VA processes more than 1.3 million veterans’ claims in fiscal 2014 Published Oct. 24, 2014 WASHINGTON -- More than 1.3 million veterans received decisions on their Department of Veterans Affairs disability compensation and pension claims in fiscal 2014 - the highest number in VA's history, surpassing last year's record-breaking production by more than 150,000 claims. This second year of record-breaking production comes as VA continues to transform the way it provides benefits and services, to deliver faster and higher quality decisions, to veterans, their families and survivors. At the end of the year, the disability claims backlog (defined as any disability claim pending longer than 125 days) was reduced by 60 percent from the peak backlog in March 2013, and is at its lowest number in nearly four years. Veterans waited, on average, 119 fewer days for a decision on their claim than veterans did in fiscal 2013. VA is on target to hit its 2015 goal. These improvements were not made at the expense of quality, announced VA officials. The accuracy of VA's decisions continues to rise from an 83-percent accuracy level in 2011 to a 90-percent accuracy level today. When focusing specifically at the medical issue level, accuracy is at 96 percent. "I am so proud of our employees -- more than half of whom are veterans themselves --who continue to work tirelessly to deliver the benefits our veterans have earned through their service to our nation," said Undersecretary for Benefits Allison A. Hickey. "But we all also recognize there is still much more work to do to better serve veterans." VA's move to a web-based electronic claims processing system has enabled a quicker, more accurate and integrated benefits delivery. VA once processed 5,000 tons of paper annually; today it processes 93 percent of veterans' disability claims electronically. One in seven veterans who submit a claim to change the status of a family member now does so online and more than half of those are paid in one to two days. Officials say VA's progress would not have been possible without the support of its strong partners. Veteran service organizations and state and county veteran service officers embraced the Fully Developed Claim program, which enables VA to make faster claim decisions when veterans submit their claims with all available evidence and certify they have no more evidence to submit. In fiscal 2014, more than 4.5 million veterans and survivors received more than $72.7 billion in VA compensation and pension benefits. For more information on VA's transformation, benefits and programs visit: www.benefits.va.gov/, www.ebenefits.va.gov and www.benefits.va.gov/fdc.