Veterans Affairs passes bill updating benefits claims processing
Bill also calls for a study on readjusting the schedule used for rating disabilities and enhancement of information technology by the Veterans Benefits Administration.
Legislation that would require the Department of Veterans Affairs to update its benefits claims processing system cleared the House Veterans' Affairs Committee this week.
The bill was passed on voice vote. Subcommittee ranking member Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., called the measure "overreaching" and expressed his concern that it would not meet the House's pay-go requirement.
In addition to enhancing how quickly veterans receive their disability benefits, the bill also calls for a study on readjusting the schedule used for rating disabilities, annual assessment of the quality assurance program, the review and enhancement of information technology by the Veterans Benefits Administration, and the assignment of partial disability ratings to eligible veterans.
Buyer complained that sections 101 and 109 of the proposal would open the door to abuse. The first section clarifies which servicemembers are eligible for benefits for service-related disabilities. Section 109 aims to get veterans their benefits more quickly by allowing them to be assigned partial disability ratings. Hall countered that he is "seeking to err on the side of helping the veterans" and offered anecdotal evidence of veterans who have not sought help.
House Veterans ranking member Steve Buyer, R-Ind., agreed that the two sections of the bill needed to be amended.
Rep. Phil Hare, D-Ill., offered an amendment that would require the VA to review disabilities ratings at least every 10 years and submit its findings to the Senate and House Veterans Affairs committees. The amendment passed on voice vote. There is currently a backlog of about 650,000 disability claims and the VA expects that number to swell to one million by the end of this year. Meanwhile, it now takes about 183 days for a claim to be processed, up from the 177 days it took in 2006.
In order to improve the deal with the backlog, the bill proposes to streamline the medical evaluation process that is required so that veterans can get on the list to claim benefits in the first place. In addition, the bill requires the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims to be more accountable by establishing annual tracking requirements for the court's workload and also give it the authority to change decisions regarding a veteran's disability status.
Still, while legislators broadly agreed during the House Veterans Affairs Disability Assistance Subcommittee markup last week a need existed for more efficiency in the system as well as better provisions for dealing with veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, there nonetheless remained disagreement about how to assess those who qualified for benefits and how much they could receive.