In an address to disabled
veterans, President Obama announced that the backlog of disability claims was
shrinking. At the Disabled American Veterans annual
meeting earlier this year, Obama stated that the backlog of disability benefits
claims had shrink by as much as 20 percent in the past five months. But, he
conceded, a new wave of claims was coming in to the Veterans
Administration. Some of those claims are from service members who served in
Vietnam and are looking for
care for ailments they believe stem from their decades-past exposure to Agent Orange,
as well as veterans most recently returned from Iraq
and Afghanistan
"Any efforts to decrease the
extensive backlog of disability claims are greatly needed and
appreciated," commented James Fausone, a veterans disability attorney. "Many
of the service members who have filed disability claims have been waiting for a
shockingly long time just to get their claims processed, much less
disbursed."
The White House is committed to boosting the
amount of spending available for vet services to attend to their education and
job prospects as well as the physical and mental health and homeless issues so
many vets face, Obama said. There is also a push to better support additional
hiring of vets at the Department of Veterans Affairs, and increase overtime pay
to clear up the backlog of claims.
According to the VA, 64 percent of claims still pending are
supplemental claims filed by vets asking for additional benefits. Though
the sequestration cuts took effect in March 2013, veteran spending was
exempted, allowing funding to go to decreasing the countless disability
benefits currently backlogged at the VA.
Obama stated that Congress needed to work together to reduce the deficit
and to keep the promises of support ad benefits to veterans.
Though World War I's last U.S.
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