The Department of Veterans Affairs has announced an initiative to expedite compensation claims decisions for veterans that have waited one year or longer.
It said VA claims raters would make provisional decisions on the oldest claims in the inventory, allowing veterans to begin collecting compensation benefits more quickly, if eligible.
Veterans will be able to submit additional evidence for consideration a full year after the provisional rating, before VA issues a final decision – and provisional decisions will be based on all evidence provided to date by the veteran or obtained on their behalf, the department said.
It said that if a VA medical examination is needed to decide the claim, it would be ordered and expedited. Additionally, closing older claims will increase the average claim processing statistics in the near term, which are then expected to fall over time as the new paperless claims processing system continues to processes claims more efficiently.