VA eliminates healthcare backlog that left 70K waiting months for coverage

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Veterans’ families who waited months for healthcare coverage can now get approved in days.

The Department of Veterans Affairs says the backlog elimination affects the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the VA, which provides coverage to over 900,000 spouses, dependents, survivors and caregivers.

The VA said that in January, it faced a backlog of more than 70,000 CHAMPVA applications. Some families waited more than 150 days for approval.

As of October, the Department indicated that the backlog has been reduced to zero. Now, the 4,000 weekly applications only need to wait days, not months, to be processed.

The VA indicated that a two-pronged approach led to the elimination - overtime pay was provided to application processors and an automated system was implemented to handle the workload.

Department leaders said they also tackled appeals backlogs. What started as more than 20,000 pending appeals ahs been reduced to 1,000 and continues to decrease rapidly.

In December, the VA noted that it will complete its transition to a fully automated application processing system. More than 90% of medical services and pharmacy claims are now processed electronically within days.

“Veterans around the country knew it was taking far too long to process CHAMPVA applications, and that meant delayed coverage for their loved ones,” said VA Secretary Doug Collins. “We listened, and now the application backlog that caused so many unnecessary delays has been wiped out.”

If you are eligible for CHAMPVA benefits, new applications continue to be processed within days. Contact your local VA Office for more information.