Titus bill to study backlog of VA appeals

WASHINGTON — A bill re-introduced Thursday by Rep. Dina Titus is the latest bid by Congress to get its arm around the handling of disability benefits for military veterans.

The Titus measure would create a task force to recommend how the Department of Veterans Affairs and Congress can improve how the VA manages appeals of rejected claims “so veterans receive accurate decisions in a timely fashion.”

More than 300,000 appeals are pending, including about 1,400 from Nevada veterans, Titus said in a statement with the legislation. Nationally, the average length of time to receive a decision on an appeal is 1,255 days — nearly 3½ years, she said.

A push by the VA to reduce a backlog of initial benefit applications has just created a chokepoint further down the line. Titus, who sits on the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, said trading a claims backlog for an appeals backlog was like “trading a devil for a witch.”

Benefit claims by veterans in Nevada are processed by the regional VA office in Reno, which has a reputation as one of the poorer-performing outposts in the agency. In 2013, the office was so overwhelmed with disability claims that it sent half of them to out-of-state VA offices for decisions.

Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., who sits on the Senate committee that oversees veterans programs, said fixing the claims process will be a priority this year. Nevada is home to roughly 300,000 veterans.

“I believe the disability claims backlog is one of the most pressing issues our veterans are facing,” Heller said at a committee meeting Wednesday.

Heller and Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., formed a “VA claims backlog working group” among senators in the last Congress. They produced a bill containing a series of reforms to streamline the claims process.

Heller said some of the suggestions were implemented by the VA or passed by Congress in some form last year. Senate aides said Heller and Casey are preparing to introduce an updated bill.

Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760. Find him on Twitter: @STetreaultDC.