The Department
of Veterans Affairs is proposing a major change to the benefits process.
Currently, a veteran can send any sort of written note to the VA and it starts
a claim or appeal for VA benefits. The reason for this is because the VA system
is supposed to be uniquely pro-claimant and make it extremely easy for the
veteran to file and develop his or her claim. The effective date for many of
the benefits is the day that VA receives this piece of paper.
The VA is now proposing that only
requests made on official VA standardized forms will be accepted. The reason
for this? The VA claims that this will aid in reducing the claim backlog that
has about 400,000 veterans waiting more than 125 days for a decision. The VA
wants us to believe that the VA workers spend so much time trying to read the
letters and figure out what is being claimed, that it contributes to the
backlog and wastes time.
One of the fears by veterans’
groups is that requiring a standardized form will take time and effort to fill
out, leading to a later effective date (and therefore less money) for the
veteran when the benefits are awarded. Another concern is that claims will be
denied or kicked back to the veteran because he or she failed to check a
certain box or fill out the form correctly. Furthermore, concern is had that
the most vulnerable veterans—the homeless, those with a traumatic brain injury,
or those with limited education—would have the most trouble obtaining and
filling out the form correctly.
Critics and the VA alike
recognize that the VA system is broken. It is backlogged and the in-house
processes that VA utilizes are illogical and antiquated. However, requiring
standardized forms will only make the system more difficult for veterans to
navigate. Instead, effort should be made to have competent VA workers in the
mailroom—ensuring that mail that is received is properly saved, statused in the
computers, and passed along to the correct department. VA should have employees
that actually process claims in order of receipt, instead of handling easier
claims first. The VA should not lose files or records, and should properly
follow its own protocols uniformly among its offices in each state. VA
shouldn’t take 3 months to transfer files between offices when a veteran moves
to a different state. These changes would actually speed up the benefits
process and make it more productive. Unfortunately, it seems as though VA is
hell bent on “solving” the backlog problem by making the whole process more
difficult for the veterans.
