Audit of VA Regional Office Rating Claims Processing Exceeding 365 Days

摘要

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted an audit to identify opportunities for Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regional offices (VAROs) to improve rating claims processing timeliness and minimize the number of rating claims with processing times exceeding 365 days. The largest Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) program is Compensation & Pension (C&P). The compensation element, the subject of this audit, provides monetary benefits for service-connected diseases and disabilities. During fiscal year (FY) 2008, approximately 3.2 million claimants received compensation benefits totaling about $36 billion. Monthly compensation for claimants without dependents ranged from $117 to $2,527, depending on disability severity. VBA processes compensation claims for beneficiaries at 57 VAROs. Compensation claims include the two distinct categories of rating and non-rating claims. Rating claims are claims that require a rating decision based on consideration of evidence, such as medical or military personnel records, in order to be processed. Rating claims include original claims and reopened claims. Reopened claims are claims that VAROs previously denied for which claimants have provided new and material evidence. Non-rating claims include other types of claims, such as dependency changes, which VAROs can process without a rating decision.