VA denies high error rate in denied claims

VA denies high error rate in denied claims
Army Times
By Rick Maze
Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Dec 18, 2012

The Veterans Affairs Department is fighting back against an independent study that concluded 60 percent of disability benefits claim denials were done in error.

A report by the nonprofit and nonpartisan National Center for Policy Analysis released last week says 31 percent of VA claims are likely to be denied and that 60 percent of those denials are likely be erroneous. VA officials, however, said Monday that only 10 percent of veterans filed notices of disagreement last year and that only 1.2 percent of all VA decisions were reversed on review.

In a statement, VA said the report’s errors are the result of using outdated data and reaching “inaccurate conclusions” based on very small samples.

That does not mean VA isn’t worried about the state of claims. “We know that too many veterans have to wait too long to get the benefits they have earned and deserve,” the statement says. “That is unacceptable, and we are implementing a robust plan to fix the problem.”
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