FOR RELEASE: October 12, 2001

Evans Introduces Legislation to Relieve VA Backlog

and Save Money

“’Cost-saving’ OBRA Provision Costing VA Time and Money”

Washington, DC — Congressman Lane Evans of Illinois, the Ranking Democratic Member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee has introduced H.R. 3087 to recognize the military service of our Nation’s wartime veterans by providing low-income veterans with pension benefits at age 65 without regard to a finding of total and permanent disability.  The bill would reinstate a provision of Public Law 90-77, which was repealed in 1990.  Evans was joined in introducing the bill by Congressman Silvestre Reyes, (D-TX) the Ranking Democratic Member on the Subcommittee on Benefits and Congresswoman Corrine Brown (D-FL) a member of the Benefits Subcommittee.

When the disability requirement for older veterans was reinstated in 1990, the Congressional Budget Office optimistically predicted that the measure would generate savings of $17 million in 1991, and total savings of $313 million over the five-year period.  Instead of savings, the measure has resulted in costs.  Evans said it is “very rare for VA to find that an elderly low-income wartime veteran seeking pension is not permanently and totally disabled.”  Rather than saving money, VA estimates that it is spending more money to provide medical examinations to these pension applicants than would be paid out if benefits were granted at age 65 without regard to disability.  Evans notes, “the current policy is penny-wise and pound-foolish.”

VBA has a backlog of over a half million claims awaiting decisions by VA regional offices.  Requiring the VA to provide a medical examination and make a disability determination on claims, which are almost certain to result in a finding of disability, is exacerbating the backlog with no financial gain to the government.  Congressman Reyes said that given the large backlog of pending claims, “requiring veterans and VA employees to jump through meaningless hoops is a waste of time and money.”  The Evans-Reyes-Brown bill would reduce the cost and workload of providing expensive disability examinations and time-consuming rating decisions for low-income veterans who are almost always found to be disabled.

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