+--------------------------------+-----------------+------------------+
|                                | #  Office of    | ##  Wash         |
|                                |  Public Affairs | ington, DC 20420 |
|                                |                 |                  |
|                                | #               | **(202)          |
|                                | Media Relations | 273-5700**       |
|                                |                 |                  |
|                                |                 | **www.va.gov**   |
+--------------------------------+-----------------+------------------+
| **Department of**              | ### Fact Sheet  |                  |
|                                |                 |                  |
| **Veterans Affairs**           |                 |                  |
+--------------------------------+-----------------+------------------+

April 2001

####### VA's Claims Processing Task Force

> The Claims Processing Task Force will assess and critique the Veterans
> Benefits Administration's (VBA) organization, management and processes
> in order to develop recommendations to greatly improve VA's ability to
> process veterans' claims for disability compensation and pension. The
> task force will propose measures and actions to increase the
> efficiency and productivity of VBA operations, shrink the backlog of
> claims, reduce the time it takes to decide a claim, and to maintain or
> improve the validity and acceptability of decisions.
>
> The task force will evaluate the potential benefits of improving the
> information technology on VBA claims evaluation and propose
> improvements; and also evaluate the procedures and processes for
> deciding veterans' appeals of VBA rating decisions. The panel will
> evaluate and consider changes to the Veterans Health Administration
> medical examinations in order to better coordinate with the Department
> of Defense to better utilize military "detachment physicals" which
> could expedite a veteran's entry into the VA system.

######## Processes

The Claims Processing Task Force will report its findings and
recommendations to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Under
Secretary for Benefits in 120 days after being constituted. The task
force's findings and recommendations should include immediate,
intermediate, and longer-term efforts that VA can undertake to reduce
processing times and to reduce the disability claims backlog. The panel
should propose recommendations that the Secretary has the discretionary
authority to act on such as operational, regulatory and policy issues.

######## Issue

In early March 2001, the Veterans Benefits Administration had a backlog
of more than 459,000 claims waiting to be processed. During the
three-month period from November 24, 2000, to February 23, 2001, the
backlog of pending claims increased from 329,278 to 459,572. A
contributor to the growing backlog is associated with the passage of
Public Law 106-475 that instituted the "Duty to Assist" requirement.
P.L. 106-475 requires VBA to apply the new duty to assist standards to
244,000 pending claims and to readjudicate 98,000 claims that had
previously been denied under the old standards that had been set by the
U.S. Court of Veterans Appeals. Adverse effects of the increasing
backlog have impacted the quality of work, veteran satisfaction, and
employee morale.

**- More -**

ADVISORY BOARD 2/2/2/2

The percent of cases remanded from the Board of Veterans' Appeals (BVA)
is currently about 29 percent. In FY 2000, only 41 percent of the
decisions appealed from Regional Offices were upheld by BVA. At the
current time, VBA is adjudicating an average of 29,000 claims per month
as compared to a year ago when VBA was adjudicating on average, 52,000
claims per month.

######## Background

While VA has done a better job educating Congress and stakeholders that
claims processing is a highly complex and difficult task, many are
becoming impatient with the slow progress in improving the quality and
timeliness of decisions, and with what appears to be an incoherent,
ever-changing plan to accomplish it. Significant performance
discrepancies among various Regional Offices persist which raises
serious management questions. Exactly what additional information
technology, workforce, and other investments can do to improve matters,
and how and when this will be accomplished, needs to be addressed.

During his Senate Confirmation hearing on January 18, 2001, then
Secretary-designee Anthony J. Principi vowed to reduce processing times
and to decrease the disability claims backlog without compromising the
accuracy of rendered decisions. He informed the Senate Veterans
Committee that he would commission a broad-based and inclusive task
force to conduct an examination of VA benefits processing. During the
Budget Hearing before the House Committee on Veterans Affairs on March
6, 2001, Secretary Principi fully agreed with the assessment that the
timeliness VA's claims processing was unacceptable. He indicated that it
was his highest priority, and his goal was to reduce the claims
processing time.

