Gov. Perry on Veterans

“Bill White’s offensive belief that military men and women’s right to vote is somehow linked to the location of their children’s education is a terrible insult to the men and women of our armed forces who do not have children and to those whose children accompany them while they are stationed abroad. Bill White’s untenable anti-military position also ignores the rights of military men and women who remain connected to communities through their intention to return home following a deployment serving our nation. Bill White should immediately apologize for his attempt to deny military men and women their full voting rights.”

“For Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison to defend her vote to accelerate the health care debate by invoking our troops is dishonest and an insult to the 33 Republican senators who voted against limiting debate on the defense spending bill. Her vote to end the Republican filibuster was not the final vote on the defense spending bill, and it did not provide one dollar in funding for our troops. Furthermore, less than one hour before she voted with all 60 Democrat senators, Senator Hutchison herself stood on the floor of the United States Senate and said the timing of the vote was being driven by health care legislation. Her attempt to explain her vote to end the Republican filibuster by referencing our troops is disgraceful. The truth is that Senator Hutchison gave up her fight against health care legislation and is using our troops as a political prop to deflect criticism of her vote.”

Gov. Rick Perry said the state will fund a new initiative into 2011 to reduce a statewide backlog of more than 38,000 pending veterans benefits claims.

Perry earlier this month authorized the Texas Veterans Commission, a state veterans’ advocacy agency, to develop a Claims Processing Assistance Team that will help expedite the backlog. The team will include 12 new veterans counselors who will be split between the Veterans Affairs Regional Processing Centers in Waco and Houston.

Speaking to about a dozen local veterans at the Hewitt Veterans of Foreign Wars Post on Monday, Perry said the state is allocating $393,000 that will fund the positions through the end of the 2011 fiscal year.

“Entirely too many of our veterans waiting on a response from the VA hear, ‘Just keep waiting,’ ” Perry said. “Considering the risks they took in fighting for our freedoms, our veterans deserve better.”

Of the claims awaiting processing statewide, about 20,000 are in Houston and about 18,000 are in Waco. About 38 percent have been pending for at least four months, Perry said.

Perry said that the Texas Legislature would decide in the 2011 session whether to continue funding the program.

The new initiative was met favorably by veterans attending the Monday press conference. Randy Vasser, an Army veteran who served in the Vietnam War for 14 months, said he waited four to six months on two different claims with the VA after filing for benefits two years ago.

“I had filed the claims on my own and got frustrated, and some folks recommended that I look into the TVC because they have a lot of experience in helping other veterans,” Vasser said. “Once they got involved it got resolved really quickly. So I’m happy that they’re going to be able to help out more veterans.”

Brig. Gen. Karen S. Rankin, chairwoman of the Texas Veterans Commission, said the commission’s experience and knowledge on the claims process will better assist veterans in providing information on their claims.

She estimated that each veterans counselor can move through 850 to 1,000 claims each year.

“If the veteran does not have an advocate like ours assisting with his claim, it is never going to go through the VA,” Rankin said. “The VA routinely denies a claim on the first submission. And it’s not because they’re mean, but it’s just that the system is so complex and it’s complicated. . . . It takes someone who is well-versed in the nuances of the claims process to know everything you have to have and get it right.”

James Richman, director of claims representation and counseling for the veterans commission, said much of the work will involve identifying claims that are ready to move forward and helping gather evidence for claims in the development phase to prepare them for VA officials to make a final decision.

“We can go through the cases and say to the veteran, ‘This is what the VA is going to need from you to process your claim. How can we get it?’ ” Richman said. “We can act as that liaison to put everything together instead of waiting for the VA to send out a letter a couple of months later about it, and the veteran may or may not be able to respond in a timely manner — eliminating all that lag time that keeps the claims from moving forward.”

Richman said this initiative will also free up the VA to devote more staff and resources toward decision-making to hand down quicker rulings on claims.

State Rep. Charles “Doc” Anderson, R-Waco, attended the press conference and offered praise for the program.

“The main thing is we want to do the right thing by our veterans in getting them access to their benefits, and I applaud Gov. Perry for using this unique opportunity to help our veterans,” Anderson said.

rdennis@wacotrib.com

Gov. Rick Perry today announced his office will fund up to 12 new veterans counselors to expedite benefits claims for veterans.

The Governor’s Office funding will allow the Texas Veterans Commission (TVC) to reduce the number of veterans’ claims pending at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regional offices in Waco and Houston.

“The backlog of claims at the VA is a national crisis, and it is especially bad in Texas. It is unacceptable that veterans have to wait extraordinary amounts of time to receive their federal benefits,” Gov. Perry said. “Just as Washington fails to provide adequate border security and disaster relief for our citizens, the federal government is once again falling short in one of its most important responsibilities, in this case taking care of our Texas military veterans. With our veterans in mind this week, I look forward to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs working with Texas to ensure our veterans can quickly access the help and support that was promised to them.”

The governor has directed TVC to create a new Claims Processing Assistance Team (CPAT) to help address the backlog of more than 39,000 pending disability and health benefit claims in Texas. The Waco regional office has over 18,000 pending claims with 35 percent pending for over four months while the Houston regional office has over 20,000 pending claims with 41 percent pending for over four months. CPAT will draw upon TVC’s expertise in helping veterans manage claims, and will work closely with the VA in all areas of the claims process to reduce the backlog.

“On behalf of my fellow veterans, I would like to express my appreciation to Gov. Perry for enabling the Texas Veterans Commission to establish this special claims processing assistance team for Houston and Waco,” TVC Chair Brigadier General Karen Rankin said. “Nothing is more important than ensuring Texas veterans do not experience delays in receiving much needed medical care and compensation for service connected disabilities.”

Claims backlogs delay decisions on veterans’ disability compensation and medical care, often causing physical and economic hardship for veterans and their families. For every month these claims are pending, TVC estimates a delay of nearly $37 million in payments to Texas veterans.

“While I am troubled that the federal government has not acted on the matter of expediting veterans’ claims, I am delighted that the governor has taken the initiative to assist our veterans in this serious matter,” Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock said. “I believe these funds will certainly improve the unacceptable wait times for our disabled veterans to receive their much needed support.”

TVC has a successful track record in special initiatives with the VA. In 2008, TVC and the VA participated in a pilot project that significantly reduced delays in claims processing, leading the VA Central Office in Washington, D.C. to instruct regional offices nationwide to adopt TVC’s claims processing methods as best practices.

For more information, please visit http://www.tvc.state.tx.us.