House Subcommittee Reviews Claims Process for Veterans
The 110th Congress voted to enact the Veterans Benefits Improvement Act (P.L. 110-389), which aimed to modernize the VA’s disability benefits claims processing system by, among other things, authorizing temporary ratings and claimant substitution, studying veterans’ loss of earnings and quality of life, piloting programs to expedite fully developed claims and a claims checklist, certifying and training VBA employees, and evaluating performance measures for claims adjudication. Congress set several implementation due dates that VA must meet over the course of this coming year, and implementation of the law is in process.
On April 9, 2009, President Obama, along with VA Secretary Shinseki and Defense Secretary Gates, announced that VA and the DoD will create a Joint Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record, which is to be a comprehensive system that will streamline transition of health care records between the Departments. It will eventually contain administrative and medical information from the day individuals enter military service, throughout their careers, and during the remainder of their lives as veterans if they should enter the VA system.