Veterans Benefit Administration (VBA) Transparency Program – ASPIRE

• VBA has 56 regional offices in the U.S., Puerto Rico and the Philippines
• Regional Offices process Compensation, Pension, Education, Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment, Loan Guaranty and Insurance claims for Veterans, their families and survivors
• Compensation and Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment claims are usually processed in the state where the Veteran lives
• Benefits Delivery at Discharge and Quick State claims are processed at the regional offices in Winston-Salem, Salt Lake City and San Diego
• Pension, Education, Loan Guaranty and Insurance benefits are processed at specialized regional claims processing centers indicated by the map symbols
• The Appeals Management Center processes the majority of service-connected disability appeals claims

The Disability Compensation Inventory statistics displayed are tied to VA’s agency priority goals, which aim to: Improve accuracy and reduce the amount of time it takes to process Veterans' disability benefit claims. The Compensation Inventory includes all claims that have been received by VA regional offices and are pending a disability rating decision. Claims that have been pending for more than 125 days are characterized as "backlog." VA’s goal is to eliminate the backlog of compensation claims pending for more than 125 days by the end of 2015.

Since 2009, the backlog of compensation claims has grown. While VA completed a record-breaking 1 million claims per year in fiscal years 2010, 2011, and 2012, the number of claims received continues to exceed the number processed. In response, VA is implementing a comprehensive Transformation plan—a series of people, process and technology initiatives—to increase productivity and accuracy of disability claims processing. Once the Transformation is fully implemented, VA expects to systematically reduce the backlog and reach its 2015 goal.

Learn more about the Characteristics of the pending Compensation Inventory

Click on the map below to view the ASPIRE Dashboard. New users are encouraged to select the "help" button inside the ASPIRE dashboard for navigation assistance. Click on an area name (e.g. Central) to reach that Area's contact page. Click on a business line name (e.g. Compensation) to learn more about that benefit.

Western    Compensation    Benefits Delivery at Discharge Processing Site    Central   Pension (PMC)    Quick Start Processing Site    Eastern   Education    Fiduciary Hub   Southern   Loan Guaranty          Vocational Rehabilitation & Employment          Insurance        Click on the map below to view the ASPIRE Dashboard. New users are encouraged to select the "help" button once in ASPIRE as it provides an overview for how to navigate the application. Click on an area name (e.g. Central) to reach that Area's contact page. Click on a business line name (e.g. Compensation) to learn more about that benefit.

Since 2009, the backlog of compensation claims has grown. While VA completed a record-breaking 1 million claims per year in fiscal years 2010, 2011, and 2012, the number of claims received continues to exceed the number processed. In response, VA is implementing a comprehensive Transformation plan—a series of people, process and technology initiatives—to increase productivity and accuracy of disability claims processing. Once the Transformation is fully implemented, VA expects to systematically reduce the backlog and reach its 2015 goal.

To learn more, read the Department of Veterans Affairs Strategic Plan (PDF) to eliminate the Compensation claims backlog.

Characteristics of the pending Compensation Inventory

VBA Claims Inventory by Era

Total Pending Claims



Total Backlogged Claims



Source: Dept. Veterans Affairs, 3/28/13
Backlog: Claims pending longer than 125 days

VA tracks claims that make up the pending Compensation Inventory by a Veteran’s era of service. As of Dec 31, 2012, claims from Veterans of the following eras make up VA’s inventory (total number of claims) and backlog (claims pending for more than 125 days):

• Post-9/11 (Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts) claims make up 21% of the total inventory and 22% of the backlog
• Gulf War (definition) claims make up 23% of the total inventory and 21% of the backlog
• Peacetime (period between end of Vietnam and Gulf War) claims make up 11% of the total inventory and 11% of the backlog
• Vietnam claims make up 37% of the total inventory and 38% of the backlog
• Korean War claims make 4% of the total inventory and 4% of the backlog
• World War II claims make up 3% of the total inventory and 3% of the backlog
• Other era claims make up 1% of the total inventory and 1% of the backlog

Original vs. Supplemental Claims

VA’s current Inventory of compensation claims contains both “original” claims—those submitted by Veterans of all eras who are claiming disability compensation from VA for the first time, and “supplemental” claims—those submitted by Veterans of all eras who have previously filed for disability compensation with VA. Below is a breakout of the original and supplemental claims in the current VA inventory:

• 60% of pending claims are supplemental, 40% are original.
• 77% of Veterans filing supplemental claims are receiving some level of monetary benefit from VA.
• 11% of Veterans filing supplemental claims already have a 100% disability rating (receive $2800 or more per month) or qualify for Individual Unemployability (compensated at the 100% disabled rate).
• 40% of Veterans filing supplemental claims are already rated at 50% disability or higher.
• 43% of supplemental claims are from Vietnam-era Veterans; 19% are from Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.

There are 3.9 million Veterans of all eras who are currently in receipt of disability benefits from VA. Of those, 10% have a supplemental claim in the pending compensation inventory. In fiscal year 2012, VA delivered $54 billion in compensation and pension benefits.

Questions regarding Regional Office specific workload and performance may be referred to the Area Office of jurisdiction.