A year ago, veterans, politicians and Department of Veterans Affairs officials met at American Legion Post 778 in Butler Township to discuss problems with the VA.

U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-3rd, of Butler and the other officials heard from Kelly’s veterans advisory panel.

Kelly’s guests included U.S. Rep. Dan Benishek, R-Mich., who is a member of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs.

Kelly called the meeting of veterans representatives and veterans services officers from Butler, Crawford, Venango and Warren counties to discuss problems they have with the federal agency.

Now a year later John Cyprian, Butler County’s director of veterans services, who attended that meeting, says problems still continue.

Cyprian cited a recent report that there are 900,000 claims are in the system and 600,000 are backlogged. The VA said that the average wait time is 273 days for a claim to process, but the report said the wait can be much longer.

The average wait at the VA office in Pittsburgh, which handles claims from Butler County, is 379 days.

As an example, Cyprian said that a fully developed claim with all of the correct paperwork will take 8 to 10 months to process at the VA in Philadelphia. Of course, without a fully developed claim, he said it will take even longer.

“That’s unacceptable,” Cyprian said.

There are other problems besides long waits.

One problem, Cyprian said, is that the VA does not enter a power of attorney form when a veteran’s claim is first processed. But later the VA tells veterans that they need to get that paperwork.

The power of attorney allows a services officer to check on a claim’s status. Without it, the officer cannot check on a claim.

Another problem, Cyprian said, is that an officer will send a doctor’s note that states a veteran is officially disabled, but the VA still will have a worker interview the veteran.

Another example is that the VA will call a veteran with Alzheimer’s disease and try to interview that person, Cyprian said.

“It makes no sense,” Cyprian added.

He said that the VA is pushing a system called e-Benefits, which allows veterans to file claims online. However, he said that no one is there to guide the veteran applying online, which could lead to problems and delays in getting the claim.

“It is going to be a nightmare,” Cyprian said.

To make everything work more smoothly, Cyprian suggested that veterans and their families file claims with the help of a veterans services officer. This makes the process quicker and usually makes families more comfortable.

“It mainstreams everything,” Cyprian said.

He said that officers will provide a list of required documents that veterans need to have, and then the officer will do the rest of the work.

Representatives from the VA in Pittsburgh did not respond to requests for comment.

After the meeting a year ago, Kelly and Benishek, took information back to the House Committee on Veterans Affairs.

Kelly said that dealing with the VA should not be difficult.

“My first reaction was, ‘How the heck can we get this fixed?’ How can I help the veterans who have helped defend America?’” Kelly said.

He said that delays in processing claims will continue until all veterans overseas return to the U.S.

Kelly said he will continue to monitor this issue closely and help in every way that he can.