Dr. Ruiz Introduces Legislation to Help VA Address Claims Backlog

Washington, DC – Dr. Raul Ruiz (D-Palm Desert) today introduced legislation to help identify and eliminate red tape in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) claims process. The bill is part of a legislative package introduced by members of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs to help the VA address the growing benefit claims backlog.

“We must take aggressive steps to eliminate the unacceptably large backlog so our veterans can access the benefits they have earned and deserve for their service to our nation,” said Dr. Ruiz. “By identifying bureaucratic logjams in the VA system, my bill will reduce red tape in the claims process and help the VA accomplish its goal of eliminating the backlog by 2015.”

Veterans’ claims are often delayed because the VA is waiting for other federal agencies to provide information necessary to process benefits claims. Dr. Ruiz’s bill will require the VA to provide quarterly updates to Congress regarding the timeliness of other federal agencies in fulfilling their information requests.

By having clearer and more definitive data on the number of requests made by VA to other agencies and the average response time of these agencies, the VA and Congress can better work to identify bottlenecks in the system and improve the timeliness of the benefit claims process.

Dr. Ruiz is a member of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs. He is also a member of the Congressional Veterans Jobs Caucus.

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