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Managing America: Veteran Matters

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Week Ending August 1, 2008

H.R.5892 To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to modernize the disability benefits claims processing system of the Department of Veterans Affairs to ensure the accurate and timely delivery of compensation to veterans and their families and survivors, and for other purposes.

Congress finds that the VA processes claims and benefits for 3,588, 255 veterans and survivors of the 24 million US veterans. In 2007 the group increased by more than 838,000with expectations that new claims will exceed 1 million in 2008. Of the 650,000 pending claims about 25% have been backlogged for over six months and processing time rose from a 177 day average in 2006 to 183 days in 2007.

To address the backlog and the procedures, including paper-based claims, the bill requires a study on adjusting the schedule for rating veteran’s disabilities, the establishment of the Advisory Committee on Disability Compensation, a study on the employee work credit system of the VA’s Veterans Benefits Administration, a study on the VBA’s work management system, the certification and training of VBA employees responsible for processing claims, and annual independent assessment of the VBA’s quality assurance program, the expedition of fully developed claims, a study of the VBA’s need to employ additional medical professionals and its technological resources. The assignment of partial disability ratings to certain veterans, and allow a claim beneficiary to be substituted as a claimant in the case of the death of the veteran claimant while the claim is waiting adjudication.

Reports are due Congress in 180 days.

The Chief Judge of the US Court of Appeals that handles veteran claim decision appeals must report yearly to Congress on the number of appeals and petitions filed, the number of applications filed, the number and types of dispositions and settlements, the number of oral arguments, the median time from filing to disposition, and administrative data.

Sponsor:  Rep. John Hall (NY-19^th)

Vote: Passed House July 30, 2008 429 to 0 RC 538

Cost to the taxpayers:

Earmark Certification:  

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MORE INFORMATION

Congress makes the following findings:

(1) At the end of fiscal year 2007, there were nearly 24,000,000 veterans in America.

(2) According to the latest Annual Report from the Veterans Benefits Administration, there were 3,582,255 veterans and survivors receiving compensation and pension benefits under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs at the end of fiscal year 2006.

(3) The number of veterans and survivors at the end of fiscal year 2006 included 2,725,824 veterans receiving service-connected disability benefits, 325,939 survivors receiving service-connected death benefits, 329,856 veterans receiving non-service-connected disability benefits, and 200,636 survivors receiving non-service-connected death benefits.

(4) During fiscal year 2006, almost 250,000 beneficiaries began receiving benefits with 162,805 of these being veterans whose compensation claims were granted.

(5) Since October 7, 2001, the number of claims for new or increased benefits has risen sharply, exceeding 838,000 in 2007.

(6) The Department of Veterans Affairs projects that the number of claims will surpass 1,000,000 by the end of fiscal year 2008.

(7) The number of disability compensation claims pending before the Department stands at nearly 650,000, as of the date of the enactment of this Act, about a quarter of which have been backlogged for over six months.

(8) Processing times have increased from an average of 177 days in 2006 to 183 days in 2007.

(9) The paper-based, labor-intensive process employed by the Department leaves many disabled veterans and survivors waiting months or years to receive the benefits they have earned.

(10) The most prevalent disabilities among veterans that are service-connected are auditory, with almost 840,000 veterans receiving compensation for such a disability, followed by musculoskeletal disabilities and arthritis.

(11) Post-traumatic stress disorder is the sixth most common disability, with more than 269,399 service-connected veterans.

(12) In 2006, the Veterans Health Administration treated 345,713 veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, which was an increase of 27,099 over 2005.

(13) By January 2008, of the 1,600,000 veterans who served in the Armed Forces after October 7, 2001, the Veterans Health Administration had treated 59,838 for post-traumatic stress disorder.

(14) Disabilities are evaluated in accordance with the Department of Veterans Affairs Schedule for Rating Disabilities (referred to in this section as the `VASRD') under title 38, United States Code of Federal Regulations, part 4.

(15) This schedule was originally created in 1917 and was last comprehensively revised in 1945.

(16) The VASRD contains many outdated and archaic criteria and lacks more commonly accepted medical practices and procedures.

(17) Studies conducted by the Institute of Medicine found it to be an inadequate instrument for compensating disabilities for the average impairments of earning capacity, especially in areas of mental health, unemployability, and for younger and severely injured veterans, and recommended it be revised using more modern medical concepts.

(18) The Department of Veterans Affairs must modernize the claims processing system of the Veterans Benefits Administration to make it a first-class, veteran-centered system that uses 21st century technologies and paradigms and reflects the dignity and sacrifices made by disabled veterans, their families, and survivors.

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