The backlog of Veteran Affairs disability claims has risen by
more than 2,000 percent during the past four years, while the agency's budget has
been increased by only 40 percent.
Now Congress is
pushing for President Obama to "take direct action" to end the
backlog. A bipartisan letter helmed by Reps. Patrick Murphy, D-Fla. and Mike
Coffman, R-Colo. and cosigned by 164 House Republicans and Democrats, is urging
the white House to run interference in order to help the more than 600,000 vets
currently waiting for their overdue disability claims. The average time they
wait to have a first-time filing processed is between 317 and 327 days, the
letter states. Many vets are waiting as long as two years for their claim to be
processed, and there are vets who waited as many as 1,000 days.
This letter is
not the first of its kind – a similar one was sent a month ago by 67 senators which
also requested that President Obama take action by becoming involved in solving
the disability claims backlog at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Some
cities are running a lag time longer than others; the average wait for a
disabled vet in New York is 642 days, while
the average wait for a vet in Philadelphia
The VA's goal is
to process the backlog of claims by the end of 2015 as the system completes a
switch from paper-based processing to a new electronic system. A backlogged
claim is any claim 125 days or older. The electronic system has been rolled out
in 20 offices throughout the United
States
In response,
White House press secretary Jay Carney said that the President is "deadly
serious" about clearing the extensive backlog by 2015. But while the
backlog issue predates Obama's administration, advocates are pushing for him to
become more hands-on in order to get the system resolved. According to Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA),
more than 575,000 vets have been waiting for their claim to be processed for
more than 125 days.
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