VA benefits claims backlog under 100K for first time since 2020

Article Title: VA benefits claims backlog under 100K for first time since 2020

Article Excerpt: "...Hitting this milestone means the department has now cut the backlog of Veterans waiting for VA benefits by 63% since Jan. 20, 2025, after it increased 24% under the Biden Administration.

A VA claim for compensation or pension is considered backlogged once it has been pending in the claims inventory for more than 125 days. In 2013, 70% of claims were older than 125 days — the most ever — compared to just 17% today.

Reducing the claims backlog is an urgent priority for Secretary Collins, as it was well above 100,000 from 2021 to 2024 and stood at 264,717 on Jan. 20, 2025. ..."

Reference Source: news.va.gov

Veterans Health Administration announces plans to restructure

Article Title: Veterans Health Administration announces plans to restructure

Article Excerpt: "...HAMPTON, Va. — The Veterans Health Administration, the health care branch of the Department of Veterans Affairs, announced Monday that it would reorganize its management structure, potentially impacting the way veterans receive health care across the country. ..."Back in March, when I sounded the alarm about staffing levels at the new VA facility in Chesapeake, VA Secretary Doug Collins called me a liar. While I don’t expect an apology, America’s veterans — who will be forced to wait longer to see fewer doctors because of Collins’ plans to axe 35,000 VA health care workers — deserve one," Kaine said.

Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) also criticized the move, citing the Washington Post's reporting.

"There are reports that the new Chesapeake Battlefield VA outpatient clinic in my congressional district is still woefully understaffed, and the Hampton VA continues to face staffing shortages"...

Reference Source: www.13newsnow.com

Shutdown is ‘holding my veterans hostage,’ VA chief says

Article Title: Shutdown is ‘holding my veterans hostage,’ VA chief says

Article Excerpt: "...Around 30,000 VA employees are currently furloughed as a result of the shutdown, VA Secretary Doug Collins told reporters, which is nearly double the number the department originally planned to send home without immediate pay. That figure will climb higher next week when VA furloughs most of its central office, but still represents less than 10% of its workforce.

Virtually all of the Veterans Health Administration, where most of VA’s employees work, is currently working and getting paid on time using multi-year funds. ..."

Reference Source: www.govexec.com

Secretary Doug Collins outlines a plan for 'streamlining' care at Veterans Affairs

Article Title: Secretary Doug Collins outlines a plan for 'streamlining' care at Veterans Affairs

Article Excerpt: "Collins said. "The biggest difference you're going to see is a streamlining and really a focus on making sure that everything we do in the VA is efficiently serviced toward that veteran process."...The VA has canceled DEI related contracts, canceled nearly 600 "non-mission critical or duplicative contracts," and sought to place probationary employees on leave. ...And right now, frankly, we're not getting that result. So we've got a lot of people — we've got doctors, nurses and others who are not in the clinics, helping patients. We've got a middle layer of bureaucracy that keeps our system slowed down. So we're looking at all of that right now," Collins said. ..."

Reference Source: www.scrippsnews.com

VA unveils next 13 sites for electronic health record rollout

Article Title: VA unveils next 13 sites for electronic health record rollout

Article Excerpt: "...The sites were chosen after VA Secretary Doug Collins earlier this month announced plans to accelerate deployment of the Oracle Millennium system, currently in operation at six of VA’s 170-plus medical locations. Regional and local leaders, as well as officials from Oracle, helped select the next deployment targets.

In a statement Monday, Collins said the faster rollout will give veterans “a modern medical record system that will result in improvements to care, coordination and convenience.”..."

Reference Source: www.federaltimes.com