearly 12,000 group alumni injured in Iraq and Afghanistan, representing about one-quarter of the total wounded troops from those wars. The results give a snapshot of wounded troops struggling with mental health issues, readjustment to civilian society, and serious concerns about their long-term quality of life.

Jen Silva, executive vice president of economic empowerment at the Wounded Warrior Project, the large number of respondents also shows that these wounded veterans feel the need to tell their story. After injury-related health issues 83 percent of those surveyed said their injuries contributed to gaining too much weight, and 80 percent said they had trouble sleeping the biggest concern for most wounded veterans was finances. Fewer than one-fourth of the injured alumni have a bachelors degree or higher; another third are attending college. Two in five said their financial situation was worse than a year ago. Only about half of those who have found full-time work are happy in their careers, and 30 percent reported that lingering mental health issues are hurting their chances at getting a good job.

But a third of wounded troops surveyed reported difficulty getting mental health care, either because of obstacles with the military and Department of Veterans Affairs or because of concerns related to the stigma of seeking help. About one-fifth of the wounded veterans reported abusing alcohol in the prior month. WWP officials said the survey results show a need for more mental health resources for wounded veterans, as well as more job placement and emotional support programs. Silva said the results also show the need for a holistic approach to approaching veterans struggles.

Depression and anxiety can be mitigated with exercise, she noted, but often social activity becomes a burden because of those underlying mental health issues. So advocates need to approach issues like weight gain and depression together, rather than with separate programs. Study authors also noted that the general themes of the report tracked with past years surveys showing both the patience of injured veterans in facing lifes difficulties but the persistent challenges they face.

http://www.stripes.com/news/survey-newest-wounded-veterans-struggling-but-resilient-1.240227
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VA officials defend health care, integrity of bonus system
September 9, 2013 WASHINGTON Before a crowd of grieving family members in Pittsburgh, Veterans Affairs officials defended their patient safety and executive bonus programs Monday, dismissing assertions that the department doesnt hold poor managers accountable for failure.

VA has a long-established record of providing safe health care, said Robert Petzel, under secretary for health at the Department of Veterans Affairs. The patient care issues the Committee has raised are serious, but not systemic. However, lawmakers and family of injured veterans at the outside-the-beltway hearing questioned whether that is true. Mondays hearing included a detailed look at preventable deaths at six different VA health care facilities, including at least five deaths from Legionnaires disease at the VA Pittsburgh Health Care system.

Witnesses tearfully recounted family members deaths due unsanitary practices, surgical mistakes and poor supervision of VA employees. They also bristled at reports that numerous executives from those facilities later received bonuses some totaling tens of thousands of dollars for meeting performance metrics. Members of the House Veterans Affairs Committee and a recent Government Accountability Office report have labeled the bonus system as broken, and lawmakers are pushing to ban all VA executive bonuses for five years.

Petzel called the patient deaths tragic and upsetting, and said department officials are conducting appropriate administrative and criminal investigations. But he also insisted that the cases are all isolated incidents reflective of a massive health care system, not a incompetent or uncaring bureaucracy. While no health care system can be made entirely free from inherent risks, when adverse incidents do occur, VA studies them to fully understand what has happened, he said.

Petzel said substantial disciplinary actions have already taken place in Pittsburgh, Atlanta and several other regional VA systems. The department is also reviewing its bonus award procedures. Lawmakers said they expect more. We will simply not tolerate substandard care for our veterans under any circumstance, said committee chairman Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla. When we hear about it, we will investigate it.

http://www.stripes.com/news/va-officials-defend-health-care-integrity-of-bonus-system-1.240079
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waltky · Oct 23, 2013

Well, of course dey did - `cause nobody inna gov't. was workin' atta VA...

VA claims backlog fell during shutdown, despite warnings
October 21, 2013 WASHINGTON The veterans claims backlog continued to drop this month despite the two-week government shutdown and dire claims from Veterans Affairs leaders that momentum on the problem had been lost.

VA officials reported Monday that 411,704 compensation claims have been pending for more than 125 days, the 15th consecutive week the official backlog number has decreased. The figure is down about 10,000 cases since Sept. 28. But the decrease appears to contradict VA claims that the government shutdown would hurt efforts to clear the backlog, by depriving the department of funds for mandatory overtime to work on the problem. On Oct. 1 the first day of the budget impasse VA assistant secretary of Public Affairs Tommy Sowers predicted an increase in the number of overdue claims because of the shutdown.

