Bill to help overcome VA benefits backlog is in need of support
Imagine you are in a foreign land, risking your life for your country. Minutes and hours feel like an eternity when a wrong turn or wrong step could mean injury or death.
Next, imagine you are finally home on the friendly soil of the United States, hoping to begin the next chapter of your life.
But first, you need to heal. You file a claim with the Veterans Affairs Department to get help for injuries you sustained during active duty.
And then you wait for that help. And wait. And wait.
Minutes and hours once again feel like an eternity. They turn to weeks and months — even years — as you hope for help and struggle with your injuries.
Unfortunately, this scenario is not imaginary. As of March 30, the VA had nearly 900,000 claims pending. Of those, 613,876 claims were pending more than 125 days, at which point they are considered backlogged.
In my Casa Grande district office, I hired a veterans caseworker who is working to resolve dozens of backlogged cases for Arizona veterans. Some of these men and women have waited two years or more for a decision on their claims. (If you are a veteran in District1 and need assistance, please contact my office via kirkpatrick .house.gov).
Way too many veterans are stuck in this backlog — and they deserve better.
I represent Arizona on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee. As the ranking member of its Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, I’ve been pushing the VA for answers.
What we’ve learned is that the average veteran waits more than 250 days for a decision on a claim. And about 175 days of that time is the VA waiting for the Department of Defense to send the complete records, which DOD currently processes on paper rather than electronically.
This is why I recently introduced bipartisan legislation to help tackle the backlog. My bill is called the VA Claims, Operations and Records Efficiency Act, or VA CORE.
It directs the Department of Defense to enact an efficient, electronic transfer of veterans’ records, instead of the outdated paperwork process. Federal agencies must leave paperwork in the past and adopt an electronic approach.
I wanted this to be a bipartisan bill because that’s the way to get things done in Congress, and helping veterans is a priority that we all share. That’s why my bill’s original co-sponsor is the Republican chairman of our Veterans’ Affairs subcommittee, Rep. Mike Coffman of Colorado.
The 24/7 news cycle is filled with noisy partisan battles, but we can’t let that drown out the urgent need to work together and get something done on the VA backlog. Delayed care is denied care.
Helping our veterans isn’t a partisan issue — it’s a national responsibility. Let’s end the backlog and keep the promises we’ve made to those who have served and sacrificed for us all. ANN KIRKPATRICK