VA – On the National Security Beat http://nationalsecurityzone.medill.northwestern.edu/onthebeat On the National Security Beat Tue, 29 Sep 2015 20:29:42 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Monthly VA disability claims backlog snapshot — through July 2014 http://nationalsecurityzone.medill.northwestern.edu/onthebeat/monthly-va-disability-claims-backlog-snapshot-through-july-2014-2/ Tue, 19 Aug 2014 14:28:51 +0000 http://onthebeat.nationalsecurityzone.org/?p=2320 Status through July of the backlog in Veterans Benefits Administration disability application processing.

Compared to rapid progress for much of the past year, progress seems to have stalled a bit this summer.

Chart and table below detail changes month-to-month, week-to-week and year-over-year.

Data is taken from the VBA’s weekly “Monday Morning Workload Reports” that track claims processing progress. We think monthly tracking is a better barometer of actual progress because it flattens out some of the temporary ups and downs the weekly reports reflect.

Weekly updates on claim processing. Image updates over time with fresh data.

 

CLAIMS PENDING OVER 125 DAYS % OVER 125 DAYS AVG. DAYS PENDING
End June 528,790 261,907 49.50% 158.9
End July 524,225 261,116 49.80% 160.4
Change 4,565 791 0.30 1.50
YTD Change -112,049 -127,062 -11.20 -13.4
End July 2013 733,171 485,600 66.20% 235.5

View earlier progress  summaries.

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POGO: ‘Fear and retaliation at the VA’ http://nationalsecurityzone.medill.northwestern.edu/onthebeat/pogo-fear-and-retaliation-at-the-va/ Mon, 21 Jul 2014 20:47:21 +0000 http://onthebeat.nationalsecurityzone.org/?p=2242 POGO report of problems at the VA

The Project on Government Oversight and the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America asked veterans and Veterans Administration employees to share their stories about problems with the VA. The results so far:

In its 33-year history, POGO has never received as many submissions on a single issue—nearly 800 current and former VA employees and veterans contacted us. POGO reviewed each of the submissions, and the comments indicate that concerns about the VA go far beyond long or falsified wait times for medical appointments; they extend to the quality of health care services veterans receive.

POGO received allegations of wrongdoing from 35 states and the District of Columbia, and in the limited time we have had thus far to analyze the information, a recurring and fundamental theme has become clear: VA employees across the country fear they will face repercussions if they dare to raise a dissenting voice.

Full Story.

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VA claims backlog: It’s not only about disability claims http://nationalsecurityzone.medill.northwestern.edu/onthebeat/va-claims-backlog-its-not-only-about-disability-claims/ Mon, 30 Jun 2014 14:21:41 +0000 http://onthebeat.nationalsecurityzone.org/?p=2227 A good reminder from National Journal a few days ago that while the media seems most interested in the still-huge backlog of the Veteran’s Administration’s disability claims, a variety of other claims are clogged up as well.

The VA loves to talk about how it’s on track to reach its goal next year of completing all disability compensation and pension claims within 125 days—keeping them off the dreaded “backlogged” list. Frequently overlooked? The other two-thirds of VA claims—or more than 1 million requests—aren’t subject to the department’s 125-days, 98-percent accuracy goal. . . .

What are these other claims clogging up the VA’s system?

They run the gamut from aiming to change the amount of disability pay a veteran receives to appealing previous decisions by the department. They also include responses to congressional inquiries. So while the number of pending VA disability claims has shrunk in recent years, the number of overall claims has mushroomed to roughly 1.64 million. That’s compared with 941,666 in late 2009.

Full Story

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Monthly VA disability claims backlog snapshot — through May 2014 http://nationalsecurityzone.medill.northwestern.edu/onthebeat/monthly-va-disability-claims-backlog-snapshot-through-may-2014/ Wed, 11 Jun 2014 16:23:44 +0000 http://onthebeat.nationalsecurityzone.org/?p=2218 The backlog in Veterans Benefits Administration disability application processing continued to shrink in May, with the number of claims pending over 125 days reduced by 33,000 and the average days pending down by just 2.4 days.

