We have the June 2021 veterans disability benefits statistics report from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. This statistical snapshot from the VA shows all disability compensation, pension, and survivor’s benefits claims pending a determination decision. You’ll learn in our review how things changed during the past 30 days, and what the latest numbers mean for veterans.
June 2021 Veterans Disability Benefits Statistics: Claims Inventory Status
The June 2021 veterans disability benefits statistics report lists all currently unrated VA benefits applications. On June 5, this category held at least 522,000 unrated VA claims. Thankfully, this month shows a drop in the steadily rising claims inventory numbers we noted during the past several months. Every day, the VA’s clearing a little less than 500 claims from the inventory category:
- As of June 5, 2021: 522,504
- As of May 1, 2021: 531,791
- Difference: -9,287
- Daily churn: -464 claims
Here’s how claims in the June inventory break down, according to service era:
- 34% of claims come from Vietnam vets
- 33% of claims come from Gulf War vets
- 21% of claims come from vets who served in either Iraq or Afghanistan
- 10% of claims come from peacetime veterans who served between Vietnam and the Gulf War
- 1.7% of claims come from Korean War vets
- .7% of claims come from WWII veterans
- .2% come from other service-era veterans
June 2021 Veterans Disability Benefits Statistics: Claims Backlog Status
Applications that take more than 125 days for the VA to process automatically fall into the backlog category. Much like this month’s inventory, backlogged claims are also going back down again:
- As of June 5, 2021: 190,309
- As of May 1, 2021: 193,371
- Difference: -3,062
- Daily churn: -153 claims cleared from the backlog
Here’s a closer look at the claims currently listed in the June 2021 backlog category:
- 53% are supplemental claims from vets already receiving some VA benefits each month (more than 100,000 applications)
- 39% are first-time claims for either disability, pension, or survivor’s benefits:
- 24% are VA disability claims that list no more than 7 unrated service-connected disabilities (44,949 applications)
- 13.5% are VA disability claims that list at least 8 unrated service-connected disabilities (25,736 applications)
- 1.6% are survivor’s claims filed by either spouses, children, or parents of deceased veterans (2,971 applications)
- .2% are VA pension claims (298 applications)
- 8% are Blue Water Navy claims for Agent Orange exposure (15,505 applications)
You May Qualify for Legal Assistance
For almost a decade, the VA’s paid the wrong benefit amount to 1 in 10 veterans every month. That’s why we strongly recommend getting free claim help from a VA-accredited lawyer by phone. You can get free, confidential legal advice that applies to your specific situation without leaving your home. Since all VA-accredited lawyers work on contingency, you’ll pay $0 for legal assistance if you don’t win a cash settlement. But if you do win, then you’ll only pay a small, one-time fee.
Ready to see if you may qualify? Click the button below to start your free online benefits evaluation now!
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Lori Polemenakos is Director of Consumer Content and SEO strategist for LeadingResponse, a legal marketing company. An award-winning journalist, writer and editor based in Dallas, Texas, she's produced articles for major brands such as Match.com, Yahoo!, MSN, AOL, Xfinity, Mail.com, and edited several published books. Since 2016, she's published hundreds of articles about Social Security disability, workers' compensation, veterans' benefits, personal injury, mass tort, auto accident claims, bankruptcy, employment law and other related legal issues.