VA Seeks Help for GI Claims Work
By
Bob Brewin
This just in . . .
This just in . . .
The Veterans Affairs Department announced on Wednesday that it plans to contract for outside help to process what it called an "unprecedented" amount of education claims generated by the post-9/11 GI bill.
VA said that the claims, when combined with the standard high volume of school enrollment claims in August and September (normally the busiest months for education claims), had exceeded anticipated levels.
It's hard to figure out exactly how many education claims VA needs help in processing, since that information has been missing from a VA Web site since the beginning of October.
But Keith Wilson, director of the Office of Education Service at the Veterans Benefits Administration, testified at a House hearing on Oct. 15 that since May, the department had provided 210,000 veterans with certificates of eligibility for education benefits. More than 44,500 students have received payments under the post-9/11 GI bill. Wilson said at the time the agency still needed to process 30,000 certificates of eligibility.
More on this in our news coverage later today.