May  was the fourth consecutive month of progress after stalls in November and December of 2013.

Chart and table below detail changes month-to-month, week-to-week and year-over-year.

Data is take from the VBA’s weekly “Monday Morning Workload Reports” that track claims processing progress. We think monthly tracking is a better barometer of actual progress because it flattens out some of the temporary ups and downs the weekly reports reflect.

Weekly updates on claim processing. Image updates over time with fresh data.

 

CLAIMS PENDING OVER 125 DAYS % OVER 125 DAYS AVG. DAYS PENDING
End May 539,222 277,026 51.40% 163
End Apr. 563,379 310,180 55.10% 165.4
Change -24,157 -33,154 -3.70 -2.40
YTD Change -72,895 -77,998 -5.90 -8.4
End May 2013 778,425 530,325 68.10% N/A

View earlier progress  summaries.

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New VA medical appointment wait-time data converted to spreadsheet http://nationalsecurityzone.medill.northwestern.edu/onthebeat/new-va-medical-appointment-wait-time-data-converted-to-spreadsheet/ Mon, 09 Jun 2014 18:54:57 +0000 http://onthebeat.nationalsecurityzone.org/?p=2207 VA Audit SheetWe converted the PDF “access audit” report released by the VA today detailing medical appointment wait-times at Veterans Heath Administration facilities into a spreadsheet so you can sort and analyze the data. You can find, and download, the data file here

(NOTE: Data errors in some cells are possible in cut and paste from original PDF document. Please check your individual data against that document. Link above).

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Auditor ‘concerned of financial stewardship’ after review suggests $85 million improperly paid for VA disability http://nationalsecurityzone.medill.northwestern.edu/onthebeat/auditor-concerned-of-financial-stewardship-after-review-finds-85-million-improperly-paid-for-va-disability/ Fri, 06 Jun 2014 15:39:21 +0000 http://onthebeat.nationalsecurityzone.org/?p=2191 An inspector general’s followup review of 100% disability cases approved by the Veterans Benefits Administration found nearly 2 in 5 cases in which “veterans received almost $85 million in improper benefit payments since January 2012 because these claims lacked adequate medical evidence.”

Without further action, the audit (PDF version) said, the VBA “could continue making unsupported payments to veterans totaling about $371 million over the next 5 years.”

“We remain concerned of VBA’s financial stewardship of these claims,” Linda A. Halliday,
assistant inspector general for audits and evaluations wrote.

The VBA in a response to the audit said it disagreed with the estimate of improper payments, calling it “significantly overstated” and based on a too-small sample.

The report is embedded below.



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Local veteran survey shows sharply different views, experience than what VA says http://nationalsecurityzone.medill.northwestern.edu/onthebeat/local-veteran-survey-shows-sharply-different-views-experience-than-what-va-says/ Thu, 05 Jun 2014 14:11:44 +0000 http://onthebeat.nationalsecurityzone.org/?p=2170 As the nation’s veterans medical care coverage issues rapidly become more and more of a local focus, you may want to consider ways to canvass as many of your local/regional veterans as possible.

One option, albeit a potentially expensive one: an online and phone survey with a sound methodology that will yield scientifically confident results.

That is what one congressman’s office in El Paso did, and the results released this week challenge in some cases the party line from the Veterans Administration. As USA Today recounted on Wednesday:

More than a third of veterans surveyed in the district of Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-Texas, said they were unable to get mental health care appointments at the VA. Forty-three percent said they put off therapy because of trouble seeing a counselor, and veterans said it took more than three months to be seen on average.

This differed sharply from what the VA reported for El Paso, O’Rourke said. The agency told him that 85% to 100% of veterans were provided mental health appointments within 14 days.

“The best way to determine how the VA is doing is to ask the veterans themselves,” O’Rourke said in a release about the survey his office undertook in May. That’s a light-bulb moment for journalists, as well.

