From the New York Times:

Forty years after Agent Orange was last used in Vietnam, the federal government has plans to make it easier for former veterans to get disability payments and health care for illnesses they say were caused by exposure to the toxic defoliant.

The shift underscores efforts by the secretary of veterans affairs, Eric Shinseki, a retired Army chief of staff and a Vietnam veteran himself, to reduce obstacles to sick or disabled veterans’ receiving benefits. The department has come under sharp criticism from Congress and veterans groups for long delays in processing disability claims.

“Since my confirmation as secretary, I’ve often asked why, 40 years after Agent Orange was last used in Vietnam, we’re still trying to determine the health consequences to our veterans who served in the combat theater,” Mr. Shinseki said in a statement. “Veterans who endure a host of health problems deserve timely decisions.”

It’s estimated that the policy change could prompt claims from 200,000 veterans.

From the Houston Chronicle:

World War II veterans face a special urgency as the nation’s oldest generation of veterans are added to a growing backlog of disability claims at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Even as the numbers of aging veterans dwindle daily, the VA adds their claims to a waiting list that can take months or years to process.

Family members say the problem is particularly vexing because aging veterans are not Internet savvy and can easily be confused by VA’s complex forms.

One 91-year-old man was told by the VA Call Center that his wait on an appeal could last seven months to 30 years.

(Houston Chronicle photo)

From the AP/San Francisco Examiner:

An audit by the Veterans Affairs Department’s inspector general has concluded that too many veterans are waiting more than a year to get their disability claims processed.

The audit found that 11,000 veterans had been waiting more than a year as of one year ago, and that about $14 million of $43 million in retroactive payments had been unnecessarily delayed because of inadequate claims processing.

The report said the VA has hired more claims processors, but delays still create significant burdens for veterans.

From the New York Times:

A growing backlog of disability claims is leaving veterans waiting months or longer for their government benefits. Damian J. Todd (left), 33, who was diagnosed with post-traumatic distress disorder after serving two tours in Iraq, waited nearly 18 months to receive approval after filing a claim.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) acknowledges that it has a major problem, with a backlog of unprocessed disability claims that is now over 400,000, up from 253,000 six years ago. Veterans advocates say the actual backlog is closer to one million.

“There are some positive signs in terms of what we’re doing,” said Michael Walcoff, deputy under secretary for benefits in the Veterans Benefits Administration. “But we know that veterans deserve better.”

Earlier posts here.

(New York Times photo by Sara Krulwich)

From the Washington Post:

Veterans group are urging Congress to overhaul Department of Veterans Affairs procedures for handling cases as the backlog of unresolved disability claims nears the one million mark.

The American Legion and the National Veteran’s Foundation are both criticizing the VA for delaying veterans’ benefits, but the VA argues that the 1 million figure is misleading and that it is incorrect to refer to it as backlog.

Critics accuse the VA of resorting to semantics. “It seems like they’re looking at ways to minimize the significance of it,” said Steve Smithson, deputy director of veterans affairs and rehabilitation at the American Legion.

“At the end of the day, these are still individual veterans waiting for benefits they were promised,” said Meaghan Smith, a spokeswoman for [House Veterans' Affairs subcommittee Rep. John Hall (D-N.Y.)]. “If you asked the veteran waiting, he or she would call it a backlog.”

From the Associated Press:

The Veteran’s Affairs Department backlog of unprocessed claims will soon reach the one million mark. Wounded veterans say they face stress, unemployment and mounting debt as they wait to receive their government benefits.

Veterans are waiting more than four months on average to have their claims reviewed; appeals take a year and a half.

Former U.S. senator and disability advocate Max Cleland reemerged on the national political scene when he escorted President Obama to a D-Day celebration on the cliffs of Normandy this month, says Jim Galloway in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

A Vietnam veteran and triple amputee, Cleland headed the Department of Veterans Affairs in the Carter administration and has now received final White House approval as secretary of the American Battle Monuments Commission. Cleland has been largely absent from politics since he lost a bid for re-election to the Senate from Georgia in 2002.

(Photo from USA Today)