‘Decades old problem’ exacerbates benefits backlog for veterans

[OriginalShroom]

And some people want the Government to take over our Healthcare when they can't even handle Veterans?

?Decades old problem? exacerbates benefits backlog for veterans ? MSNBC


The Department of Veterans Affairs has been scrambling to fix its backlog, which has reached 584,308 claims that have been pending for 125 days or more. About 873,680 veterans have filed claims and that number continues to grow.

 

[waltky]

Paperwork's always the problem...

In veterans’ long wait for benefits, paperwork often the problem
June 7, 2013 WASHINGTON — Zach McIlwain has low testosterone levels, post-traumatic stress disorder, limited mobility in his left hand and debilitating migraines that sometimes last for days. The 27-year-old received his injuries during two combat tours in Iraq, and he applied for disability benefits while still overseas.

That was in 2009. It took almost three years for the Department of Veterans Affairs to approve his benefits. The VA “continued to lose paperwork, and somehow I was at fault for it,” McIlwain said. The VA had more than 770,000 disability compensation claims pending as of June 1, and the department has been in the spotlight for weeks amid its promises to expedite its sluggish decision-making process. The department said that by 2015, all claims should be decided in 125 days or fewer with an error rate of 2 percent, goals it’s far from realizing. And if it’s going to reach those goals, there’s a pressing problem to overcome: a tendency to lose or otherwise mishandle veterans’ records.

Over the years, poor record-keeping at both the VA and the Department of Defense has resulted in losses of paperwork and denials to veterans, lengthening the claim response time. The Government Accountability Office, Congress’ investigative arm, found in a report last year that the record-gathering process for veterans who go to the VA to seek evidence for claims could take months. Kerry Baker, a VA appellate practitioner at Chisholm, Chisholm and Kirkpatrick in Providence, R.I., is a Marine veteran who’s worked at the VA. He said veterans could derive evidence from three types of logs: personnel records, service medical records that follow a veteran throughout his or her time in service, and unit or ship records.

McIlwain went through hundreds of pages of his records to document his dates of treatments and injuries. In 2010, private practitioners he consulted determined that his hand injury was service-connected. “I tried to make sure I reached the threshold,” McIlwain said. “I don’t know what more I could have done.” Millions of files like McIlwain’s fill warehouses and computer servers. Some claim that individual folders of evidence may be 4 or 5 feet tall, the VA said. McIlwain said it was probably easier for the VA to lose his paperwork than to process it.

Staff mistakes as simple as placing mail in the wrong folder can delay claim processing, the GAO said. It also said an inefficient IT system required that several claims folders be logged in multiple databases. The VA’s Office of Inspector General reported in May 2011 that the staffs at 10 out of 16 VA regional offices had “improperly managed” mail, meaning they may not have applied all the evidence necessary for prompt disability ratings. The VA said it had started initiatives to speed up the process, including new organizational models and electronic processing. “The Department of Veterans Affairs wants to ensure that all veterans are getting their benefits in a timely manner,” VA spokesman Steve Westerfeld said. “Certainly, any veteran that has not been able to get that because of anything the VA has done — that is unacceptable.”

MORE

 

[waltky]

Veterans waiting for benefits assured things will change -- in 2 years...

Veterans waiting for benefits in Manchester assured things will change
June 12. 2013 — The day is coming when injured veterans won’t have to wait longer than 125 days to find out whether they will receive veteran disability benefits, the Secretary for Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki told reporters Wednesday.

That will be two years from now, when a new electronic processing system eliminates the current backlog of claims, Shinseki said. This spring, the VA announced efforts to reduce backlogs, now that the paperless, $428 million Veterans Benefits Management System is in place at all 56 regional offices, including Manchester. “This is a big cross-over year for us,” Shinseki said after speaking to VA workers who process benefits in the Norris Cotton federal building in Manchester. “We have for decades sat astride rivers of paper. Now we are in the process of turning off paper spigots and turning on electronic ones.” Nationally, the average time it takes to process a claim is 292 days. That involves entering a claim into the system, determining what records — such as medical examinations and Defense Department service records — are needed for verification, obtaining those records, making a decision and notifying the veteran.

Payments are based on the percentage of a veteran’s disability and the number of people who depend on him or her. A married veteran with a 50 percent disability would receive $888 a month, tax-free, according to the VA website. Some veterans complain about the long wait, while others think their claims are quickly denied because the bureaucracy is playing catch-up, said Keith Howard, executive director of Liberty House, a shelter for homeless veterans in Manchester. He said homeless veterans do get fast-tracked, as well as those injured in recent wars, POWs, Medal of Honor recipients and the terminally ill. Others suffer through the slow pace, he said. “That’s one of the things bureaucracies can do. They put so many road bumps in your way that eventually you give up,” he said.

