March 19, 2013 - As we mark the 10th anniversary of the start of the Iraq war, people want to know how VA is taking care of our Veterans. There has been a lot of discussion recently about the compensation claims backlog and what the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is doing about it.We at VA – many of us Veterans ourselves – know that Veterans, their families and survivors wait too long for the benefits they have earned and deserve. The fact is our average days-to-complete a claim currently sits at 273 days. All of us at VA agree this is unacceptable, and this is why we have been busy implementing a robust plan to fix the problem and end our reliance on paper-based claims.
Secretary Shinseki has set the goal: no claim over 125 days with 98% accuracy by the end of 2015. VA is aggressively building a strong foundation for a paperless, digital disability claims system – a lasting solution that will transform how we operate and eliminate the backlog. This new system will be installed in all 56 of our regional offices by the end of this year. Twenty-five offices have it now.
The backlog didn’t happen overnight, and it won’t end overnight. After ten years at war, the volume and complexity of claims is increasing as more servicemembers leave the military. Improved battlefield medicine has meant that more of our younger Veterans are coming home to their families, but with very complex injuries. read more>>>
The bigger picture is that the VA has been way underfunded for many decades now, since Korea but especially ours Vietnam, and thus unable even to keep up with advancing technologies in many area's while advancing care issues etc. into the private sector, and the country seems to like it that way as they also have ignored the Veterans who've served them, i.e. PTS - Agent Orange - Gulf War Syndrome to name just a few. PTS now can't be and finally is not only recognized, still not understood, in combat theater veterans but also in the private citizens from the many life extreme trauma's many live through. This past decade plus has shown very blatantly how the agency has suffered with two more wars, tax cuts, especially to the extreme for the wealthy, came with these wars and no ones demanding the country, especially the wealthy, Sacrifice, but plenty, especially those in congress seeking that long term goal of privatizing, are quick to lay blame on the agency and the dedicated people working within, DeJa-Vu all over again!!
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