Veterans' Benefits: VBA's Efforts to Implement the Veterans Claims Assistance Act Need Further Monitoring

United States. General Accounting Office.

United States. General Accounting Office.

关键词: Government accountability -- United States.;    veterans;    justice and law enforcement;    veterans';    benefits;   

RP-ID  :  GAO-02-412
RP-ID  :  234877

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Veterans Claims Assistance Act of 2000 was passed in response to concerns expressed by veterans, veterans service organizations, and Congress over a 1999 decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims that held that the VA did not have a duty to assist veterans in developing their claims unless they were "well-grounded." The Veterans' Benefits Administration (VBA) has taken a number of steps, including issuing guidance, revising and supplementing this guidance based on questions raised by regional offices, and reinforcing the guidance based on the results of its accuracy reviews. Despite these efforts, VBA has found problems with consistent regional office compliance with the law. While taking steps to implement the act, VBA is also focusing on significantly increasing production and reducing the claims inventory to manage the slowdown in case processing. In fiscal year 2002, VBA plans to complete 839,000 claims to reduce its inventory to 316,000 claims."