http://www.navytimes.com/news/2009/06/military_veterans_benefitsclaims_063009w/
news/2009/06/military_veterans_benefitsclaims_063009w
By
Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Jun 30, 2009 11:25:16 EDT
A North Carolina lawmaker proposes tackling the backlog of veterans’
disability claims by awarding benefits to veterans after 18 months if
their claim hasn’t been processed.
Veterans Affairs Department
officials have told Congress they are, on average, processing
disability compensation claims within 162 days and have a goal of
cutting the average to 120 days. But Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., is
one of many lawmakers who think there is a limit to how patient
veterans could be in waiting for money they are due.
“Backlogs
are at the point where veterans must wait an average of six months for
a decision on benefits claims and some veterans are waiting as long as
four years,” Butterfield said in a statement. “Veterans deserve better
than this.”
Butterfield introduced a bill on Friday, HR 3087,
that would automatically approve a veteran’s claim if no decision is
made by the VA within 18 months. The bill doesn’t say exactly how the
VA would do this, but creates a task force to monitor VA to make sure
the 18-month deadline isn’t met with an arbitrary denial just before
the claim must be paid.
The bill comes as the number of
unprocessed veterans claims exceeds 915,000 — a 100,000 jump since the
beginning of the year. In testimony two weeks ago before a House
committee, VA officials said the current 162 days is 17 days less than
one year ago, a sign that they are beginning to make process.
Butterfield’s
legislation, though, focuses on the estimated 20 percent of claims that
are not easily resolved, usually because the claim involves a veteran
claiming multiple disabilities from a variety of causes who is not able
to provide documents that show a clear link to military service for all
of the disabilities.
A deadline might help force the VA to move
faster, Butterfield said. “The decision should be made within 180
days,” Butterfield said. “Providing a deadline gives the VA an added
incentive to make a timely decision, and provides our veterans with an
assurance against claims languishing for years.”
The bill was
referred to the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee for consideration, a
panel that has discussed the idea of having claims automatically
approved if they languish. The VA and some veterans’ service
organizations have opposed the idea, worried that a deadline encourages
shortcuts by the VA — like quick denials — and also might lead some
veterans to file extremely complicated and not well-documented claims
in an effort to make the process drag out beyond the automatic payment
deadline.