Veterans' Benefits: VA Can Prevent Millions in Compensation and Pension Overpayments
HEHS-95-88
Published: Apr 28, 1995. Publicly Released: Apr 28, 1995.
Skip to Highlights
Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) efforts to prevent, detect, and recover compensation and pension overpayments.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Veterans Affairs | To better prevent compensation and pension overpayments, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs should direct the Under Secretary for Benefits to establish procedures that focus on preventing overpayments that include identifying beneficiaries who will soon become eligible for social security benefits and obtaining the necessary information to timely adjust their benefit payments. |
Closed – Implemented
VA installed programming changes that will change the issuance date of letters to beneficiaries with income-related benefits to 2 months before they become age 60, 62, or 65, as appropriate. GAO estimated that VA could have prevented as much as $52 million of overpayments in 1994 by establishing such procedures. However, VA could not determine or reliably estimate the actual dollar amounts to be saved in subsequent years.
|
| Department of Veterans Affairs | To better prevent compensation and pension overpayments, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs should direct the Under Secretary for Benefits to collect, analyze, and use information on the specific causes or contributing factors of overpayments to develop strategies for targeting additional preventive efforts. |
Closed – Implemented
According to VA, it has plans to update its computer system as part of its modernization effort to improve, among other things, the identification of the causes of overpayments. The modernization effort is part of an overall VBA business process reengineering effort, which will take several years to implement. VA has closed this recommendation and is no longer tracking it.
|
Full Report
Office of Public Affairs
Topics
BeneficiariesComputer matchingData collectionDebt collectionManagement information systemsOverpaymentsRefunds to governmentSocial security benefitsVeterans benefitsVeterans pensions