New York, Detroit, Pittsburgh VA offices slowest in processing disability claims

From Newsday in New York:

The New York office of Veterans Affairs is among the slowest in the nation to process new disability claims, with local veterans languishing six months or longer in one of three cases.

"It is much higher than we would like," said Michael Walcoff, the VA's deputy undersecretary of benefits. "It is something we have been concerned about."

Only the Detroit regional office, where 33.3 percent of claims take at least six months, processed claims slower than New York as of Nov. 15, according to VA data. New York, with 32.4 percent of claims taking that long, was tied with Pittsburgh for the nation's second slowest processing center. The national average is 21 percent.

Walcoff said the agency is addressing the backlog at its Manhattan office by hiring about 30 veterans service representatives over the past 18 months - a 16 percent staff increase.The VA became so concerned that employees had misplaced key documents such as marriage certificates and medical records that they offered amnesty to encourage their return. Some 700 documents were recovered anonymously, Walcoff said.The massive agency has already been pummeled by accusations that employees have lost, misplaced or shredded documents across
the country.

Three weeks ago, the agency decided to allow veterans who submitted claims etween April 14, 2007, and Oct. 14 of this year to reopen claims in cases where they believe the agency had lost their documents.

Those dates correspond with a period in which VA inspectors found evidence that claims-related documents were being improperly shredded. Claims refiled by Nov. 17, 2009, would receive benefits that correspond to the original filing date.

The irregularities in the New York office are only the latest in a string of embarrassing revelations about an agency that is expected to see a large increase in claims, as more than 1.6 million personnel who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan continue leaving the military.

The VA ousted its New York regional director in October after a summer-long investigation found employees were affixing phony dates to claims to make it appear they were being processed on time. Investigators also turned up large quantities of unprocessed mail.

Last month, two national veterans groups sued to force the VA to handle claims within 90 days, saying vets with physical or psychological troubles often don't get services for a year or more.

"Once the paperwork is filed, the individual just waits and waits," said Francisco Muñiz III, an officer with the Nassau County chapter of Vietnam Veterans of America, one plaintiff. "For someone who has lost a limb or is disabled, these individuals have no recourse."

Walcoff said he could not be certain that documents have not been improperly shredded at the New York office, which is responsible for the claims of some 800,000 veterans living in eastern New York State. But he said an October inspection did not show evidence of shredding in New York, and that the dating scandal did not reduce the retroactive benefits to which veterans were entitled.