Amodei amendment would shift funds to VA Regional Offices with largest backlogs
Submitted by Jeff Munson on Tue, 06/04/2013 - 4:57pm
Nevada Congressman Mark Amodei offered a successful amendment on Tuesday to the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill for next year, which would shift $44 million for mandatory overtime to the VA Regional Offices with the worst disability claims backlogs — greater than 365 days.
Of the 15 VAROs on the list, Reno’s backlog, with an average claims process of 504 days, is the second worst in the nation behind Los Angeles (576 days). The amendment passed the House by a bipartisan vote of 248 to 172.
The Reno VARO serves nearly 234,000 veterans living in Nevada and four California counties. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, there are 606,007 total backlogged claims across the nation.
“While I appreciate the Appropriations Committee’s provisions in the bill to help address the claims backlog, I believe more can be done to directly help veterans where the problem is greatest,” said Amodei in a news release. “Instead of spreading mandatory overtime across the entire VARO system, that funding should be focused like a laser on the 13 states where our veterans are waiting for more than a year to get the benefits they earned and deserve. What’s been done by the Department of Veterans Affairs is not working. It’s time to try something new. Anything less is unacceptable.”
In an attempt to expedite disability claims decisions, the VA on May 15 announced a new initiative to mandate overtime. This surge will be implemented for the remainder of the fiscal year and cost approximately $44 million. It is expected to reduce the overall backlog by 50,000 claims. However, instead of allocating these funds to the Regional Offices with the largest backlogs, the VA decided to mandate overtime nationwide and burden those offices where performance goals are already being met.
When questioned in a House Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing as to why the VA is not allocating resources based on the backlog, VA Under Secretary for Benefits Allison Hickey, stated “We have a resource allocation model, that frankly, doesn’t make any sense.”
The amendment will not alter VARO budgets for normal operating expenses and salaries. It only applies to those funds associated with the VA’s mandatory overtime initiative.
Top 15 VA Regional Office backlogs, according to statistics provided by the VA:
1) Los Angeles, CA (576 days)
2) Reno, NV (504 days)
3) Oakland, CA (501 days)
4) New York, NY (497 days)
5) Chicago, IL (489 days)
6) Baltimore, MD (483 days)
7) Phoenix, AZ (482 days)
8) Pittsburgh, PA (454 days)
9) Waco, TX (445 days)
10) Indianapolis, IN (443 days)
11) Houston, TX (419 days)
12) Boston, MA (402 days)
13) Roanoke, VA (398 days)
14) Cleveland, OH (393 days)
15) Jackson, MS (366 days)
