VCS Advocacy in the News: VA to Automate Claims Payments for Agent Orange
 

VCS Endorses VA's Bold Action to Reduce Claim Backlog

Chicago, Illinois (Chicago Tribune) - Faced with a crushing influx of disability claims from Vietnam War veterans exposed to the toxic defoliant Agent Orange, the Department of Veterans Affairs said Tuesday it would automate part of the cumbersome system that has left many thousands of veterans waiting many months and sometimes years for payments.

The announcement from the VA is a tacit admission that the 80-year-old department is close to being overwhelmed by the volume of claims not only from Vietnam veterans but from those of more recent wars in the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan and Iraq. The backlog of unresolved disability claims has exceeded 1 million, and the department last year cleared the way for at least 200,000 more when it said it would consider claims of Vietnam veterans suffering from Parkinson's disease, hairy cell leukemia and ischemic heart disease, all of which the have been linked to Agent Orange.

The VA has reached a breaking point in terms of its ability to handle the claims of more than 3 million veterans and this plan would be, at best, an initial step aimed at the most time-consuming claims, according to the department. As the Chicago Tribune reported in December, service-related disability payments to Vietnam veterans soared more than 60 percent from 2003 to 2009, reaching $15.4 billion, or 45 percent of the $34 billion the VA paid in veterans' disability claims last year. With other diseases being linked to exposure to Agent Orange, the numbers of veterans and the cost to treat them will continue to increase and the VA will be increasingly hard-pressed to handle the demand.

"Veterans whose health was harmed during their military service are entitled to the best this nation has to offer," said VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, a disabled Vietnam veteran who is also a retired Army general. "We are undertaking an unprecedented modernization of our claims process to ensure timely and accurate delivery of that commitment."

The department said it plans to advertise for private sector bids to develop an automated system, with implementation scheduled before the end of summer. The system will cover only a portion of the claims the department handles.

Veterans' organizations applauded the move, but with some skepticism. Why not automate the system for all claims, one official asked. And will claims for some diseases be given preference over other, long-delayed claims, another asked.

"This is so far long overdue it isn't even funny," said John Rowan, national president of Vietnam Veterans of America. Rowan said the concept of streamlining the claims system is a positive development, but it remains to be seen whether the automation system will work as smoothly as intended.

"Shinseki knows damn well the system's no good, and we really appreciate what he is trying to do," Rowan added. "We'll just have to wait to see the details."

The VA said it plans to shorten the average time it takes to consider claims to 90 days or less; with the current bureaucratic logjam claims can take 200 days, not counting appeals. Paul Sullivan, executive director of the advocacy group Veterans for Common Sense, said that if Shinseki "failed to act...the VA benefit claims processing system may have collapsed."

Sullivan said the "underlying cause" of the problem has been building since the start of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and it was the "failure of the Bush administration... to beef up the VA" that forced Shinseki to act. Veterans' claims for post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, have skyrocketed since the Vietnam War, and Sullivan said PTSD claims are just as worthy to be put on the VA's planned fast track as Agent Orange-related illnesses.

The health effect of Agent Orange, which was used in Vietnam to defoliate trees and jungle hiding places for the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces, is still evolving. While it is not the primary culprit driving up disability costs, the growing number of illnesses linked to exposure to the chemical- cancers, diabetes and other disabling maladies- has helped push the VA beyond its ability to handle claims.

In recent years the VA has added thousands of workers to process the increasing caseload, but that has done little to un-clog the system. Shinseki called the VA's automation plan a "major step forward."

"With the latest, fastest and most reliable technology, VA hopes to migrate the manual processing of these claims to an automated process that meets the needs of today's veterans in a more timely manner," Shinseki said.

VA Press Release

Secretary Seeks Fast Track to Process Claims

Focus on 200,000 Veterans Expected to File Claims under New Agent Orange Presumptives over Next Two Years

March 9,2010, Washington, DC (VA Press Release) - The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced today an aggressive new initiative to solicit private-sector input on a proposed "fast track" Veterans' claims process for service-connected presumptive illnesses due to Agent Orange exposure during the Vietnam War.

"This will be a new way of doing business and a major step forward in how we process the presumptive claims we expect to receive over the next two years," Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki said. "With the latest, fastest, and most reliable technology, VA hopes to migrate the manual processing of these claims to an automated process that meets the needs of today's Veterans in a more timely manner."

Over the next two years, about 200,000 Veterans are expected to file disability compensation claims under an historic expansion of three new presumptive illnesses announced last year by Secretary Shinseki.  They affect Veterans who have Parkinson's disease, ischemic heart disease and B-cell leukemias.

In practical terms, Veterans who served in Vietnam during the war and who have one of the illnesses covered by the "presumption of service connection" don't have to prove an association between their medical problems and military service.  This "presumption" makes it easier for Vietnam Veterans to access disability compensation benefits. Vietnam Veterans are encouraged to submit their claims as soon as possible to begin the important process of compensation.

Along with the publication of proposed regulations for the three new presumptives this spring, VA intends to publish a formal request in Federal Business Opportunities for private-sector corporations to propose automated solutions for the parts of the claims process that take the longest amount of time.  VA believes these can be collected in a more streamlined and accurate way.

Development involves determining what additional information is needed to adjudicate the claim, such as military and private medical records and the scheduling of medical examinations.

With this new approach, VA expects to shorten the time it takes to gather evidence, which now takes on average over 90 days.  Once the claim is fully developed and all pertinent information is gathered, VA will be able to more quickly decide the claim and process the award, if granted.

The contract is expected to be awarded in April with proposed solutions offered to VA within 90 days.  Implementation of the solution is expected within 150 days.

"Veterans whose health was harmed during their military service are entitled to the best this nation has to offer," added Secretary Shinseki. "We are undertaking an unprecedented modernization of our claims process to ensure timely and accurate delivery of that commitment."

Last year, VA received more than one million claims for disability compensation and pension.  VA provides compensation and pension benefits to over 3.8 million Veterans and beneficiaries.  Presently, the basic monthly rate of compensation ranges from $123 to $2,673 to Veterans without any dependents.

Disability compensation is a non-taxable, monthly monetary benefit paid to Veterans who are disabled as a result of an injury or illness that was incurred or aggravated during active military service.

For more information about disability compensation, go towww.va.gov.  Additional information about Agent Orange and VA's services and programs for Veterans exposed are available atwww.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange.