The backlog of Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs applications, a major VA program that provides health care coverage to over 900,000 qualifying veteran spouses, dependents, survivors, and caregivers, has been completely eliminated, the department claims.
According to a VA release, a backlog of more than 70,000 CHAMPVA applications in January, with some applicants waiting in some cases over 150 days for VA to take action, has been cleared.
“Veterans around the country knew it was taking far too long to process CHAMPVA applications, and that meant delayed coverage for their loved ones,” said VA Secretary Doug Collins, in a statement. “We listened, and now the application backlog that caused so many unnecessary delays has been wiped out.”
As of October, the application backlog has been reduced to zero, with new applications now being processed in a handful of days, the release states. VA currently receives about 4,000 new applications per week and can process more than it receives.
The release credits the backlog elimination to VA providing CHAMPVA application processors with overtime pay and the implementation of process engineering and automation to sustain the gains going forward.
The two-pronged approach substantially reduced the number of appeals waiting for processing, according to VA. Under the Biden administration, there was a backlog of more than 20,000 CHAMPVA appeals. That number has been reduced to 1,000 and continues to rapidly decrease by the day.
VA said, in the long term, automation will lead to faster processing times. In December, VA will complete its move to a more automated application processing system that increases the efficiency of processing CHAMPVA applications.
More than 90 percent of medical services and pharmacy claims are electronically processed within days of receipt for more timely payment, according to the VA.
The release also noted that VA has opened 20 new health care clinics across the nation since President Donald Trump was inaugurated on Jan. 20 and that health care wait times are improving.
The backlog of veterans waiting for VA benefits has also decreased by 57 percent under the second Trump administration and an additional $800 million is now being spent on infrastructure improvements at its facilities.
The president’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget request would also add billions to VA’s budget, the release noted.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.