VA Outlines Steps to Fix GI Bill Problems

Officials from the Veterans Affairs Department attempted in January to persuade a doubtful House subcommittee that issues with issuing Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits are behind them.

The VA’s Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology, Roger Baker, said the issues that slowed payments of the new education benefit during the fall semester have been fixed.

Around 7,000 benefits claims are being administered each day, compared to 1,800 per day in the fall, Baker said.

Also, creation of new software to calculate the complicated benefits will be finished for the fall 2010 term, said Baker and retired Navy Capt. Mark Krause, the person responsible for the software project. 

Proof of how well things are going, said Keith Wilson, VA’s education service director, is that the department has received 123,887 certifications of enrollment for the spring term for Veterans using the new GI Bill and has processed 103,843.

Every claim received by Jan. 19 is expected to be processed in time for eligible students to receive living stipends and book allowances by Feb. 1, VA officials said.

The officials testified before members of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee’s economic opportunity panel, which has been inundated with complaints from students who had trouble receiving their GI Bill payments for the fall term of 2009.

Baker acknowledged that around 1,500 students who applied for benefits for the fall still have not received their checks. He blamed the delay on missing information that the students still needed to provide.

Baker said the VA apologizes for the payment delays.

“We believe we have identified and resolved the causes of many of those delays, and that the results for the spring enrollment will be substantially improved over those of the fall,” he said.

Subcommittee Chairwoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, D-S.D., made it clear that she is not satisfied. 

“Current delays in processing education claims are unacceptable,” she said, though she acknowledged that Congress is partly to blame for creating a benefit that is so complicated it takes multiple steps to calculate. 

Source:  Navy Times 

The National Veterans Foundation assists Veterans looking to access their GI Bill education benefits.   For assistance please call the Lifeline for Vets at 888-777-4443.  To support the National Veterans Foundation and its programs to help Veterans in need, please visit www.help-veterans.org.