The Committee on Veterans Affairs (HVAC), in its March 13, 2001 report
to the Committee on the Budget, commended VA for numerous initiatives to
reduce the backlog of compensation and pension claims. At the same time,
the HVAC was critical of VBA for taking 205 days to process an original
compensation claim. The HVAC referenced numerous findings from the
Congressional Veterans Claims Adjudication Commission and the Committee
outlined several key areas VA should focus on related to the timeliness
and quality of C&P decisions.

Veterans' Compensation And Pension Program

VBA, in partnership with the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and
the National Cemetery Administration (NCA), provides benefits and
services to veterans and their families in a responsive, timely, and
compassionate manner in recognition of their service to the Nation.

The VA Disability Compensation program provides monthly payments to
veterans in recognition of the effects of disabilities, diseases, or
injuries incurred or aggravated during active military service, and to
provide access to other VA benefits.

**- More -**

ADVISORY BOARD 2/2/2/2

The Compensation Program also provides monthly payments, as specified by
law, to surviving spouses, dependent children and dependent parents in
recognition of the economic loss caused by the veteran\'s death during
active military service or, subsequent to discharge from military
service, as a result of a service-connected disability.

The purpose of the VA Pension Program is to provide monthly payments, as
specified by law, to needy wartime veterans who are permanently and
totally disabled as a result of disability not related to military
service. The Pension Program also provides monthly payments, as
specified by law, to needy surviving spouses and dependent children of
deceased wartime veterans.

C&P personnel are responsible for providing veterans and dependents with
the full range of services relating to disability compensation, pension,
and burial benefits. These services include providing assistance and
information, the adjudication of claims, and appellate review at the VBA
Regional Office level. A claimant is responsible for submitting a claim
that is well-grounded or plausible. Once C&P personnel determine that a
claim is potentially plausible on a factual basis, they are required to
assist the claimant in developing the facts pertinent to his or her
claim.

C&P personnel are charged with making determinations relating to
military service, the adequacy or need for additional evidence, income
and net worth determinations, effective dates, and disability
determinations in relationship to military service. They are charged
with awarding benefits or denying claims, notifying claimants of the
reasons for the decisions, and providing information concerning
appellate and procedural rights.

**- More -**

### 

### 

### VA's Claims Processing Task Force

######### Membership

+----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| **Daniel L. Cooper**, VADM       | ## Kay Clowney                    |
| U.S.N. (Ret)                     |                                   |
|                                  | Retired VBA Regional Office       |
| Chairman,                        | Director                          |
|                                  |                                   |
| VA Claims Processing Advisory    | North Little Rock, AR             |
| Committee                        |                                   |
|                                  |                                   |
| Wyomissing, PA                   |                                   |
+----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
|                                  |                                   |
+----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| ## Ken Wolfe                     | **Dr. Dale Block**                |
|                                  |                                   |
| ## National Service Director     | Consultant                        |
|                                  |                                   |
| ## Disabled American Veterans    | Pittsburgh, PA                    |
|                                  |                                   |
| Washington, DC                   |                                   |
+----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
|                                  |                                   |
+----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| **Frederico Juarbe, Jr.**        | **Mike McClendon**                |
|                                  |                                   |
| Director, National Veterans      | Consultant                        |
| Service                          |                                   |
|                                  | Greensboro, GA                    |
| Veterans of Foreign Wars         |                                   |
|                                  |                                   |
| Washington, DC                   |                                   |
+----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
|                                  |                                   |
+----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| **Guy McMichael**                | **Robert Gelb**                   |
|                                  |                                   |
| Acting Principal Deputy          | Consultant                        |
| Assistant Secretary for          |                                   |
| Information and Technology       | Doylestown, PA                    |
|                                  |                                   |
| Department of Veterans Affairs   |                                   |
|                                  |                                   |
| Washington, DC                   |                                   |
+----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| ##                               | ##                                |
+----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| **Stan Sinclair**                | **Carolyn Hunt**                  |
|                                  |                                   |
| Director, VA Learning University | Director, VA Regional Office      |
|                                  |                                   |
| Department of Veterans Affairs   | Lincoln, NE                       |
|                                  |                                   |
| Washington, DC                   |                                   |
+----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+

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