For example, part of benefit claims involve documenting injuries. Soldiers often self-triage, Howard said, putting themselves at the back of the line for more seriously injured people. Then years later, it’s difficult to prove your injury, he said. “You’re not thinking at that point, ‘I better document this for future benefits,’” Howard said. Shinseki said veteran service organizations such as the American Legion and Disabled American Veterans provide key assistance to veterans when it comes to researching their claims. He said veterans wait too long to receive their benefits, and neither he nor President Obama find that acceptable.

Shinseki attributed the lengthy wait to key decisions three years ago. Three Vietnam War-related illnesses, including Agent Orange poisoning, were recognized. Nine first Gulf War illnesses were recognized. And benefits were allowed for veterans with verified post-traumatic stress disorder. “PTSD is as old as combat itself,” he said. PTSD is also recognized for victims of sexual assault, he said. Overall, the Manchester office has a good track record of processing a claim. The average wait time for a fully developed New Hampshire claim is 36 days, compared to 82 nationally. In fact, the Manchester office is helping other VA Benefit offices process claims, Shinseki said. “It’s a great indication Manchester is doing well,” Shinseki said, “they’re carrying an additional load.”

Veterans waiting for benefits in Manchester assured things will change | New Hampshire NEWS18

 

[waltky]

Dey gonna whip it back to zero...

Two senators create ‘working group’ to whip veterans claims backlog
July 11, 2013 WASHINGTON — A pair of U.S. senators is hoping a new bipartisan working group focused on the veterans benefits backlog can speed solutions to the persistent problem.

Sens. Dean Heller, R-Nev., and Bob Casey, D-Pa., said the new effort will include meetings with veterans advocates, benefits recipients, VA officials and a host of lawmakers, with the goal of creating some new ideas or recommendations by this fall. Both men expressed frustration at the lengthy wait many veterans face when applying for service-connected benefits. As of this week, nearly 502,000 veterans have been waiting four months or more for their claims to be processed. “We’ve been given excuses for years on why this isn’t fixed,” Heller told reporters Thursday. “Some of them are legitimate … But we’re trying to move the process forward and find answers.”

The working group is the latest attempt to address the problem outside the traditional veterans-themed congressional committees. Earlier this year, members of the Senate Appropriations Committee said they’d closely monitor progress on the topic. Veterans groups have made it their top lobbying priority this year. VA officials have promised to end the backlog in the next two years, through a series of new computer systems, better processing procedures and additional manpower. In the last three months, the backlog figure has dropped by more than 100,000 files, which officials say shows their plan is working.

But Casey said he worries the department still isn’t on pace to solve the problem in 2015, and believes a broader discussion is needed to keep all parties focused on the issue. Earlier this year, Casey and Heller authored a letter signed by 65 other senators urging more action from VA and White House officials on the backlog. Rich Dumancas, deputy director for benefits at the American Legion, said his group is pleased with the progress so far by the VA, but also welcomes the additional attention. “We see the value in the steps they’ve taken already,” he said. “So we’ll be talking about that, and seeing how we can build from there.”

In a statement, Disabled American Veterans Executive Director Barry Jesinoski called the working group “another Congressional forum to help build support for serious, long-term solutions to ensure that all veterans’ claims for benefits are decided right the first time.” Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America Legislative Director Alex Nicholson said the continued focus is needed because "we have much more work to do on their behalf to bring the VA disability claims backlog to zero.”

Two senators create ?working group? to whip veterans claims backlog - U.S. - Stripes

 

[waltky]

Congress gonna make VA work like DOD...

Congress wants 4-year planning from VA, similar to DOD
July 17, 2013 WASHINGTON — Lawmakers want to create a quadrennial veterans review, modeled after the Defense Department’s long-term planning document, in an effort to better project the needs and goals of veterans programs for years to come.

The idea, pending before the House Veterans Affairs Committee, is one of several pieces of legislation under consideration designed to increase congressional oversight of VA operations, a sign of the increasing attention that veterans programs and benefits have received in recent years. In the last few months alone, dozens of lawmakers with little VA experience have begun to weigh in on the department’s growing budget and continued struggles with the benefits backlog. A four-year veterans review help establish “a national strategy for meeting the nation’s commitment to veterans” by broadly outlining spending and programming needs, according to the draft legislation.

Despite criticism over its ties to short-term budget concerns, the Pentagon’s quadrennial defense review is still regarded as a critical planning document for national security, and an important exercise to keep military planners focused on broad security goals. VA officials said they already have a similar multi-year planning review under way. Robert Snyder, acting assistant secretary for VA policy and planning, said the department’s internal quadrennial strategic planning process should be finalized early next year, in time to help inform the fiscal 2015 budgeting process. Because of that, Snyder said at a hearing Wednesday that VA officials don’t support duplicating that work with an official QVR.

