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Lawmaker: Teach more vets about benefits

A key Republican has introduced two ideas into the debate about improving the processing of veterans benefits claims.

Rep. Doug Lamborn of Colorado, senior Republican on the House Veterans’ Affairs disability assistance subcommittee, introduced the ideas in two bills Tuesday, the same day that the subcommittee heard testimony about other legislation aimed at cutting the backlog of veterans’ claims, currently estimated to number about 600,000 cases.

One Lamborn bill, HR 1863, involves a two-year pilot project that would send a mobile processing unit into communities to help veterans and survivors learn about benefits and how to file claims.

His second bill, HR 1984, would create an automated system that would approve or disapprove the simpler disability claims that do not require extensive study or detailed examination of personnel and medical records. The bill calls for a four-year test involving two regional offices.

Lamborn said he supported other bills, particularly those that would expand outreach efforts to help veterans and survivors learn about what benefits are available and how to qualify, but he has concerns about some generous initiatives that would provide automatic coverage for any claim, without checking to first see if a veteran is really eligible. Lamborn called this “frustration legislation” that would not be necessary if other remedies could be found.

F. Douglas LeValley of the National Association of County Veterans Services Officers, who testified before the subcommittee Tuesday, said getting word out to veterans will take a bigger effort than is now underway.

“Nearly 2 million poor veterans or their impoverished widows are likely missing out on as much as $22 billion a year in pensions from the U.S. government,” LeValley said.

“Widows are the hardest hit,” he said, noting that only 27 percent of veterans and 14 percent of widows who are eligible for VA pensions, paid to low-income people, are actually receiving payments.

Lamborn’s two new bills join a pile of at least four others that will be considered by the House committee later this year.