VA Claims Are Moving Faster, But Some Veterans Still Wait Months for Decisions. Here's Why.
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Military.com | By Douglas Lindsay
Published April 03, 2026 at 6:00am ET
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The Department of Veterans Affairs says disability claims are moving faster than ever. For many veterans, that’s hard to square with reality.
Some are getting decisions in weeks. Others are still waiting months, refreshing claim status pages, scheduling exams and wondering when a final answer will come. Both experiences are happening at the same time.
And that’s the disconnect: the system is improving, but the experience doesn’t always feel faster.
The VA Is Actually Getting Faster
By the numbers, the VA has made real progress.
The department processed more than 2 million disability claims in 2025, the highest output in its history. At the same time, average processing time dropped from about 141 days to roughly 132 days.
The backlog has also improved significantly. Claims pending longer than 125 days, or what the VA defines as “backlogged”, have dropped below 100,000 for the first time since 2020, down roughly 63% from the previous year.