But lawmakers on the committee said the more formal, congressionally mandated report will better inform Congress and ensure that those long-term concepts aren’t lost from year to year. “Administrations change,” said committee ranking member Rep. Mike Michaud, D-Maine. “My big concern is that I want this to be consistent.”

Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn., noted that dozens of other government agencies and thousands of outside groups are also involved in delivering care to veterans, which illustrates the need for larger coordination of efforts. Veterans groups said they support the idea of better planning for the department, but said they’re unsure if a defense-style quadrennial review is appropriate for VA programs. The bill would also mandate an annual five-year budgeting plan for VA operations, similar to Defense Department yearly budgets.

Congress wants 4-year planning from VA, similar to DOD - News - Stripes

 

[waltky]

The squeeky wheel gets the grease...

Shinseki: Bold backlog goal drew fire, also dollars
July 18, 2013 > In setting an ambitious goal three years ago to end the Department of Veterans Affairs’ disability claims backlog in 2015, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki exposed himself to criticism, including calls to resign as the backlog rose.

But that bold goal, Shinseki said, also helped VA get the funding it needed to modernize operations, including to phase out an inefficient, paper-driven claim processing system. “If I had written a plan that said we’re going to end the backlog in 2025, I wouldn’t have gotten any resources,” Shinseki said in an interview while he visited the VA regional claims processing office in Newark, N.J. With extra billions of dollars appropriated for claims processing and other “transformative” initiatives, VA’s backlog finally is falling. It stood last week at 536,400, down from 608,000 in March. Shinseki said he remains confident it will be gone in 2015. He sounds a little less confident of ending homelessness among veterans by that year, another determined goal. Regardless, the retired four-star general and former Army chief of staff doesn’t regret setting bold objectives. “I’ve been writing plans all my life. I never wrote a tentative plan. That’s not what you expect from a guy you want to solve a problem.”

A VA claim is in “backlog” if not decided within 125 days. When Shinseki became secretary, early in 2009, VA tracked claim performance with a different yardstick: average time to decision. The average then was 191 days, Shinseki said. The average sought was 125 days. “So if I completed a claim in one day, and another claim in 249 days, that’s a 125-day average, and that would have ended the backlog,” Shinseki said. “It just seemed to me a bad way to define the problem or try to solve it. So we said: No claims over 125 days.” As newly defined, the backlog was 180,000 by September 2009. Over the next three years it more than tripled, passing 600,000, even as VA hired thousands more claim processors. VA was deciding a million claims a year, yet the backlog grew with as many as 1.3 million claims pouring in. Only part of the flood of claims is from veterans who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. As Shinseki explains to Congress and to his own claims staff, it was his decisions to aid more veterans, including from the generation he went to war with in Vietnam, that helped to create the backlog.

Under Shinseki, VA simplified the process for filing post-traumatic stress disorder claims from veterans of all wars. He made compensable more illnesses for 1990-91 Gulf War veterans exposed to toxins and other health threats in that campaign. He also added ischemic heart disease, Parkinson’s disease and B-cell leukemia to the list of ailments for which Vietnam veterans can receive disability compensation, on presumption wartime exposure to the defoliant Agent Orange caused these conditions. This last decision alone resulted in 280,000 retroactive claims. As of last month, 166,000 veterans with at least one of these illnesses, or surviving spouses, received more than $4.5 billion in VA pay. Thousands of additional Agent Orange claims are being filed monthly. Shinseki stands by his Agent Orange decisions, citing scientific studies. But for two years, VA had to reassign 2300 of its most experienced claim processors – a third of the staff – to review old claims that qualified for special handling under a 1985 Nehmer court ruling.

Shinseki said he could be faulted for not better understanding requirements that Nehmer imposed so VA was better prepared for the extra workload. “They had to go through every page of every claim. It wasn’t enough to say, ‘Vietnam, exposure to Agent Orange and therefore Parkinson’s disease [so] grant service connection.’ The Nehmerdecision required them to see if there was anything else in the file…page by page by page. And, by the way, Nehmer goes to the head of the line. Everything else waits…I should have asked more questions.” Shinseki promised in 2010 not only to end the backlog in 2015 but also to raise the decision accuracy rate to 98 percent, up from the low 80s. These goals, Shinseki guessed while visiting the claims staff in Newark last month, must have made a few of them “suck wind through your teeth.” That was also the reaction by some at headquarters, he told me. “Somebody said, ‘Is he crazy?’ ‘No, no, no,’ I said. ‘I’m just asking: Is this a good goal? If it is, then we will go figure out how to get there.’ ”

MORE

 

[waltky]

New tack on reducing the claims backlog...

