eHealth Exchange is a new program that allows access to electronic health records for veterans. As a result, the program accelerates processing of veterans’ Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) claims. The agreement removed a long-standing rule that made the VA wait several months before shipping information to insurance agencies. Instead, the eHealth Exchange program allows adjudicators instant access to health records for SSDI claims. Rather than using mail or fax to send records, eHealth uses an automated process that requires no hands-on interference. Let’s explore both eHealth Exchange and SSDI benefits to find how they are improving benefits for veterans.
eHealth Exchange and SSDI Benefits
The Sequoia Project
eHealth Exchange is an extension of The Sequoia Project. The Sequoia Project is a nonprofit, public and private initiative focused on greater integration between record-keeping systems.
Presently, when authorized veterans apply for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits, the typical time period for Social Security to receive the necessary records from VA can be months. This new program enables Social Security and VA to allocate the veteran’s health information by machine in minutes.
Other Initiatives
In addition to eHealth, Social Security has two other programs working to accelerate the claims process for veterans. One is Wounded Warriors, which seeks to assist military veterans wounded in the line of duty. The other program is for veterans with Permanent and Total disability ratings of 100 percent. Many initiatives like these have continued to remove the need for human interaction. As a result, the claims adjudication process is much faster than ever before. Furthermore, these programs, and those like IBM Watson, continue to eliminate the need for federal employees. For now, Social Security and the VA have a working solution for delayed SSDI benefits. In the future, however, the question of how these programs affect the need of human employment will have to be addressed.