this is a national disgrace.
There HAS to be a way to radically streamline the process.
22,000?

and it's only going to get worse as the Iraq/Afghanistan veterans age.

Imagine how much more efficiently a company like Amazon would address this.

to put people on handling this.

This is yet another OUTRAGE!

VA chief Shinseki vows backlog in veterans' claims will end by 2015

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki on Sunday defended the administration’s efforts to aid former servicemembers, even as he was forced to acknowledge his agency would not clear a backlog of pending disability claims until the end of 2015.

Shinseki – who has known of the ballooning problem since his confirmation in 2009 – said it will take nearly three more years to process the hundreds of thousands of claims, in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“We have put in place a robust plan to end the backlog in 2015. That's in our commitment,” Shinseki said.


read more: http://thehill.com/video/administration/290051-shinseki-vows-backlog-in-veterans-claims-will-end-by-2015

related:

VA Monday Morning Workload Report: Since 2009, the backlog of compensation claims has grown. While VA completed a record-breaking 1 million claims per year in fiscal years 2010, 2011, and 2012, the number of claims received continues to exceed the number processed. In response, VA is implementing a comprehensive Transformation plan—a series of people, process and technology initiatives—to increase productivity and accuracy of disability claims processing. Once the Transformation is fully implemented, VA expects to systematically reduce the backlog and reach its 2015 goal.
http://www.vba.va.gov/REPORTS/mmwr/index.asp


from The Backlog:

Each week your Department of Veterans Affairs publishes the Monday Morning Workload Report (MMWR). The MMWR is in a complex speadsheet and sometimes it's difficult to read.

The promises of a fix haven't changed very much in years. Look down this page and you'll see how VA has been telling us of speedier claims processing and increased accuracy for a long, long time.

If you believe it, please let me know. I have a bridge in Brooklyn for sale...cheap.


Veterans Waiting more than a Year for Benefits have Grown from 11,000 to 245,000 under Obama
http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/veterans-waiting-more-than-a-year-for-benefits-have-grown-from-11000-to-245000-under-obama-130312?news=849399

Loyalty is only for the "little people".

talked about. A concerted effort to let veterans die before giving them their earned benefits. It is indeed a national disgrace. And benefits, for some inexplicable reason, vary from state to state.

I have a friend who was a Marine in the Vietnam War. Three purple hearts, many other medals of valor. Agent orange syndrome. He gets a 10% disability. Two open heart operations, a carotid surgery, multiple knee surgeries. Can't go for extended walks without a walker. Can't live in cold weather due to ischemic heart disease. A fellow Marine who served with has almost exactly the same record and post military disabilities. He lives in Georgia. Gets a 90% disability.

My friend has applied to boost his disability rating and has waited now for over 5 years. Caught up in waiting for paper work. Living from day to day. He is afraid to push too hard for fear of being put to the end of the line, again. Disgraceful. Paul Ryan and his ilk's way of helping to reduce the debt? Bastards.

Tell your sons. Tell your daughters. The military recruiter is not your _______.

As a veteran, as a spouse of a disabled vet, and as an American citizen, that just makes me ill.

There is NO excuse for this, especially with so many unemployed people in our country today. Our government could solve so many problems by simply hiring more people to help process those claims.

Its criminal what they are doing to us, all of us Vets, no matter the war

I am betting they are catastrophically underfunded on purpose by the same folks that are obstructing everything we try to do to help citizens. The VA is a dedicated and efficient agency given the needed funding. Throw the price of a couple F-35's (anchors) into the VA and see if claims don't begin to be processed.

were aware of how little the Gov't respects them down the road.
how little the Gov't respects ANYONE they cannot use to advantage, really.

We have a throw away Gov't now...
throw away minorities
throw away students
throw away veterans
throw away retired people, and apparently anyone over 50 who does have a job
throw away disabled..
the list goes on.