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IG: Vets waiting too long to give disability exams (Associated Press)

Wed, March 17, 2010

(AP)

WASHINGTON - The internal watchdog for the Veterans Affairs Department says VA medical centers need to give compensation and pension medical exams to veterans sooner in order to expedite disability claims.

It says some veterans wait months longer than necessary for disability claims because getting the exams takes so long.

At a facility in Roseburg, Ore., the IG found hundreds of requests for an exam tucked in file cabinets so a timeliness quota could be met. And it found claims at an outpatient clinic in Winston-Salem, N.C., were processed out of order to also help with the quota.

The chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, Daniel Akaka, says the VA needs to devote more resources to fixing the problem. The VA has told the inspector general it will do that.

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