VA takes hits over handling of GI Bill benefits - GI Bill, Tuition Assistance, Veterans Education Benefits, Military College Credit, Military to Civilian Transitions - Navy Times

VA takes hits over handling of GI Bill benefits

Starkly different assessments of how well the Veterans Affairs Department processes GI Bill tuition payments clashed in a Feb. 14 hearing on Capitol Hill.

Roger Baker, VA’s assistant secretary for information and technology, told the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee’s economic opportunity panel that VA has tallied “a remarkable achievement” in shrinking processing delays.

Waits are down to an average of seven days for supplemental claims, which dole out payments to vets whose initial GI Bill requests already have been approved, and 30 days for new claims, he said.

VA’s error rate on claims processing is 1 percent, he added.

Student-veteran advocates sharply disputed that, saying that after spending $263 million to revamp claims processing, VA still takes too long to process claims.

Michael Dakduk, executive director of Student Veterans of America, said feedback from his organization’s members indicate it takes an average of six to eight weeks for claims to be resolved.

Making matters worse, advocates said vets can’t check the status of their education benefits online and have difficulty getting through on VA’s telephone hotline.

Other witnesses described the claims system’s flaws at length.

Kim Hall, vice president of the National Association of Veterans Program Administrators, told the subcommittee that VA’s system requires schools to submit information on only one student at a time.

Schools must not submit more than one update per student per day to avoid errors. And cash-strapped universities must carry the costs of tuition for veteran students if payments are delayed.

“I can still honestly say that I would sacrifice my life to secure the liberties and freedoms we have in America,” Hayleigh Perez, an Army veteran and vice president of Student Veterans Advocacy Group, told lawmakers, her voice breaking with emotion.

“So is it really too much to ask for our government to fulfill its obligations, as intended, to our service members and our veterans?”

Baker insisted everyone within VA, “whether a claims processor, software developer or a manager, cares deeply about doing the best job possible for our nation’s veterans,” although he acknowledged that the system is not perfect.

In fact, the imperfections even touched the family of one of the lawmakers at the hearing — Rep. Jon Runyan, R-N.J. — who said his brother’s GI Bill benefits were delayed.

“It got to the point in his academic career that he would call and say, ‘I need money for food. I need money to pay my rent. Can you help me? The VA check is coming, but I don’t know when,’” Runyan said.