VA Testifies to Congress – Process Improvements Lead to Better Outcomes

Aniela Szymanski, Chief Policy Officer

VA officials testified before Congress April 9, 2025, about VA efforts to improve the quality and accuracy of VA disability claim decisions. When the PACT Act was passed, VA saw a flood of disability claims and backlogs soared. After an Inspector General Report found VA had an unusually high error rate related to PACT Act claims, the IG blamed those on processing errors. As a result, VA undertook a system-wide effort to improve its processing of disability claims.

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One area that has notoriously frustrated veteran advocates is the compensation and pension examination that goes along with disability claims. After submitting a claim, very frequently VA will need to gather more medical evidence to determine whether the veteran has a current condition and what the level of symptoms are. Many times, veterans have had to go back and forth several times because the exams are not properly performed, did not answer the questions VA posed to the examiner, and sometimes were entirely unnecessary. This has made veterans feel as if VA is purposefully putting them through a gauntlet of bureaucracy to discourage them from continuing their claim.

In a refreshing approach, VA testified it “has made procedural changes to clarify and emphasize that examinations are not required when there is sufficient evidence of record to decide the claim. VA regulations direct decision makers to render a decision without the need of further examination or development, if the medical evidence of record is sufficient. This includes accepting private DBQs [(disability benefits questionnaires)] when sufficient, which avoids scheduling unnecessary exams.”

VA described other system improvements it has made to make claims quicker and more accurate. One was modifying the system VA decision makers use to track and input claims decision – similar to a customer management system. VA made it easier for its employees to clearly see what additional evidence, if any, may be needed to decide the claim and quickly surmise the status, making decisions faster.

The federal workers union, AFGE, testified that additional process improvements could be made that would help federal workers in managing their workload. For example, AFGE testified that some workers have too few claims to work on and struggle to meet their performance goals as a result. AFGE recommended keeping claims within one regional office from start to finish instead of putting a claim back in a National Work Queue and letting it go through several regional offices before it finally gets decided.

As every servicemember will one day become a veteran, CWOAUSCG continues to ensure that our members are taken care of both during service, and after. Send your comments or thoughts to [email protected].