What should have already been started decades ago and should be running like clockwork now:
Trying To Build A Better G.I. Bill
March 29, 2010 Having missed its original deadline last summer to streamline claims processing for the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill, the Obama administration is trying to make good by launching new software April 1.
Veterans Affairs Department data shows the still-new college aid program has improved at getting payments to veterans and universities after its rocky introduction last August. But computerizing the benefits is the only permanent solution to tame the complicated system of tuition and housing funds, according to Roger Baker, the VA's assistant secretary for information and technology.
Baker said it was crucial that the Obama administration increased the VA's budget from $98 billion to $113 billion in FY 2010, because that let the department add more programmers. They came not a moment too soon, in light of criticism leveled during a March 18 summit that assessed all VA claims processing for 2010, academic and otherwise. Its organizer, House Veterans' Affairs Chairman Bob Filner, D-Calif., described the existing system as an "insult to veterans" and said swift, effective computerization is the only solution. -->-->-->
VA Claims Quality Review System Does Not Offer a Clear Picture of Processing Accuracy
29 March 2010 John Hall (D-NY), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, conducted a hearing to assess one of the quality review systems utilized by the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA).
The Systematic Technical Accuracy Review (STAR) serves as the primary method for reviewing processing timeliness and accuracy for compensation and pension claims for veterans.
Chairman Hall stated, “STAR can be used as a quality control tool only if it directs attention to poorly performing regional offices and helps the agency supply additional staff and training to those offices. The goal is for VBA to get the claim right the first time so that veterans are not improperly denied the benefits they deserve or faced with lengthy appeals cycles.” -->-->-->
A lifeliine for veterans in crisis
29 Mar 2010 VA offers suicide prevention hotline
Canandaigua, New York (CNN) - "Can you say that again? You put a bullet through the wall in your house?"
Angela Price begins this evening at work like any, listening to troubled veterans in need of a sympathetic ear or immediate help.
She reaches for a pen and paper. She's a trained responder for the Veterans Affairs Department's National Suicide Prevention Lifeline in the upstate New York town of Canandaigua.
She asks a series of questions: "Where's the gun at now?... OK, so the gun is nowhere near you? ... OK, I'm glad that you're safe," she says, somewhat relieved but still concerned about the caller. -->-->-->














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