VA, vets groups oppose new idea to speed claims

VA, vets groups oppose new idea to speed claims

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jul 14, 2010 14:07:02 EDT

The Veterans Affairs Department and major veterans groups showed a united front Wednesday in the battle to reduce the large and growing backlog of benefits claims.

They agree that the 17 percent increase since Jan. 1 in the number of pending claims — including 207,568 pending for more than 125 days — is a sign of serious problems in the claims system.

They also agree that the Claims Processing Improvement Act, S 3517, introduced in June by Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee chairman, is not the answer.

Testifying on behalf of major veterans’ groups, Joseph Violante of Disabled American Veterans told Akaka and the veterans’ committee that there are “grave concerns” over the bill, which attempts to improve and speed payments by developing a new standard for determining the severity of disabilities — adopting the same procedures currently used for Social Security disability benefits and workers’ compensation.
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VA, vets groups oppose new idea to speed claims