Effective October 1, 2013, the Federal Government was ‘shutdown’, but what does the shutdown mean for those with disability claims with the Department of Veterans Affairs? In anticipation of the shutdown, the government provided some insight for those depending on their disability benefits.
For Veterans Disability benefits :
VETERANS FIELD GUIDE TO THE SHUTDOWN
First and foremost, all VA medical facilities and clinics will remain open and will be fully operational. However, the real impact for Veterans will occur within the regional offices that are processing disability claims. The offices will not be issuing decision, FOIA requests will not be processed, and regional offices will not be open to the public for contact services.
In addition, many of the VA’s websites wil l only be updated intermittently. However, unlike the Social Security Administration, the VA will continually review and update its plan with respect to the services they are providing depending on the progress of the shutdown. Therefore, Veterans are encouraged to check back with the regional office from time to time to familiarize themselves with the current services.