Pictured is the United States Department of Veteran Affairs, Headquarters building located in Washington D.C. The VA is reporting longer than usual waiting times for requests for disability compensation, benefits and other claims for services or programming.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is being bogged down by a backlog of unprocessed claims for benefits, request for disability compensations and support.

The onus for the backlog and stagnate response to veteran’s request is falling on the back of the federal government. However, locally, the Chautauqua County’s director of Veteran Affairs is urging patience and persistence when it comes to claiming earned benefits.

“Unfortunately, the normal timeline for working through the bureaucracy, in particular claims for monetary benefits and adjudication of appeals, has become unusually cumbersome and slow,” said Gregory Carlson said Friday. “This is the consequence of a sequence of events that started with the COVID-19 pandemic.”

However, Carlson also acknowledges the angst and frustration some are having regarding their current VA claims or requests.

“While life changing, for eligible beneficiaries, the process to obtain VA healthcare, disability compensation, education, or non-service connected pension, can be difficult to navigate,” said Carlson.

However, the county Veterans Service Agency strongly encourages eligible country residents to pursue VA benefits with the understanding the usual timeline is delayed.

Some veterans are not responding to positively.

“We fought. We answered the call. We got injured,” said one local Vietnam War veteran. “It’s hard enough to deal with the VA, then when you add this backlog to the mix, it would seem like it would be just easier to deny everything to thin out the herd.”

However, even in the best of times, the delays in receiving proper compensation for disabilities or medical treatment have varied greatly.

“It took me 10 years to finally get my appropriate disability rating and compensation,” said Steve Simka, a former U.S. Army military policeman and resident of Lakewood. “From 2007 to 2017, I fought and appealed decision after decision to get my rating.”

However, a local veteran credited the local VA clinic for its work under difficult circumstances.

“The VA has been good to me, especially our local clinic said John Vogel a U.S. Navy veteran and local resident. “Our local clinic listens and helps us (vets) anyway they can. The “big” VA is the problem.”

However, the U.S Dept. of Veteran Affairs is also reporting a record number of claims and requests for services being processed.

“Across the enterprise, VA has achieved record-breaking numbers in providing benefits and care. In 2022 alone, the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) completed more than 1.7 million disability compensation and pension claims for Veterans, an all-time VA record that broke the previous year’s record by percent,’ according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs official website, which can be found at https://www.benefits.va.gov/REPORTS/detailed–claims–data.asp

Moreover, while the VA’s workload is backlogged, the local county VA office is still available to help veterans process their claims, provide medical care, programing and services. Those who have any questions or concerns, or wish to be screened for benefits, contact the Veterans Service Agency at 716-661-8255 or visit chqgov.com/veteran-services/Veteran-Services for more information