Monterey, CA Veterans Administration's Efforts To Go Electronic Is Long Overdue

View From A Non-Profit Serving Carmel, Carmel Valley, Gonzalez, Greenfield, King City, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas, Seaside And Soledad California

The Veteran's Administration (VA) Secretary Eric Shinseki said this week  that his agency is committed to ending the backlog of disability claims by replacing paper with electronic records by 2015.  There is currently a massive backlog of about 600,000 claims (70% of the pending total) which are considered backlogged by the VA.  The number of claims pending for more than 125 days has almost quadrupled since Shinseki has been in office.  Currently, only 20 regional VA offices have the new computer system operating, although Shinseki hopes that all offices will be online by the end of the year.  "This has been decades in the making.  10 years of war.  We're in paper; we need to get out of paper," Shinseki told USA Today.  I agree.  The VA system can be extremely slow, and the last thing a disabled veteran needs is to go through the frustration of having to constantly call the VA and try to find out what the status of his or her claim is.  "We're tired of waiting for the VA to get their act together," Tom Tarantino, chief policy officer of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, told a reporter.  I agree.  I have never had to file a disability claim, but my company, Family inHome Caregiving, does provide caregiving services for veterans which is reimbursed by the VA.  The system is extremely antiquated and time consuming.  It often calls for numerous follow-ups to find out why claims aren't being paid.  To add insult to injury, if you file the claim online, you are charged a significant fee.  I still file my claims on paper because of the high cost of filing claims online.  I hope that veterans aren't charged anything for using the new electronic system.

Please note that this blog reflects my personal opinion and may or may not reflect the opinion of Hands To Help Seniors and the individual members comprising the Board of Governors.