Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Miami Herald
December 2, 2006
Despite a lower than anticipated workload, the performance of the Department of Veterans Affairs slipped in the past year, according to the VA's annual accountability report.
By Chris Adams
WASHINGTON - The Department of Veterans Affairs is falling behind in its efforts to provide prompt disability benefits for veterans nationwide, as its backlog of cases continues to grow, new reports show.
In fact, the department's performance slipped in the past year even though its workload was lower than anticipated.
For its part, the VA said that its productivity did drop last year but that things should improve next year as a new batch of employees gets fully trained and up to speed.
''We've made an investment in 2006 in terms of hiring . . . new employees,'' said Michael Walcoff, one of the department's top benefits officials. ``We feel very confident that when they are trained, they will be very productive.''
The performance measures are contained in the VA's annual accountability report sent to Congress and the president in November.
The VA said it was able to meet many of its performance ''targets'' for the year, even though several of them are far from the VA's long-term goals.
Earlier this year, top VA officials, including Secretary James Nicholson, told Congress they were anticipating a huge increase in claims for disability compensation and pensions, due to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, continuing claims from older veterans and a special outreach program.
In testifying to Congress in February that the VA was ''focused on delivering timely and accurate benefits,'' Nicholson and other VA officials said the department expected to receive 910,126 new claims and complete a decision on 838,566.
Fewer claims received
Instead, the VA received far fewer claims -- 806,382 -- and it produced a decision on 774,378, or 8 percent fewer than expected, VA data show.
As productivity dropped, the VA's closely watched backlog of claims went up, and has continued to rise since the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30. It now tops 400,000.
For years, the VA has tried to get this backlog of pending cases to 250,000; the figure topped 400,000 in 2002 and, after driving the number down to 253,000 the VA boasted about its success. Now, most of those gains have been erased.
''They haven't made a lot of progress in the last year,'' said Randy Reese, national service director for Disabled American Veterans. ``I know it's on their plate, and I know they are worried about it.''
Processing time rises
Another closely watched measure is the time taken to decide each claim, and in the past year that average processing time rose to 177 days -- 10 days longer than in the previous year.
It was the second straight year that VA performance dropped.
The VA wants to process claims in 125 days, a target that had been relaxed from prior goals that aimed to bring the average to 100 or fewer days.
December 2, 2006
Despite a lower than anticipated workload, the performance of the Department of Veterans Affairs slipped in the past year, according to the VA's annual accountability report.
By Chris Adams
WASHINGTON - The Department of Veterans Affairs is falling behind in its efforts to provide prompt disability benefits for veterans nationwide, as its backlog of cases continues to grow, new reports show.
In fact, the department's performance slipped in the past year even though its workload was lower than anticipated.
For its part, the VA said that its productivity did drop last year but that things should improve next year as a new batch of employees gets fully trained and up to speed.
''We've made an investment in 2006 in terms of hiring . . . new employees,'' said Michael Walcoff, one of the department's top benefits officials. ``We feel very confident that when they are trained, they will be very productive.''
The performance measures are contained in the VA's annual accountability report sent to Congress and the president in November.
The VA said it was able to meet many of its performance ''targets'' for the year, even though several of them are far from the VA's long-term goals.
Earlier this year, top VA officials, including Secretary James Nicholson, told Congress they were anticipating a huge increase in claims for disability compensation and pensions, due to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, continuing claims from older veterans and a special outreach program.
In testifying to Congress in February that the VA was ''focused on delivering timely and accurate benefits,'' Nicholson and other VA officials said the department expected to receive 910,126 new claims and complete a decision on 838,566.
Fewer claims received
Instead, the VA received far fewer claims -- 806,382 -- and it produced a decision on 774,378, or 8 percent fewer than expected, VA data show.
As productivity dropped, the VA's closely watched backlog of claims went up, and has continued to rise since the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30. It now tops 400,000.
For years, the VA has tried to get this backlog of pending cases to 250,000; the figure topped 400,000 in 2002 and, after driving the number down to 253,000 the VA boasted about its success. Now, most of those gains have been erased.
''They haven't made a lot of progress in the last year,'' said Randy Reese, national service director for Disabled American Veterans. ``I know it's on their plate, and I know they are worried about it.''
Processing time rises
Another closely watched measure is the time taken to decide each claim, and in the past year that average processing time rose to 177 days -- 10 days longer than in the previous year.
It was the second straight year that VA performance dropped.
The VA wants to process claims in 125 days, a target that had been relaxed from prior goals that aimed to bring the average to 100 or fewer days.