VA Errors Add To Huge Delays In Benefits

...A Center for Investigative Reporting review of the VA's performance data reveals chronic errors - committed in as many as 1 in 3 cases - and an emphasis on speed over accuracy that clogs the VA system with appeals, increasing delays for all veterans.

"When the VA makes a mistake processing a veteran's claim, then our veterans face another unacceptably long wait," said Paul Sullivan, a Gulf War veteran and former senior VA project manager who now works for the Washington, D.C.,-area law firm Bergmann and Moore.

As of mid-October, appeals represented nearly a third of the more than 819,000 pending disability claims. Nationwide over the past year, the average time a veteran waits for a decision has increased by more than two months, to 260 days. Veterans who appeal wait an average of 3 1/2 years, according to VA data obtained through the Freedom of Information Act...