Chairman Hall, Ranking Member Lamborn, and members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to provide AMVETS’ views regarding the Benefits Delivery at Discharge and Quick Start Programs.

The Benefits Delivery at Discharge (BDD) program was established to allow service members to begin their disability claims process prior to discharge. Another benefit to this program is the service member will receive a single physical that will satisfy both the requirements for DoD separation as well as VA disability claims assessment. By doing this, service members who are less than 180 day but more than 60 days away from separating from active military service can initiate a VA disability claim. This will allow for a more seamless transition for the service member who may begin receiving disability compensation within one to three months after discharge as apposed to six to seven months if they file their claim in the tradition manner.

Despite the fact that tens of thousands of service members have used the BDD program at more than 150 locations, there are issues that must be addressed to improve the program not only for the veterans who utilize it, but also for DoD and VA. If there continue to be impediments and inconsistencies for the departments that facilitate the program, the real value of the program will be lost.

The concept of a single separation physical seems simple enough. However, the physicals can be facilitated by either DoD, VA, a contractor, or a combination of the three. The national agreement between VA and DoD set guidelines for local Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) that will determine who will be responsible for the physical. However, there have been some challenges at the local level in communicating and following the content of the local MOU. The “Veterans’ Disability Benefits” GAO report (GAO-08-901) found that more than half of all BDD intake sites visited had challenges in administering a single, comprehensive exam. Often it was a lack of communication that failed to reach DoD personnel at the lowest level, therefore, duplicate exams continued to take place. Often, local leadership of commands did not understand the program and therefore they ignored the MOU and continued to administer two physicals.

Resource changes were also identified as a challenge for local BDD facilities. In some locations DoD is responsible for conducting the exam, but current physicians were not qualified to conduct exams that would meet both DoD and VA requirements. At other locations, when DoD is required by the local MOU to conduct the exam, no provisions were put in place to accommodate the increase in time and resources it would take to conduct the exams. These and other issues make it difficult for bases offering BDD to meet timeframes set by the program. These MOUs must be disseminated to and understood by all personnel who are affected by the MOU to ensure proper implementation. Also, if there are implementation issues the MOU must be revised to better meet the needs of BDD sites

Because VA does not control or enforce the local BDD sites, AMVETS believes VA cannot be expected to account BDD development time in their timeliness of claims processing. However, AMVETS believes it is important to track the BDD process from intake so efficiencies can be indentified and best practices can be developed. A plan should be put into place that will allow VA to track the development process of BDD claims and conduct periodic reviews so efficiency can be determined.

Informing service members of this program continues to be difficult. Again, local commands’ understanding and support for the program greatly affects participation. If the military command does not see the value in the program, they will not be as likely to disseminate the information to the troops. VA and DoD must make a concerted effort to educate base command structures so there will be buy-in of the program. This is the first step to delivering the information to troops.

The Transition Assistance Program (TAP) should be an excellent way to communicate the BDD program to transitioning service members as well. However, only the Marine Corps mandates that TAP participants attend the VA presentation. Since this portion is mandatory, service members have the perception that it is unimportant, leading to low participation. The VA benefits portion of TAP should be mandatory.

AMVETS also believes each Regional Office (RO) should have the authority to rate BDD claims. We understand that as a pilot program, it was practical to have only two offices rate these claims, but now with more than 150 intake locations allowing the ROs to rate claims should increase the timeliness of adjudication.

AMVETS is also concerned that BDD enrollees must fill out VA Form 21-526c, the Pre-Discharge Compensation Claim, while veterans who file a traditional claim must fill out VA Form 21-526. There are stark differences in the two forms. The two most notable differences are the length of the form and the depth of the questions asked. The BDD forms are four pages shorter and lack the instructions that are present in the traditional VA compensation and pension form. Also, the respondent’s burden of time for filling out the BDD forms is half that of the traditional form. This is due in part to the degree of explanation that is required. For example, each form asks the veteran to state what disabilities they are claiming. The BBD form provides a small block with four “notebook” style lines for the veteran to state their claim, but in the traditional form the veteran is provided with an entire page asking for specific details pertaining to each of the veterans’ claims. A study must be conducted to determine if providing service members with a reduced form has any adverse affects on the development and the final rating of these claims.

Mr. Chairman, thank you again for providing AMVETS the opportunity to present our views on BDD and Quick Start. This concludes my testimony and I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.