State of VA Claims. 2026

Key findings

• •VA's claims backlog fell by 31,382 so far in 2026, from 105,830 to 74,448 (-29.7%).
• •The backlog peaked at 105,830 on 2026-01-03 and bottomed at 68,207 on 2026-06-27.
• •VA finalized 4 benefits-related rules so far in 2026, out of 33 rulemaking documents published.
• •3 benefits-related proposals were opened for public comment so far in 2026.
• •The Veteran Benefit Desk filed 9 public comments into the official federal rulemaking record so far in 2026.
• •The Desk published 7 original research reports from FOIA records and primary federal data so far in 2026, each with its full dataset and methodology.
• •The Desk published 212 new reference guides so far in 2026, bringing the library to 212 articles across 479 rated conditions.
• •The 2027 COLA is tracking between 3.4% and 3.4% based on CPI-W data to date.

The backlog, week by week

On the official federal record

When VA proposes a rule that affects benefits, we read it and file a substantive public comment. Each one becomes part of the official record VA must consider, permanently citable by tracking number.

• Nondiscrimination in Federally-Assisted Programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs
  Filed July 20, 2026 · tracking mrt-dari-1bps · View on Regulations.gov
• Expanding Access to State Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs
  Filed July 20, 2026 · tracking mrs-t60q-u4aj · View on Regulations.gov
• Processing Certain Veteran-Requested Veteran Readiness and Employment Benefit Changes Without Administrative Delays
  Filed July 20, 2026 · tracking mrt-dzjk-63rw · View on Regulations.gov
• Agency Information Collection Activity: Application for Disability Compensation Benefits (VA Form 21-526EZ)
  Filed August 10, 2026 · tracking msn-pu1w-v99a · View on Regulations.gov
• Agency Information Collection Activity: Request for Retroactive Induction for a Period Previously Completed Under Chapter 33 (VA Form 28-10286)
  Filed August 11, 2026 · tracking msn-wyhk-yghg · View on Regulations.gov
• Agency Information Collection Activity: Mandatory Verification of Dependents
  Filed August 17, 2026 · tracking msx-i010-dnkf · View on Regulations.gov
• Agency Information Collection Activity: Application for DIC, Survivors Pension, and/or Accrued Benefits
  Filed August 18, 2026 · tracking · View on Regulations.gov
• Agency Information Collection Activity: Income and Asset Statement in Support of Claim for Pension or Parents' Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (D.I.C.)
  Filed September 13, 2026 · tracking mtz-6jod-d440 · View on Regulations.gov
• Agency Information Collection Activity Under OMB Review: Application for Disability Compensation Benefits
  Filed September 13, 2026 · tracking mtz-7ly4-31oo · View on Regulations.gov

Original research published this year

Beyond tracking public data, we file FOIA requests and build datasets that do not exist anywhere else. Each report publishes its underlying dataset or source ledger, methodology, and validation notes so every number can be checked.

• PACT Act Grant Shares by Station of Jurisdiction: A 24.4-Percentage-Point Range

  Across 3,587,792 completed PACT-flagged rating claims, cumulative grant shares span 24.4 percentage points among the 57 RO-labeled station codes (63.3 percent in Seattle to 87.8 percent in San Juan). San Juan's share exceeded Seattle's in all 44 reported monthly periods, a timing-standardization check moved no station more than 0.53 percentage points, and the national grant share declined across successive calendar-year periods. The records establish a persistent association with the credited station, not a cause.

  Sources: VBA FOIA case 26-25137-F (PA&I Metrics and Data Reporting Team), compared against VA's public PACT Act Dashboard and FOIA case 26-23669-F on matched periods
• The Quiet Doubling: DIC Denials Since FY2023

  DIC denials rose from 12,952 in FY 2024 to 23,212 in FY 2025, a 79.2 percent one-year increase, while the denial share of decided claims climbed from 23.1 to 32.4 percent; the 1318 pathway accounts for a steady quarter of categorized grants, a split VA publishes nowhere.

  Sources: VBA FOIA case 26-23676-F (Pension and Fiduciary Service search of VA's compensation database)
• The Slipping Schedule: How VA's Projected Rule Dates Move, Edition by Edition

  60.6 percent of VA rulemakings appearing in two or more agenda editions (134 of 221) slipped at least one projected date, with a median slip of 15 months; the deepest projection moved 86 months across seven years of editions.

  Sources: Unified Agenda public XML editions (reginfo.gov), Fall 2018 through Fall 2025
• The Purchasing Power of a 100 Percent VA Rating, 2000 to 2026

  Measured in 2025 dollars, the 100 percent rating is worth 0.7 percent more than in 2000, but the 2009 peak stood 9.4 percent above the 2022 low in real terms, an 8.6 percent decline from peak to low.

  Sources: VA published rate tables, SSA COLA series, BLS CPI-U
• PACT Act Claims by Month: Received, Completed, Granted, Denied

  The PACT Act grant rate fell 8.4 points, from 78.6 percent in the law's first 12 months to 70.2 percent in the most recent 12 months, a period measure distinct from VA's cumulative approval rate, and cumulative denials crossed one million in July 2026.

  Sources: VBA FOIA case 26-23669-F, cross-validated against VA's public PACT Act Dashboard
• Inside VA's Contract Exam Program: Volume, Timeliness, Training and Oversight

  Reported monthly contract exam requests averaged 47.6 percent higher in the latest 12 months than in the first 12 months of the released record, completion-time averages differ by vendor, Loyal Source's share of requests rose from 2.2 to 18.9 percent between those windows, and VBA states that no-show, rescheduling, and insufficient-exam measures are not captured by vendor, a gap we are pursuing through an appeal and follow-up requests.

  Sources: VBA FOIA cases 26-23677-F and 26-23670-F (MDEO records)
• Rating Decision Quality: VA's Accuracy Reviews, Office by Office

  National issue-based rating accuracy fell from 95.3 percent in FY 2023 to 91.6 percent in FY 2024 and recovered to 94.0 percent in the latest 12 months, still below VA's 96 percent target, with duty-to-assist and effective-date errors making up about half of all errors found.

  Sources: VBA FOIA case 26-23671-F, validated exactly against VA's public Detailed Claims Data page

The reference library totals

Library totals reflect the library at report generation time.

COLA outlook

The 2027 COLA is tracking between 3.4% and 3.4% based on CPI-W data to date. Follow the live tracker for monthly updates.

Methodology and sources

Backlog figures are weekly snapshots of the Veterans Benefits Administration's published workload reports (claims pending more than 125 days, the VBA definition). Rulemaking counts come from the Federal Register API, filtered to Department of Veterans Affairs documents touching 38 CFR; 'benefits-related' means the document affects disability compensation, pension, or survivor benefits. Public comments listed under the federal record carry Regulations.gov tracking numbers and can be verified there. COLA projections apply the statutory CPI-W third-quarter formula (42 U.S.C. 415(i)) to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Full methodology at veteranbenefitdesk.com/methodology.

• VBA: Monday Morning Workload Reports
• Federal Register: Department of Veterans Affairs documents
• Regulations.gov: the public comment record
• BLS: CPI-W (the COLA index)