A week later, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki told members of the House Veterans Affairs Committee that the momentum achieved in the past six months (on the backlog) has now stalled with the government shutdown. He also indicated that the departments stated goal of zeroing out the backlog in 2015 could be jeopardized by the shutdown. In an email, VA officials acknowledged that the backlog did not increase during the shutdown but insisted that it did remain flat during the days department funding was restricted. That ignores a Oct. 14 report putting the backlog about 6,000 cases lower than where Shinseki had indicated just a few days earlier.

The department attributes the 10,000-case drop from Sept. 28 to Oct. 19 to the five non-shutdown days included in that reporting period, and the hard work of our Veterans Benefit Administration employees despite the distraction. Republicans in Congress have accused the White House of exaggerating the effects of the shutdown and creating unnecessary hardships to make the budget fight more painful. That included decisions to close national parks and furlough thousands of government employees.

VA programs were somewhat insulated from the shutdown, because of millions in advance funding appropriated to the department. That kept veterans hospitals and care centers open and most department employees on the job, but did affect non-essential programs such as the overtime claims work. Since March, veterans claims processors have trimmed the backlog total by an average of 31,000 a month. It is unclear whether the slower progress over the last three weeks will prevent similar progress by the end of the month.

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johnmayo · Oct 23, 2013

fiddlerdave said: ↑

A LARGE number of additional disabled = a longer backlog for a time.

Yeah its too bad Obama didn't take the long term Republican "solution" to injured vets of simply continuing to deny these men disability for their ill health. Voila! No backlog!

Problem "solved", except for tripping over more homeless vets on the street!
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Wow. It as if there was never a war before and this is the vA's first dance. Government medicine for you. It sucks and takes forever.

- - - Updated - - -

FreshAir said: ↑

I know congress hates to spend money right now, but time to spend some and get all these paper forms on-line, computerized, pretend this is the 21st century and not the 18th
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The spent millions trying to put together this database already. Been going on for a decade. The government sucks at doing most things. You know this though. Why you worship them is beyond me.

Consmike · Oct 23, 2013

Anyone who believes that Obama cares for our troops is a full blown idiot.

logical1 · Oct 23, 2013

But but-----------------if the Obama admin spends money on vets, they wont have money for welfare vote buying for democrats. Welfare drones and of course Obama voters expect to get their free schidt.

waltky · Jan 2, 2014

Granny says, "Dat's right - Obama tol' `em to get onna stick an' get `er done...

Shinseki says claims backlog is heading in the right direction
December 29, 2013 ~ For the first time since Barack Obama was elected president, the veterans claims backlog will end this year lower than it began.

Department of Veterans Affairs officials say theyre on track to end the backlog entirely sometime in 2015. At the start of December, the claims backlog the number of cases unfinished for more than 125 days sat just under 393,000 cases. Critics call that an embarrassingly large number, especially considering that the White House pledged to fix the problem almost four years ago.

But VA officials say eliminating the backlog was always expected to be a multiyear process, with the bulk of the progress coming this year. In March, the backlog total peaked at more than 608,000 cases. More than one-third of that caseload was gone by the end of the fall. VA Secretary Eric Shinseki has credited new computer processing systems, mandatory overtime for claims processors and new filing options for this years decrease.

The department also benefited from a slowdown in the number of new claims filed this year, allowing more resources to clear older ones. Fiscal 2013 was the first time in five years that the department processed more cases than it received. In November, Shinseki told reporters that this trend line is in the right direction but Im not dusting my hands off and saying this is a done deal.

More than half of the departments claims inventory is still in backlog, underscoring the work still to be done. Based on the nine-month trend, the department could clear out the backlog in early 2015. Last spring, many veterans groups and lawmakers were questioning whether the end of 2015 was a realistic goal. The departments current backlog efforts dont include the growing number of claim decision appeals, which has topped 266,000 cases. Shinseki has promised that will be the next focus for department officials.

http://www.stripes.com/news/shinseki-says-claims-backlog-is-heading-in-the-right-direction-1.259810
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waltky · Feb 3, 2014

No wonder injured vets are havin' a hard time establishin' their service records...

