CW: Military Service
Because of a technical error, about 32,000 veterans’ disability claims submitted through the Veterans Affairs website have been delayed. According to a representative for the Department of Veterans Affairs, some of these claims date back to 2018. “Specifically, these claims were not automatically routed for processing once submitted, leading to a delay for these veterans,” Terrence Hayes, VA press secretary, said in an emailed statement to NewsNation.
Claims were delayed after a technical issue with the integration of two systems on the VA.gov website. Hayes said this affected about one-half of 1% of all claims submitted.
After a technical issue with the integration of two systems on the VA.gov website, claims were delayed. According to Hayes, this affected around half of all claims submitted. According to Military.com, which broke the story first, worried veterans began getting letters this month informing them that their claims may not have been looked at.
The Department of Veterans Affairs stated in the letters that it was conducting a comprehensive examination and that the veterans themselves did not need to take any action. They were told to keep an eye on their mail for more information.
In 2022, almost 1.7 million disability compensation and pension claims were processed. The number of pending claims was 1,043,961 in early August. 274,148 of them are more than 125 days old.
The Department of Veterans Affairs has long been hampered by aging information technology infrastructure. According to the site, the VA is seeking $6.4 billion for the Office of Information Technology to continue upgrading this infrastructure and $1.9 billion to migrate to a new electronic health records system in its fiscal year 2024 budget request.
Veterans sacrifice so much to serve their country. They often don’t see their families for months and can’t communicate with them. Military families have to deal with stress, and worry while their loved ones are serving their country. When veterans come home, they should not have to wait to receive their disability benefits.
Source;
Buchman, Cassie. “Thousands of Veterans’ Disability Claims Delayed, Some for Years.” NewsNation, Nexstar Media Group, 25 Aug. 2023, http://www.newsnationnow.com/us-news/military/veterans-disability-claims-glitch/amp/.