Melissa Ross
Florida U.S. Reps. Patrick E. Murphy and Ted Yoho, in a joint news release, say they’ve joined 62 other members of Congress in sending a letter to Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald, urging him to grant access to congressional constituent advocates for veterans’ electronic claims files.
“Granting this access would allow Congressional offices to give better updates to veterans regarding their claims and free up VA staff to more quickly process claims,” the email states.
“The VA is constantly working to remove the claims backlog and this effort is one more way we can do it,” said Murphy, a Democrat who represents Florida’s 18th Congressional District. “By giving certified, congressional constituent advocates access to view the claims status, we’ll get veterans more timely updates and free up VA officials to process claims quicker. Every effort should be made to get our veterans the information they need as fast as possible, and I am hopeful the VA will work with us to make that happen.”
“When veterans can’t get regular updates about their claims, they turn to congressional caseworkers in their district,” said Yoho, a Republican from Florida’s 3rd Congressional District. “Caseworkers can only provide them the answers they need by contacting regional VA offices. This adds another layer between the veteran and the answers they are so desperately looking for — which in turn causes frustration. It is my hope that with this common-sense solution, Veterans Affairs Secretary McDonald will take the necessary steps to streamline the claims process and grant congressional caseworkers read-only access to veterans’ claims files. This will help give our nation’s veterans piece of mind about the status of their claims and expedite the process.”
Currently, only the VA and certified Veteran Service Officers have access to a veteran’s claims files. In their letter, the members are requesting read-only access for congressional office advocates acting as a “middle man” between the VA and veterans.
Murphy, a South Florida Democrat, was recently endorsed by Alex Sink in his run for U.S. Senate. Yoho, a North Florida Republican, is among those in Congress who’ve flirted with impeachment as a potential remedy to their ongoing disputes with President Barack Obama.
