The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) attempted to design and build a new system in hopes of helping veterans and their families receive their disability compensation faster than under the currently existing system. Unfortunately for everyone involved, the efficiency goals set for the system were not met.
The result was a further delay in delivering benefits to veterans. For some, those delays lasted more than a year. That delay forced some veterans to reject job offers or put off enrolling in college because they have no set date for discharge from the military.
The Integrated Disability Evaluation System (IDES) was launched in 2007 as a pilot program. Since then, it has been implemented in about 80 military installations, and should reach about 140 this fall. The system consolidates all required medical exams and their results. This prevents soldiers from undergoing the disability claims process in the military as well as the VA.
The current goal for the system is to process claims within 9 months. According to the processing times in March, that goal was not met with any great accuracy. For active duty soldiers, that goal was only met 15% of the time; 28% of the time for Reservists; and 40% of the time for National Guard members.
Claims continue to spend too much time idle in the VA’s claims system, which results in soldiers being overlooked. The IDES system needs to be improved before any further expansion is added to the already problematic system.
If you are a disabled veteran who has been denied disability compensation or have not yet applied for benefits from the VA, a South Florida disability attorney from LaVan & Neidenberg is ready to help. To learn if you are entitled to certain programs and benefits contact our veterans disability rights firm today – 1-888-234-5758.