More than 1,800 vets' records intentionally destroyed or misfiled by 2 clerks
January 30, 2014 -- More than 1,800 personnel records for U.S. veterans were destroyed or misfiled by two student employees of the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis County, federal criminal court documents show.

One of the student employees, Lonnie Halkmon, 28, was sentenced Thursday to two years of probation and ordered to perform 40 hours of community service. The other, Stanley Engram, 21, is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 7. Both pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of destruction of government records and faced probation to six months in prison under federal sentencing guidelines. Engram's guilty plea says that 241 military records were found in the woods near the center on July 3, 2012, with 300 names and Social Security numbers visible on the documents.

The records were traced to Engram, who admitted disposing of the records found in the woods, abandoning files in the center and throwing them away at home. In all, he admitted destroying or purposely misfiling more than 1,000 records. Halkmon's plea says that after an incident, the center conducted an audit of all records assigned to employees in 2011 and 2012. From Dec. 7, 2011 to March 28, 2012, over 1,200 files were assigned to Halkmon, and 850 were reported missing.

The audit covered 41 employees and Halkmon had the highest error rate. While most employees had an error rate of 3 percent, four other employees had disproportionate error rates, according to a state appellate court ruling. It's not clear the total number of files that are missing and many may never be located due to the huge volume of records at the center. Halkmon had worked at the center since 2005 and resigned rather than being terminated. The other four employees were offered the same deal.

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waltky · Feb 4, 2014

IAVA: More effort needed on backlog, electronic medical records...

Veterans group: More effort needed on backlog, electronic medical records
February 3, 2014 ~ The Department of Veterans Affairs made significant strides in reducing the backlog of veteran disability claims last year, but aggressive steps are needed if the remaining 400,000 cases are to be handled and considerations are made for future claims, a new report suggests.

The Battle to End the VA Backlog released Monday by the non-profit advocacy group Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America suggests creation of long-promised electronic medical records shared by the VA and the Defense Department; standardization of VA claims forms; and incentives for VA raters who cut the number of appeals by getting it right the first time. The VA has implemented a number of initiatives focusing on automation, personnel and processes to try and update this outdated, paper-based system and address this enormous backlog of claims, according to the reports executive summary. While there has been some progress to decrease the backlog, there is nothing to support which of these initiatives are working and which are not, nor is there evidence of planning beyond FY 2015.

Overall it must create an infrastructure that allows the disability compensation system to project future needs and adapt to a growing population of new veterans and even more complex injuries. The report comes on the heels of President Barack Obamas State of the Union address, in which he vowed continued progress in addressing the backlog a major part of his agenda for the past four years but offered no concrete solutions.

In a statement addressing the report, the VA cites its aggressive plan to end the problem in 2015. No Veteran should have to wait for benefits theyve earned and deserve. ... We have made strong progress, and we know there is more work to do. ... Many of the recommendations in this report are consistent with our goals, addressed in our Transformation Plan, and reflect action already taken or underway. VA disability claims ballooned when Americas veterans began returning home many severely injured from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. As the wars dragged on, the VA struggled to keep up as more and more entered the system.

Between 2009 and 2012, the number of backlogged claims those pending for more than 125 days tripled, and more than two-thirds of the pending claims were backlogged, according to the report. In March 2013, the number of backlogged claims topped 600,000, with an additional 300,000 in the system. Initiatives by the department reduced the backlog by more than 35 percent through December, the report said. VA officials have said they are on pace to end the backlog in 2015.

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The Wyrd of Gawd · Feb 4, 2014

waltky said: ↑

No wonder injured vets are havin' a hard time establishin' their service records...

More than 1,800 vets' records intentionally destroyed or misfiled by 2 clerks
January 30, 2014 -- More than 1,800 personnel records for U.S. veterans were destroyed or misfiled by two student employees of the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis County, federal criminal court documents show.
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I checked for pictures but the original story didn't have any and I'm not sure if the ones I found under those names are actually involved in the crimes. But the times given (a couple of days ago) might suggest that certain people are the ones listed in the article. Decide for yourself.

waltky · Mar 1, 2014

The faster dey go, the behinder dey get...

