By Leo Shane III
Lawmakers still are worried about the growing backlog of appealed benefits cases at the Veterans Affairs Department but VA officials still don’t think it’s a major problem.
Members of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee renewed their questions about VA’s benefits system and growing appeals workload Thursday, saying they are disturbed by reports that show an average wait of more than 3.5 years for appeals to be completed.
The number of benefits cases awaiting appeal decisions has jumped about 10 percent in the last year, alarming lawmakers and outside advocates.
VA planners have focused mainly on the backlog of first-time benefits requests in recent years, after that backlog grew to more than 610,000 cases in 2013 and became a national scandal. That total now sits at around 250,000 cases, but despite the dramatic drop, VA promises of reaching zero by the end of 2015 appear out of reach.
Department officials said Thursday that more work needs to be done to streamline the appeals process as well, but pushed back against narratives that the appeals system is getting worse.
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