VA’s dismal performance gets worse "Once again, a report finds - TopicsExpress



          

VA’s dismal performance gets worse "Once again, a report finds appalling levels of inefficiency at the Waco office of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Once again, the scandalous findings trigger the obligatory round of official harrumphing. And once again, the prospects that veterans waiting for their claims to be processed will get even short-term relief are few. Earlier this week, the American-Statesman’s Jeremy Schwartz reported a decline in the accuracy rate of processing disability claims. In addition, the Waco center — once the slowest in claims processing — is getting slower at moving claims. Last year, the average wait time for Central Texas veterans awaiting word on their disability claims was 393 days. The wait time is now 464 days. The findings by the VA’s inspector general speak of a VA culture of indifference or ineptitude or both. If that sounds harsh, consider that the Waco office has been the target of intense agency and congressional scrutiny for years and the only change has been for the worse. Waco VA personnel have received increased training — apparently ineffective — and the Texas Legislature supplemented the federal agency’s budget by more than $1 million. More training and more money thrown at the center produced poorer results. U.S. Rep. Bill Flores, R-Waco, issued a statement expressing disappointment and announcing an intent to meet with John Limpose, the Waco center director to discuss improvements. In May, Schwartz reported that VA executives had raked in $2.8 million in bonuses in 2011 despite the appalling backlog of unprocessed claims. Limpose’s predecessor, Carl Lowe, received $53,436 in bonuses over a five-year period. Wait time on claims processed through the office quadrupled since 2007, meanwhile. The VA bonus program was suspended for this year, with the administration promising to put the money that would have paid VA executives toward cleaning up the backlog. Flores, a member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said the bonus program — though suspended — “reflects what I consider a broken culture that doesn’t put the veterans first.” Roger that. The committee voted unanimously this week to form a commission to investigate the delays and errors. For now, it’s just so much more of the same harrumphing that has followed previous reports of the VA’s dismal performance. Formal action won’t be taken until after the summer congressional recess. Investigations will reveal what we already know: Claims are backlogged and despite the infusion of money, training and equipment, things aren’t improving. We’ve asked in previous editorials on this topic whether the Veterans Affairs bureaucracy is capable of fixing itself. The wait times for processing disability claims are disgraceful. Yet, the bureaucracy hunkers down, waits for the storm to pass and continues to plod along. That the VA got more people and more money for training, only to turn in the same or worse results, merits attention from the president on down the chain of command. It’s unfortunate but inevitable that people get hurt enforcing the country’s foreign policy. When that happens, the country not only owes them thanks, but efficient treatment of their injuries and a just compensation for disabilities. “This issue is not about claims, dollars or politics. Instead, it is about how we treat our nation’s heroes,” Flores told the Waco Tribune-Herald. It is the most basic of concepts, yet the execution of it continues to elude the Veterans Affairs bureaucracy. According to Glenn R. Bergman, a Washington attorney and VA watchdog, there are 785,899 veterans nationwide with pending claims. Pending claims piled up in Waco total 35,888, with an average wait of 470 days. The error rate is 40 percent. In the 2010 inspection, the error rate was pegged at 36 percent. Waco’s performance compares with a 371-day national average time for the VA to complete a claim, with an error rate of 30 percent. Not all the news was bad. The state’s $1.5 million contribution to cleaning up the backlog appears to have some effect, although it’s obvious there’s a long way to go. The Waco Center also got good marks on outreach and working with homeless veterans. While welcome, the good news doesn’t come close to balancing the bad. Flores’ comment that focus should be about respect for veterans is on target. It is also a reminder that the problems the agency experiences today aren’t unique. When he took over as head of the Veterans Administration in 1946, as the agency was known then, Gen. Omar N. Bradley aptly summed up the agency’s mission. “We are dealing with veterans, not procedures, with their problems, not ours,” said Bradley, who wore five stars in World War II and was known as the “GI General.” Until a commitment to serve veterans and their problems is made from the commander-in-chief on down, ex-GIs can expect nothing better than what they’ve been getting. What they’ve been getting reflects poorly on us all."
Posted on: Sat, 03 Aug 2013 21:50:52 +0000

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