VA offering retro benefits to encourage use of 'developed' claims
August 2, 2013 WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs is rolling out cash incentives potentially worth tens of thousands of dollars to persuade veterans to use their new Fully Developed Claims process, in an effort to fight the claims backlog.

Starting next week, any veteran who submits a new disability claim through the FDC process will be eligible for a year’s worth of retroactive benefits, once their case is completed. Typically, the clock on veterans benefits starts the day a claim is filed. Once raters have reviewed and approved the claim — a process that has taken a year or more for many veterans in recent years — they receive a check covering their payouts starting from the filing day. But last year, Congress approved new legislation allowing VA officials to award one-year retroactive benefits from the filing date, as an incentive for veterans to use the FDC process.

Fully Developed Claims, touted by department officials as “the fastest way for veterans to receive a decision,” require veterans to provide all relevant documentation, such as medical records and personnel records, before handing their case to the VA for review. They are usually done with the help of a veterans service organization. VA officials say compiling those documents is the lengthiest part of the ratings process, and that FDCs average well below the department’s goal of 125 days to finish cases.

The department has taken harsh criticism throughout 2013 for its disability claims backlog. As of last week, more than 500,000 cases were pending for over four months. That’s down more than 100,000 cases since March, but still more than double what the backlogged case load was three years ago. The new FDC incentive only applies to first-time claims from veterans, and not any supplemental cases or appeals. VA officials said the incentive will be available for any FDCs filed starting Aug. 6, 2013, and lasting through Aug. 6, 2015.

More information on the FDCs is available at the department’s electronic benefits website, www.ebenefits.va.gov.

VA offering retro benefits to encourage use of 'developed' claims - News - Stripes

 

[bucs90]

Do Right wingers still want them to get these benefits?

We are broke, right? And they are government employees, right?

Afterall, right wingers sneered at Detroit govt workers not getting their benefits.

 

[waltky]

Obama got some `splainin' to do...

Obama: Progress made on disability claims backlog
10 Aug.`13 — President Barack Obama assured disabled veterans Saturday that his administration is making progress on reducing a backlog of disability claims and said the number of requests for assistance has fallen by nearly one-fifth since peaking at more than 600,000 just a few months ago.

In an address at the Disabled American Veterans' convention in Orlando, Obama also announced a national plan to guide mental health research, as well as commitments from 250 community colleges and universities to help veterans earn college degrees or get the credentials they need to find jobs. A chief concern for veterans is the backlog of disability claims for compensation for illness and injury caused by military service. "After years of military service, you shouldn't have to wait years for the benefits you've earned," Obama said. The number of claims ballooned after Obama made it easier for Vietnam veterans who were exposed to the herbicide Agent Orange to get benefits. Access to benefits also was eased for sufferers of post-traumatic stress disorder and Gulf War veterans afflicted with malaria, West Nile virus or other infectious diseases.

The backlog is shrinking due to some aggressive steps taken by the Department of Veterans Affairs, including requiring claims processors in its 56 regional benefits offices to work overtime and moving from a manual to a computerized system to help speed the judgment of claims, administration officials said. About 780,000 claims are pending. About 496,000 are considered backlogged after the 20 percent reduction Obama highlighted, down from 611,000 at the end of March, said White House press secretary Jay Carney. A claim is considered backlogged if it has been in the system for 125 days, or roughly four months.

Even with that progress, Obama acknowledged the amount of work still needed to eliminate the backup by 2015 as VA Secretary Eric Shinseki has promised. "Today I can report that we are not where we need to be, but we are making progress," Obama said. "So after years when the backlog kept growing, finally the backlog is shrinking." The president also announced the release of a comprehensive national plan to improve the ability to prevent, diagnose and treat PTSD and traumatic brain injuries and mental health issues earlier and better, and to reduce suicides, according to a briefing paper the White House released Saturday before the president spoke. Beyond the claims issue, Republican lawmakers have started to hammer the VA on the issue of patient safety.

A congressional hearing in Atlanta this past week focused on poor patient care linked to four deaths. Another hearing is scheduled for next month in Pittsburgh, where five veterans died as a result of a Legionnaire's disease outbreak in 2011-12. Several dozen protesters greeted Obama as he arrived at the hotel. Some held signs that said "Kenyan Go Home," ''Impeach Obama," and "Obama Lies." Obama met privately with DAV members before the speech, the White House said. Afterward, he headed to Martha's Vineyard, Mass., for a family vacation.

Obama: Progress made on disability claims backlog

See also:

Despite improvements at VA, problems remain
August 10, 2013 WASHINGTON — When President Barack Obama spoke Saturday at the Disabled American Veterans national convention in Orlando, he touted recent improvements his administration has made in addressing the long waits veterans face in seeking benefits for their service-related injuries.

