| VA'S EDUCATION
CLAIMS BACKLOG JUMPS 20,000 IN ONE WEEK
VA losing ground as claims for New
G.I. Bill benefits keep mounting.
by Larry Scott, VA Watchdog
dot Org
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Two days ago we looked at how
quickly the VA's claims backlog is
 growing.
That article here ...
http://www.vawatchdog.org/09/nf0
9/nfaug09/nf083109-1.htm
Now, newer figures have been
released and we see that the backlog is still growing ... from
948,611 claims pending to 949,833. Report here ...
http://www.vba.va.gov/REPORTS
/mmwr/2009/083109.xls
But, the column in the report
that just jumps out at you is the Education Work Items Pending.
That figure now stands at
254,657 ... up an astounding 20,397 education claims in just one
week!
This is a function of the New
G.I. Bill and all the vets going back to school at this time of
year.
What this means is that there
are lots of veterans not getting paid ... behind on rent ...
behind on car payments ... having trouble putting food on the
table ... unable to buy books.
And, schools aren't being paid,
either.
This was predicted by many,
including the VA's Office of Inspector General. Article with
backlinks is here ...
http://www.vawatchdog.org/09/nf09/
nfaug09/nf082809-1.htm
The VA had 13 months to prepare
for the wave of veterans returning to school under the New G.I.
Bill.
I'm not sure what we can do but
yell and scream at the VA and at Congress (still on recess) and
hope something gets accomplished.
Better yet, Secretary Shinseki
should intervene and tell VA to immediately pay all education
claims ... and then sort out the paperwork later. It's the
only way to solve this crisis.
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TOPICS:
veterans, veterans' benefits, VA, Department of Veterans' Affairs,
New G.I. Bill, claims, backlog |
