10/27/09 05:07 pm ET
Last week I reported that the Veterans Affairs Department didn't include education claims data in an online report, called the Monday Morning Workload Report, which details pending claims managed by the Veterans Benefits Administration.
Through the end of September, VBA presented the pending disability, education and even burial claims data in an easy-to-read spreadsheet. But starting on Oct. 5, VBA decided to provide what it called a "more meaningful and transparent look" at this pile of data. But for the past three weeks, the agency has omitted information on education benefit claims.
VA assured me the omission resulted from a technical glitch, and it would be fixed this week. Oct. 26 has come and gone, and VBA had yet to post a Monday Morning Workload Report -- with or without education claims data - as of Tuesday afternoon.
I don't mean to get overly cranky, but the Monday Morning Workload Report is the primary way the public manages to get any insight into how VBA does its job, which is processing claims for veterans who answered the call to service.
It's hard to call the new way to present data a "more meaningful and transparent" way when the data is not present at all.
COMMENTS
..."the root cause of these problems" has been looked at.
The problem is the VA itself. Every president since Lincoln has tried to fix the VA. Nobody holds the VA accountable.
A news item from this weekend is all too typcial - involving a false claim for benefits BY A VA EMPLOYEE
http://www.lvrj.com/news/purple-heart-claim-challenged-67506152.html
Look what all has gone wrong since Gen Shiseki took the job as SECVA. Do you want to bet that we have the same issue (again) this year with "bonuses" for VA employees that don't do their jobs? Obviously, this administration has no intent to reform the VA.
Face it, the VA can't be fixed. Everybody tries and all we ever do is throw good money after bad.
v/r
phil
Phil Lindley 11/03/09 07:27 am ET
Has anyone looked at the root cause of these problems, namely the legislation that forced VA to have to deal with these rediculous time tables to begin with? less than a year to set up infrastructure and administer this monumental benefit was rediculous to begin with. VA was dealt a crummy hand to begin with!
Robert Jones 10/29/09 11:48 am ET
Nice catch, please stay on top of them. I doubt it's a coincidence that these numbers aren't being reported when so much attention is finally being paid to the delays.
Snead 10/28/09 12:34 am ET