As recently as March, more than 611,000 veterans and their families had waited longer than 125 days to hear whether the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs would approve their claims. The backlog has since dropped to about 500,000, thanks to a new effort to give overtime to VA workers. But that improvement also has led to fears that the focus on these applicants comes at the expense of others — particularly veterans who have been denied the benefits they want and are appealing the VA's decision. "The VA has a whack-a-mole problem," said Matthew Hill, an attorney who represents veterans seeking disability compensation.

Whenever the VA throws its budget of $138.5 billion at one problem, he said, another gets worse. And this time it's hurting those trying to appeal denials by the VA, a process that can drag on for years. Emblematic of the problem is the VA's regional office in St. Petersburg, which serves Florida. Claims are processed in the order they are received and as of last month, officials there were working appeals dating back to 2010. More than 21,000 cases are pending there. Among those waiting is Eddie Cruz, a U.S. Navy veteran from Orlando who served from 1978 to 1980.

While onboard the USS Nassau, Cruz said he fell down a flight of stairs during an early-morning drill and hurt his head badly. Months of hospitalization followed, and Cruz said drugs given to him afterward eventually caused a condition known as "tardive dyskinesia," an affliction that can lead to involuntary tics. "I have so much difficulty picking up things, going into the shower and doing basic everyday functions," said Cruz, 53, who said the condition prevents him from working. Though it was not initially apparent, Cruz said the condition gradually has worsened, and in 2009 he filed a claim to augment the VA benefits he already received. But he was denied in 2010, and he's been appealing ever since. "You never think it's a lifetime injury," he said.

Backlogs across the VA have come under intense scrutiny lately. In the spring, Jon Stewart of "The Daily Show" ran a segment dubbed "The Red Tape Diaries" that lampoons the VA for its inefficiencies — and its towering piles of paper files. Federal watchdogs have noticed as well. "Regional office managers did not assign enough staff to process appeals, diverted staff from appeals processing, and did not ensure appeals staff acted on appeals promptly because [initial] compensation claims processing was their highest priority," said a 2012 report by the VA's inspector general. The report estimated that the nationwide inventory of appeals had jumped from about 160,000 in 2008 to roughly 246,000 in 2011.

MORE

 

[waltky]

VA startin' to make progress against claims backlog...

VA critics vow to keep up pressure as claims backlog falls
August 19, 2013 WASHINGTON — Critics of the Department of Veterans Affairs will culminate a four-month petition drive Tuesday by demanding the president take immediate action to end the million-veteran disability claims backlog.

The problem? The backlog is already under 500,000 cases, and has been falling fast since the drive began. Supporters of the VA have dismissed the petition, organized by the conservative Concerned Veterans for America, as little more than a political stunt. But organizers insist their concerns about the still massive benefits backlog are still relevant, and the VA’s recent progress is no guarantee of future success. “There is still a lot of question about how they reduced those numbers,” said Pete Hegseth, CEO of the group. “And the problem is clearly not gone, so we have to keep focus on it.” The backlog — the number of claims that have taken more than 125 days to process — never totaled 1 million veterans. It peaked this year, in March, at around 608,000 cases.

But that’s four times more than in late 2009 — just a few months after Obama administration officials first vowed to end the problem — when the figure hovered around 150,000. VA officials have blamed the steady growth of the backlog on dramatic increases in the claims filed by veterans, a decision to open tens of thousands of new cases for illnesses related to Agent Orange exposure, and antiquated paper-processing systems that have taken years to update. For months, the department has been hammered by advocates, lawmakers and veterans for the problem. CVA and others have called for VA Secretary Eric Shinseki to resign, dismissing the explanations for the increase.

But the department reports it has made significant progress since that March peak, dropping the backlog to about 489,000 — almost 20 percent — as of last week. In June, raters finished all claims pending for more than two years, and officials insist they’re on pace to eliminate the backlog in 2015. “We’re turning the tide,” President Barack Obama told the Disabled American Veterans convention earlier this month. “And we’re not going to let up until we eliminate the backlog once and for all.” The recent progress is in part a result of the department’s new Veterans Benefits Management System — a paperless ratings software — and increased use of the Fully Developed Claims process, which ensures veterans have all relevant paperwork ready before starting their case.

But Hegseth notes that the department also hired new raters, instituted mandatory overtime this spring, and started issuing partial decisions on more complex cases to help pull down the numbers. He questions whether those changes are sustainable, systemic improvements, or whether the moves will provide only temporary relief. VA officials would not directly respond to CVA’s comments, but in a statement said they are confident in the plans. “The claims backlog is a decades-old problem, and fixing the outdated and paper-intensive claims system is an extraordinarily complex task,” the VA said. “While we have much more work to do, we are making progress, and we expect that progress to continue.” If VA raters can keep up the processing pace of the last five months, the backlog would hit zero by early summer 2015.

