Veterans Have a Right to Know
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has stated that their goal is to provide excellence in patient care, veterans' benefits and customer satisfaction. Yet one of the major concerns that I continue to hear from veterans in Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District regarding the VA is that of bureaucratic delays resulting from a strained and backlogged claims system.
As a former business owner, I know that providing excellent customer service is vital for success and customer satisfaction. As the VA is primarily in the business of serving its customers, who are our nation’s veterans, I have grown increasingly concerned over the dissatisfaction in the VA’s lengthy claims process communicated to me by veterans.
In testimony to Congress, representatives from the VA have stated that there is a newly implemented strategy to manage the pending inventory and improve response time by getting more out of current resources, increasing staffing, and improving information technology. Despite this, the Department continues to face over 630,000 open benefit claims, an increase of nearly 20% over the last two years. All the while, the average number of days necessary for the VA to complete original claims processing continues to increase from quarter to quarter and is currently reported to be 177 days.
Yet, the VA does not maintain routine contact to keep veterans apprised of the status of their claim during this lengthy process. As such, many veterans feel as though they have been forgotten while their claim is pending. Since taking office, numerous veterans have contacted me requesting assistance with the VA regarding the status of their claims. Many, if not most, of these instances could have been addressed without the involvement of my office had the lines of communication been open between the VA and the veterans they serve. What concerns me even more is the unknown amount of veterans who have found themselves in a similarly uncertain situation and who have not contacted their Member of Congress for assistance. Our veterans want and deserve to be kept informed and have a right to know the status of their claims. Veterans should not have to go through their Member of Congress to receive a higher standard of care and responsiveness from the VA; it should simply be the standard.
To address this growing problem, I have recently introduced H.R. 2434, the Veteran’s Right to Know Act of 2007. The Veteran’s Right to Know Act will help veterans avoid the current bureaucratic limbo by keeping them informed throughout the entire benefit claims process. This legislation will require the VA to provide veterans a status update of their pending claim every 60 days until the claim is closed or satisfied. Furthermore, the bill allows the veteran to select his or her chosen method of notification or elect not to receive status notifications.
There is no question that the VA must improve responsiveness and claims processing procedures to better serve their customers, our nation’s veterans. But at the very least we should seek to help our veterans achieve greater peace of mind by keeping them regularly informed during the claims process.
| Posted by Congresswoman Thelma Drake (VA - 02) (06-14-2007, 02:15 PM) filed under HRPC Member |
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