Allison Hickey, under secretary for benefits, Veterans Benefits Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, testifies to the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs hearing to review the Veterans Benefits Administrations progress in ending its disability compensation claims backlog by 2015 on Capitol Hill in Washington on Monday, July 14, 2014.WASHINGTON – In a rush to cut a huge backlog of claims for disability benefits, the Department of Veterans Affairs is making payments to tens of thousands of veterans without adequate medical evidence that they deserve the benefits, the department’s inspector general’s office said Monday.
Without improvements, the VA could make unsupported payments to veterans totaling about $371 million over the next five years for claims of 100-percent disability alone, said Linda Halliday, an assistant inspector general.
The IG’s office also found widespread problems at VA regional offices in Philadelphia and Baltimore, including mail bins full of disability claims and associated evidence that had not been electronically scanned for three years.
Spot inspections revealed that the VA also made errors in 1 in 4 claims involving traumatic brain injury, Halliday told the House Veterans Affairs Committee at a hearing Monday night.
“Improved financial stewardship at the agency is needed,” Halliday said. “More attention is critical to minimize the financial risk of making inaccurate benefit payments.”