Thousands of veterans to "flood" Los Angles? Do you already live here? VA improving benefits system just as veterans flood Los Angeles

SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S. — Fri, 28 Aug 2015 09:30:52 -0400

The Department of Veterans Affairs has made major headway getting benefits to former service members quickly, officials say. The news comes a time California is expecting an influx of thousands of new veterans.

In L.A., the average wait time for disability claims has dropped from 14 months to three months since 2013.

"It's definitely getting better," said Garry Augustine, of the Disabled Veterans of America, a group that helps veterans apply for benefits.

The backlog of disability claims provoked a major scandal for the Veterans Administration in 2012. Jon Stewart mocked the department on The Daily Show for what he called Operation Enduring Wait.

Augustine said the "the backlog of claims over 125 days was over 600,000 cases" back then. This week, the V.A. announced that number was down to about 95,000.

That’s good news for California, as local V.A. officials are seeing a massive influx of new veterans seeking benefits.

Robert McKenrick, regional director of the Veterans Benefits Office, said more veterans are moving to California to take advantage of the public university system.

In 2012, they received over 11,000 new claims. And this year, they're on-track to hit 29,000. Benefits paid through L.A.'s office have more than doubled in recent years to $2 billion annually.

McKenrick and Augustine both credited the V.A.'s switch from a paper to digital claims system with clearing up the backlog.

By getting rid of hard-copy claims, the VA found it dramatically cut down time it took to adjudicate each file. And it allows the busiest claims offices to quickly share the load with V.A. administrators in other cities when needed. It also makes it far less likely that documents will get lost along the way.

In L.A., for instance, the V.A. Inspector General found that some veterans’ disability claim paperwork had ended up in shred bins.

McKenrick told KPCC the documents were removed before being shredded.

http://www.scpr.org/news/2015/08/27/54037/va-improving-benefits-system-just-as-veterans-floo/

Response by SCPO David Lockwood made Aug 28 at 2015 9:33 AM

SCPO David Lockwood — Fri, 28 Aug 2015 09:33:51 -0400

Isn;t it too litlle too late?

Response by SGT Ben Keen made Aug 28 at 2015 9:40 AM

SGT Ben Keen — Fri, 28 Aug 2015 09:40:19 -0400

LA isn't the only city getting ready to be flooded. With the draw downs and everything else going on as a result of over 14 years of continuous combat. Cities across the country are going to be see more and more Veterans entering their population and while this can be great for those cities like Pittsburgh looking at having over 150, 000 jobs to fill over the next 5 years, this means that the regional VA offices are going to be swamped. Veteran resources will be tapped in ways most have never seen before and the demand for programs will multiple.

It's good to see things "getting better" but I think we have a long way to go until we are closer to the light at the end of the tunnel.

Response by 1stSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 28 at 2015 9:41 AM

1stSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 28 Aug 2015 09:41:37 -0400

I can only speak for the Madison Wi VA Clinic/Hospital and IMHO they are phenominal. I get treated like I am the most impotent thing they have to each time I go in there.

Response by LCDR Rabbah Rona Matlow made Aug 28 at 2015 11:58 AM

LCDR Rabbah Rona Matlow — Fri, 28 Aug 2015 11:58:43 -0400

The big question I have, from my time at DAV, is are they maintaining accuracy while speeding claims up? We saw a tremendous number of mistakes on expedited claims, often hurting the veteran...

Response by Sgt Spencer Sikder made Aug 28 at 2015 3:40 PM

Sgt Spencer Sikder — Fri, 28 Aug 2015 15:40:57 -0400

Not sure reading some of the Office of the Inspector General reports that the system is improving. Shredding records, losing 35,000 claims, inappropriate claim assessments are just a few of the findings by the OIG. With the draw down of the military, how do we expect things will improve when they aren't fixed? Veterans Benefits Administration who does the claims are just fast tracking them to get them off their desks. How many times do we read here or on other veterans sites, including VA's own OIG site of the erroneous claims? VBA is getting them off of their desk and moving the claim process back to the veterans to appeal them to the Board of Veteran Appeals. The new backlog point, BVA.

Response by PO1 John Miller made Aug 31 at 2015 2:30 AM

PO1 John Miller — Mon, 31 Aug 2015 02:30:45 -0400

I recently moved from California to Arizona and have nothing bad to say about the VHA system or the claims process in California. It took about 3 months to file my own claim and get it approved.