Letter to Eric Shinseki, Secretary of Veteran Affairs - Year-end Performance Report on Reno Regional Office

Letter

Dear Secretary Shinseki,

As Ranking Member of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, I am focused on ensuring that veterans receive the benefits they have earned in a timely fashion. I applaud you and the VA workforce on your efforts to eliminate the backlog and reduce processing times for veterans applying for benefits. Our Subcommittee looks forward to continue working with you to ensure that the VA has the tools and authorities necessary to reach your ambitious goals over the next year.

While I am encouraged by the reductions in the national backlog metrics, I am concerned that veterans in Nevada continue to face delays due to poor performance by the Reno Regional Office. I have received a number of assurances that changes have been made that will result in significant performance improvements for veterans throughout Nevada. In the upcoming year, I hope Reno's performance metrics will reflect these changes.

In the meantime, I respectfully request that you provide the following performance metrics for the Reno Regional Office by January 31, 2014:

How many cases were completed by the Reno Regional office, not including brokered work, in 2014?
How many of these claims were adjudicated favorably for the veteran?
What was the average time for completion of non-brokered claims?
What were the monthly and annual goals for the Reno office, and what was the monthly and annual performance of the office?
How many cases were brokered out from the Reno Regional Office?
How many of these claims were adjudicated favorably for the veteran?
What was the average time for completion of brokered claims?
How are production goals assigned to brokered work?
Please provide the goals and performance metrics for the brokered cases related to Nevada veterans.
How many cases do you anticipate will be brokered out of Reno in 2014?
How often were Nevada veterans provided partial benefits through VA's existing authorities to compensate veterans as individual medical conditions are adjudicated?
How many claims for disability compensation do you expect the Reno Regional Office will receive and complete in 2014?
How many appeals cases do you anticipate the Reno RO Regional Office will receive and complete in 2014?

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