Judge: Veterans' disability appeals causing highest caseload ever as VA increasingly turns down benefits

WASHINGTON (AP) - A special federal court that hears veterans' disability appeals is facing its highest caseload ever as the government increasingly turns down benefits for war veterans, its chief judge said Tuesday.

Judge William P. Greene Jr., who presides over the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, warned of a strained court that has had to recall five retired judges in recent months to assist with growing backlogs of veterans unhappy with the level of disability benefits assigned to them by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The seven-judge court is now averaging 300 appeals per month, which don't include veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan because many of the cases haven't reached the appeals level yet. If the court is to keep up, it will need more staff and building space, Greene told a House Veterans Affairs subcommittee.

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