That figure represented a 10,000 drop from the 421,793 backlogged
claims in the VA’s Sept. 30 report, the day before the shutdown began. The backlog number dropped in each of the three weekly reports since then.
{mosads}Losing progress on the claims backlog was one of the major
repercussions VA Secretary Eric Shinseki warned would occur due to the
government shutdown.
The disability claims backlog, which has been a frequent source of criticism after it ballooned to more than 600,000 this year, has been reduced by more than 30
percent from its peak of 611,000 in March.
“The momentum achieved over the past six months has now
stalled with the government shutdown,” Shinseki said at an Oct. 9 hearing on
the impact of the shutdown on the VA. He said the backlog had increased by 2,000 claims at that point due to the shutdown.
VA officials say that the shutdown did stall
progress on the backlog, and production levels for claims processing dropped 25
percent during the shutdown. One VA official pointed to the numbers on the day the shutdown began
and ended — 418,472 on Oct. 1 and 417,560 on Oct. 16 — to show that the
progress had flat-lined.
“The hard work of [Veterans Benefits Administration] VBA employees
kept the backlog from increasing significantly during the government shutdown,”
the official said.
The 10,000 reductions in claims was in October was in fact off the
pace established in the first three weeks of September, one of the VA’s best
months, when the claims backlog dropped by 25,000.
The VA was able to avoid furloughing its workers who
processed the claims during the shutdown, but it did have to stop its mandatory
20 hours of monthly overtime, which has been credited with helping make a dent in the
claims backlog.
With the government back open, the mandatory overtime has
been extended through at least Nov. 16.
In a statement after the government re-opened last week,
Shinseki said the VA was still committed to its goal of eliminating the claims
backlog in 2015.
“In the coming weeks and months, we will fight hard to
regain ground lost as a result of the government shutdown,” he said.
House Veterans Affairs Committee ranking member Mike Michaud
(D-Maine) said there was “no question” the shutdown had an impact on the VA’s
ability to reduce the backlog.
“While the impact of the shutdown on the backlog doesn’t
appear to be as severe as some had feared, at the very least, it’s comforting
to know that the current strategy in place is enough to continue reductions,
even without overtime,” Michaud said in a statement.