The Waco VA Regional Office reacts to OIG report, focusing on 2011 and older claims.

Word from the VA Regional Office in Waco, Texas, is that they are putting on a "full-court" press on claims and appeals dating back to 2011 (What the VA calls the "backlog")

 I suspect this is likely linked to the VA OIG Report Slamming the Waco Regional Office for its bottom-of-the-barrell claims processing times.

What kinds of claims does this include?

- Veterans that filed a claim with the VA in/before 2011, and have not received a Ratings Decision.

- Veterans that filed a Notice of Disagreement with the Waco VA Regional Office in 2011 or earlier, and have not yet received a Statement of the Case.

- Veterans that filed a VA Form 9 in 2011 or earlier.

What kind of claims does this NOT appear to include.

- Veterans that filed an appeal on a Ratings Decision after 2011, even though their original claim was submitted in 2011 or earlier.

- Veterans who have received notice that the Waco VA Regional Office has certified their appeal to the BVA.

- Veterans whose claims are on remand from the BVA or the CAVC, with a remand date after 2011.

- Survivors' benefits claims (Survivor benefit claims are not at all a priority to the VA, and are not included in many of the backlog reduction initiatives).

I don't know how long it will take the Waco VA Regional Office to dig out of their current hole.

If you would like to  improve the way that you present your VA Claim to the Waco VA Regional Office, check out Veterans University, here are a couple options:

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