After 50 years I received a 100% disability rating. At 73 years of age I was awarded it about a month ago. Prior to then I received a letter from the Treasury Department stating they didn't have my banking info available if I was awarded a pension. Turns out they did. I had to call the number given to verify it. The gentleman I talked to told me how it can take 6 to 8 years for an appeal. WOW! That was depressing. He said the Washington office alone had 4 or 5 staffers and handled 30,000 claims. I wrote to Senator John McCain telling him what I had learned. With no reply necessary. I turned on CSPAN 2 weeks later to see what was going on with our committee hearings and I hear various Senators pushing bill H.R.2288 - Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2017. It passed the House and was headed for the Senate. It was to shorten the time period of between 5 and 10 years to one year for appeals. 470,000 appeals waiting for approval. I wrote back to Senator McCain and thanked him today. No reply necessary.
https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/2288?q={"search"%3A["congressId%3A115+AND+billStatus%3A\"Introduced\""]}&r=1