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Veterans Affairs

 

The Hall Disability Claims Bill
I am currently working on legislation to improve the disability claims processing system of the Department of Veterans Affairs.  Over the last year, dozens of veterans have contacted my office seeking help with their long-overdue claims.  As Chairman of the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, I have held a series of hearings in Washington, DC, and a field hearing on October 8, 2007, in New Windsor, NY, about the unacceptable claims backlog and the problems that veterans face because of it.

 

With the information obtained during these hearings, I am working to pass legislation to overhaul the outdated veterans disability claims process and replace it with one that reflects today’s medical conditions and diagnoses, eliminates the unnecessary backlog, accelerates approvals by separating easy to confirm disabilities from more complicated ones, and other improvements.  Once fully implemented, this will be an historic change in the way the VA handles disability claims.

 

 

Claims Backlog
Our nation must do a better job of caring for our current and future veterans.  It’s unconscionable that we ask the men and women of our Armed Forces to be ready to defend America at a moment’s notice, and then force them to wait months to receive the assistance they’ve earned through service and sacrifice.  There are currently almost 600,000 backlogged claims at the VA, and with the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan this number is only going to increase unless we act.  The Veterans Committee will focus on this issue in detail and reducing the claims backlog will be my top priority in the Committee.
 
Veterans Healthcare
One of my first votes in Congress was to increase the VA healthcare budget by    nearly $3 billion.  The Bush administration has continuously underfunded veterans healthcare and Congress, once again, will have to provide more funding than the President requested to ensure our veterans receive the service they deserve.  In the Veterans Committee, I will work to repeal the President’s proposal to increase veterans co-pays for prescription drugs.  I also support mandatory funding for VA healthcare to take the annual battle over funding out of the hands of politicians.
 
Concurrent Receipt
I will work to insure all veterans receive the benefits they have earned.  We must end the practice of reducing a veterans pension because he is also receiving disability pay.  No other federal employee faces this tax and this discrimination against veterans is unfair. 
 
Montrose and Castle Point VA Hospitals
The veterans of the Lower Hudson Valley deserve great medical care.  I will monitor the CARES process closely to ensure that its decisions serve veterans and not VA bureaucrats.