(Army Times) Editorial: Speak strongly to fix VA

[unhappycamper]

Speak strongly to fix VA

The stubborn backlog of 400,000 benefits claims at the Department of Veterans Affairs has never made sense. It takes an average of 188 days to process a claim, yet VA leaders somehow accept that as normal.

It’s not.

Speaking at his confirmation hearing last week, retired Army Gen. Eric Shinseki, former Army chief of staff and nominee for VA secretary, doesn’t buy it, either. “I don’t understand why six months is what we live with,” he said.

If only that were VA’s sole problem. The claims backlog is just the tip of the iceberg for an agency widely seen by those it is supposed to serve as utterly indifferent.

Records are lost or destroyed. Facilities are falling apart. Suffering veterans in need of critical psychological care are turned away.


Rest of article at: http://armytimes.com/community/opinion/army_editorial_v...