Rep. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., and Fred Upton, R-Mich., are sponsoring a bill, the Immediate Benefits for Wounded Warriors Act, that would give partial payments to some veterans while they wait for a formal VA claims decision. Currently, it can take a year for initial claims and up to three years for appeals. The VA is currently facing a backlog of over 400,000 claims. Despite ideas on how to harness technology to speed up the process, no immediate plans are in the works.
HR 4219 would apply to Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans rated by the military as being 10 percent or more disabled, or who have been diagnosed by any doctor with post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury.
Service members meeting these guidelines would get disability pay as if they had received a 30 percent disability rating through the formal VA ratings process. If a veteran ended up receiving a higher disability rating after the VA completed its process, he would get a backdated payment for the difference. If he ended up with a disability rated at less than 30 percent, he would not have to return any money.
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