MORE

 

[NightFox]

Do Right wingers still want them to get these benefits?

We are broke, right? And they are government employees, right?

Afterall, right wingers sneered at Detroit govt workers not getting their benefits.

Straw meet man.

Detroit Government workers and their exorbitant "benefits" are Detroit's problem, the fact that our Military Veterans are getting screwed over is every Americans problem. This shouldn't be a left-right or democrat-republican issue (lord knows the partisan pom-pom waivers have enough of those to get into pissing contests over already), This should be something that everybody can agree on and at least start writing their congress critters about.

 

[RoadVirus]

And some people want the Government to take over our Healthcare when they can't even handle Veterans?

?Decades old problem? exacerbates benefits backlog for veterans ? MSNBC


The Department of Veterans Affairs has been scrambling to fix its backlog, which has reached 584,308 claims that have been pending for 125 days or more. About 873,680 veterans have filed claims and that number continues to grow.

Words to dread: "I'm from the government and i'm here to help"

 

[waltky]

Veteran's ask that Shinseki be fired...

Veterans’ group wants VA secretary fired
August 21st, 2013 > A veterans’ group says it has accumulated 29,000 signatures demanding that Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki be fired over persistent delays in processing disability claims.

Concerned Veterans of America sent a petition to President Barack Obama this week maintaining that Veterans Affairs disability claims have increased nearly 2,000 % since he took office in 2009. Shinseki has been the only veterans affairs secretary under Obama. In response, the Veterans Affairs Department acknowledged that “too many” veterans have to wait too long for benefits. “That’s unacceptable, and we are implementing a robust plan to fix the problem,” a statement said.

Claims that have been pending for more than 125 days are said to be backlogged, according to the agency’s web site. There were more than 516,000 pending claims that fit the definition at the end of June, VA figures show. That was more than two thirds of all pending claims at the time. One reason for the backlog, according to the agency, is that more veterans are seeking claims, including those from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Oh, I'm so embarr-assed

Under Shinseki, the VA recognizes for the first time conditions related to Agent Orange exposure, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Gulf War illness, which has led to a nearly a million new claims, it said. There is also the growing number of claims from World War II, Korea and Vietnam vets who hadn’t applied for medical help until recently.

These reasons have not eased concerns of the veterans’ group. “Military commanders —given a mission and necessary resources—are not allowed to fail for four years and keep their job. Nor should Secretary Shinseki. His time is up. It’s time for new leadership,” its petition read. The VA said it is making progress in reducing the backlog, saying it has gone down by nearly 20 % in the past five months. Once it fully digitizes its system, the VA expects that figure to fall further.

Veterans? group wants VA secretary fired ? CNN Security Clearance - CNN.com Blogs

 

[waltky]

Investigation into VA manager bonuses...

Lawmakers to hold hearing on bonuses for VA managers
September 5, 2013 WASHINGTON — Lawmakers will hold a field hearing in Pittsburgh next week to ask why local Veterans Affairs administrators received hefty bonuses in the wake of the preventable deaths of five patients.

But what they really want to know is whether there is any accountability within the VA bureaucracy. The rare outside-the-beltway hearing follows a series of reports condemning how the department has handled merit pay and benefit assistance oversight. It also comes after months of pressure from veterans groups and members of Congress for the VA to take tougher action against poorly performing employees. The criticism that VA employees are rarely held accountable for failings cuts across numerous problems faced by the department in recent years, including the shrinking but still massive disability backlog.

Last week, Republicans on the House Veterans Affairs Committee launched a website to call out midlevel administrators by name for receiving sizable bonuses despite significant questions about their effectiveness. They include a VA construction chief who received $55,000 in extra pay despite numerous delays and cost overruns with major projects; a disability benefits executive who got $60,000 in bonuses despite the mounting claims backlog; and a St. Louis facility director who received $25,000 in award pay despite “persistent patient-safety issues” including HIV exposure of several patients.

Chairman Jeff Miller, R-Fla., said the goal is to expose “VA’s long and well-documented history of rewarding failure” and force a culture change within the organization. “VA executives who fail in their jobs shouldn’t receive bonuses or glowing performance reviews,” he said. “They should be disciplined or fired.” In a statement, VA officials said that some performance awards – including individuals in the health administration medical networks – have been suspended pending further review. "All employees are expected to help VA achieve its mission of providing veterans the highest quality care possible,” the statement said. “When an incident occurs, VHA leadership conducts a prompt review to understand what happened, hold those responsible accountable and prevent similar incidents in the future. “If employee misconduct or failure to meet performance standards is found to have been a factor, VA will take appropriate corrective action immediately.”

