Veterans Benefits Administration

Claims processing in the disability compensation program is done by the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA). Congress, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and veterans' service organizations have been concerned about the program for years. The concerns have focused on the backlogs of claims, long waits for disability decisions, and the poor quality of these decisions, all of which have undermined the quality of service provided to veterans. VBA's problems with large backlogs and long waits for decisions have not improved, despite years of studying these problems. Moreover, VBA's new quality measurement system shows that nearly one-third of its decisions are incorrect or have technical or procedural errors. Many performance problems stem from the process's complexity, which is growing as the number of service-connected disabilities per veteran increases and judicial review requires more procedures and documentation. Although VBA has begun several efforts to streamline its claims-processing performance, it is unclear how much improvement will result. Also, VBA may need to collect and analyze additional case-specific data to better understand its claims-processing problems and better target its corrective actions. Furthermore, because some issues affecting VBA's performance are a function of program design, more fundamental changes may have to be considered to realize significant improvements.

GAO noted that: (1) VBA's problems with large backlogs and long waits for decisions have not yet improved, despite years of studying these problems; (2) moreover, VBA's new quality measurement system shows that nearly one-third of decisions are incorrect or have technical or procedural errors; (3) many performance problems stem from the process's complexity, which is growing as the number of service-connected disabilities per veteran increases and judicial review requires more procedures and documentation; (4) although VBA has initiated a number of efforts to streamline its claims processing performance, it is unclear how much improvement will be gained; (5) VBA may need to collect and analyze additional case-specific data to better understand its claims processing problems and better target its corrective actions; and (6) because some issues affecting VBA's performance are a function of program design, more fundamental changes may have to be considered to realize significant improvements.