A two-week backslide in processing veterans disability claims has ended, with the number of outstanding claims taking longer than 125 days to resolve shrinking by 4,300 last week. The average number of days pending slipped a bit to 171.6 from 172.9.

The previous two weeks were the first increases in the backlog since early summer and raised the hackles of veterans advocates. One advocacy group blamed the backsliding on elimination of mandatory overtime that had been authorized.

What had been steady progress against the backlog due to Congressional pressure had been slowing in November — even after maintaining a positive clip during the October government shutdown — but a net gain of 2,332 backlogged claims older than 125 days two weeks ago was a reversal.

The U.S. Senate Veteran’s Affairs Committee met last week for an update on the Veterans Benefits Administration progress in reducing the backlog and heard officials pledge to continue chipping away at the backlog.

Below is our weekly snapshot of claims status and two graphics from the Veterans Benefits Administration’s weekly “Monday Morning Workload Reports” that track claims processing progress.

Below: Claims pending (left) and backlog (right) by era served, as of 12/14/13. (Note: Includes disability and pension claims, so total numbers are different than above). Pie charts are from the Veteran’s Benefits Administration.

View earlier weekly summaries.

Veterans disability claims that have taken longer than 125 days to process have increased for the second week in a row, growing by 3,345 claims compared to the week before.

The previous week was the first increase in the backlog since early summer and raised the hackles of veterans advocated. One advocacy group blamed the backsliding on elimination of mandatory overtime that had been authorized.

What had been steady progress against the backlog due to Congressional pressure had been slowing in recent weeks — even after maintaining a positive clip during the October government shutdown — but the net gain of 2,332 backlogged claims older than 125 days last week was a reversal.

The U.S. Senate Veteran’s Affairs Committee is meeting this morning (Dec. 11) for an update on the Veterans Benefits Administration progress in reducing the backlog.

Below is our weekly snapshot of claims status and two graphics from the Veterans Benefits Administration’s weekly “Monday Morning Workload Reports” that track claims processing progress.

Below: Claims pending (left) and backlog (right) by era served, as of 12/2/13. (Note: Includes disability and pension claims, so total numbers are different than above). Pie charts are from the Veteran’s Benefits Administration.

View earlier weekly summaries.

The Veterans Administration backlog in disability claims ended a months-long decline last week as the number of claims pending for more than 125 days rose for the first time since July.

As you can see from the chart below, what had been steady progress against the backlog had been slowing in recent weeks — even after maintaining a positive clip during the October government shutdown — but the net gain of 2,332 backlogged claims older than 125 days last week was a reversal.

One veteran’s organization was not at all pleased. “This week’s report comes after two straight weeks of weak numbers from the VA. And after months of encouraging progress, it appears the VA’s progress is now stalling,” the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America said in a release.

“These weeks of poor performance come after the VA suspended mandatory overtime and ended its surge processing for claims pending over one year. The drop in weekly progress following the end of these initiatives seriously calls into question whether the VA’s regular production can end the backlog by 2015.”

Below is our weekly snapshot of claims status and two graphics from the Veterans Benefits Administration’s weekly “Monday Morning Workload Reports” that track claims processing progress.

Below: Claims pending (left) and backlog (right) by era served, as of 12/2/13. (Note: Includes disability and pension claims, so total numbers are different than above). Pie charts are from the Veteran’s Benefits Administration.

View earlier weekly summaries.