Top officials at AMVETS and Concerned Veterans of America this week penned an editorial charging that underperforming VA workers “face no serious consequences” for failure. “Welcome to the twisted world of federal executive branch employment, where it’s nearly impossible to be fired for poor performance,” the piece said. Department officials have insisted the vast majority of VA employees are hard-working and dedicated individuals who have veterans’ best interests at heart. Thus far, they haven’t responded to committee requests to justify the bonuses. In August, the Government Accountability Office portrayed the VA’s merit pay systems as dysfunctional, with no real connection between work accomplished and bonuses awarded. The review results — requested by congressional Democrats — dismayed lawmakers. “It is clear to me that too often those who do not perform above and beyond are reaping rewards they do not deserve,” said veterans committee ranking member Mike Michaud, D-Maine.

MORE

 

[waltky]

Newest wounded veterans struggling but resilient...

Survey: Newest wounded veterans struggling but resilient
September 10, 2013 WASHINGTON — Three in four troops wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan suffer from post-traumatic stress and even more struggle with depression, according to a new survey released Tuesday by the Wounded Warrior Project.

The report — the most comprehensive look to date at the next generation of disabled veterans — chronicles the struggles facing that population but also several positive signs of their ability to adapt. More than 85 percent of individuals surveyed said they had friends or family they could rely on to help with their challenges, and more than half said they believe they have the strength to overcome their injuries. The annual survey polled nearly 12,000 group alumni injured in Iraq and Afghanistan, representing about one-quarter of the total wounded troops from those wars. The results give a snapshot of wounded troops struggling with mental health issues, readjustment to civilian society, and serious concerns about their long-term quality of life.

Jen Silva, executive vice president of economic empowerment at the Wounded Warrior Project, the large number of respondents also shows that “these wounded veterans feel the need to tell their story.” After injury-related health issues — 83 percent of those surveyed said their injuries contributed to gaining too much weight, and 80 percent said they had trouble sleeping — the biggest concern for most wounded veterans was finances. Fewer than one-fourth of the injured alumni have a bachelor’s degree or higher; another third are attending college. Two in five said their financial situation was worse than a year ago. Only about half of those who have found full-time work are happy in their careers, and 30 percent reported that lingering mental health issues are hurting their chances at getting a good job.

But a third of wounded troops surveyed reported difficulty getting mental health care, either because of obstacles with the military and Department of Veterans Affairs or because of concerns related to the stigma of seeking help. About one-fifth of the wounded veterans reported abusing alcohol in the prior month. WWP officials said the survey results show a need for more mental health resources for wounded veterans, as well as more job placement and emotional support programs. Silva said the results also show the need for a holistic approach to approaching veterans’ struggles.

Depression and anxiety can be mitigated with exercise, she noted, but often social activity becomes a burden because of those underlying mental health issues. So advocates need to approach issues like weight gain and depression together, rather than with separate programs. Study authors also noted that the general themes of the report tracked with past years’ surveys showing both the patience of injured veterans in facing life’s difficulties but the persistent challenges they face.

Survey: Newest wounded veterans struggling but resilient - News - Stripes

See also:

VA officials defend health care, integrity of bonus system
September 9, 2013 WASHINGTON — Before a crowd of grieving family members in Pittsburgh, Veterans Affairs officials defended their patient safety and executive bonus programs Monday, dismissing assertions that the department doesn’t hold poor managers accountable for failure.

“VA has a long-established record of providing safe health care,” said Robert Petzel, under secretary for health at the Department of Veterans Affairs. “The patient care issues the Committee has raised are serious, but not systemic.” However, lawmakers and family of injured veterans at the outside-the-beltway hearing questioned whether that is true. Monday’s hearing included a detailed look at “preventable deaths” at six different VA health care facilities, including at least five deaths from Legionnaires’ disease at the VA Pittsburgh Health Care system.

Witnesses tearfully recounted family members’ deaths due unsanitary practices, surgical mistakes and poor supervision of VA employees. They also bristled at reports that numerous executives from those facilities later received bonuses — some totaling tens of thousands of dollars — for meeting performance metrics. Members of the House Veterans Affairs Committee and a recent Government Accountability Office report have labeled the bonus system as broken, and lawmakers are pushing to ban all VA executive bonuses for five years.

Petzel called the patient deaths tragic and upsetting, and said department officials are conducting appropriate administrative and criminal investigations. But he also insisted that the cases are all isolated incidents reflective of a massive health care system, not a incompetent or uncaring bureaucracy. “While no health care system can be made entirely free from inherent risks, when adverse incidents do occur, VA studies them to fully understand what has happened,” he said.

Petzel said “substantial disciplinary actions” have already taken place in Pittsburgh, Atlanta and several other regional VA systems. The department is also reviewing its bonus award procedures. Lawmakers said they expect more. “We will simply not tolerate substandard care for our veterans under any circumstance,” said committee chairman Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla. “When we hear about it, we will investigate it.”

http://www.stripes.com/news/va-officials-defend-health-care-integrity-of-bonus-system-1.240079

 

[Claudette]

And some people want the Government to take over our Healthcare when they can't even handle Veterans?

