Schumer: Massive Delay of GI Bill Education Benefits Leave Long Island Vets High and Dry in Paying for College; Delays in Processing Claims in NY Exceed Already High National Average by 53% in 2012-Will Only Get Worse as MorSoldiers Return from Overseas
Press Release
United States Senator Charles E. Schumer, joined by veterans attending college on Long Island, at Farmingdale State College today, called on the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to immediately review and overhaul the administration of GI Bill education benefits out their Buffalo Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in light of massive delays in the processing of vital college benefits for local veterans. The Buffalo VA Regional Office administers all education benefits for New York veterans and the eastern region of the country. Schumer revealed that while a national backlog of education benefit disbursements for returning vets has resulted in an already unacceptable national average of 30 days for claims processing, education benefits administered by the Buffalo Regional Office to local veterans were backed-up by an additional two weeks, at 46 days. These delays for New York veterans seeking their GI Bill benefits exceed the national delay by a whopping 53% in 2012. Schumer noted that the delay in processing these benefits creates unnecessary hardship for veterans and hits them particularly hard at the time when they need these benefits the most: after they have started the semester. The delays keep veterans from paying for their housing, required books, and transportation costs that are vital to both attending college and meeting academic requirements of their programs.
"We don't expect delays from our soldiers when they are shipped overseas and placed in a combat zone, we shouldn't tolerate delays of this magnitude from the Veteran's Administration when our soldiers seek to use the benefits they are entitled to," said Schumer. "The national delays are already bad enough, but the massive delays coming out of the eastern regional office in Buffalo are simply beyond the pale."
In his letter to VA Secretary Shinseki, Schumer called for the VA to review and overhaul how the eastern regional office in Buffalo is processing education benefits. Schumer pointed out that while the national backlog for the administration of GI Bill education benefits has resulted in an already-high 30 days of processing, the delay coming out of the eastern regional office in New York is an additional two weeks, resulting in a 46 day average wait time for New York veterans to receive payment for their education costs in 2012. Both the national average and eastern regional average for the processing of initial education claims far exceed the VA's own goal of 12 days for processing.
According to data obtained from the Veteran's Administration and compiled by Schumer's office, the delays have grown significantly over the last five years in New York and the eastern regional office in particular has consistently outpaced the national average for delays in claims. In 2011, the average time for processing of an original education claim nationally was 24 days, while the average time for New York veterans was 40 days. Thus far in 2012, the numbers have jumped to an average of 30 days nationally and 46 days for New York veterans, who are serviced out of the Buffalo office. Since 2008, the time it takes to administer New York veterans' education benefits has literally doubled from 23 days to 46 days, a whopping 100% increase. While the number of veterans utilizing GI Bill benefits has increased with the wind-down of the Iraq War and with the return of troops from Afghanistan, the higher than average delays out of the eastern regional office in Buffalo do not correlate with the VA's stated policy of pinpointing areas of performance weakness and then taking appropriate corrective actions.
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