Commission: Veterans should get their disability checks quickly

WASHINGTON (AP) — Injured veterans suffering long waits for disability checks could have their claims processed immediately with audits done later, if need be, the head of a special commission said Wednesday.

Separately, two major veterans groups expressed impatience with government delays in improving care for wounded troops. They urged President Bush to move quickly to nominate a new Veterans Affairs secretary who would finally make the “needs of our nation’s veterans a national priority.”

“This is no time for the president to fill such an important position with a placeholder for the remainder of his term,” said David W. Gorman, an executive director of Disabled American Veterans.

Testimony to Congress by retired Lt. Gen. James Terry Scott, chairman of the Veterans’ Disability Benefits Commission, is the first among several commissions and task forces to weigh in on the issue of reducing delays in veterans disability pay.

Last week, the 13-member commission issued a 544-page report on the ailing system that called the current 177-day wait unacceptable. It called for better technology, standardized procedures and additional staff to reduce the VA claims backlog to about 90 days within two years.

Under questioning Wednesday, Scott acknowledged that more radical efforts might be needed.