Veterans Benefits Act to Expedite Claims

Week of November 10, 2008

The new Veterans Benefits Improvement Act of 2008 (public law 110-389) pushes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to use electronic filing and processing of claims to help expedite claim findings, reduce inconsistencies in decisions involving similar issues, and decrease the number of claims that end up being overturned. The law also creates a new authority to provide a temporary disability rating for those veterans who have severe and multiple disabilities that are not fully healed. The full text of the new law is available at the Library of Congress' Thomas website.