Gates, Shinseki seek to cut disability claim wait time

The Defense and Veterans Affairs departments plan to cut in half the time it takes to process a disability claim for veterans, from the current average of 394 days to 150 days by next June, top officials said in a May 2 memo . The directive also detailed ongoing plans for the joint Defense-VA electronic health record system.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates and VA Secretary Eric Shinseki said in the memo they also want to get claims processing times for the new Integrated Disability Processing System, which went into operation last December, down to 295 days this fiscal year and will explore undefined options to lower that processing time to 75 days by an unspecified future date.

This leaves veterans in the lurch, according to Steven Bohn, a soldier who suffered spinal cord and intestinal injuries from a bomb blast in November 2008, speaking on Wednesday to a hearing of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee.

Because VA did not start to process his claim until this month, more than 200 days since he left the Army, Bohn told the hearing, he goes deeper into debt every month.

"I get $699 a month from my retirement pay, and my rent is $700 a month," Bohn said. "I can't pay my electric bill. I can't pay any of my other bills."

Dr. George Taylor, deputy assistant secretary of Defense for force health protection and readiness, acknowledged flaws with the new disability system, but in his written testimony blamed the delays in claims processing on the veterans.

Taylor said that in part the backlog reflects the fact that veterans are filing more complex and intricate claims and "are opting for more due process and administrative reviews, as well as opting to take leave while on active duty versus selling it back at date of separation."

Deborah Amdur, VA's chief consultant for care management and social work service, took a more conciliatory stance, saying, "Stories like Spc. Bohn's are unacceptable, but we're making progress. . . . But we also know that clearly we still have a long way to go."

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., chairwoman of the committee, said many veterans "are still waiting up to 400 days for word on their benefits and that all too often veterans are committing suicide or turning to drugs and alcohol in the time their lives are put on hold by this process."