Once a service member transitions he or she takes on a new mission: a mission to obtain benefits and services. In order to do so, a new study revealed that veterans today are likely to have to navigate as many as 613 forms across 18 agencies in order to complete their mission.
And when they do “complete” the mission, they can wait more than 100 days to receive any sort of benefit.
The study by the American Action Forum found the paperwork — in part the result of roughly 31 million Veterans Affairs claims alone each year — takes federal employees roughly 43.3 million hours to process.
“Navigating 18 agencies and more than 600 forms has produced absurd results and unnecessary delays,” the self-described “center-right” leaning nonprofit said.
In addition to long delays, the 613 forms take 3 hours to complete per person, and the 43.4 million hours to process result in a total cost of more than $600 million.
The VA is working aggressively to get on top of the issue – but in the meantime, today’s Veterans continue to face a mission that make some active duty assignments look like a cake walk.
— By Michael Schindler
About the author: Michael Schindler, Navy veteran, and president of Edmonds-based Operation Military Family, is a guest writer for several national publications, author of the book “Operation Military Family” and “The Military Wire” blog. He is also a popular keynote and workshop speaker who reaches thousands of service members and their families every year through workshops and seminars that include “How to Battle-Ready Your Relationship” or “What Your Mother-in-Law Didn’t Tell You.” He received the 2010 Outstanding Patriotic Service Award from the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs.
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