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VA Highlights Progress on Claims Backlog

WASHINGTON (December 11, 2013) – At a hearing today before the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Under Secretary for Benefits, Allison A. Hickey, outlined progress made by the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) in reducing the backlog of Veterans’ disability compensation and pension claims by 36 percent since March — attributing the success to the combined impact of VBA’s transformation initiatives and increased employee productivity.

“We know there is much more work to be done to reach our goal of eliminating the disability claims backlog in 2015,” said Hickey. “But I’m encouraged that the improved tools and processes we’ve put in place so far are having a real impact so that we may better serve our nation’s Veterans, their survivors and their families.”

In her testimony, Under Secretary Hickey detailed the elements of VBA’s transformation plan, which includes re-training and reorganizing its workforce, streamlining business processes, and building and implementing new technology solutions. With each transformation milestone, said Hickey, VBA is successfully moving away from a paper-bound, manual process to improve benefits delivery to Veterans, their families, and survivors through paperless claims processing. She also noted that if full funding is received, mandatory overtime for VBA claims processors, which helped bring down the backlog this year, will continue for much of 2014.

Key accomplishments highlighted in the testimony included:
· Decreasing the pending inventory of claims by 22 percent;
· Decreasing the number of claims in the backlog (those pending over 125 days) by 36 percent;
· Increasing claim-level accuracy from approximately 83 percent in 2011 to 90 percent today;
· Increasing medical issue-level accuracy to approximately 97 percent today;
· Completed processing of 99.9 percent of all claims that were pending over two years;
· Completed processing of 97 percent of all claims that were pending over one year through the end of October;
· Converting over 360 million images of paper claims documents into a digital format for electronic processing; and
· Establishing over 3.2 million Veteran, Servicemember and family member accounts in eBenefits, the joint Defense Department/VA web portal for accessing and tracking VA benefits.

Also, VA’s web-based, paperless electronic claims processing solution, the Veterans Benefits Management System (VBMS), was successfully deployed to all 56 of VA’s regional benefits offices across the country, six months ahead of schedule. VBMS has also been fielded to the Appeals Management Center, the Records Management Center, the Board of Veterans’ Appeals, VA’s National Call Center, and all VA Medical Centers. Currently, about 75 percent of the VBA’s claims inventory is in digital form for electronic processing in VBMS – a percentage that is growing daily. In December, VBMS will continue to add new features and capability.

During her testimony, Hickey thanked the committee members for their support, noting that VA will rely on their continued support for resourcing the information technology and automation advancements needed to meet the Department’s goal of eliminating the backlog in 2015. In fiscal year 2013 alone, VA provided over $59 billion in compensation benefits to four million Veterans and survivors, and over $5 billion in pension benefits to more than 515,000 Veterans and survivors.

For Veterans and separating Servicemembers who are planning to file a disability claim, VA urges them to do so by filing Fully Developed Claims (FDCs) electronically through eBenefits. Veterans and separating Servicemembers who need help filing their claims can contact their local veteran service organization for assistance.

Under current law, Veterans filing initial disability compensation claims as FDCs now through Aug. 5, 2015, may be eligible for up to one year of retroactive benefits. Registered eBenefits users with a Premium account can file a claim online, track the status, and access a variety of other benefits, including pension, education, health care, home loan eligibility, and vocational rehabilitation and employment programs.

For more information about VA benefits, visit www.benefits.va.gov, or call 1-800-827-1000.

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Filed Under: Education, News, VA

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NY National Guard Headquarters Marks Memorial Day

MAY 27, 2022 – The New York National Guard’s headquarters staff marked Memorial Day and remembered those who gave their lives in the service of the United States, with a short ceremony outside the New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs Headquarters in Latham, New York on Thursday, May 26. The ceremony featured […]

Is the Army Reserve Calling You?

APRIL 27, 2022 – Graduating high school is a momentous achievement culminating in years of hard work and dedication. It also presents one of the most challenging questions many people will face in their life, “What do I do now?” Many high school students struggle with what they should do next, joining the workforce or […]

NEXCOM’s NEXT Gen Scholars Program Support Students

MAY 17, 2022 – The Navy Exchange Service Command’s (NEXCOM) NEXT gen Scholars Program offers qualified students the opportunity to win $2,500, $1,500, $1,000 or $500 each quarter for earning good grades in school. The next drawing is at the end of June 2022. To enter the drawing, students must be full-time with a “B” […]

How to Live as a Civilian After Active Duty

MAY 20, 2022 – When you were on active duty, money might not have been a huge issue. You lived on base, ate at the mess hall, and didn’t have any outstanding debt. Life was far different than what you lived prior to entering the service. But now that your time in the military is […]

DoD Authorizes Temporary Increase to 2021 BAH Rates

SEPTEMBER 27, 2021 – The Department of Defense has temporarily authorized increases in the 2021 Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) rates for 56 housing markets (commonly referred to as Military Housing Areas, MHAs) across the U.S. Uniformed service members who have incurred increased housing costs above their current BAH may be eligible to apply and […]

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