Lamborn Fights for Disabled Vets
Congressman Lamborn crafts bill to streamline claims process
Congressman Doug Lamborn (CO-05) led the fight in Washington to pass landmark legislation to help disabled veterans. Today the House of Representatives passed a bipartisan bill to vastly improve the benefits claims process for disabled veterans. Since 2001, the number of claims for new or increased benefits has risen sharply, topping 800,000 last year. The Department of Veterans Affairs predicts the number of claims will surpass one million by the end of this year.
To address the growing problem, Congressman Lamborn, the ranking member of the Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee of the Veterans Affairs Committee, reached across the aisle and crafted legislation with his Democrat colleague, John Hall (NY-19). Their partnership resulted in sweeping legislation for disabled veterans.
H.R. 5892, the Veterans Disability Benefits Claims Modernization Act of 2008, will streamline the claims process for disabled veterans across the country, including Colorado .
“The Fifth Congressional District is home to many of our nation’s war heroes, some of them disabled from injuries they sustained while serving our country. Currently, the number of pending disability compensation claims stands at nearly 650,000, about a quarter of which have been backlogged for over six months. That is unacceptable. We can, and must do better. This bill will modernize the claims processing system to make it a first-class, veteran-centered system that uses 21st century technologies to more accurately reflect the dignity and sacrifices made by disabled veterans, their families and their survivors.” – Congressman Lamborn (CO-05)
Highlights of H.R.5892
Key provisions in the bill came from legislation originally introduced by Congressman Lamborn:
> allows a family member of veteran who has passed away to continue the original claim instead of forcing the dependent to start the claims process over
> requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to conduct a study on adjusting the schedule for rating veterans' disabilities
> creates the Advisory Committee on Disability Compensation
> requires a study on the employee work credit system of the VA's Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA)
> requires a study on the VBA's work management system;
> requires the certification and training of VBA employees responsible for processing claims
> requires an annual independent assessment of the VBA's quality assurance program
> provides for the expedited VBA treatment of fully developed claims and a checklist for individuals submitting incomplete claims;
> requires a review and revision of VBA use of information technology
Finally, the bill strengthens Congressional oversight of the Veteran’s claims process by requiring the Chief Judge of the U.S.Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims to report annually to the congressional veterans' committees on the Court's workload. It also revises provisions concerning the jurisdiction and finality of decisions of the Court.
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