Originally published: 2024-03-19T17:30:00+00:00. Historical source article: benefits, rules, amounts and deadlines may have changed. Check the official source for current information.
WASHINGTON — Today, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced that it has processed its one millionth Veteran benefits claim in fiscal year 2024. VA reached this milestone March 4 — the earliest in VA history and nearly six weeks faster than the previous all-time record (from fiscal year 2023). VA has completed almost 35% more claims than at this point last year.
As a part of President Biden’s Unity Agenda for the nation, VA is continuing to deliver more benefits, more quickly, to more Veterans than ever before. Through February of this fiscal year, VA provided $69 billion in earned compensation and pension benefits to 6.5 million Veterans and survivors. This milestone builds on last year’s historic pace, when VA delivered record amounts of earned benefits to Veterans and survivors.
This increase in Veteran benefits is largely due to the PACT Act, which has empowered VA to expand health care and benefits to millions of Veterans who were exposed to toxins and other hazards while serving our country.
“We’re proud to be delivering more benefits, more quickly, to more Veterans and survivors than ever before – but we’re not slowing down,” said VA Under Secretary for Benefits Josh Jacobs. “We won’t rest until every Veteran and every survivor to get the VA benefits and care that they’ve earned. So, to any Veteran or survivor out there: don’t wait, submit your claim today.”
Whenever a Veteran files a claim, our goal is to work with them every step of the way to get to “yes.” As a result of this approach, VA has been able to grant benefits for 60.4% of claims filed in 2024 — including 75.1% of PACT Act claims — a sharp increase in the grant rate from pre-PACT Act levels.
Veterans also continue to apply for benefits at record rates, with VA receiving 4.5% more claims thus far in fiscal year 2024 than at this point in 2023. Since the PACT Act was signed into law by President Biden, Veterans and their families have filed more than 3.5 million claims.
As a part of reaching one million claims, VA processed 221,592 disability compensation and pension claims during January 2024 alone – making it VA’s highest single month of claims production ever, surpassing the previous monthly record of 193,411 from May 2023. VA’s top 11 best claims production months in agency history all happened in the last 12 months. Additionally, the organization continues to achieve single day processing milestones – VA processed between 9,000 and 10,000 Veteran claims 43 times in fiscal year 2024 and more than 10,000 Veteran claims 35 times during the same time period. February 7, 2024 was the best single production day ever in VBA history with 10,997 claims completed. Before fiscal year 2024, VA had only had three 9,000 claim production days in history.
As a result of this record pace, Veteran claims pending over 125 days – known as the backlog – has decreased by more than 42,000 claims over the past three months. Due to record numbers of claims applications, the backlog is still expected to grow in 2024 before decreasing at the end of this year – and VA will continue to hire new claims processors, invest in continuous learning for all claims processors, and make technology improvements to ensure that Veterans, family members, caregivers and survivors receive the benefits they’ve earned and deserve as quickly and accurately as possible.
VA remains focused on hiring and training new claims processors and has grown the claims processing workforce more than 50% since fiscal year 2021. This growth, along with new technology to assist those processors, has allowed VA to meet the historic demand for benefits precipitated by the passage of the PACT Act in 2022.
To learn more about VA disability benefits, visit VA’s website and apply.
Source: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Its Veterans is an independent publication and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. government.
