BALTIMORE — The Department of Veterans Affairs says it is making major strides in speeding up disability claims, reducing backlogs, and expanding access to health care nationwide. But interviews with Baltimore veterans and concerns raised by Maryland lawmakers suggest the reality on the ground is more complex.
WATCH: VA chief touts faster claims, expanded care; Baltimore vets report mixed results
VA Secretary Doug Collins visited the Baltimore VA Medical Center this week, highlighting what the department calls significant improvements under the Trump administration. According to the VA, the benefits backlog is down 57 percent since January 2025, disability claims processing reached a record three million claims last fiscal year, and access to care has expanded through new clinics and extended hours.
“It’s not necessarily the issue of how many people we have,” Collins said during his visit. “It’s how well we’re using those people.”
The visit comes after thousands of VA positions were eliminated or left unfilled by the end of fiscal year 2025, a move that has raised concerns among veteran advocates, employee groups, and lawmakers about whether staffing reductions could impact access to care.
For some veterans, those concerns feel personal.
Alan Stokes, a Vietnam War veteran who served in the U.S. Army for one year and three months in Vietnam, says he’s still waiting on a benefits claim he first filed decades ago.
“I’ve had a claim in since 1975,” Stokes said. “And nothing ever happened.”
Stokes told WMAR 2 News that while getting medical appointments has not been a problem, including a recent hospital stay, his decades-long fight for benefits has remained stalled.
“I’m just sitting and waiting,” he said. “Nothing’s happening with the claim. It’s just sitting.”
Another Baltimore veteran described a very different experience.
Tico Montez, an Army veteran who served nine years, including deployments to Germany and Bosnia, says claims processing and wait times have improved significantly in recent years.
“The claim process has been sped up a whole lot,” Montez said. “It used to take up to a year. Now it’s a lot quicker.”
Montez also said access to care has improved, especially through the VA’s community care program, which allows veterans to receive treatment from non-VA providers when appointments aren’t readily available. Still, he acknowledged the system can be difficult to navigate.
“Sometimes you get passed around,” Montez said, describing situations where veterans are referred between offices before getting answers.
Maryland’s senior U.S. senator says those frustrations remain widespread.
In a statement to WMAR 2 News, Chris Van Hollen said his office continues to hear from veterans struggling to get help.
“Every day, my office hears from Maryland veterans who are frustrated — their calls to the VA are going unanswered, and burdensome delays in their cases are dragging on,” Van Hollen said.
“It’s hard to trust this Administration’s data when we’ve seen them so readily lie — and when my office continues to field the same amount of calls and cases from veterans seeking help.”
Van Hollen also expressed concern about staffing levels at the VA following workforce reductions tied to DOGE-related changes.
“With the VA down thousands of workers… and reports that the Administration intends to cut tens of thousands more, I remain deeply concerned that the VA will be even less equipped to meet the needs of our veterans,” he said.
“We should be investing more, not less, in supporting and caring for those who signed up to defend our country with their lives.”
The senator’s comments follow a previous Office of Inspector General report that found some Maryland veterans were waiting more than 45 days for community care appointments. That report prompted changes the VA says have helped reduce wait times.
VA officials note that delays in community care are not always within the department’s control, emphasizing that private health care providers also play a role in appointment availability.
The VA also points to expanded clinic access, more than 1.4 million appointments offered outside normal operating hours, and nearly 52,000 homeless veterans permanently housed in fiscal year 2025 as evidence of progress.
Still, as veterans’ stories show, improvements on paper don’t always translate into the same experience for everyone.