Veterans Benefits Administration claim processors have completed more than 650,000 claims as of Jan. 14 – 34% higher than at the same point in Fiscal Year 2023.
“We cannot and we will not lose sight of the fact that behind each of these claims is an individual veteran, a family member or a survivor, not a number,” VA Under Secretary for Benefits Joshua Jacobs told reporters on Jan. 17. “We’re very mindful that the Veterans Benefits Administration is the first VA touch point for many veterans, which is why we’re also working to build an integrated customer experience for veterans and their families.”
Jacobs noted that prior to FY 23, VA had only six days when it processed more than 8,000 claims in a day.
“Then in FY23, VA processed more than 8,000 veteran claims in a day 108 different times, including three days where we processed more than 9,000 claims in a day,” he said.
Jacobs said that in the first 3.5 months of FY24, VA has already had 64 days where it has processed more than 8,000 claims in a day.
“Thirty-seven of those days we processed more than 9,000 claims and five days we did more than 10,000,” he said.
Jacobs said an uptick in hiring can be credited with the increase in claims processing.
“We had a massive hiring effort last year that involved both our human resources functions and also our leadership teams across the country,” he said.
However, as of Jan. 13, VA reported an inventory of 1,036,531 claims, with 406,568 pending for more than 125 days. VA officials say claims related to the passage of the PACT Act in 2022 and the COVID pandemic are largely responsible for the backlog.
Jacobs told reporters that he anticipates the backlog to steady over the next few months.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.