Atlanta Ro Grinding To A Halt?

[JHawks]

I was looking at the Monday Morning Work Load and decided to crunch some numbers about ATLANT RO. It makes me wonder if they are ALL on vacation or they just shut the whole thing down. Look at these numbers:

Week ..........................................% of Claims OVER 125 Days ........................................# of claims OVER 125 Days

12/6/2010 .....................................................45.9%......................................................................12,338

12/13/2010....................................................46.8%......................................................................12,714

12/20/2010....................................................47.9%......................................................................13,166

12/27/2010....................................................49.5%......................................................................13,784

01/03/2011....................................................51.3%......................................................................14,306

01/10/2011....................................................53.1%......................................................................14,906

This is just in 6 short weeks. It JUMPED from 45.9% of the claims over 125 days (12,339 claims) to 53.1% (14,906 claims) over 125 days. WOW WHAT A JUMP...7.2% JUMP in 6 WEEKS.

I thought the goal of the VA was to REDUCE the number of claims over 125 days old. Obviously Atlanta RO didn't get the message. With the % climbing so rapidly I suspect Atlanta will grind to a complete stop in the near future.

[broncovet]

It isnt JUST Atlanta and it isnt Just December. In the two years or so that Shinseki has been Secretary, the Nationwide backlog has increased by about a half million claims, and is now the worst in history.

Further, I have heard the VA trying to justify the backlog with the large number of claims in two wars. Ha! There were far, far more Veterans in the Vietnam war, then there ever were in Iraq/Afghanastan.

Just compare deaths.....about 4000 deaths in Iraq to about 67,000 deaths in Vietnam.

The fact is that our military is far smaller now than it was in Vietnam, and the VA's backlog of claims is much much bigger.

[Pete53]

Bronco please do not try to compare wars or eras. We are here to help all Veterans. I have seen progress on claims last year from the number of recent wins by our members.

[Capt.]

Hello all, I would say ditto to Pete on the claims adjudication for this past fall. I think here at Hadit you will see more people posting awards than denials over the last year. Bronc it is still not fixed and I am still on the long waiting list so I cannot post a success story myself but it sure is encouraging seeing all the others that have. God Bless, NEVER GIVE UP. C.C.

[justrluk]

Good morning, crew!

Seems there could be a lot of contributing factors in the increase in backlog/delays:

1) More people are aware of their benefits and getting the word out (thanks to those that served before us!)

2 More AO and other Nam related issues are surfacing; becoming presumptive driving up initial claims

3) More people are unhappy with their initial determinations, although the trend dipped before climbing toward the end of the year

Of note: the data available is only good for the past year or so. I'd like to look at cyclical data to see the shape of the curves over time, as well as the growth at other VAROs as well. I don't have the time to really look at the overall system, but thought the Atlanta question an interesting place to start. Next, I'd like to see who's maintaining their workload, or even seeing decrease if any....

[COOL BREEZE]

Hello all, I would say ditto to Pete on the claims adjudication for this past fall. I think here at Hadit you will see more people posting awards than denials over the last year. Bronc it is still not fixed and I am still on the long waiting list so I cannot post a success story myself but it sure is encouraging seeing all the others that have. God Bless, NEVER GIVE UP. C.C.

Was informed by my service officier in Az that claims in the decision stage will take anywhere from 5-6 months-not 28 days

[JHawks]

ATLANTA RO

Week ..........................................% of Claims OVER 125 Days ........................................# of claims OVER 125 Days

12/6/2010 .....................................................45.9%......................................................................12,338

12/13/2010....................................................46.8%......................................................................12,714

12/20/2010....................................................47.9%......................................................................13,166

12/27/2010....................................................49.5%......................................................................13,784

01/03/2011....................................................51.3%......................................................................14,306

01/10/2011....................................................53.1%......................................................................14,906

01/15/2011....................................................54.4%......................................................................15,345

01/31/2011....................................................57.6%......................................................................16,491

The numbers speak volumes. Atlanta has jumped 11.9% of claims over 125 days on 2 months. Grinding to a halt ? At this rate Atlanta will be at 60% by the end of February.