Obama: VA To Assume More Active Role

Caseworkers with the Department of Veterans Affairs are no longer sitting back and waiting for veterans to come to them for help in the claims and benefits process, President Obama said during an Aug. 5 White House roundtable. “We have been placing a lot more emphasis on outreach, because although there are hundreds of veterans who are using our services, we know that there are hundreds of thousands more who may not know that benefits are available,” Obama said. He cited new efforts to improve the transition of paperwork from the Defense Department to the VA, by use of electronic records. VA and DoD have joined to “create a system where a youngster takes the oath of office today, and while he or she is serving, we begin the process of creating an electronic record [in DoD] that is mirrored in VA,” said VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki. By the time these younger troops leave the service, Shinseki added, “We know where they’ve been … what injuries [they sustained], what operations they’ve been on.