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VA Health Care: VA Increases Third-Party Collections as It Addresses Problems in Its Collections Operations

GAO-03-740T Published: May 07, 2003. Publicly Released: May 07, 2003.
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Highlights

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) collects health insurance payments, known as third-party collections, for veterans' health care conditions it treats that are not a result of injuries or illnesses incurred or aggravated during military service. In September 1999, VA adopted a new fee schedule, called "reasonable charges," that it anticipated would increase revenues from third-party collections. In January 2003, GAO reported on VA's third-party collection efforts and problems in collections operations for fiscal year 2002 as well as VA's initiatives to improve collections (VA Health Care: Third-Party Collections Rising as VA Continues to Address Problems in Its Collections Operations, (GAO-03-145, Jan. 31, 2003)). GAO was asked to discuss its findings and update third-party collection amounts and agency plans to improve collections.

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Government collectionsHealth care costsHealth insuranceInternal controlsVeteransVeterans benefitsVeterans' medical careAccounts receivableHealth carePatient care