Veterans in Maryland seeking disability benefits can face a perilous wait
Washington Post
By Steve Vogel
February 03, 2013
BALTIMORE — Veterans across Maryland who have filed disability claims at the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Baltimore office may wait more than a year for a decision and even then face a 25 percent chance that their claims will be mishandled, according to agency figures.
Nationally, the system is struggling with a backlog of more than 900,000 claims, the result of a sharp increase in filings by veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars as well as by older generations. The Baltimore regional office’s performance is among the nation’s worst, with claims filed by veterans seeking disability compensation pending 429 days on average, six times VA’s goal of 70 days, and 162 days longer than the national average.
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I literally just read this somewhere else too. I've got a buddy in the Army and he and I were talking about this and how VA benefits are imperative to vets, especially those like our fathers who are aging and are truly in need of them. Not only are vets waiting longer for their benefits, but trying to figure out the system and all that is available to them is no easy feat. He and his dad just read a book that they passed on to me called “Crack the VA” by Barbara Steinberg. You can check out her site and the book at http://www.blseldercare.com/. It's a helpful read and think it'd be a great resource to others as well. Thanks for the post.
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