Millions of military veterans will lose many of their veterans’ benefits in œlate October” if the government shutdown persists, according to newly-released US Department of Veterans Affairs documents.\n<\/p>\n
The VA has been making payments to veterans in the days since the Oct. 1 government shutdown, but agency officials say the pool of available money is dwindling.\n<\/p>\n
œClaims processing and payments in the compensation, pension, education and vocational rehabilitation programs are anticipated to continue through late October. However, in the event of a prolonged shutdown, claims processing and payments in these programs would be suspended when available funding is exhausted,” said a statement from the agency™s public affairs office.\n<\/p>\n
The impasse also threatens to further slow the VA™s backlog of overdue claims for benefits from needy veterans.\n<\/p>\n
The review of agency work orders shows the backlog is already severe. Nationwide, 418,711 veterans™ claims have been pending for longer than three months. In the Washington, D.C., area, veterans wait an average of almost a year to have the average benefit processed by the Department of Veterans Affairs.\n<\/p>\n
The backlog has been a source of frustration for local veterans, says Nick McCormick, an Iraq War veteran from D.C. McCormick, a member of a veterans support group called Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.\n<\/p>\n
The shutdown threatens to further clog the VA™s system. œIt makes living your life that much more difficult,” McCormick said.\n<\/p>\n
The Department of Veterans Affairs said it will not be able to continue overtime for claims processors, a service recently instituted to reduce claims backlogs, due to the shutdown. Agency personnel reports say almost one-third of the VA™s benefits employees are furloughed outright, as of Oct. 1. NBC Washington<\/i>\n<\/p>\n
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