Good Afternoon.

Would everyone please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance? Flags are located at the front and back of the room.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are here today to examine the Benefits Delivery at Discharge (BDD) and Quick Start programs, two components of the Pre-discharge program established by the Departments of Defense (DOD) and Veterans Affairs (VA) to streamline servicemembers’ transition from active duty to veterans’ status. 

By way of background, any member of the Armed Forces who has seen active duty—including those in the National Guard or Reserves—is eligible to apply for VA disability benefits prior to leaving military service through the BDD program or Quick Start pre-discharge program. During the application process, servicemembers can get help in completing forms and preparing other required documentation from VA personnel located at their bases. Additionally, this pre-discharge program combines the health exam required by the DOD upon exiting the military and the VA disabilities assessment exam into a single exam.  

Once a BDD or Quick Start claim is approved, veterans may begin receiving benefits within two to three months, instead of the six to seven months it would typically take if they had applied after discharge under the traditional disability claims process. 

Participation in the BDD program is open to servicemembers who are within 60 to 180 days of being released from active duty and who are able to complete their scheduled VA medical examinations prior to leaving their points of separation. The Quick Start program is available to servicemembers within 1 to 59 days of separation from service or servicemembers who do not meet the BDD criteria requiring availability for all examinations prior to discharge.

The BDD program started as a pilot program in 1995 at three Army bases and three VA regional offices.  In 1998, VA and DOD fully rolled out the BDD program. 

Last Congress, my friend Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) introduced H.R.2259, legislation to expand the BDD program to members of the National Guard and Reserves which was incorporated in the National Defense Authorization Act for 2008 (P.L. 110-181).   This statute ensures that Guardsmen as well as Reservists can participate in the VA/DOD pre-discharge program.

In the past 15 years, over 170,000 servicemembers have availed themselves to BDD and QuickStart processing.  The programs have expanded from 3 military bases to more than 153 locations in the United States, Germany, and South Korea. 

According to VA, the majority of pre-discharge claims, 46,856 processed in 2009, were processed in a paperless environment, with an average processing time of 95.5 days.  It is VA’s stated goal to be processing all compensation and pension claims in a “paperless” environment. The Subcommittee is committed to helping VA achieve this goal.

I, along with Congressman Rodriquez, and other Members of this Committee and Congress, requested that GAO prepare a report to assess the effectiveness of the BDD and Quick Start initiatives.  I look forward to hearing from the GAO about its report, how its recommendations have been implemented, and what, if any impact they have had on the pre-discharge program.

We also look forward to feedback from veteran service organizations as well as from VA and DOD on what if any resources are needed to fully realize the potential of these two tools. 

The examination of VA and DOD’s pre-discharge program follows up our last hearing concerning the implementation of the Veterans’ Benefits Improvement Act of 2008, which was codified in P.L. 110-389.  P.L. 110-389 paved the way for a number of initiatives also targeting the VA claims backlog issue.  It is my hope that the BDD and Quick Start programs we examine today, coupled with the electronic claims system and other business reformation efforts in P.L. 110-389 currently underway at VA will together help significantly transform today’s VA claims processing system so that we may soon play “Taps” for the VA comp & pen backlog. 

I now recognize Ranking Member Lamborn for his Opening Statement.