VA Benefits Backlog So Bad it Threatened Employee Safety

[The Straight Story]

VA Benefits Backlog So Bad it Threatened Employee Safety


The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has had so much trouble keeping up with paperwork claims that the backlog actually became a physical threat to employee safety in North Carolina.

At the VA center in Winston-Salem, 37,000 claims folders were stored on top of file cabinets due to the office running out of space. The result was “an unsafe workspace for (VA) employees” that had “the potential to compromise the integrity of the building,” according to a report (pdf) issued by the VA Office of Inspector General.

The IG reported that the weight of the combined folders exceeded the load-bearing capacity of the building itself.

...

It is estimated that nearly one million veterans are currently waiting for their benefit claims to be processed by the VA. The average wait time for a disability claim to be resolved is 279 days, with first-time claims taking even longer—about 318 days. In the last four years, the wait time has increased by 2,000%.

http://www.allgov.com/news/unusual-news/va-benefits-backlog-so-bad-it-threatened-employee-safety-130404?news=849634

[LiberalEsto]

1. The VA is a disaster

I know someone who works for the VA as an outside contractor. She says the VA managers sit around talking for hours, doing nothing. Ditto the workers. They come in late, leave early, and basically warm their seats.