WASHINGTON — The coronavirus pandemic has caused a major backlog at the Department of Veterans Affairs, especially when it comes to rendering decisions on veterans' disability claims.
Advocacy groups and lawmakers have expressed skepticism that the VA can catch up.
"I continue to hear from constituents on claims delays," said Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Virginia, 2nd district).
The backlog on VA Compensation and Pensions (C&P) exams has nearly tripled over the past year.
At the start of March, about 357,000 exam requests were pending, nearly three times the 130,000 that were pending at the end of February 2020.
All compensation and pension exams were suspended for two months in the spring of last year, in response to the COVID-19 national emergency.
C&P exams determine a veteran's level of service-connected disability payments.
"These are real people behind the numbers and it should not take Congressional involvement for them to each get an answer," said Luria. "We must have a plan the keeps veterans safe that also keeps claims moving forward."
The House Armed Services Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee heard Tuesday that the VA's proposed solution was outsourcing.
"Our plan for achieving this goal is to increase our capacity to complete examination through expanded contractor networks," said David McLenachen, executive director of the Veterans Benefit Administration’s Medical Disability Examination Office. He said officials hope to bring down the backlog to pre-pandemic levels by the end of this fiscal year, Sept. 30.
It turns out, contractors performed about 1.1 million of the 1.4 million C&P exams completed in FY 2020.
And, their reports for complex cases were reportedly twice as likely to be returned for corrections.
"I am worried, truly worried that if the VA continues to operate under the status quo, the VA will not reach the goal of addressing exam inventory by the end of the fiscal year," said Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas). "And I am not alone in my concerns."
The Government Accountability Office issued a new report Tuesday that concluded that the Veterans Benefit Administration had not applied sound planning practices in transferring exam responsibilities to contractors.
"We're recommending the VBA use sound practices to develop a plan for the future distribution of exam workloads," said Elizabeth Curda, a Director in GAO’s education, workforce, and income security team.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars also expressed concern about the VA catching up on C&P exams.
Ryan Gallucci, director of the National Veterans Service at the Veterans of Foreign Wars, said this was an important goal for overall veteran care.
“Rebuilding from this pandemic will present challenges to everyone involved in the VA claims process, and we must all work to ensure veterans do not slip through the cracks,” he said.
This year, the VA is projected to spend $133 billion on Compensation and Pension benefits.