Here is our weekly update on the status of the enormous backlog of Veterans Benefits Administration disability claims. The data below is extracted from the weekly “Monday Morning Workload Report” released by the VA. The most recent cover the week ending Sept. 28.
With the government shutdown that began today, it is most likely that processing of claims will come to a halt and recent progress that has trimmed the backlog will come to a halt and, if the shutdown continues for very long, would backslide.
“The backlog will go in the wrong direction by 2,000 claims every day,” Jon Soltz of VoteVets.org told Politico. “They’ve cut into that thing a lot, and they’re going to lose that momentum. Every day that the government is shut down, the claims begin to build up.”
| CLAIMS PENDING | OVER 125 DAYS | % OVER 125 DAYS | AVG. DAYS PENDING | |
| This week | 670,674 | 401,952 | 59.90% | 185.2 |
| Last week | 681,228 | 414,155 | 60.80% | 192.1 |
| Change | -10,554 | -12,203 | -0.90 | -7 |
| Year ago | 809,240 | 544,591 | 67% | N/A |
Below: Claims pending (left) and backlog (right) as of 9/28/13. (Note: Includes disability and pension). Pie charts are from the Veteran’s Benefits Administration.
→ Full VA disablity data dashboard on Medill National Security Zone.