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ARMED FORCES NEWS |
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On Sept. 30, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony J. Principi announced that the VA pending inventory had dropped to 253,000 claims, representing a 41 percent reduction in inventory from a high of 432,000. Principi had set a goal in 2001 of reducing the VA's pending claims workload to 250,000 by Sept. 30, 2003. This number represents a normal workload inventory because of the complex process involved in gathering all the information and evidence needed to decide a veteran's claim. Since 2001, VA has decided about 68,000 claims per month, an increase of more than 70 percent from the 2001 level of about 40,000 per month. Principi also set as a goal the completion of veterans' claims in an average of 100 days. Although this goal is not yet achieved, claims adjudicationshave been reduced from an average of 233 days to 156 days. |
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