[VA]- Employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs are working to resume normal operations as quickly as possible. Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) regional offices are re-opening their doors and resuming public contact services for Veterans today.
“With the shutdown over, we are all very grateful that the Nov. 1 benefit checks will go out to approximately 5 million Veterans and other beneficiaries as scheduled,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “We at VA are working quickly to resume normal operations in order to fulfill our solemn obligation – to ensure that Veterans receive the benefits and services they have earned through their service. I want to thank all of our VA employees for their dedication and resolve during this difficult period.”
During the government shutdown, VA medical centers, clinics, and other health services remained open. Due to the shutdown, VA claims processors were unable to continue working 20 hours of overtime per month to reduce the backlog of claims, overtime that has helped VA significantly reduce the disability claims backlog by more than 190,000 claims over the last six months. Mandatory overtime will resume immediately and will continue as planned through Nov. 16, at a minimum.
“In the coming weeks and months, we will fight hard to regain ground lost as a result of the government shutdown,” said Shinseki. “We remain committed to eliminating the disability claims backlog in 2015.”
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2 Comments
Thanks for the warning, because the regularly scheduled business at the VA is less productive than it is during a shutdown! Seriously, with more than 1/2 million Veterans now dying each year (half of all Veterans are now in their 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and even older) and with no new claims accepted during the shutdown, clearly some of those backlogged VA claims are now going to be closed, not because of anything the VA has done, but to the contrary, due to the continuing deaths of aging Veterans while the VA has done nothing to resolve their pending claims, which simply remain in dusty storage for years on end (better described as VA Death Watch Storage.)
It is a shame to see the media continually accept the slight of hand manipulation by the VA and Congress, touting a phantom reduction of the VA backlog! When in truth, the manner in which the VA takes credit for initially processing a claim, is by denying 70 percent of all claims (which Veterans describe as rubber stamp denials) and then tell the media and the public what a great job they have been doing, with another hand-out for more raises, bonuses and budget increases.
Next, comes the hidden backlog, but even worse and more disgraceful than the backlog of VA claims the public already knows about. Once the VA denies most of those claims, those claims then become Appeals (or pre-appeals with requests for a reconsideration of the denied decision.) Once a Veteran receives an initial denial of their claim (which the overwhelming majority of VA claimants do) and at this point, it is rare for any claim to be resolved (favorably or unfavorably) in less than 5 years and often not for more than 10 years, which in no other terms, is a disgraceful but real fact that best illustrates just how unproductive and dysfunctional the VA actually is!
Considering the average age of Veterans is nearly 60 years of age and the shell game the VA is playing by denying claims in mass to achieve a perceived reduction of the claims backlog, it has now become statistically far more likely a Veteran will die before ever having the VA actually resolve their claim and sadly, the VA doesn’t even know how many Veterans among their claimants are now deceased, as their dusty claim folders sit in VA storage untouched for years, supposedly being prepared for an appeal.
When oh when will the press tell the public the true story behind the VA claims backlog, but more importantly, when will we elect a Congress with enough backbone to actually do something about it!
Crawford_Tampa,
Thank you for telling exactly what is going on at the VA. The VA executives (Shinseki and others), the VA lawyers, and the VA claims adjusters are greedy, over-paid, over-compensated, and under-worked individuals. Why would these VA employees care about our wounded, sick and dying veterans, they are living high off our tax money. They do not have to worry about medical insurance or anything. As government employees (much like the President, Congressmen, Senators, and etc.), these VA employees have the very BEST COMPLETE FAMILY MEDICAL COVERAGE anywhere in the world. They pay NOTHING OUT OF THEIR POCKETS. We TAXPAYERS PAY FOR EVERYTHING!
Somebody better STOP THIS! Treating our American SOLDIER VETERANS like animals, making them BEG FOR MEDICAL CARE AND COMPENSATION is a DISHONORABLE DISGRACE to our nation!