DOD Cooperation Accelerating VA Claims Handling

Senior officials from the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs assured Congress July 10 that they are closing in on solutions that will alleviate the backlog of veterans' health benefit claims and streamline processing of current and future claims.

Frank Kendall, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, testified along with Dr. Jonathan Woodson, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, and Jessica L. Wright, acting undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, before the U.S. House Armed Services and Veterans Affairs committees.

While the two departments can read each other's health records now, Kendall said, “We want to have an improved system from that, where we're not just reading the records, but actually using them and using the data that's provided.”