As evidence that the government is not immune from the supply chain issues in the economy, the VA has said that those issues, combined with staffing shortages at a vendor under contract with the GPO, are causing delays in printing and mailing notification letters to veterans and other claimants for VA benefits.
“The disruption may impact the ability of some claimants to meet required deadlines via written correspondence with VA,” the VA said.
Among the impacts is that the Veterans Benefits administration is extending the response period by 90 days for claimants with letters dated between July 13 and the end of this year. If a claimant does not reply to a time-limited notification such as to elect benefits or report for an examination, it added, the VA will not deny, reduce or end benefits unless the claimant is contacted and there is documentation of their right to respond; the requested information has been received; or the response period has lapsed.
“VA and GPO are proactively working to quickly address the mailing delays,” it added.
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