VAs time to resolve disability appeals shoots up
February 28, 2014 WASHINGTON The average time for a denied claim to work its way through the cumbersome Department of Veterans Affairs appeals process shot up to more than 900 days last year, double the departments long-term target.

After hovering between 500 and 750 days for the past decade, what the VA refers to as its appeals resolution time hit 923 days in fiscal 2013. That was a 37 percent jump in one year, from 675 in fiscal 2012, according to a review of the departments annual performance report. The departments long-term goal is to get that figure to 400 days, although the trend over the past decade has been in the other direction. Asked about the slowdown during a conference call to discuss the VAs appeals system, the department said it has been reviewing the measure to see if its the most meaningful one to convey to veterans how long the appeals process might take. The department also said it was continuing to look for ways to make the process more efficient.

Laura Eskenazi, the official who oversees the departments Board of Veterans Appeals, cautioned that the long processing time is not at all indicative of inactivity. She said the many layers built into the system prompt many of the delays. The VA organized a conference call Thursday with reporters to explain its complicated, multi-layered appeals process, which begins when a veterans claim for disability benefits is denied in full or in part. Disability benefits are awarded to veterans who suffer physical or mental injuries during their military service. They range from $131 a month to $2,858 a month for a single veteran.

The VA has been engaged in a very public battle to reduce its overall backlog the number of claims awaiting an initial decision. By 2015, the department wants to get the backlog to zero. That would ensure that no claim is pending for more than 125 days. Thats the goal that has gotten the most attention from Congress, the administration and veterans groups. Veterans who appeal their decisions go into a separate system that can extend those waits far longer. That appeals system has evolved in layers since it was adopted after World War I. It allows veterans, survivors or their representatives to trigger a fresh review of the entire appeal at any time by submitting new evidence or information, the VA said. The Board of Veterans Appeals can grant, deny or most commonly remand the case to one of the VAs regional offices for additional review.

According to the most recent VA performance report, published in December, the VAs strategic target essentially a long-term goal for total appeals resolution time is 400 days; its short-term goal is 650 days. It hasnt hit that 650 target in the last five years, although it got close in 2010, when the average appeals time was 656 days, records show. Jacqueline Maffucci, research director for the advocacy group Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said that the VAs intense focus on reducing its backlog could help explain the jump in appeals processing times. As the VA has pushed to end the backlog, theres been a diversion of resources from the appeals system to tackling the backlog, she said.

http://www.stripes.com/news/us/va-s-time-to-resolve-disability-appeals-shoots-up-1.270408
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waltky · Mar 18, 2014

Granny says, "Dat's right - what took `em so long?...
;grandma:
Some veterans will now have their Social Security disability benefits expedited
March 18, 2014 ~ The federal government has launched a new process to expedite Social Security disability claims for a special category of veterans, the Social Security Administration announced Tuesday.

Under the new system, veterans with a VA disability compensation rating of 100 percent Permanent and Total will have their applications for Social Security disability benefits processed faster, similar to the way the agency currently handles disability claims from Wounded Warriors. We have reached another milestone for those who have sacrificed so much for our country, and this process ensures they will get the benefits they need quickly, acting Social Security commissioner Carolyn Colvin said in a news release. While we can never fully repay them for their sacrifices, we can be sure we provide them with the quality of service that they deserve. This initiative is truly a lifeline for those who need it most.

Rep. John Sarbanes, D-Md., who introduced legislation in Congress to promote the initiative, praised the change. No one wants to put Americas veterans through a bureaucratic runaround, he said in the release. As the baby boomer generation ages and more veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan need care, this common sense change will help reduce backlogs and cut through unnecessary red tape so that our most disabled veterans receive the benefits theyve earned.

To receive the expedited service, veterans must inform Social Security that they have a 100 percent Permanent and Total disability compensation rating and provide a copy of their VA Notification Letter as proof of their disability rating. Having the 100 percent rating does not guarantee that a veterans application for Social Security disability benefits will be approved; it only ensures that the claims process will be expedited for them. Veterans must meet strict Social Security eligibility requirements to receive a disability allowance, according to Social Security.

http://www.stripes.com/news/some-ve...curity-disability-benefits-expedited-1.273397
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