The backlog was the result of a perfect storm of circumstances that flooded the VA with benefits claims like the storm surge from a category four hurricane:
1 . A rapidly aging population, many of whom are wartime veterans
Baby Boomers
2. More veterans requiring need-based benefits due to weak economy
3. A massive influx of younger veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq
4. Obsolete, paper based tracking system
5. A 1973 fire at the National Archives that destroyed up to 18 million veteran’s military records
VA officials made statements about their commitment to reduce the backlog, but heavy skepticism surrounded their ability to do so.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provides a nationwide system of health care services and benefits programs for America’s Veterans.Through the Veterans Health Administration (VHA),VA provides health care to approximately 5 million Veterans annually. VA operates the nation’s largest integrated health care system with more than 1,400 sites of care, including hospitals, community clinics, nursing homes, domiciliaries, readjustment counseling centers, and various other facilities. VA health care facilities provide a broad spectrum of medical, surgical,and rehabilitative care....
There are only 50 states and few territories. Hello?
...VA manages the largest medical education and health professions training program in the United States and maintains affiliations with more than 107 medical schools, 55 dental schools and more than 1,200 other schools across the country. Each year, about 90,000 health professionals are trained in VA medical centers. More than half of the physicians practicing in the United States had some of their professional education in the VA health care system....
I think the VA is doing a great job and getting stronger and more efficient everyday. While there may be issues with some employees and agencies, that can be found in any large system. It is called ethics and when ethics means nothing the system breaks down and our veterans suffer.
There is a provision in the standards at the Veteran's Administration allowing physicians to refer a veteran to a private concern for treatment if there is not enough resources at the time to treat them.
Authorizations and Referrals (click here)
...To ensure that VA pays for the appropriate care needed, services should always be preauthorized, except in the case of an emergency. This process helps to ensure that the Veteran, provider,and VA know what care VA is responsible for providing. If a Veteran is being treated at a VA medical facility or is under the jurisdiction of a VA provider and the provider determines that the Veteran needs care that is not available in the VA medical facility, VA is responsible for obtaining and paying for that care.Veterans cannot self-refer for medical care or services....
INTAKE of veterans needing health care is vital and should be expedited at every opportunity which means 'acute' needs, such as cancer and mental health, are addressed BEFORE other non-acute needs. Veterans get their medications at far less cost than the USA general population, too. Why? Because the 'known' population in need of those medications provides advance ordering and in large amounts to reduce costs.
The VA system respects the taxpayer while providing necessary services.
WASHINGTON (Dec. 11, 2013) – At a hearing today (click here) before the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Under Secretary for Benefits, Allison A. Hickey, outlined progress made by the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) in reducing the backlog of Veterans’ disability compensation and pension claims by 36 percent since March — attributing the success to the combined impact of VBA’s transformation initiatives and increased employee productivity.
...Key accomplishments highlighted in the testimony included:
- Decreasing the pending inventory of claims by 22 percent;
- Decreasing the number of claims in the backlog (those pending over 125 days) by 36 percent;
- Increasing claim-level accuracy from approximately 83 percent in 2011 to 90 percent today;
- Increasing medical issue-level accuracy to approximately 97 percent today;
- Completed processing of 99.9 percent of all claims that were pending over two years;
- Completed processing of 97 percent of all claims that were pending over one year through the end of October;
- Converting over 360 million images of paper claims documents into a digital format for electronic processing; and
- Establishing over 3.2 million Veteran, Servicemember and family member accounts in eBenefits, the joint Defense Department/VA web portal for accessing and tracking VA benefits.
