VA flood of about 200,000 Agent Orange-related claims

VA set to reverse claims backlog by 2012
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Feb 14, 2011 9:46:51 EST

This will happen once a temporary flood of about 200,000 Agent Orange-related claims — the result of a recent change in rules — works its way through the system, which could be as early as September.

Veterans Affairs Department officials say they can now see an end to the long nightmare of an ever-growing mountain of disability and compensation claims that has long infuriated veterans and their families.

By 2012, they expect dramatic improvements in both the speed and accuracy of claims processing.

But progress is difficult to discern now, at a time when VA has more than 783,000 pending claims — about 44 percent of them pending for more than 125 days. The total is up by 20,000 since the start of this year.

But VA’s acting undersecretary for benefits and chief information officer were both optimistic in a Feb. 8 interview that a mixture of automation initiatives, improved claims management processes and attitude adjustments among VA workers will turn the tide.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2011/02/military-va-claims-backlog-021411w/