Senator Patty Murray serves on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee and is the Chair of the Senate Budget Committee. Her office issued the following regarding Wednesday's Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Murray Press Office
Wednesday, December 11, 2013 (202) 224-2834
Senator Murray Presses VA Officials on Claims Backlog
Recent
report shows government shutdown forced furloughs of thousands of
Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) employees, jeopardized October
benefits for millions of veterans and their families, and slowed the
VA’s progress on eliminating the claims backlog.
WATCH hearing.
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, during a
hearing examining the Department of Veterans Affairs claims processing
system, senior Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee member Senator Patty
Murray (D-WA) expressed her frustration with the progress in reducing
the claims backlog and stressed the importance of passing her budget
agreement with Chairman Paul Ryan.
“Ending the claims backlog and
building a timely, accurate claims processing system is one of the
absolute top priorities for our veterans,” said Senator Murray during the hearing.
“So as VA continues to work to bring down the backlog, we can’t prevent
them from doing their jobs. That means keeping the government open.
As you know, Chairman Ryan and I announced our budget agreement last
night. I cannot stress enough how important it is for everyone to
support this agreement so that we can get away from governing by crisis,
prevent another government shutdown in January, and protect our
veterans from the serious harm that we saw in October.”
According to VA testimony, the government
shutdown in October forced VA to furlough 7,800 VBA employees, ended
mandatory overtime for claims processors, and decreased claims
production by an average of 1,400 claims per day.
Sen. Murray has been a vocal critic of
the claims backlog issues facing Seattle Regional Office over the years
and continues to hear from veterans frustrated with the timeliness and
accuracy problems with their claims. While the latest information seems
to be improving, Sen. Murray will continue to push VA to address the
underlying issues with staffing and processing at the regional office so
Washington state veterans can count on long-term improvement.
Senator Murray’s full remarks:
“Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, I
appreciate you holding this hearing. Ending the claims backlog and
building a timely, accurate claims processing system is one of the
absolute top priorities for our veterans.
“And I continue to hear frequently
from veterans in my home state of Washington that they are still waiting
far too long for their claims to be completed.
“I know getting this right is a top
priority for the Department. And I understand this is a complex problem
that has no single easy solution.
“So I am encouraged by the steps VA has taken so far, but we still have a long way to go.
“For example, VA’s initiative to
expedite the oldest claims was a good step. However, I have heard
repeatedly from veterans that they were confused and frustrated with the
provisional rating process.
“Some believed their claims had been
flat-out rejected and others did understand they have a year to submit
additional evidence.
“Secretary Hickey, we need to hear
more from you today about how VA will improve outreach and communication
with veterans so that future initiatives do not cause more confusion.
“And while the numbers are moving in
the right direction, we need to know the necessary structural changes
are being made as well.
“This is especially important in
handling the more complex claims. The recent testimony by the Office of
Inspector General shows some examples of these problems.
“Though it is not surprising these
claims take longer to rate, these are also claims for veterans who need
their benefits the most.
“So as VA continues to work to bring
down the backlog, we can’t prevent them from doing their jobs. That
means keeping the government open.
“The
entirely unnecessary shutdown a handful of Republican Members forced us
into earlier this year: forced VA to furlough 7,800 V.B.A. employees,
ended mandatory overtime for claims processors, and as Secretary
Shinseki testified, it decreased claims production by an average of
1,400 claims per day.
“As
you know, Chairman Ryan and I announced our budget agreement last
night. I cannot stress enough how important it is for everyone to
support this agreement so that we can get away from governing by crisis,
prevent another government shutdown in January, and protect our
veterans from the serious harm that we saw in October.
“So
I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues and with you,
Secretary Hickey, towards meeting these challenges and seeing that each
and every veteran receives the benefits that they have earned.”
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Meghan Roh
Press Secretary | New Media Director
Office of U.S. Senator Patty Murray
Mobile: (202) 365-1235
Office: (202) 224-2834