House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., hosts the discussions each quarter to hear first-hand from veterans’ organizations about issues affecting service members, veterans and their loved ones. More than 30 organizations representing diverse interests across the military and veterans’ community were invited to join in the discussion on topics ranging from mental health care and surviving spouse benefits to Agent Orange exposure, the Post-9/11 GI Bill and federal budget constraints.
In response to Kelley’s comments, Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn., said he remains VA’s biggest advocate, but also its harshest critic. As a retired Army National Guard sergeant major and vocal advocate on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, Walz said he and his fellow committee members will continue to hold VA accountable for their obligation to meet the mental health needs of the veterans’ community, and that if the agency needed more resources to accomplish its mission, his committee would continue to fight for them.
(Images: Top: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, center, welcomes veterans' advocates and House Democratic leaders to the quarterly roundtable discussion on veterans' issues. Middle: VFW Legislative Director Ray Kelley discusses PTSD during yesterday's roundtable. Bottom: Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn., shares his thoughts on PTSD treatment issues at yesterday's roundtable. Photos by Ryan Gallucci.)
More focus needs to be placed on the flaws in the adjudication of claims process. The VA rewards claims processors by the amount of claims processed and emphasizes they will complete the easier claims first to reduce the backlog. This is flat out WROng! Claims should be processed first in--first out, regardless of their complexity. Recently disabled vets with many different problems oas a result of service, go the the BACK of the line whenever each time a non-complicated claim is completed in order to make the VAs numbers look better. As such, many vets as myself are waiting 3 years or longer for an initial claim and have watched dozens of others claims come through who applied years after us. Perhaps a rewards system should be put in place for closing more complicated claims. With 22 service connected conditions, they should be credited for each instead of the complete claim. This would help reduce the backlog as well, since complicated claims with multiple items would be completer faster. The VA should track the number of claims issues completed, not the numbers of claims--adding parity to the process.
ReplyDelete