{"id":64774,"date":"2020-05-15T17:26:47","date_gmt":"2020-05-15T17:26:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/05\/15\/changes-to-va-benefits-operations-forced-by-coronavirus-could-outlast-the-pandemic\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T12:20:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T12:20:53","slug":"changes-to-va-benefits-operations-forced-by-coronavirus-could-outlast-the-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/veterans\/2020\/05\/15\/changes-to-va-benefits-operations-forced-by-coronavirus-could-outlast-the-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"Changes to VA benefits operations forced by coronavirus could outlast the pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a surprising twist, the forced closure of hundreds of Veterans Affairs benefits offices because of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/coronavirus\/\" target=_blank>the coronavirus outbreak<\/a> may actually be helping officials reach more veterans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c(Since the closings) we\u2019ve done tele-town halls for 12 states so far, and reached more than 350,000 veterans,\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2018\/02\/22\/trump-nominates-new-top-benefits-official-for-va\/\" target=_blank>VA Under Secretary for Benefits Paul Lawrence<\/a> in an interview with Military Times this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI talk for a little bit and then take questions. They\u2019re good to hear, keep me apprised of what our veterans are talking about and what may have gone wrong so we can fix it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIronically, they really have enabled me to touch a group of folks who aren\u2019t on social media, print media, the places we usually go. It seems like we\u2019re reaching an older generation of veterans, and telephone is the way they engage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/education-transition\/2020\/05\/14\/student-veterans-worry-about-gi-bill-benefits-when-returning-to-college-classes-this-fall\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP20098570742878.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Student veterans worry about GI Bill benefits when returning to college classes this fall<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">VA officials say they&#039;re working with colleges and Congress to watch for potential problems when veterans return to classes next year.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lawrence, who oversees the distribution of disability, education and other benefits to more than 7 million veterans and family members, said the success of the new telephone town halls have been a silver lining in the ongoing pandemic, which has forced about 97 percent of the Veterans Benefits Administration to work from home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Department officials have seen an increase in worker productivity since that move, but Lawrence said he isn\u2019t convinced that indicates a permanent change to off-site work would produce more efficiency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019re seeing our employees\u2019 availability and utilization at a higher percentage than usual, but that could be because they have no real (recreation) alternatives right now, and no one can go anywhere on vacation,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd they know our mission still matters, so these have been some of our more productive times.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lawrence said his staff has begun discussing whether they\u2019ll keep using more remote-working options in the future, but dismissed the chances of large-scale changes away from brick-and-mortar benefits offices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur veterans still need to come in there for some questions,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd for a lot of veterans, social isolation isn\u2019t a good thing. So we want to be there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But for now, the remote work operations remain the norm. VA officials have discussed opening more hospital work areas and non-medical space in coming weeks, but those decisions will depend on how local and national infection rates proceed.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/2020\/05\/13\/va-cemeteries-will-open-to-the-public-on-memorial-day-but-wreath-laying-ceremonies-will-be-closed\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"212\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1146336857.JPG.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">VA cemeteries will open to the public on Memorial Day, but wreath-laying ceremonies will be closed<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">VA is also offering virtual memorials for families of deceased veterans as an alternative way to commemorate their lives.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As a result, deadlines for some veterans benefits applications have been extended, and department officials have waived some in-person exams on those applications. The department\u2019s benefit\u2019s hotline \u2014 1-800-827-1000 \u2014 is fielding about 25,000 calls a day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe invested in our telework capabilities several years ago, so a lot of the recent changes are working out well for us,\u201d Lawrence said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And he promised that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.benefits.va.gov\/benefits\/news.asp#teletownhall\" target=_blank>the telephone town halls<\/a> will stay in place even after state lockdowns are lifted. One is scheduled for Oklahoma residents tonight, and four others in the next two weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lawrence said even though the open question lines from veterans invites some \u201cuncertainty,\u201d he has been excited with the response, especially among folks who tell him they don\u2019t usually reach out to VA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe secretary has made it an emphasis to get those hard-to-reach veterans,\u201d he said. \u201cThis has really turned out well in that sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019ve already started asking my staff how we keep this going in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Telephone town halls, some employee remote work will likely continue even when the virus restrictions lift.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":91785,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":19,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[61,101,23,89,12,26,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3222],"class_list":["post-64774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-coronavirus","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"XVID5C2JU5DM5JMGZGX5FJYZVY","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/2020\/05\/15\/changes-to-va-benefits-operations-forced-by-coronavirus-could-outlast-the-pandemic\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Changes to VA benefits operations forced by coronavirus could outlast the pandemic - Navy Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Telephone town halls, some employee remote work will likely continue even when the virus restrictions lift.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Changes to VA benefits operations forced by coronavirus could outlast the pandemic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Telephone town halls, some employee remote work will likely continue even when the virus restrictions lift.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" 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