The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is passing along some year-ending kudos during the holiday season.
To itself.
The VA’s release of a few numbers and statistics relevant to disability claims and outcomes clearly conveys that the administration is in a self-lauding and celebratory mood.
Upbeat sentiments on the department’s performance that were recently expressed by VA Secretary Robert Wilkie manifestly underscore that point. Wilkie says that his agency is delivering on its pledge “to improve customer service and provide benefits in a way that honors veterans for their service.”
Here’s one data bit being prominently spotlighted by the VA: Reportedly, the department’s disability claims backlog is at an all-time low.
That’s good news, of course. It also implicitly underscores, though, the legions of veterans and their loved ones in Texas and nationally who are still experiencing the frustration of bureaucratic delay and blowback when filing for disability benefits.
The VA also touts its performance in timely processing claims. It stresses that they are now being completed within a stated best-practices timeframe about 75% of the time.
That too is a positive development. Yet the announcement also has a glass-half-empty feel to it, given the fact that claimants don’t customarily receive any official response from the VA until well after 100 days of filing. And, per the above, about one-quarter of them suffer materially longer waits.
As a law firm with a proven pro-veteran focus and performance record, the Killeen legal offices of Michalk, Beatty & Alcozer applauds every regulatory effort that helps the VA better serve its valued and diverse population. And our experienced legal team provides diligent advocacy to our military clients when the benefits they are owed are delayed or denied.
We welcome contacts to the firm.
Happy holidays to all our readers.