VA eliminates Veteran family health care backlog

WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs today announced it has completely eliminated the backlog of Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) applications, a major VA program that provides health care coverage to over 900,000 qualifying Veteran spouses, dependents, survivors, and caregivers.

When President Trump took office, there was a backlog of more than 70,000 CHAMPVA applications that the Biden Administration had failed to process. Applicants were waiting in some cases over 150 days for VA to take action. Those days are over.

As of October, the application backlog has been reduced to zero, with new applications now being processed in a handful of days. VA currently receives about 4,000 new applications per week and can process more than it receives.

VA has also substantially reduced the number of appeals waiting for processing. Under the Biden Administration, there was a backlog of more than 20,000 CHAMPVA appeals. This has been reduced to 1,000 and continues to rapidly decrease by the day.

The backlogs have been cut thanks to VA Secretary Doug Collins’ immediate, two-pronged approach: provide CHAMPVA application processors with overtime pay to get the job done and implement process engineering and automation to sustain the gains going forward. As a result, Veterans’ loved ones no longer face needless delays for health care coverage.

Long-term, automation will lead to faster processing times. In December, VA will complete its move to a more automated application processing system that increases the efficiency of processing CHAMPVA applications. In addition, more than 90% of medical services and pharmacy claims are electronically processed within days of receipt for more timely payment.

“Veterans around the country knew it was taking far too long to process CHAMPVA applications, and that meant delayed coverage for their loved ones,” said VA Secretary Doug Collins. “We listened, and now the application backlog that caused so many unnecessary delays has been wiped out.”

Ending the CHAMPVA backlog is just one of several ways the Trump Administration is making VA run better:

• VA has opened 20 new health care clinics across the nation since Jan. 20.
• Average VA health care wait times rose in five of six main areas under Biden. These wait times are now improving in four of six areas under President Trump.
• The backlog of Veterans waiting for VA benefits increased 24% under Biden and is down 57% under the second Trump Administration.
• VA is spending an additional $800 million on infrastructure improvements to ensure department facilities provide safe and effective patient care.
  • The additional funds will come from savings gleaned from various VA reform efforts.
• Since Jan. 20, VA has offered Veterans nearly 1 million appointments outside of normal operating hours. These early-morning, evening, and weekend appointments are giving Veterans more timely and convenient options for care.
• VA has made it easier and faster for VA-enrolled Veterans to access care from non-VA providers at the department’s expense.
• VA has implemented major reforms to make it easier for survivors to get benefits, after serious problems during the Biden Administration.
• VA is processing record numbers of disability claims — having reached an all-time fiscal-year high, Aug. 8, of 2.52 million ratings claims for FY25.
• The president’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget request would add billions to VA’s budget.