Veterans have waited at least a year on claims

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — A memo from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs regional office in North Carolina indicates more than 7,000 veterans have been waiting at least a year for a ruling on their disability claims.

The Fayetteville Observer reports (http://bit.ly/WwEQWm ) that more than 700 veterans have waited for at least two years.

Veterans in North Carolina are waiting longer for claims decisions than they were six months ago, even as the VA works to eliminate its growing backlog by 2015.

Leigh Ann Skeens-Wilson of the Winston-Salem regional office said the backlog is growing because more veterans are filing claims and the average number of injuries reported per claim is increasing.

Two months ago, the office began using a new computer system that the VA says should speed up claims when it's operational.

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Information from: The Fayetteville Observer, http://www.fayobserver.com