A federal watchdog on Wednesday criticized Veterans Affairs leaders for failing to refund tens of millions of {dollars} in canceled medical co-pay fees to veterans, regardless of figuring out about the issue for years.
The reprimand from the Workplace of Particular Counsel, or OSC, comes after a whistleblower report that division directors had “no company insurance policies, procedures, or plans” to get the backlog of repayments addressed regardless of being conscious of the issue.
In messages to OSC, VA officers acknowledged conducting a latest assessment into the issue and blamed it on staffing points. They pledged to “keep present with refund requests and work the backlog as time permits.”
However OSC officers stated division leaders had been conscious of the overdue refunds way back to 2020 and have but to adequately handle the issue.
“Saying it is best to develop a plan shouldn’t be a plan,” Particular Counsel Hampton Dellinger stated in a press release. “I’m very involved with the dearth of specificity within the VA’s findings and the absence of any actual actions to well timed reimburse veterans for cash they’re owed.”
At concern are medical co-payment fees which are waived or canceled division processors. That may happen for quite a few causes, together with monetary hardship issues, a change in a veteran’s service-connected situation or easy accounting errors.
Federal legislation requires that VA refund the quantity of any co-payment incorrectly charged. However in accordance with OSC, an inside division audit confirmed that between 2012 and 2020, greater than 970,000 veterans had been owed a mixed $110 million in potential refunds, however had been by no means paid.
Dellinger stated he’ll proceed pursuing the problem to drive VA motion, whereas staying involved with officers to see in the event that they develop an inexpensive reimbursement plan.
A VA spokesperson in a press release stated the division is “working urgently to make sure that all veterans get the refunds they deserve. Any delay is unacceptable, and we are going to cease at nothing to handle this downside as quickly as doable.”
Since 2019, VA workers have reviewed 32 million fees and refunded vouchers to greater than 3 million veterans.
A number of senior officers are anticipated to step down early subsequent week as a part of the transition to the brand new White Home administration. However OSC officers stated this downside has spanned not less than three completely different presidential administrations.
Leo covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White Home for Army Instances. He has lined Washington, D.C. since 2004, specializing in army personnel and veterans insurance policies. His work has earned quite a few honors, together with a 2009 Polk award, a 2010 Nationwide Headliner Award, the IAVA Management in Journalism award and the VFW Information Media award.
