Chairman Everett, Ranking Democratic Member Brown, and members of the Subcommittee, the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) is honored to be invited to testify today concerning Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) disability claims processing.

We come together once again today, as we have so often in the past, to discuss the deplorable delays and lack of quality in veterans’ claims processing. We have heard too many excuses over too many years. We have heard that the Veterans Judicial Review Act, and the Court it created, is the problem. We have heard that single-member boards and computerization are the answers. At the end of the day the problem still remains – veterans must wait an inordinate amount of time for a decision on their claims.

We polled our Service Officers, the men and women who are on the front line, and asked them a number of questions so that we could provide this Subcommittee with snapshots of their experiences out in the field.

First, we asked them to list the three most commonly encountered obstacles to a timely and fair adjudication of a benefit claim. They reported that these obstacles are delays in obtaining evidence; improper claims development, and inadequate medical examinations. Other obstacles mentioned were the failure to address all pertinent issues; failure to specify exams needed; and failure to communicate with the claimant.

We asked them to list the three most common areas which present significant opportunities to improve the Veterans Benefits Administration’s benefits delivery system. They answered that better, and more thorough, training of rating personnel was essential; more accountability for decision-making; and fuller cooperation with Veterans Services Organizations.

In addition, we asked them to mention any initiative or pilot program in their Regional Office that, over the course of the last few years, has improved the quality or timeliness of the claims adjudication process. They responded that the institution of the Decision Review Officer (DRO) position; the team case management approach; the Veteran Service Representative (VSR) position; and contract medical examinations have been positive initiatives.

We believe that the institution of DROs was an important and exciting step forward. We note that the VA has proposed a rule regarding review of benefits claims decisions. Although we believe that the DRO program is working well, we have concerns regarding the VA’s proposed rule. Proposed regulation § 3.2600(a) states, in part, that "[r]eview under this section will encompass only decisions with which the claimant has expressed disagreement in the Notice of Disagreement." Yet the proposed § 3.2600(e) takes away this protection of prior decisions by allowing the DRO to review those decisions rather than referring them to Central Office for review. We believe that prior decisions that have become final for failure to appeal should be subsumed in subsequent decisions when those decisions were advantageous to the claimant. PVA will be submitting comments on this proposed rule.

Finally, we asked them if there had been a notable increase in the number of claims being denied due to their not being "well-grounded." In Morton v. West, 12 Vet.App. 477, (1999), currently under appeal, the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims held that the VA was prohibited from providing assistance to any claimant until his or her claim is deemed well grounded. The Court called a well grounded claim a "condition precedent" to receiving assistance under § 5107(a). The Court stated that "[t]he issue, therefore, is whether the Secretary, by regulation, Manual, and/or C & P policy can and has eliminated the condition precedent placed by Congress upon the inception of his duty to assist. The answer: No." Morton, 12 Vet.App. at 481.

Following Morton, the VA acted with stunning celerity to issue a position statement to all VA Regional Offices implementing the holding in Morton. We asked our Service Officers to report to us the number of claims that have been denied, since January 1, 2000, on the basis of them not being well-grounded. Their answers surprised us – over a quarter of the claims, roughly 26 percent, were denied because they were deemed to be not well-grounded. Only a few short weeks ago we testified before another Subcommittee of the House Committee on Veteran’s Affairs regarding the urgent need to enact legislation correcting the Court’s erroneous interpretation of clear congressional intent mandating that the VA provide assistance to all claimants.

PVA believes that if a claim is fully developed before it is adjudicated, the quality of the decision will be improved and the length of time a claim spends in the system will ultimately be lowered. It is better, and more efficient, to do a task once rather than over and over again.

PVA believes that there must be greater accountability for decisions made. There are currently no adverse consequences to adjudicators with abnormally high remand rates. There is a strong tendency to make decisions, get credit for those decisions, without regard to whether or not the decisions made were correct. Individual responsibility, and accountability are key if we are to decrease the backlog and provide better quality.

Some may argue that the way to decrease the backlog is to place more obstacles in the path of veterans seeking benefits, or to make the system more formalized and rule-bound. We do not believe that this is the case. The answer to inordinate claims processing delays is certainly not to make benefits more difficult to get, or make the process more arduous and onerous. The answer is not to narrow the path and raise the gate.

We believe that the VA must never lose sight, when percentages and numbers are being tossed about, that behind these numbers and percentages are real people with real problems seeking benefits they have earned in service to this Nation. The delays faced by veterans are unacceptable. We can do better. We must do better.

Mr. Chairman, again, thank you for the opportunity to address the VA’s disability claims processing system. I will be happy to respond to any questions.