Evans: Letters to Veterans Inaccurate, Hard to
Understand
GAO Finds Some VA Explanations Unclear
Veterans Should Be Able to
Understand What VBA Decided
and Why
Washington, DC – Lane Evans (D-IL), the Ranking
Democratic Member of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, is calling for
the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide accurate and understandable
information to veterans. Evans’
call for better VA communication with veterans comes following his receipt of
a report “Clarity of Letters to Claimants Needs to Be Improved” from the
General Accounting Office (GAO), which Evans requested. While GAO reported VA has made some improvements, Evans noted
that bureaucratic jargon and human error still make it difficult for veterans
to understand correspondence they receive from VA. Evans asked GAO to review VA letters to veterans after a
review of Social Security Administration letters found similar problems.
VA has implemented a
“reader-focused writing” approach.
When used properly, it has improved the clarity of VA’s
letters. However, GAO
found that some “boilerplate” language is often confusing and
unclear. Also
according to the report, human errors lead to problems when
boilerplate language is not modified to respond to the claimant’s
specific situation. Evans
is concerned that as VA regional offices try to meet new quotas of
claims produced, the automatic use of boilerplate language without
proper modification may lead to more VA correspondence errors.
As an example, Evans
cited a VA letter requesting a Korean veteran who was already
receiving VA service-connected compensation for a combat wound to
provide evidence of a “stressor” to support his claim of
post-traumatic stress disorder. Veterans
who have served in combat are not ordinarily required to provide such
evidence. VA also
informed the veteran he needed to provide evidence of a
“well-grounded claim”, although that requirement had been
abolished almost a year before the letter was sent.
Evans fears that such “human errors” are likely to
increase, as VA regional offices are required to produce an
increasingly higher number of decisions.
GAO also noted the
potential for veteran confusion when VA letters identify different
dates by which the veteran must take certain important actions.
GAO reported “letters typically gave the claimant two very
different deadlines for submitting the needed information.
The letter asked the claimant to send the requested information
within 60 days from the date of the letter, but it also said that the
evidence could still be received within one year from the date of the
letter.” Evans noted
that federal law provides a one-year period in which a veteran may
submit evidence. In an
effort to speed claims processing, veterans are being advised that
shorter deadlines apply. Evans
believes that this confusing date information may be due to VA
regional office efforts to increase production quotas.
Evans urged VA to
follow GAO’s recommendations by eliminating writing deficiencies in
national form letters, improving rating decisions and expanding
quality review of VA claims. Evans agrees with GAO’s conclusion that veterans who submit
claims for benefits should “expect that they will be able to
understand what VBA decided and why, in a timely manner.”
According to Evans, VA Secretary Principi has agreed to
implement GAO’s recommendations.
Evans said, “I trust VA will act quickly to improve the
accuracy and readability of letters sent to veterans.”
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