Providing timely compensation and job assistance to veterans with disabilities. Supporting a Compassionate Society • Providing health care to veterans with service-related injuries. Serving veterans through homeless assistance programs in all 50 States. Making Government More Effective • Providing health care services in more convenient locations, using information technology to serve patients more quickly and more accurately. • Working with the Department of Defense to help service members gain access to veteran services and benefits. PROMOTING ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY AND OWNERSHIP Replacing Lost Income for Disabled Veterans Veterans' disability compensation is a monthly benefit payment to veterans who are disabled as a result of their military service. It is the workers' compensation program for military members, which complements retired pay and disability annuities provided by the Department of Defense (DOD). In 2006, 2.7 million veterans will receive $26 billion of these tax-free benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), 57 percent more than when the President came to office. When President Bush took office, the number of claims waiting to be processed had risen to more than 600,000. As a result, many veterans were waiting an average of over 230 days for a claim to be processed. One of the President's top priorities was to significantly reduce this processing time. VA trained nearly 1,800 employees in proper claims processing procedures and created specialized teams to process claims for those veterans who had been waiting the longest. Uniform measurement tools were established to evaluate quality and timeliness, and employee evaluations were re-designed to hold VA personnel accountable for meeting the President's goal. Further, VA worked with both DOD and the National Records Center in St. Louis to expedite the exchange of information needed to process claims. As a result, the number of days to process a claim will drop from 230 when the President took office to an average of 145 days in 2006—an improvement that the Department is committed to continuing in the years ahead. Providing Education Opportunities to Veterans The Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) program helps disabled veterans find suitable employment, so they can live independently. The program provides comprehensive services and assistance, such as tuition, books, vocational counseling, and assistive technology. In March 2004, a comprehensive review of the VR&E program was completed which led to several changes now underway. For example, instead of waiting for veterans to contact the VR&E program, counselors visit service members at military and VA hospitals and also call recently discharged veterans to offer their services. In 2004, 11,000 veterans were successfully rehabilitated with approximately 8,300 veterans employed and the remaining 2,700 achieving independent living goals, an increase of approximately 1,500 veterans above those successfully rehabilitated in 2003. Vocational rehabilitation counselors visit patient. For almost 20 years, the Montgomery GI Bill has provided education benefits to help members of the Armed Forces adjust to civilian life after leaving active service. On December 27, 2001, President Bush signed into law the Veterans Education and Benefits Expansion Act. The Act contained several improvements to the Montgomery GI Program, including an increase in the maximum monthly benefit amount of more than 46 percent by 2003 (see accompanying chart), a broader choice of education opportunities, and an expansion of education programs paid for by the scholarships to include |