VA Secretary Denis McDonough came to Lincoln on Thursday to meet with student veterans at the University of Nebraska. He also visited the Veterans Benefits Administration regional office in Lincoln.
McDonough says one of the big topics of discussion was the implementation of the PACT Act last year and the struggles to process the nearly two million claims they have received in the first year since it was implemented. That legislation expands health care and benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange and other toxic substances.
“We have processed over 1.8 million claims, but that also means there are claims that we did not yet complete.” He says they have been hiring more workers in Nebraska and across the country to address the backlog of claims. He says the VBA regional office added several new employees in the past year and their performance is growing at a faster rate.
“They processed 50 percent more claims this year than they did last year and last year was a record number of claims processed.” McDonough says he urged the employees to keep up that high performance.
McDonough joined NU System President Ted Carter in meeting with student veterans. McDonough had this message for them. “We work for them. They’re not just our patients, they’re not just our clients, they’re our bosses. It’s really important for me to hear directly from them, their experiences and make sure we’re addressing their issues.”
McDonough says they also voiced some frustrations because they see there’s so much more the Veterans Administration can do to support veterans.