The Department of Veterans Affairs says it has processed more disability claims this fiscal year than last, exceeding 2024’s record-breaking amount by nearly 6,600.
As of mid-August, VA claims adjudicators had processed 2,524,115 claims compared with 2,517,519 in fiscal 2024. According to VA Press Secretary Pete Kasperowicz, 61.8% of the claims were approved, providing benefits to nearly 1.3 million veterans or family members.
The department has made changes in the past several years designed to process disability compensation claims faster and reduce the number of claims older than 125 days — what the department refers to as its backlog.
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It introduced a new Automated Benefits Delivery System in 2022 to accelerate reviews of claims for common conditions and adopted a new scheduling assistant program to help determine whether an exam or additional medical opinion is necessary to adjudicate an application.
In May, the VA also reinstated mandatory overtime for claims processors to further reduce the backlog.
As a result, employees are processing claims faster this fiscal year than last, completing them at a 17.8% faster rate, according to the VA.
“Under President [Donald] Trump, VA is making major improvements to better serve veterans, and this announcement underscores that fact,” VA Secretary Doug Collins said in a news release. “We look forward to implementing more reforms to increase customer service and convenience for those we are charged with serving.”
The Veterans Benefits Administration — the arm of the VA that handles disability compensation, education, housing and pension benefits for veterans — ended mandatory overtime for claims adjudicators in July 2024 after requiring it for seven years.
At the time, then-Under Secretary for Benefits Joshua Jacobs said that employees had been effectively processing claims and mandatory overtime was no longer necessary. He added, however, that the VBA would allow employees to volunteer for overtime.
“As we’ve looked at our production levels, as we looked at the workforce levels, I felt it was prudent for us to make this change,” Jacobs said during a press conference July 9, 2024.
During a hearing on May 15 before the House Appropriations Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies subcommittee, Collins pledged to maintain essential personnel, including claims processors, and address the backlog by putting “resources and time to where it needs to go.”
“I want our employees to step up,” Collins said. “We’re going to give you every opportunity to perform at the highest level, veteran benefits, disability folks, claims folks.”
Of the claims approvals, nearly 64% received a disability rating of 70% or higher, with 23.8% receiving 100% disability rating, according to data provided by the VA to Military.com.
Roughly 42% of the approved claims in fiscal 2025 were related to the PACT Act, the landmark 2022 legislation that expanded health care and benefits for former service members exposed to environmental pollutants caused by burn pits and other exposures in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.
The top three health conditions approved for disability were tinnitus, paralysis of the sciatic nerve and knee problems. The top three health conditions denied a rating or compensation were hearing loss, lumbosacral or cervical strain, and sleep apnea, Kasperowicz said.
As of Saturday, the department had 675,319 pending claims, with 154,873, or 23%, considered to be backlogged — pending for 125 days or more.
The figures are down from nearly 1.1 million claims, including 292,499 backlogged claims in 2023, the year following passage of the PACT Act.
As of July 25, the Veterans Benefits Administration had 19,804 claims processing personnel, down from 21,908 at the start of fiscal 2025.
The top reasons claims adjudicators cited as reasons for leaving their jobs were personal health issues, to change careers, job stress or pressure, and geographic location.
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