Noteboom The Law Firm

End To Disability Claims Backlog May Be In Sight

February 24, 2011 - The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has been burdened by an unbelievable backlog of disability claims for many years. The last couple of years have seen many efforts by the VA to combat this problem ranging from hiring more employees to process specific claims to changing the filing forms to creating fast-track programs to settle claims quicker. According to VA officials, however, a nation of beleaguered veterans and their families may soon see actual relief.

The VA is currently facing a mountain of pending disability claims numbering 783,000. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 44% of those claims have been pending for over 125 days. Incredibly, this number is 20,000 more than the VA had at the beginning of the year. The VA, however, says the pace and precision with which they process their disability claims will improve dramatically.

The VA expects to process more disability claims than they receive by early 2012. The VA's system was recently flooded with approximately 200,000 Agent Orange disability claims following a change in eligibility requirements. These disability claims slowed down an already slow VA processing system.

Not all claims are created equal, however. Compensation and pension claims are more intricate than other claims and therefore take more time to process. The VA has multiple plans on how they will speed up processing such as using the Post-9/11 GI Bill's automation system.