The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) says they are making progress on rating disability claims. If you are a veteran counting on the VA to review your claim quickly, the wait is still too long. If you appeal the decision, the wait is outrageously long.

The Los Angeles Times reported last week:

As of Monday, more than 751,000 claims were pending nationwide, 457,000 of them for more than 125 days, the VA’s standard for timeliness. That is down 25% from a peak of 611,000 stalled claims in March, according to VA statistics. The figures do not include 250,000 claims under appeal.

In regard to VA claims that have been appealed, the Washington Post reported:

More than a quarter-million veterans are appealing disability-claim decisions they say are wrong, and in some cases they can wait four years or more for a ruling.

The goal of the VA is to complete all claims within 125 days by the year 2015. I have doubts they can make that goal.

According to a report from the Center for Investigative Reporting 1,363 (64.4%) veterans were waiting 125 days or more for a response from the VA at the Fort Harrison Regional Office near Helena, Montana. That data was updated this month (September 2013). 

Although the information is a little old, the average wait time for veterans who appeal, as of 05/2012 was 1,846 days at Fort Harrison. If my math is correct, that is over five years. I hope it has improved by now.

You can see how long it’s taking your regional office to review claims HERE.

Veterans are losing homes, possessions, families, and some are even committing suicide because the VA is not rating claims quickly enough. It’s a mess.

All federally-elected officials need to hold the Department of Veterans Affairs leadership accountable for their failure to get this mess under control.

This is a terrible way to treat the people who answered the call to defend our country.

####