VA Disability Benefit Backlog Growing Larger

August 19, 2012

All qualified veterans with service-connected disabilities are entitled to receive veterans' disability benefits from the Department of Veterans' Affairs. Unfortunately, a huge backlog in the system means that many veterans are not getting their VA disability benefits as soon as they should be.

As of July 2012, there were nearly 920,000 claims pending with the VA. Approximately 66 percent of those applicants had been waiting for more than 125 days.

The backlog can be attributed to a number of different factors. New battlefield medical technology is allowing soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan to survive injuries that might have been fatal in previous years. While this is obviously fantastic news, it does mean that more veterans are living with permanent disabilities. These soldiers are also claiming more injuries than veterans of previous wars; Iraq and Afghanistan veterans averaged 8.5 conditions per disability claim, while Vietnam veterans averaged about three or four and World War II veterans averaged about one or two.

Iraq and Afghanistan veterans aren't the only factors contributing to the delay, though. The VA has seen a surge in applications from Vietnam veterans since it expanded coverage for Agent Orange-related disabilities two years ago. In addition, veterans' disability applications tend to always increase during times of economic difficulty.

The backlog has not gone unheeded. The VA has directed resources toward new training for its claims processers and is introducing a new paperless system that it hopes will help improve processing speed. Still, the delay is expected to persist for quite some time.

How an Attorney Can Help

Often, veterans' disability applications get delayed because the VA does not have all of the information it needs to make a determination. As a result, the claims can get lost in a sea of appeals and requests for information.

Of course, there is no guarantee on the timeframe in which the VA will process an application. However, an attorney can help ensure that the application is completed correctly and completely the first time around.

It is often not worth the risk and difficulty to try and file a VA disability claim on one's own. Nearly all injured veterans can benefit from seeking the assistance of an experienced veterans' benefits attorney.

Article provided by Wolf and Brown, L.L.C.
Visit us at www.disabledvetslawyers.com/