Editorial: Long road looms for VA

[unhappycamper]

Editorial: Long road looms for VA

The huge backlog of veterans’ benefits claims, now 400,000 and growing, is hardly a secret.

Less well-known, however, is the other side of this problem — the appeals process that kicks in when veterans challenge initial decisions on their claims.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims has the highest caseload of any federal appeals court. In fiscal 2007, it received 4,644 cases and decided 4,877 — both all-time records for a court that boasts just seven judges.

Such an astonishing caseload makes it hard to believe vets get fair hearings on their appeals.

Worse, the appeals backlog is at 6,300 and counting, which is why it takes an average of two years, and often longer, for a decision.

Chief Judge William Greene Jr. has asked Congress to approve the hiring of more support staff, and to allow decisions to be made using condensed records rather than more extensive documents that can take months to gather. A bill to add two more judges to the court also is pending.


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/community/opinion/airforce_editorial_va_071210/