?Decades old problem? exacerbates benefits backlog for veterans ? MSNBC


The Department of Veterans Affairs has been scrambling to fix its backlog, which has reached 584,308 claims that have been pending for 125 days or more. About 873,680 veterans have filed claims and that number continues to grow.

A backlog huh??

One has to wonder why any sane person would want our Govt involved in HC. They do such a marvelous job with our vets.

Wonder how many backlogs we'll see when the ACA takes effect??

 

[editec]

And some people want the Government to take over our Healthcare when they can't even handle Veterans?

I have VA health care, lad.

It's great.

Far better HC service than I ever got in the private sector.

Perhaps you just don't know what the fuck you're talking about?

 

[Claudette]

Aparantly your not backlogged.

I doubt those that are will agree with you.

 

[waltky]

Well, of course dey did - `cause nobody inna gov't. was workin' atta VA...

VA claims backlog fell during shutdown, despite warnings
October 21, 2013 WASHINGTON — The veterans claims backlog continued to drop this month despite the two-week government shutdown and dire claims from Veterans Affairs leaders that momentum on the problem had been lost.

VA officials reported Monday that 411,704 compensation claims have been pending for more than 125 days, the 15th consecutive week the official backlog number has decreased. The figure is down about 10,000 cases since Sept. 28. But the decrease appears to contradict VA claims that the government shutdown would hurt efforts to clear the backlog, by depriving the department of funds for mandatory overtime to work on the problem. On Oct. 1 — the first day of the budget impasse — VA assistant secretary of Public Affairs Tommy Sowers predicted an increase in the number of overdue claims because of the shutdown.

A week later, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki told members of the House Veterans Affairs Committee that “the momentum achieved in the past six months (on the backlog) has now stalled with the government shutdown.” He also indicated that the department’s stated goal of zeroing out the backlog in 2015 could be jeopardized by the shutdown. In an email, VA officials acknowledged that the backlog did not increase during the shutdown but insisted that it did remain flat during the days department funding was restricted. That ignores a Oct. 14 report putting the backlog about 6,000 cases lower than where Shinseki had indicated just a few days earlier.

The department attributes the 10,000-case drop from Sept. 28 to Oct. 19 to the five non-shutdown days included in that reporting period, and the “hard work of our Veterans Benefit Administration employees” despite the distraction. Republicans in Congress have accused the White House of exaggerating the effects of the shutdown and creating unnecessary hardships to make the budget fight more painful. That included decisions to close national parks and furlough thousands of government employees.

VA programs were somewhat insulated from the shutdown, because of millions in advance funding appropriated to the department. That kept veterans hospitals and care centers open and most department employees on the job, but did affect non-essential programs such as the overtime claims work. Since March, veterans claims processors have trimmed the backlog total by an average of 31,000 a month. It is unclear whether the slower progress over the last three weeks will prevent similar progress by the end of the month.

MORE

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - Obama tol' `em to get onna stick an' get `er done...

Shinseki says claims backlog is heading in ‘the right direction
December 29, 2013 ~ For the first time since Barack Obama was elected president, the veterans claims backlog will end this year lower than it began.

Department of Veterans Affairs officials say they’re on track to end the backlog entirely sometime in 2015. At the start of December, the claims backlog — the number of cases unfinished for more than 125 days — sat just under 393,000 cases. Critics call that an embarrassingly large number, especially considering that the White House pledged to fix the problem almost four years ago.

But VA officials say eliminating the backlog was always expected to be a multiyear process, with the bulk of the progress coming this year. In March, the backlog total peaked at more than 608,000 cases. More than one-third of that caseload was gone by the end of the fall. VA Secretary Eric Shinseki has credited new computer processing systems, mandatory overtime for claims processors and new filing options for this year’s decrease.

The department also benefited from a slowdown in the number of new claims filed this year, allowing more resources to clear older ones. Fiscal 2013 was the first time in five years that the department processed more cases than it received. In November, Shinseki told reporters that “this trend line is in the right direction” but “I’m not dusting my hands off and saying this is a done deal.”

More than half of the department’s claims inventory is still in backlog, underscoring the work still to be done. Based on the nine-month trend, the department could clear out the backlog in early 2015. Last spring, many veterans groups and lawmakers were questioning whether the end of 2015 was a realistic goal. The department’s current backlog efforts don’t include the growing number of claim decision appeals, which has topped 266,000 cases. Shinseki has promised that will be the next focus for department officials.

Shinseki says claims backlog is heading in ?the right direction? - News - Stripes