Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
VA Backlog Of Disability Claims Drops 84 Percent To Under 100,000 Cases
The Department of Veterans Affairs said Monday it now has fewer than 100,000 disability claims older than four months, a "historic milestone" that is one-sixth the size of a long-term backlog that reached a record 611,000 claims in 2013. Allison Hickey, the VA's undersecretary for benefits, said the current backlog of 98,535 claims older than 125 days is the lowest since the agency started measuring the claims backlog in 2007. (8/24)
The backlog of just over 98,000 is an 84% drop from its peak in March 2013, said Allison Hickey, the VA鈥檚 undersecretary for benefits. The fall was due in part to more employees processing claims and using digital records rather than paper copies.A backlogged claim is one that has awaited a decision for more than 125 days. VA officials say the backlog can never be eliminated, partly because claims can include multiple health problems that must be adjudicated. (Kesling, 8/24)
The backlog has long plagued VA and fueled criticism that the department was poorly managed and failed to meet the need of the veterans it served. The news comes as a rare positive development for a federal organization that has for years faced the scorn of lawmakers and the veterans community. The department attributed the backlog reduction to a transformation plan it launched in 2011. The overhaul included a refocus on paperless claims processing, a more streamlined coordination of private medical records and specific metrics aimed at eliminating the backlog entirely by this year. (Katz, 8/24)
But VA officials Monday also indicated that they may never fully eliminate that backlog because doing so could unnecessarily rush some veterans' claims through the system. ... Outside advocates have offered cautious praise of the work so far, with veterans organizations lauding the effort but also warily reminding of past promises to end the backlog. The progress also has drawn criticism from groups mistrustful of any VA data in the wake of its 2014 records manipulation scandals, and for a corresponding 27 percent increase in the total pending disability appeals cases in the last two years. (Shane III, 8/24)
