New rule would expedite claims appeals for oldest veterans

Older veterans with pending benefit claims appeals could find their files pushed to the top of the stack, under a proposed rule published by the Veterans Affairs Department in the Federal Register last week.

Veterans who find fault with the Veterans Benefits Administration's decisions on disability compensation, pensions and survivors' benefits can appeal the decisions to the Board of Veterans' Appeals. According to VA, appeals are handled on a "first come, first served" basis, a method that may not best serve the oldest veterans.

Under the proposed rule, VA would allow the Board of Veterans' Appeals to push pending appeals for veterans age 75 and older to the top of the docket. VA officials chose to focus on that age bracket because those veterans have shorter life expectancies.

"It represents a segment of the veteran population-18 percent-large enough to provide meaningful relief, but not so large as to dilute the general rule of first come, first served," the agency said in the notice. "This change is necessary to speed the appellate process for the large group of aging veterans."

VBA has long been criticized for its speed in processing claims. Based on recommendations from a special task force, VBA last November created a special "tiger team" to close out claims more than 1 year old. By the end of May, the team had processed more than 10,000 claims, the majority of them for veterans older than 70.

Comments or suggestions on implementing the proposed rule should be sent to ogcregulations@mail.va.gov or

Director
Office of Regulations Management (02D)
Department of Veterans Affairs
810 Vermont Avenue N.W., Room 1154
Washington, D.C. 20420

Any correspondence on the issue should reference "RIN 2900-AL08."