The survey used as its base a list of 19,000 names of veterans within the district. (On the Beat is trying to track down whether those names were obtained as public records, and from whom, or were from a proprietary vendor database. Haven’t heard back from O’Rourke’s office yet). Those names were matched against a vendor’s phone and e-mail list.

The bulk of the surveys were completed online (503) after e-mail contact; a smaller number (189) were taken by telephone. The margin of error for all respondents is believed to be just under four percentage points in either direction.

Highlights of the findings, taken from O’Rourke’s summary report:

  • Nearly 2 in 5 who attempted to schedule a mental healthcare appointment were unable to obtain one.
  • An average of 71 days elapsed between a request for an appointment and seeing a mental health care provider.
  • About 3 in 4 veterans requesting an appointment with a mental health care provider waited more than 14 days to see one.
  • An average of 85 days elapsed between a veteran’s request for a routine care (non-mental health) appointment and seeing a health care provider.
  • About 7 in 10 requesting a non-mental health care appointment waited more than 14 days to see a provider.
  • About 1 in 3 were either very unsatisfied or unsatisfied with quality of non-mental health care at the El Paso VA.
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Well done Post explainer on VA’s problems, with roots going back to its first leader http://nationalsecurityzone.medill.northwestern.edu/onthebeat/well-done-post-explainer-on-the-problems-at-the-va-with-roots-going-back-to-its-first-leader/ Fri, 30 May 2014 19:05:04 +0000 http://onthebeat.nationalsecurityzone.org/?p=2164 A must read: This Washington Post explainer (“How the VA developed its culture of cuver-ups“) today about the history of the problems that led to this morning’s resignation of Secretary Eric K. Shinseki.

Shinseki’s departure, the Post writes, “is unlikely to solve the VA’s broader problem — a bureaucracy that had been taught, over time, to hide its problems from Washington. Indeed, as President Obama said, one of the agency’s key failings was that bad news did not reach Shinseki’s level at all.

“This is an ironic development: Until recently, the VA had been seen as a Washington success story. In the 1990s, reformers had cut back on its middle management and started using performance data so managers at the top could keep abreast of problems at the bottom.

“Then that success began to unravel.”

The Post also recounts a major problem at the VA within its earliest days as the Veteran’s Bureau. The problem was an “audcacious crook” — the man whom President Warren Harding appointed to run the bureau.

Historians say that same man, Charles Forbes, was found with Harding’s hands wrapped around his neck after his crooked misdeeds came to light.

“You yellow rat! You double-crossing bastard!” Harding was saying, according to historians. When he noticed the visitor, he let go of Forbes’s neck.

Forbes was eventually convicted of bribery and conspiracy. But afterward, the VA’s next leaders built in layers of bureaucracy and paperwork — to be sure that nobody would ever have the same freedom to steal.

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Scheduling schemes to avoid Department of Veterans Affairs’ ‘Bad Boy’s List’ http://nationalsecurityzone.medill.northwestern.edu/onthebeat/scheduling-schemes-to-avoid-the-vas-bad-boys-list/ Sat, 24 May 2014 13:53:10 +0000 http://onthebeat.nationalsecurityzone.org/?p=2159 The document below outlines 17 schemes the Department of Veterans Affairs declared should be avoided when scheduling patients. That was four years before the current eruption over use of these schemes to delay treating sick (and some, dying) veterans in an effort remain off of the VA’s “Bad Boy List.

(Memo via Washington Post).


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Useful VA medical crisis graphic, explainer http://nationalsecurityzone.medill.northwestern.edu/onthebeat/useful-va-medical-crisis-graphic/ Thu, 22 May 2014 22:21:04 +0000 http://onthebeat.nationalsecurityzone.org/?p=2148 The American Legion put together a pretty handy graphic that details the myriad problems and crises that have surfaced of late within the Veteran’s Administration. Click on the small version below to get a full version (PDF).

Also worth a look: A VOX explainer “The VA scandal, explained.

American Legion VA graphic

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