VA Chief: Shutdown Could Hit Millions of Vets.

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VA Chief: Shutdown Could Hit Millions of Vets.(AbcNews).

About 3.8 million veterans will not receive disability compensation next month if the partial government shutdown continues into late October, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki says. Some 315,000 veterans and 202,000 surviving spouses and dependents will see pension payments stopped.

Shinseki is spelling out some of the dire consequences of a longer-term shutdown in testimony Wednesday for the House Committee on Veterans Affairs. The short-term consequences have meant that disability claims production has slowed by an average of about 1,400 per day since the shutdown began Oct. 1, and that has stalled the department's efforts to reduce the backlog of disability claims pending for longer than 125 days.

In all, more than $6 billion in payments would be halted with an extended shutdown.

"In some areas, like health care delivery, there are fewer adverse effects. In others, such as reducing the claims backlog, we have already seen a negative impact," Shinseki says in written testimony obtained by The Associated Press in advance of the hearing.

The House has passed legislation that would provide veterans disability, pension and other benefits in the event of a prolonged shutdown. But the White House has urged lawmakers not to take a piecemeal approach to continuing government services.

Shinseki plans to make that case as well, saying it's not the best solution for veterans. He'll note that even if the VA were fully funded, some services to veterans would suffer.Read the full story here.