I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2138 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to resolve the backlog of disability 

claims of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 23, 2013 

Mr. MCCARTHY of California (for himself, Mr. MILLER of Florida, and Mr. 

COFFMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Armed 

Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to resolve the 

backlog of disability claims of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ending VA Claims 

5 Disability Backlog and Accountability Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs is statu2 torily obligated to provide to individuals who served 

3 in the Armed Forces and sustained an injury as a 

4 direct result of such service with health care, dis5 ability compensation, and related resources. 

6 (2) Disability compensation payments are in7 tended to provide relief for some of the socio8 economic and other losses veterans experience as a 

9 result of service-connected diseases and injuries. 

10 (3) A recent review by the Government Ac11 countability Office found that the backlog of dis12 ability claims at the Department of Veterans Affairs 

13 has more than tripled since 2009 and the average 

14 length of time to complete a claim has increased 

15 from 161 days in 2009 to 260 days in 2012. 

16 (4) In August 2012, approximately 568,043 

17 claims or two-thirds of all compensation rating 

18 claims are backlogged. 

19 (5) The Government Accountability Office 

20 found that delays in obtaining service and medical 

21 records for veterans who served in the National 

22 Guard or Reserve is a significant factor in length23 ening the claims process for these veterans even 

24 though they make up 43 percent of veterans who 

25 served during the Global War on Terrorism. 


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1 (6) The Government Accountability Office 

2 found that if a veteran submits a disability claim 

3 and reports receiving disability benefits from the So4 cial Security Administration, the Department of Vet5 erans Affairs is required to help the veteran obtain 

6 relevant Federal records, including medical records 

7 from the Social Security Administration to process 

8 the claim. 

9 (7) There is an interagency agreement between 

10 the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Social 

11 Security Administration, but the protocols of the De12 partment and the response time of the Administra13 tion can take a year before the Department has ob14 tained the requested information. 

15 (8) The Government Accountability Office 

16 found that approximately 50 percent of claims proc17 essing staff have been in their current role for less 

18 than two years and are not yet proficient in their 

19 duties requiring supervision and review from more 

20 experienced claims processing staff, diverting them 

21 from their claims processing responsibilities. 

22 (9) Veterans and their families have already 

23 selflessly and willingly sacrificed for our nation and 

24 faced numerous hardships; they should not have to 


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1 continue to face undue and avoidable hardships after 

2 their service as they seek the benefits they earned. 

3 (10) On March 24, 2013, the Secretary of Vet4 erans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki stated in an interview 

5 on State of the Union television show, ‘‘no veteran 

6 should have to wait for claims as they are today. We 

7 have a fix for this. We’re open for business. And we 

8 will end the backlog in 2015.’’. 

9 (11) On April 15, 2013, the Secretary, in writ10 ten testimony before the Committee on Veterans’ Af11 fairs of the Senate, again stated that the ‘‘VA re12 mains focused on eliminating the disability claims 

13 backlog in 2015 and processing all claims within 

14 125 days at a 98-percent accuracy level.’’. 

15 (12) On April 19, 2013, the Secretary again 

16 stated in a New York Times article titled ‘‘V.A. 

17 Aims to Reduce Its Backlog of Claims’’, that the 

18 Department will ‘‘eliminate the backlog by 2015.’’. 

19 (13) Numerous congressional inquiries for 

20 progress reports and detailed information regarding 

21 the disability claims backlog remain unanswered, 

22 while the Secretary continues to state the claims 

23 backlog will be eliminated by 2015, claims proc24 essing accuracy will be increased to 98 percent, and 

25 claims processing will take no longer than 125 days 


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1 as a direct result of the ‘‘Strategic Plan to Elimi2 nate the Compensation Claims Backlog’’ of the De3 partment. 

4 (14) The Government Accountability Office 

5 found that the ‘‘Strategic Plan to Eliminate the 

6 Compensation Claims Backlog’’ of the Department 

7 does not adequately articulate how the Department 

8 will meet its goals, and planning documents that the 

9 Department provided does not meet the established 

10 criteria of the Government Accountability Office for 

11 sound planning, potentially leading to concerns 

12 about the ability of the Department to reduce claims 

13 backlogs. 

