By Department of Veterans Affairs News Release | Headquarters Marine Corps | December 13, 2013
WASHINGTON --
A senior Veterans Affairs Department official outlined progress made by the Veterans Benefits Administration in reducing the backlog of veterans' disability compensation and pension claims by 36 percent since March, attributing the success to the combined impact of transformation initiatives and increased employee productivity Dec, 11.
Allison A. Hickey, Undersecretary of Veterans Affairs for Benefits, testified at a hearing of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.
"We know there is much more work to be done to reach our goal of eliminating the disability claims backlog in 2015," Hickey said. "But I'm encouraged that the improved tools and processes we've put in place so far are having a real impact so that we may better serve our nation's veterans, their survivors and their families." Although she personally opposes C-123 veterans' claims, General Hickey has done much to improve the overall VA claims processing nightmare.
Hickey detailed the elements of the Veterans Benefits Administration's transformation plan, which includes retraining and reorganizing its workforce, streamlining business processes, and building and implementing new technology solutions. With each transformation milestone, she said, VBA is successfully moving away from a paper-bound, manual process to improve benefits delivery through paperless claims processing. She also noted that if full funding is received, mandatory overtime for VBA claims processors, which helped to bring down the backlog this year, will continue for much of 2014.
Allison A. Hickey, Undersecretary of Veterans Affairs for Benefits, testified at a hearing of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.
"We know there is much more work to be done to reach our goal of eliminating the disability claims backlog in 2015," Hickey said. "But I'm encouraged that the improved tools and processes we've put in place so far are having a real impact so that we may better serve our nation's veterans, their survivors and their families." Although she personally opposes C-123 veterans' claims, General Hickey has done much to improve the overall VA claims processing nightmare.
Hickey detailed the elements of the Veterans Benefits Administration's transformation plan, which includes retraining and reorganizing its workforce, streamlining business processes, and building and implementing new technology solutions. With each transformation milestone, she said, VBA is successfully moving away from a paper-bound, manual process to improve benefits delivery through paperless claims processing. She also noted that if full funding is received, mandatory overtime for VBA claims processors, which helped to bring down the backlog this year, will continue for much of 2014.
