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For VA, mountains of disability claims remain a problem as vets wait for help

By Steve Vogel,November 10, 2012

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In pilot program testing, the new paperless Veterans Benefits Management System has cut the average time to process a case from 240 to 119 days. The system is on track to be used nationwide by the end of 2013, Hickey said.

A long-awaited VA-Defense Department collaboration creating an Integrated Disability Evaluation System for members of the military returning to civilian life is showing promise, allowing the VA to award benefits on average within two months of discharge.

An “express lane” to speed claims for at-risk veterans is being tested, though veterans groups warn that the split has backed up other claims.

Employees who have completed a redesigned training program are processing 150 percent more claims, with a 30 percent increase in accuracy, Hickey said.

Veterans groups say that the “overpowering array” of pilot programs, initiatives and technological improvements make it difficult to determine which hold the most promise. And, they say, some of the VA’s 56 regional offices are resistant to the mandated changes.

“So many things cannot be fixed by sweeping decisions in Washington, D.C.,” said Peter Gaytan, executive director of the American Legion’s Washington office. “If the central office and General Hickey have a great idea, it’s only effective if the regional offices do it.”

Richard Dumancas, deputy director of benefits for the Legion, said morale is low at many regional offices, with employees overwhelmed by piles of documents a foot high or more for a single veteran.

“They want to help the veterans, but a six-foot pile, that’s pretty depressing,” he said.

It’s even harder for people like Lynn Callaway, a 58-year-old Air Force veteran who was awarded the Air Force commendation medal for her services during Operation Babylift, when children were airlifted from Vietnam before the fall of Saigon.

Callaway submitted a claim in 2005 for service-connected fibromyalgia, a disorder that causes pain and fatigue, but was denied benefits by the VA. She appealed the decision but it took six years to get a hearing before the Board of Veterans Appeals in January. The judge ruled in her favor and sent her claim to the Roanoke regional office in March to get a disability rating.

Callaway made no further progress for seven months. Her queries to Roanoke were met with form letters saying the case was being processed. In the meantime, she borrowed money from friends and relatives and has lived with a fellow veteran in Springfield to save rent. “I am tired. I am so tired,” she said Monday. “There has to be a better way. I’ve turned a little bitter in the last six months.”

The Washington Post asked the VA about Callaway’s case. On Thursday, an official with the Roanoke office said the case had been resolved and that she would soon receive her benefits.

“The years of waiting it takes for a claim to be sent to the appeals court with more years of waiting after the appeals decision can easily destroy veterans and their families,” Callaway said later. “This is unacceptable, and there should be great embarrassment within the administration that cases like mine exist.”

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