Bill would test competency of VA claims workers - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

Bill would test competency of VA claims workers

A House subcommittee postponed on Friday passage of a bill that would require an annual competency test for veterans’ claims processors after some lawmakers worried this would only add to the already considerable backlog of claims.

The bill, HR 2349, would require an annual assessment of the skills of employees and managers at the Veterans Affairs Department who are involved in processing benefits and pension claims.

The Veterans Benefits Training Improvement Act of 2011 would direct anyone who receives a less than satisfactory grade on the exam to undergo remedial training, then be tested again. Anyone who receives two opportunities for remedial training but still receives a less than satisfactory score would face “appropriate personnel action,” the bill says, without describing exactly what that means.

The bill came up for a vote Friday before the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee’s disability assistance and memorial affairs panel but was set aside after objections, mostly from Democrats who noted that the bill provides no funding source for the annual assessments. They also expressed concern that claims processing may slow down as VA workers feel compelled to take time to study for the test.

Rep. Jon Runyan, R-N.J., the subcommittee chairman and chief sponsor of the bill, said he wants to improve the competency of VA workers and to have a way of assessing the quality of work by office and region.

Runyan pulled the bill under a rule that allows it to be taken up again next week, providing time to try to work out a compromise.