When leaving the service, looking up VA benefits may be the last thing on your mind. But if you wait to research your benefits, you may find some deadlines have passed.
Take a moment to review benefits you may be eligible for:
Further your education with the Post-9/11 GI Bill®
Covers costs for tuition, housing, training, and other expenses related to your education
Purchase a home with VA home loans
Allows Veterans who qualify to buy a house with no down payment
You don’t have to be a first-time homebuyer, and you can reuse the benefit
Prepare for your future with VA life insurance
Lets you convert the Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance (SGLI) you had in the service into lifetime renewable group insurance
You must apply within one year and 120 days of leaving service
Check out all VA benefits by visiting Explore.VA.gov or clicking the button below.
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U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
810 Vermont Avenue North West
Washington, D.C. 20420, United States
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Please remember the only secure way to ask personal questions is at https://iris.custhelp.com.
Explore VA benefits at explore.va.gov
US Department of Veterans Affairs
810 Vermont Avenue, North West
Washington, D.C. 20420, United States
-------Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG) in Washington, D.C., United States for Thursday, 3 August 2017 "Inspection of the VA Regional Office Seattle, Washington"
Inspection of the VA Regional Office Seattle, Washington
In October 2016, we evaluated the Seattle VARO to determine how well VSC staff processed disability claims, how timely and accurately they processed proposed rating reductions, how accurately they entered claims-related information, and how well they responded to special controlled correspondence. VSC staff did not consistently process two types of disability claims. We reviewed 30 of 821 veterans’ TBI claims and found that RVSRs incorrectly processed three. We also reviewed 30 of 71 veterans’ SMC claims and found that RVSRs incorrectly processed four. RVSRs inaccurately processed seven of 60 veterans’ disability claims reviewed, resulting in 10 improper monthly payments to three veterans totaling approximately $23,900. Errors occurred due to TBI cases being assigned to RVSRs not on a specialized team responsible for working TBI cases. SMC errors were generally due to ineffective training, including training on effective dates to pay benefits. VSC staff generally processed proposed rating reductions accurately but they needed to prioritize workloads to ensure timely action. We reviewed 30 of 836 proposed rating reduction cases and found staff delayed or incorrectly processed 12. Delays were due to prioritization of other workloads and resulted in about $78,400 in overpayments. VSC staff needed to improve the accuracy of claims-related information input into the electronic systems at the time of claims establishment. We reviewed 30 of 2,027 established claims and found that Claims Assistants and VSRs did not correctly establish four because of ineffective training. The potential existed for claims to be misrouted and processing to be delayed. VSC staff needed to improve timeliness and accuracy in the processing of special controlled correspondences. We reviewed 30 of 381 special correspondences and found staff incorrectly processed 14 because of a lack of training and inadequate oversight. Thus, congressional staff were not timely made aware of the status of cases about which they had inquired, and VBA staff would not be able to review issues pertaining to timeliness and accuracy of such correspondence in the veterans’ electronic claims folders. We recommended the Director implement plans to provide refresher training for TBI, effective dates, special controlled correspondence, and establishing claims in the electronic record. We recommended the Director ensure TBI claims are assigned to qualified RVSRs and RVSRs follow VBA policies for processing TBI and SMC claims. We recommended the Director prioritize benefit reductions and provide oversight of special controlled correspondence. The Director concurred with our recommendations. Management’s planned actions are responsive.
Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG)
801 I Street North West
Washington, D.C. 20536, United States
-------Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG) in Washington, D.C., United States for Thursday, 3 August 2017 "Healthcare Inspection – Administrative Summary Non-VA Care Consult Program Concerns, Charles George VA Medical Center, Asheville, North Carolina"
Healthcare Inspection – Administrative Summary Non-VA Care Consult Program Concerns, Charles George VA Medical Center, Asheville, North Carolina
OIG conducted an inspection in 2016 to assess concerns made regarding the clinical and administrative systems and practices within the non-VA care program at the Charles George VA Medical Center (facility), Asheville, NC. In 2015, we conducted a survey in advance of a Combined Assessment Program review and multiple respondents raised concerns about the non-VA care program. We did not find that non-VA care consult staff inappropriately discontinued or cancelled consults. Based on our random sample of 147 non-VA care consults, we found that staff discontinued or cancelled 33 consults. Of the 33 consults, we found 32 (97 percent) had appropriate reasoning documented within the consult. We did not find that the facility’s non-VA care program lacked clinical oversight. We found that approving officials reviewed and documented approval for the 147 randomly sampled consults. We found that telephone calls to the non-VA care program went unanswered. Beginning in October 2015, non-VA care leadership changed and then implemented a reorganization. In addition, the non-VA care program increased the number of phone lines, implemented teams, clarified roles and responsibilities, and increased staffing. With these efforts, the facility’s telephone metrics improved by the end of March 2016. We found apparent delays in processing non-VA care consults in FY 2015 and FY 2016. We focused our findings on the results from our review of the non-VA care consults ordered in FY 2016. We found apparent delays for 3,294 of 6,800 patients (48.4 percent) with at least one non-VA care consult. We reviewed the 863 EHRs of patients who experienced either a hospital admission or death following an apparent delay. We did not identify that the delays in care clinically impacted the patients reviewed. We made no recommendations.
Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG)
801 I Street North West
Washington, D.C. 20536, United States
-------Secretary of Defense Freedom Award in Washington, D.C., United States for Thursday, 3 August 2017 "Who is providing extraordinary support to their National Guard and Reserve employees?"
See how this year's recipient has gone above and beyond.
What does it take for employers to receive SecDef's highest honor?
The Freedom Award is only presented to employers who provide exceptional support to their Guard and Reserve employees. Recipients allow members to attend deployments without concern by supporting families at home and easing transitions back into civilian life.
By bestowing the Freedom Award, the Department of Defense recognizes that Cargill is committed to providing the most outstanding support for their Guard and Reserve employees. You can see all of this year's recipients of DoD's top honor for employers at freedomaward.mil:
If you have questions or problems with the subscription service, please visit subscriberhelp.govdelivery.com:
U.S. Department of Defense
Defense Personnel and Family Support
U.S. Department of Defense
Guard & Reserve Support Network
-------Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG) in Washington, D.C., United States for Thursday, 3 August 2017 "Inspection of the VA Regional Office Indianapolis, Indiana"
Inspection of the VA Regional Office Indianapolis, Indiana
In October 2016, we evaluated the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office (VARO) in Indianapolis, Indiana, to determine how well Veterans Service Center (VSC) staff processed disability claims, how timely and accurately they processed proposed rating reductions, how accurately they entered claims-related information, and how well they responded to special controlled correspondence. Indianapolis VSC staff did not consistently process one of the two types of disability claims we reviewed. We reviewed 30 traumatic brain injury claims and found that Rating Veterans Service Representatives (RVSRs) accurately processed 29 of the claims. However, RVSRs did not always process entitlement to special monthly compensation (SMC) and ancillary benefits consistent with policy. Three of the 30 SMC claims reviewed were in error because RVSRs misinterpreted policy for evaluating a neurological disease. This resulted in 33 improper monthly payments totaling approximately $66,500. VSC staff generally processed proposed rating reductions accurately but staff needed better oversight to ensure timely actions. We reviewed 30 benefits reductions and determined VSC staff delayed or incorrectly processed 12 cases, resulting in 99 improper monthly payments totaling approximately $156,000. The delays occurred because management prioritized other workload higher to meet performance goals. We also reviewed 30 newly established claims and found VSC staff did not correctly input information in 16 claims due to insufficient quality review processes and ineffective training. Lastly, VSC staff timely processed and responded to special controlled correspondence; however, improved controls are needed. Our review of 30 special controlled correspondences found that VSC staff did not establish the proper end product controls to monitor this workload in all 30 cases. They also did not upload follow-up correspondence in 13 of the cases. The errors occurred because management did not perform thorough quality reviews, nor did they ensure that the congressional liaison received training. We recommended the VARO Director provide training for SMC and medical classifications; monitor the effectiveness of this training; implement plans to ensure oversight of proposed rating reduction cases; and modify the quality review process for claims establishment. In addition, the VARO Director needs to ensure special controlled correspondence is managed and the VARO congressional liaison receives training. The Director should also assess the effectiveness of the special controlled correspondence checklist. The VARO Director concurred with our recommendations and management’s planned actions for were generally responsive. However, the Director’s planned actions did not fully address one of the recommendations. OIG will follow up as required.
Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG)
801 I Street North West
Washington, D.C. 20536, United States
-------Military Health System in Washington, D.C., United States for Thursday, 3 August 2017 "DHITS 2017 Attendees Interviews - 3"
DHITS 2017 Attendees Interviews - 3The Defense Health Information Technology Symposium kicked off July 25 in Orlando, Fla., bringing together 3,000 health military health system representatives and health information technology vendors from around the world. This is the third of four videos where we stopped and asked attendees to tell us why this gathering is an important part of the military health system information technology strategy.
The Defense Health Information Technology Symposium kicked off July 25 in Orlando, Fla., bringing together 3,000 health military health system representatives and health information technology vendors from around the world. This is the third of four videos where we stopped and asked attendees to tell us why this gathering is an important part of the military health system information technology strategy.
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