VA benefit backlog under microscope
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- Back in May, ABC11 first reported on troubles cropping up at VA hospitals in North Carolina.
The Department's Inspector General was looking into a whistle-blower's allegations of "inappropriate scheduling" at the Durham VA Medical Center. The problem quickly mushroomed, enveloping the Fayetteville VA and drawing sharp criticism from veterans and state elected officials.
Now, the other side of the VA -- the benefits arm -- is under the microscope and investigators are finding similar looking problems.
Three years ago, the Department kicked off a special initiative to reduce an enormous backlog of benefits claims; some vets complained they hadn't received money for years. The benefits office in Winston-Salem became the poster child for a defunct system, when pictures surfaced of thousands of files, stacked high in boxes on top of full file cabinets.
As they scrambled to fix that problem, the VA instituted a "special initiative" to cut down on the backlog. But today's report shows that "fix" actually created more problems for the agency and the veterans it serves. It put in place a provisional rating system intended to provide vets quicker service. But the IG report says while provisional decisions would let the VA take the cases "off the books," in many cases, the Department never went back to make a final decision.
The net result: the numbers looked better but vets weren't getting benefits faster or more accurately.
In fact, the report shows more vets than before were actually denied benefits and accuracy took a tumble. Employees felt pressured to get results and made mistakes because of it.
According to the IG, the VA did not accurately process 83 percent of provisional decisions (of those reviewed) and did not accurately process 23 percent of the two-year-old claims that received final decisions under the new initiative.
The report was requested by several senators, including Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), who is the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
"This latest IG report confirms that VA's 'fix' to its backlog process was just smoke and mirrors and another example of VA manipulating the data to make it appear as if veterans are being well served," said Burr. "It is absolutely shameful that a department charged with the care of our nation's veterans would choose to resort to practices that negatively affect them and inaccurately portray the VA's workload."
You can read the full VA Inspector General report by clicking here.
