Veterans' Disability Benefits: Further Evaluation of Ongoing Initiatives Could Help Identify Effective Approaches for Improving Claims Processing

"For years, the disability compensation claims process has been the subject of concern and attention by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Congress, and veteran service organizations (VSO), due in part to long waits for decisions and the large number of claims pending a decision. As GAO and other organizations have reported over the last decade, VA has also faced challenges in improving the accuracy and consistency of disability decisions. GAO was asked to examine(1) trends in VA's disability compensation claims processing at the initial claims and appeals levels and (2) actions that VA has taken to improve its disability claims process. To do this, GAO reviewed and analyzed VA performance data, budget submissions, program documents, and external studies and interviewed VA officials and VSO representatives."

For years, the disability compensation claims process has been the subject of concern and attention by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Congress, and veteran service organizations (VSO), due in part to long waits for decisions and the large number of claims pending a decision. As GAO and other organizations have reported over the last decade, VA has also faced challenges in improving the accuracy and consistency of disability decisions. GAO was asked to examine (1) trends in VA's disability compensation claims processing at the initial claims and appeals levels and (2) actions that VA has taken to improve its disability claims process. To do this, GAO reviewed and analyzed VA performance data, budget submissions, program documents, and external studies and interviewed VA officials and VSO representatives. GAO recommends that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs direct (1) VBA to collect data on redistributed claims to help assess the effect of workload redistribution, (2) VBA and the Board of Veterans' Appeals to establish a plan with criteria for assessing whether ECA should be widely implemented, and (3) VBA to develop a plan with criteria for assessing whether its pilot reorganization of claims processors should be expanded. VA agreed with the recommendations, and noted plans to address them.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent agency that works for Congress. The GAO watches over Congress, and investigates how the federal government spends taxpayers dollars. The Comptroller General of the United States is the leader of the GAO, and is appointed to a 15-year term by the U.S. President. The GAO wants to support Congress, while at the same time doing right by the citizens of the United States. They audit, investigate, perform analyses, issue legal decisions and report anything that the government is doing. This is one of their reports.

For years, in addition to experiencing challenges in making disability claims decisions more quickly and reducing its claims backlog, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has faced challenges in improving the accuracy and consistency of its decisions. This statement discusses issues surrounding VA¿s Systematic Technical Accuracy Review (STAR) program, a disability compensation and pension quality assurance program, and possible ways, if any, this program could be improved. It focuses on actions VA has taken, including those in response to past recommendations, to: (1) address identified weaknesses with STAR; and (2) improve efforts to monitor the consistency of claims decisions.

Faced with an increase in disability claims, the Veterans Benefits Admin. (VBA) is hiring a large number of new claims processing staff. This report determines: (1) What training is provided to new and experienced claims processors and how uniform is this training?; (2) To what extent has VBA planned this training strategically, and how well is the training designed, implemented, and evaluated?; (3) To what extent is the performance mgmt. system for claims processors consistent with generally accepted practices? Researchers reviewed VBA policies and training curricula; interviewed VBA central office officials; visited 4 of VBA¿s 57 regional offices; and compared VBA¿s training and performance mgmt. to generally accepted practices. Illustrations.