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Cornyn Presses President Obama On Backlogged VA Claims

United States Congress

Texas currently leads the nation the number of backlogged Veteran Affairs disability claims and Sen. John Cornyn heard firsthand from Veterans about the problems they’ve seen related to the backlog when comes to awarding VA benefits.

But according the Texas Veterans Administration’s Tom Palladino, a new system here in Texas is also leading the way for reducing the backlog.

"So as of this month, July, the total number of claims is at 75,000 and the total number of backlogged claims is at 50,000. So we have helped reduce that," Palladino said.

Palladino said one of the ways they’ve reduced the federal caseload was scanning the paper claims into a database. He said the VA has also re-prioritized their efforts in processing those claims.

Cornyn said one of the reasons for the backlog is of how the federal system is still set up.

"It’s almost a perfect storm of downsizing the United States Military following 12 years of war in Afghanistan and Iraq, but also the outdated and really almost dinosaur-like status of the processing system, which is based all on paper and is not based on a digital format," Cornyn said.

Following his visit of the Texas VA Administration, Cornyn said he’s impressed with how the state has handled the backlog, but also providing Veterans some direction on how to acquire various services through the State’s Virtual VFW Post. 

Cornyn said he’s urging President Obama to modernize the VA and to implement some of the modern claims processes utilized by the private sector.

Cornyn is asking President Obama to establish a federal partnership with the private insurance market and appoint one person to oversee revamp the VA claims system.

Ryan started his radio career in 2002 working for Austin’s News Radio KLBJ-AM as a show producer for the station's organic gardening shows. This slowly evolved into a role as the morning show producer and later as the group’s executive producer.