veterans benefits administration advisory committee for women veterans october 28, 2009
DESCRIPTION
Veterans Benefits Administration 3 VBA Key Initiatives Disability Evaluation System Pilot Single Disability Examination based upon VA Examination templates and worksheets Single Disability Rating by VA that is binding upon both Departments Expeditious payment of VA benefits after a Service member is separated from Service Pre-discharge Benefits Delivery at Discharge (BDD) –Between days of separation from active duty –Submit disability compensation claim with service treatment records Quick-start –Less than 60 days remaining on active duty –Submit disability compensation claimTRANSCRIPT
Veterans Benefits Administration
Advisory Committee for Advisory Committee for Women VeteransWomen VeteransOctober 28, 2009October 28, 2009
22Veterans Benefits AdministrationVeterans Benefits Administration
Women Veterans Outreach Women Veterans Outreach CoordinatorsCoordinators
VBA FY 2009 Women Veterans Accomplishments Women Veterans Coordinators Conference held
August 17 - 21 in St. Paul. Conference trained on the following:– Women Health Issues– Military Sexual Trauma– Challenges for Women Guard/Reserve
members– Updates within rating schedule
Special review for increased compensation for Women Veterans regarding changes within special monthly compensation rates
33Veterans Benefits AdministrationVeterans Benefits Administration
VBA Key Initiatives VBA Key Initiatives
Disability Evaluation System Pilot Single Disability Examination based upon VA
Examination templates and worksheets Single Disability Rating by VA that is binding upon
both Departments Expeditious payment of VA benefits after a Service
member is separated from ServicePre-discharge
Benefits Delivery at Discharge (BDD)– Between 60-180 days of separation from active duty– Submit disability compensation claim with service
treatment records Quick-start
– Less than 60 days remaining on active duty– Submit disability compensation claim
44Veterans Benefits AdministrationVeterans Benefits Administration
VBA Key InitiativesVBA Key Initiatives
E-Benefits One stop shop for personalized VA/DoD
benefits and services Uniform transparent navigational
framework for this web-portal Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record
Features: Role-based access including Service member/Veteran
Scope: Life long personnel, benefits, and health information
Approach: Phased, using industry best practices, including common services/joint applications
55Veterans Benefits AdministrationVeterans Benefits Administration
VBAVBABy the Numbers - FY 2009 (estimates)By the Numbers - FY 2009 (estimates)
Compensation – 3.07 million Veterans in receipt– 243,484 Women Veterans in receipt– $34.1 billion paid
Pension– 513,000 Veterans in receipt– 11,163 Women Veterans in receipt– $3.8 billion paid
Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment– 106,800 received assistance– 21,000 Women Veterans participated– $723 million paid
66Veterans Benefits AdministrationVeterans Benefits Administration
VBAVBABy the Numbers - FY 2009 (estimate)By the Numbers - FY 2009 (estimate)
Education– 564,487 Veterans, Reservists and Family
Members received services– 3.6 Billion in payments
Loan Guaranty – 326,000 Loans – 37,289 Women Veterans with 2.7 billion in
loans – $68 Billion in loans
Insurance– 1.3 Trillion Amount of Coverage – 7.1 Million individuals insured– 2.9 Billion disbursed
77Veterans Benefits AdministrationVeterans Benefits Administration
Post 9/11 GI Bill UpdatePost 9/11 GI Bill Update
Applications – Over 287,000 received– Over 224,000 processed
Enrollment Certifications – Over 68,000 received – Over 55,500 processed
Pending– Approximately 63,000 applications– Approximately 12,500 enrollment
88Veterans Benefits AdministrationVeterans Benefits Administration
Post 9/11 GI Bill UpdatePost 9/11 GI Bill Update
As of October 22, 2009, VA made approximately 303,392 payments totaling nearly $355.7 million
Running total of advanced checks issued from October 2-23, 2009– Issued a total of 28,600 checks from VARO’s– Issued a total of 31,766 checks via
Advanced Education Payment Website– Issued a total of 60,399 checks to Veterans
99Veterans Benefits AdministrationVeterans Benefits Administration
Disability Compensation - Disability Compensation - HighlightsHighlights
Veterans on Disability Compensation Rolls (Millions)
2.32 2.4 2.49 2.56 2.64 2.842.73 3
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
1010Veterans Benefits AdministrationVeterans Benefits Administration
Disability Compensation - Disability Compensation - HighlightsHighlights
Type of Claim by # of Disabilities
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
8 or more claimed disabilities 22,776 26,678 31,058 36,401 43,655 51,260 58,532 61,598
7 or fewer claimed disabilities 115,223 132,400 136,047 158,305 166,849 166,083 166,641 169,715
Percent of claims with 8 or more issues
17% 17% 19% 19% 21% 24% 26% 27%
Analysis of the pending workload of June 30, 2009 finds the average years from date of discharge to date of claim for initial compensation claim is 22 years
Although VBA continues to see claims for common conditions, the number of Veterans that file initial claims for eight or more disabilities has increased
1111Veterans Benefits AdministrationVeterans Benefits Administration
VBA C&P ClaimsVBA C&P Claims
200000300000400000500000600000700000800000900000
10000001100000
FY 20
03
FY 20
04
FY 20
05
FY 20
06
FY 20
07
FY 20
08
FY 20
09
CompletedReceived
1212Veterans Benefits AdministrationVeterans Benefits Administration
Factors in Growth of ClaimsFactors in Growth of Claims
Improved and expanded outreach Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom Aging of Veteran population Diabetes presumptive for Vietnam veterans More veterans on rolls results in more reopened
disability claims Eligibility for VA healthcare (category 8) Benefits Delivery at Discharge (BDD) Combat Related Special Compensation (CRSC) and
Concurrent Disability Retired Pay (CDRP)