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.
| CLAIMS PENDING | OVER 125 DAYS | % OVER 125 DAYS | AVG. DAYS PENDING | |
| This week | 642,861 | 378,349 | 58.90% | 172.9 |
| Last week | 641,894 | 375,004 | 58.40% | 173.4 |
| Change | 967 | 3,345 | 0 | -1 |
| Year ago | 824,601 | 567,748 | 68.90% | N/A |
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.
