The Department of Veterans Affairs is so behind in processing claims and benefits that the waiting list for decisions has doubled since President Barack Obama took office.

 

Currently, about 870,000 veterans are waiting for the VA to approve or deny their disability claim. Some ex-soldiers have spent six years without receiving a ruling from the agency.

 

The backlog has come about despite Congress giving the VA more than $300 million for a new computer system and to hire thousands of claims adjusters.

 

In the San Francisco Bay Area, the average waiting time is 313 days for a decision.

 

The VA has experienced a 48% increase in the number of new claims filed over the last four years as a result of soldiers returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan. Meanwhile, more than 230,000 Vietnam veterans have filed new disability claims related to illnesses stemming from exposure to the chemical Agent Orange.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Paperwork Buries Veterans’ Disability Claims (by Aaron Glantz, Bay Citizen)

Appeals Court Blasts VA for Mental Health “Incompetence” (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)