WASHINGTON (AP) – A World War II-era compensation plan is one of the many reasons the average Illinois veteran with a disability got about $5,000 less last year than the average vet in New Mexico, the government says.

Claims examiners use 60-year-old guidelines to assess ailments; the guidelines don’t include nonphysical conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder that are now recognized, according to a report released Thursday by the Veterans Affairs Department.

“Today’s report is an important first step in a process,” House Speaker Dennis Hastert said in a statement. “It confirms that there is no single reason, or single combination of reasons, for regional disparities in disability payments – and (it) provides the VA with a roadmap to solutions.”

Hastert, R-Ill., along with other members of Illinois’ congressional delegation, requested the investigation last December after the Chicago Sun-Times reported that the average veteran disability payment in Illinois was the lowest in the country.

The average compensation payment last year was $8,378 per veteran. Illinois’ was the lowest, at $6,961; New Mexico had the highest, $12,004.

The VA found that more than one-third of the variation in disability compensation results from different rates of acceptance for certain ailments, like post-traumatic stress disorder.

The benefits for veterans who are 100 percent disabled as a result of that disorder do not vary, but states with higher average benefits per injured veteran appear to accept more such claims, the report found.

Sixty-five percent of VA claim assessors surveyed said they did not have enough staff to “ensure timely and quality service,” the report said.

Nationwide, enlisted veterans got an average of $1,775 more than vets who served as officers, the report said. Less than 50 percent of Illinois veterans receiving benefits were enlisted, compared with a national average of 58 percent.

Other demographic factors also play into the state-to-state disparity, the study found.

VA Secretary Jim Nicholson said the report had turned up “some information that demands the attention of this agency.”

“The amount of dollars involved is huge and the lives involved are important,” Nicholson said. “Our number one goal is to take care of those veterans who are deserving.”

VA officials also said the situation is getting better. The disparity in recent claims is not as extreme as it has been in years past, they said.

Some of the report’s recommendations are already being implemented.

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