CVA Statement on VA Disability Claim Backlog Reduction
Arlington, Va. – Concerned Veterans for America (CVA) CEO Pete Hegseth made the following statement in response to the Department of Veterans Affairs’ announcement that it has reduced the veterans disability claims backlog to an eight-year low:
“This is not the first time, nor will it be the last, that the VA played fast and loose with its facts. The VA’s data and claims of success on the disability backlog – and anything else for that matter – cannot be taken at face value. While the VA backlog has supposedly dipped below 100,000, the appeals backlog has skyrocketed to more than 300,000, and the time it takes to complete an appeal is now more than 900 days. In effect, many veterans have simply just moved from one backlog to another. In addition, reports have emerged over the past six months of veterans’ disability claims being shredded, hidden and manipulated at VA regional offices across the country, including in cities like Los Angeles, Houston and Philadelphia. This raises the troubling question of whether or not the VA’s disability backlog reduction was at least partially driven by inappropriate practices at VA regional offices.
“The VA is still a flawed institution with a toxic culture. While we wish we could celebrate the reduction in the disability backlog, a deeper look at the facts shows that there are still hundreds of thousands of veterans suffering in the appeals and regular claims backlog as a result of the VA’s inability to truly solve the core problems that created the backlog in the first place.”
To schedule a TV interview with Pete Hegseth, CEO of CVA, contact Guestbooker at booking@guestbooker.com. For other media inquiries, contactpress@cv4a.org.
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Concerned Veterans for America is a non-partisan, non-profit, 501(c)(4) organization that advocates for policies that will preserve the freedom and prosperity we and our families so proudly fought and sacrificed to defend.