Watch Video(Image source: The White House / Peter Souza)
*BY MATT PICHT*
President Obama and his family began their vacation Saturday in Martha’s Vineyard, Mass. But beforehand, the president stopped by the Disabled American Veterans national convention in Orlando to address the growing backlog in veterans’ benefit claims.
*“The last time I was with you, I pledged to cut the backlog, slash those wait times, deliver your benefits soon. And I’m going to be honest with you, it has not moved as fast as I wanted.”* (Via CBS)
Veteran benefit claims have risen dramatically since President Obama took office in 2009. The Department of Veterans Affairs currently reports more than 790,000 claims on file, 500,000 of which are considered backlogged.
The Los Angeles Times writes, *“The claims backlog has become a high-profile challenge and embarrassment for a president who sought to restore faith in veterans healthcare after the scandals under his predecessor.”*
But during his speech Saturday, Obama pledged to eliminate the backlog entirely, citing recent reductions in the wait times of veteran medical claims.
*“After years when the backlog kept growing, finally the backlog is shrinking. It’s down nearly 20 percent. We are turning the tide.”* (Via CNN)
The same day, The White House reaffirmed its commitment to veterans by vowing to create jobs and education opportunities for disabled veterans and to address mental health and suicide risk issues for veterans in greater detail.
Still, the president has been criticized for not doing enough to help veterans. Florida Rep. Jeff Miller called on the president to fix woeful inefficiencies within the Veterans Affairs department.
*“There is near universal agreement that a joint electronic health record integrated across all Department of Defense and VA components would help shrink the backlog, yet DoD and VA have sputtered and failed in achieving this goal. … President Obama is the only person in a position to hold DoD and VA leaders directly accountable.”* (Via Military.com)
President Obama is expected to return to the White House on Aug. 17. Reported by Newsy 3 days ago.