Amodei took the time to hear from dozens of area veterans and veterans' advocates, who focused primarily on the VA disability claims backlog. Veterans reported that the VA Regional Office in Reno can take up to 300 days to properly process a disability claim for a veteran; more than double the 125-day benchmark VA has set for reasonable claims-processing.
Hernandez said that he believes the VA Regional Office in Salt Lake City faces similar backlog issues, but that Salt Lake City was in the process of converting to a paperless claims system and streamlining their ratings decisions, which could result in better service and shorter wait times for Nevada's disabled veterans.
Amodei later took to the local news to discuss why the veterans' town hall was important to him.
"It seems to me that Congressman Amodei stands ready to help veterans in any way he can," said Hernandez after the event.
To submit your Field Reports for consideration on the VFW’s Capitol Hill blog, simply fill out our online form here, or send photos and stories directly to vfwac@vfw.org. Information for this story was provided by Nevada VFW Legislative Chairman Gil Hernandez.
(Image: Nevada VFW Legislative Chairman Gil Hernandez poses for a photo with Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., and a fellow Nevada veteran during last week's veterans' town hall meeting in Elko. Photo courtesy of Gil Hernandez.)
