COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Leaving Military: Veterans
Judge Warns of Vets Disability Backlog
Associated Press
May 23, 2007
WASHINGTON
- A special federal court that hears veterans' disability appeals is
facing its highest caseload ever as the government increasingly turns
down benefits for war veterans, its chief judge said Tuesday.
Judge William P. Greene Jr., who presides over the U.S. Court of
Appeals for Veterans Claims, warned of a strained court that has had to
recall five retired judges in recent months to assist with growing
backlogs of veterans unhappy with the level of disability benefits
assigned to them by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The seven-judge court is now averaging 300 appeals per month, which
don't include veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan because many
of the cases haven't reached the appeals level yet. If the court is to
keep up, it will need more staff and building space, Greene told a
House Veterans Affairs subcommittee.
"Our present space is or will be inadequate for the type of caseload we
are now experiencing, " he said. "Adequate space is crucial if we are
to make efficient use of recalled judges and any future full-time
active judges."
Greene's comments come as a slew of congressional panels are studying
ways to improve veterans care, including reducing backlogs of veterans
seeking disability benefits. In a study earlier this year, Harvard
professor Linda Bilmes said it took up to 177 days for the VA to
process an initial claim and then an average of 657 days to process an
appeal, resulting in significant hardship to veterans.
In the first half of the current fiscal year, the veterans court was
among the busiest of the federal appeals courts. It saw 2,542 new
appeals filed in six months, the highest ever, compared to 3,729 for
all of the previous fiscal year.
Those numbers continued a sharp increase in appeals filed beginning in
fiscal year 2005 as denial of benefits by the VA's Board of Veterans
Appeals jumped from 9,299 in 2004 to 13,033 in 2005. Last year, total
denials reached 18,107, according to the court.
On Tuesday, Greene said the court is making efforts to reduce delays by
regularly recalling retired judges, and working to implement an
electronic case filing system to reduce paperwork. It also is
considering whether in some clear-cut cases it should make rulings
without attaching an explanation.
But that won't likely be enough, Greene said. He predicted many more
appeals in the coming months and years, citing the complexity of cases
of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with signs of
post-traumatic stress disorder who may be denied benefits if the
symptoms aren't readily clear.
Brian Lawrence, a legislative director for the Disabled American
Veterans group, criticized what he called the court's overly
deferential review of VA decisions on veterans' claims, which he said
added to delays.
Some two-thirds of the VA's initial decisions are typically found to be
in error by the court, but rather than overturning the decision and
ordering payment of benefits, the court usually sends the appeal back
to the VA to take a second look, Lawrence said.
Only in limited cases, after a ruling is deemed final, can a veteran
appeal a ruling of the veterans court to the U.S. Court of Appeals for
the Federal Circuit or the Supreme Court.
"Such a remand leaves unresolved the errors allegedly committed by the
board, reopens the appeal to unnecessary development and further delay
and further overburdens a system straining to meet growing backlogs,"
Lawrence told the House subcommittee.
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