{"id":76737,"date":"2023-09-21T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-21T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/09\/21\/total-of-overdue-va-disability-claims-balloons-to-almost-300000\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T15:50:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T15:50:12","slug":"total-of-overdue-va-disability-claims-balloons-to-almost-300000","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/veterans\/2023\/09\/21\/total-of-overdue-va-disability-claims-balloons-to-almost-300000\/","title":{"rendered":"Total of overdue VA disability claims balloons to almost 300,000"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The backlog of veterans first-time disability claims<\/a> in coming weeks is expected to surpass 300,000 cases for the first time in almost a decade. But Veterans Affairs leaders<\/a> insist that the rise isn\u2019t a sign of their systems being overwhelmed like they were in the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, they said the rising backlog <\/a>reflects a dramatic surge in claims related to new military toxic exposure benefits<\/a>. Still, the growing number of overdue claims points to more veterans waiting longer for disability payouts<\/a>, which can range from a few hundred dollars to nearly $4,300 a month depending on the severity of the injuries. Disabled veterans can get retroactive pay if their claims linger in processing for multiple months, but that delay can cause hardship and anxiety for individuals dependent on the help for their finances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat you\u2019re seeing is just larger numbers overall because we\u2019ve been so successful in our outreach and connecting more veterans with their benefits,\u201d VA Under Secretary for Benefits Joshua Jacobs<\/a> told reporters Thursday. \u201cWe\u2019re doing everything we can to address that, and we can still prioritize processing claims when we need to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the VA is working to hire and train staffers to process the claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\t