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Senator demands VA expedite disability claims
YOUNGSTOWN
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Avon, said the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs must speed up disability-claims processing and eliminate its backlog of nearly 490,000 claims.
“It’s made progress, but it’s still taking far too long,” the senator said of the VA during a Wednesday news conference at Oakhill Renaissance Place.
“Unlike almost any other federal agency, we increased the budget significantly for [Veterans Affairs],” the senator added.
Brown, a senior member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, advocated for two bills he said would help alleviate the problem.
He introduced the Veterans Services Outreach Act, which would require the VA to notify veterans filing claims electronically that they can receive help and important information that could reduce their waiting time significantly.
Brown said he also supports the Claims Processing Improvement Act of 2013, which would require the VA to publicly report its projected monthly goals and actual attainment to enable Congress and the public to evaluate the VA’s progress toward eliminating the backlog.
That bill also would establish a task force to hire and train claims processors and develop strategies to eliminate the backlog.
Brown acknowledged that the VA faces several challenges in reducing the backlog:
More than 1 million new claims filed annually.
An increase in claims complexity.
An influx of veterans who have returned recently from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.
The VA’s recognition of the service connection for conditions related to Agent Orange exposure.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ media- relations department did not respond to a request for a comment on the senator’s statements.
Brown urged veterans whose claims have been delayed to call Laura Pechaitis, an aide in his Cleveland office, who serves as an advocate for military personnel and veterans, toll-free in Ohio at 1-888-896-OHIO.
Appearing with Brown was Stuart Novotny of Austintown, who served in Vietnam as a Navy medical corpsman and received a Purple Heart, and whose disability claim due to a gunshot wound and post-traumatic stress disorder has been pending for 619 days.
“It’s really frustrating,” he said. “When they send men and women to war, they’re going to have problems, and they never foresaw that.”
John P. Brown III of Boardman, a past national AMVETS commander, noted that some veterans get all their medical care from the VA, but their medical caregivers don’t communicate with the VA’s disability-claims specialists. “The benefits side and the medical side do not talk to each other,” he added.
If a military physician makes a diagnosis, the VA’s disability-determination process requires a second physician to examine the veteran after discharge from the service, the senator said. “The Department of Defense has got to work better with the VA,” he said.
“They’re overwhelmed with claims, and this stuff takes time, and it’s complex,” said Barry Landgraver, executive director of the Mahoning County Veterans’ Service Commission. The county’s commission helps veterans navigate the VA claims process, which requires compilation of military service and medical records.
“It’d be nice to speed it up, but it’s going to be hard to do that,” Landgraver said.
“The VA’s problem isn’t money or personnel. The VA’s problem is an overly bloated bureaucracy that really needs to be simplified and streamlined in order to care for these vets,” said Mark Walters, a retired Army 1st sergeant and deputy director of the Trumbull County Veterans’ Service Commission.