House Committee Hears from VBA Employees on Backlog On Monday evening, the House Veterans Affairs Committee heard testimony that the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) made thousands of errors in its rush to reduce a backlog in disability claims. The panel heard from Allison Hickey, VA Undersecretary for Benefits, who on Monday announced that the department had processed 1 million claims thus far and is on pace to complete 1.3 million claims by the end of the fiscal year. But an investigation by the Inspector General for the VA found new mistakes made by employees at the VBA. The errors include thousands of cases being deducted from the sizable backlog while they were still being processed and the VA failing to follow up with patients who received 100-percent disability benefits. Linda Halliday, Assistant Inspector General for VA, testified that other resources from within the VA were also compromised in order to try to eliminate the backlog. For more on the hearing, visit the House VA website.
Posted on: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 19:17:30 +0000