Welch: VA should change approach to pension process
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By Josh O'Gorman STAFF WRITER - Published: June 5, 2009
WASHINGTON — Democratic Rep. Peter Welch has appealed to the Veterans Administration to return to a more localized approach to processing veterans' benefits claims.
Thursday morning, the House Military Veterans Caucus, of which Welch is a member, met with Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki. Welch asked Shinseki to reconsider the practice of outsourcing pension claims and inquiry calls from the White River Junction VA Benefits Office.
"What has been tremendous for Vermont is that they always got local service," Welch said by telephone following the meeting. "The veterans are generally satisfied with their medical treatment, but it's better to have a local person who can give you local service."
Up until about a year ago, when a veteran applied for a nonservice-connected pension, they could do so right in White River Junction, said Roger Bourgery, the national service officer for the Disabled Veterans Department of Vermont. Veterans could either apply with his office or with the VA Benefits Office, Bourgery said, but either way the turnaround would be a matter of days. Now, nonservice-connected pension claims are processed externally and that change is causing delays, Bourgery said.
"You drop it in the mail, it goes to Philadelphia and they write you back and tell you they got it," he said. "This poor individual who's in dire need, who served his country, is now having to wait months. The veteran who is looking for nonservice benefits is in a world of hurt."
In addition to taking longer to process the claims, Bourgery said, veterans are also having trouble getting information on the claims. Before, when someone called the VA's toll-free number in Vermont, they would be connected to White River Junction where the claim was being processed. Now, the inquiries go to a centralized call center, where information is incomplete or unavailable, Bourgery said.
Bourgery said the change is part of a trend in the VA. Education benefits and homeowners' assistance used to be done in-house in White River Junction, but are now processed at a central location.
"The concern is, 'What is going to go next?'" he said. "In my opinion, the whole place is going to go next, the whole benefit office."
Welch said his meeting with Shinseki was positive and Shinseki indicated he would look into the issue.
"We've got to make sure we give good service to our veterans," Welch said. "It's recognition of the obligation we as citizens have to them for their service."
A representative at the White River Junction VA referred all questions to the VA in Manchester, N.H. A Manchester, N.H., VA representative referred all questions to the VA in New York. A New York VA representative referred all questions to the VA in Washington. A spokeswoman at the Washington VA said they are studying the issue and declined additional comment.
josh.ogorman@rutlandherald.com
http://www.dav.org/
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