14 SEC. 3. TIMELINE AND METRICS TO RESOLVE BACKLOG OF 

15 DISABILITY CLAIMS. 

16 (a) IMPLEMENTATION OF STRATEGIC PLAN TO

17 ELIMINATE THE COMPENSATION CLAIMS BACKLOG.—The 

18 Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall implement the Stra19 tegic Plan to Eliminate the Compensation Claims Backlog, 

20 published by the Secretary on January 25, 2013, to ensure 

21 that by Memorial Day (May 25), 2015, each claim for dis22 ability compensation under the laws administered by the 

23 Secretary (in this Act referred to as a ‘‘claim’’) is ap24 proved or denied by not later than 125 days after the date 


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1 on which the claim is submitted with an accuracy rate of 

2 98 percent. 

3 (b) SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT.—Not later than 60 

4 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec5 retary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to Congress a sup6 plemental report to the Strategic Plan to Eliminate the 

7 Compensation Claims Backlog that includes the following: 

8 (1) Specific measures, procedures, and metrics 

9 to assess the implementation of the plan pursuant to 

10 subsection (a). 

11 (2) A detailed timeline to implement each initia12 tive contained in the Strategic Plan to Eliminate the 

13 Compensation Claims Backlog. 

14 SEC. 4. EXPEDITION OF TRANSFER OF CERTAIN RECORDS. 

15 (a) SSA RECORDS.—Not later than 60 days after the 

16 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Vet17 erans Affairs shall enter into an agreement with the Com18 missioner of the Social Security Administration to ensure 

19 that the Commissioner transfers to the Secretary disability 

20 or medical records of the Commissioner that the Secretary 

21 will use to evaluate a claim by not later than 30 days after 

22 the Secretary requests such records. 

23 (b) DOD RECORDS.—Not later than 60 days after 

24 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

25 Veterans Affairs shall enter into an agreement with the 


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1 Secretary of Defense to ensure that the Secretary of De2 fense transfers to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs med3 ical records of members or former members of the Armed 

4 Forces that the Secretary will use to evaluate a claim by 

5 not later than 30 days after the Secretary requests such 

6 records. 

7 (c) NATIONAL GUARD RECORDS.—Not later than 60 

8 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec9 retary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of Defense 

10 shall jointly— 

11 (1) submit to Congress a plan to reduce to 30 

12 days the amount of time needed to provide members 

13 of the National Guard and the Secretary of Veterans 

14 Affairs with the medical records of such members, 

15 including by partnering with appropriate officials of 

16 Federal or State departments or agencies; and 

17 (2) implement such plan. 

18 SEC. 5. CLAIMS PROCESSORS TRAINING. 

19 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Veterans 

20 Affairs shall establish a training program to provide newly 

21 hired claims processors of the Department of Veterans Af22 fairs with training for a period of not less than three 

23 years. In carrying out such program, the Secretary shall 

24 identify successful claims processors of the Department 


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1 who can assist in the training of newly hired claims proc2 essors. 

3 (b) ABILITY TO PROCESS CLAIMS.—The Secretary 

4 shall carry out the training program established under 

5 subsection (a) without increasing the amount of time in 

6 which claims are processed by the Department. 

7 SEC. 6. REPORTS BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE 

8 UNITED STATES. 

9 (a) REPORTS.—Not later than 90 days after the date 

10 of the enactment of this Act, and each 90-day period 

11 thereafter, the Comptroller General of the United States 

12 shall submit to Congress a report on the progress of the 

13 Secretary of Veterans Affairs in implementing the Stra14 tegic Plan to Eliminate the Compensation Claims Backlog 

15 pursuant to section 3(a). 

16 (b) MATTERS INCLUDED.—Each report under sub17 section (a) shall include the following: 

18 (1) Whether the Secretary is meeting the 

19 timeline of the Strategic Plan to Eliminate the Com20 pensation Claims Backlog. 

21 (2) An analysis of the implementation by the 

22 Secretary of such plan. 

23 (3) Administrative or regulatory recommenda24 tions of the Comptroller General with respect to imVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:31 May 30, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2138.IH H2138

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1 proving the ability of the Secretary to carry out sec2 tion 3(a). 

Æ 


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