Federal Reports

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted this audit to determine whether veterans received accurate compensation when hospitalized by VA for more than 21 days for service-connected disabilities. The OIG also examined whether claims processors met requirements to document the competency of veterans to handle VA funds who were admitted for service-connected mental health conditions. Veterans hospitalized for more than 21 days are entitled to receive temporary increases to 100 percent in tax-free disability compensation. Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) employees process the compensation adjustments based on hospital admission and discharge reports. Staff’s failure to properly start or end the temporary compensation increases can lead to underpayments or overpayments. The OIG estimated VARO employees did not adjust or incorrectly adjusted disability compensation benefits in about 2,500 of the estimated 5,800 cases eligible for adjustments, creating an estimated $8 million in improper payments in calendar year 2018. The OIG estimated 1,900 cases did not have competency determinations documented for service-connected mental health conditions. The deficiencies occurred because employees did not consistently generate required reports and maintain report logs. Managers also provided ineffective oversight. As a result, veterans risked not receiving the proper benefits. Employees who processed benefit adjustments also lacked proficiency. They lacked sufficient ongoing experience and training to maintain requisite knowledge. This is also why employees were unclear on the requirement to document the relevant competency of veterans admitted for service-connected mental health conditions. The OIG made six recommendations to the under secretary for benefits, including ensuring proper admission and discharge reporting, as well as making certain that employees receive refresher training when needed to properly process temporary benefit adjustments for eligible veterans.

Overpayments

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted a risk assessment of VA’s charge card program evaluating the three types of charge cards—purchase cards (including convenience checks), travel cards, and fleet cards—for transactions during fiscal year (FY) 2019. The OIG conducted its risk assessment from January through March 2020. The team reviewed applicable VA policies, procedures, and other controls. The team also analyzed FY 2018 and FY 2019 charge card data to identify transactions or patterns of activity that represent potentially illegal, improper, or erroneous charge card purchases. The OIG determined that the purchase card program remains at medium risk of illegal, improper, or erroneous purchases, as previously assessed for FY 2018. Data mining of purchase card transactions identified potential misuse of purchase cards. OIG investigations and reviews continue to identify patterns of purchase card transactions that do not comply with the Federal Acquisition Regulation and VA policies and procedures. The OIG also found that VA’s Travel Card Program and Fleet Card Program both remain at low risk for illegal, improper, or erroneous purchases. The risk assessment team assigned a low risk level to both programs primarily because data mining established a low percentage of potential duplicate and split purchases. Travel card transactions represented only about 3 percent of the more than $5 billion spent by VA on charge card transactions during FY 2019. Fleet card transactions represented only about 0.3 percent of that amount.

The OIG conducted this audit to determine whether VA implemented key elements of the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) consistent with the requirements for Chief Information Officer Authority Enhancements (Section 831). Specifically, the audit team evaluated two groups of requirements involving the role of the VA chief information officer during fiscal year 2018. They related to the CIO (1) reviewing and approving all information technology (IT) asset and service acquisitions across the VA enterprise and (2) planning, programming, budgeting, and executing the functions for IT, including governance, oversight, and reporting. The audit team found that VA did not meet FITARA requirements and identified several causes. These include VA policies and processes that limited the chief information officer’s review of IT investments and the oversight of IT resources. The audit team noted that limitations to the chief information officer’s role could adversely affect VA’s ability to achieve its goal to modernize systems and focus resources more efficiently. The OIG made 10 recommendations to help the department meet FITARA requirements. The recommendations focused on VA ensuring that the chief information officer reviews and approves all IT acquisitions. A chief information officer assignment plan should also be submitted for the Office of Management and Budget’s review and approval. Other recommendations called for implementing an agencywide IT acquisition awareness and training program covering FITARA requirements; providing clear and consistent acquisition processes to ensure FITARA compliance; ensuring all VA administration and staff offices work with the chief information officer for planning, programming, budgeting, and execution of all IT resources; and implementing department-level oversight processes to ensure the chief information officer is a member of governance boards that make informed decisions on all IT resources across the agency.