It’s no secret that the VA is way behind nationally when it comes to processing veteran disability claims. Far too often, claimants are waiting many months and in some cases years before a decision is reached on their claim. In fact, Federal lawmakers have been after the organization for a while to get their act together and come up with ways to streamline the process and decide on claims faster.
But if you listen to most of the stories about the problem, it sounds like it’s truly a national issue with every single office drowning in paperwork and doing a poor job of getting through claims so that Vets can get the benefits that they need. According to a recent story, that’s not necessarily the case.
The Story of the Reno VA Office
It was recently reported that the Reno VA Office – which is responsible for all Veterans in Nevada – had more than 10, 000 claims in its peak inventory in 2013 and ended sending almost 5,000 of those out to other offices around the country to help them get processed. That’s almost half of Nevada’s Veterans disability claims that they couldn’t handle themselves – a staggering amount.
Now, this is a very interesting story that isn’t necessarily black and white. On the one hand, it’s great that other offices are stepping up and making sure that processing times aren’t dragged out forever in slower offices. However, you have to imagine that Vets who actually live in the areas where faster offices are helping out are themselves getting delayed because those offices are focusing on people who shouldn’t be their responsibility.
Instead of asking other offices to pick up the slack indefinitely, there needs to be more accountability for offices that perform poorly, including instituting administrative and personnel changes if necessary.
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Don’t Let the VA Unnecessarily Delay Your Claim
Naturally, this isn’t the only way that the VA delays claims unnecessarily. If you want to avoid getting the runaround yourself when it comes to veterans’ disability claims, the best thing that you can do is work with an experienced Veterans Disability lawyer who knows the ins and outs of the process and has a track record of success. You owe it to yourself and your loved ones to make sure that your claim has the best chance of succeeding.
If you want to learn more about the process, download our free Veterans Disability eBook.
Call or text 800-562-9830 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form
