Federal Reports

A large population of veterans could be eligible for compensation for Gulf War illness, which refers to a group of unexplained or ill defined chronic symptoms found in veterans deployed to the Persian Gulf during Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield. The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted this review to determine whether the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) processes disability claims related to this illness in accordance with applicable VA regulatory requirements.The OIG found that VBA’s Gulf War illness claims process did not ensure that all requirements were met before claims processors decided disability compensation claims. As a result, VBA prematurely decided an estimated 3,200 of the 13,800 Gulf War illness claims (23 percent) completed from October 1, 2021, through March 31, 2022, leading to at least $5.1 million in improper overpayments for those six months. Moreover, the team found that premature decisions are apt to continue due to shortcomings in exam requests and exam findings. About 5,500 of the 13,800 claims reviewed (40 percent) had medical examinations that did not contain the necessary information or related documentation.Among the shortcomings were that examination requests do not provide a full definition of some key terms. For example, while undiagnosed illnesses are defined, the instructions do not indicate what is needed to determine whether a veteran has a medically unexplained illness. Disability benefits questionnaires used for evaluating claims for Gulf War illnesses also do not ask specific questions that would show how a condition meets requirements to be an undiagnosed illness.The OIG made five recommendations to update instructions, definitions, and diagnostic criteria provided to examiners and clarify for claims processors that all regulatory requirements must be met to award benefits.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Inspector General initiated this audit to determine the extent to which the EPA followed its 2016 Policy on Elevation of Critical Public Health Issues when responding to evidence of drinking water lead contamination in the community water system for Benton Harbor, Michigan.

Following up on our previous work which highlights the decentralized nature of identity fraud redress across the federal government, the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee commissioned the MITRE Corporation to conduct an independent study and define the elements needs for a whole-of-government approach to identity fraud victim redress. The report proposes a federal redress process that places the victim at the center and requires agencies to assist in a comprehensive manner. Framed as a single enterprise or “one-stop shop,” this process would provide an equitable experience for all victims to submit claims and follow them to completion.

determine whether the Office of Hearing Operations’ Compassionate And REsponsive Service Plan initiatives have reduced the hearings backlog and average processing times.

OIG reviewed Rural Development’s assertions related to the Budget Formulation Compliance and Detailed Accounting reports for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2022.

Saint George Consulting, Inc. determined that the FWS supported costs but noted instances of noncompliance and an internal control weakness.

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) is issuing this management advisory memorandum to VA in response to an allegation that VA was not adequately overseeing contractors’ progress reports before payment for work on modernizing the electronic health record system for patients. Specifically, the OIG received an allegation that Cerner Government Services, Inc. (Cerner), had submitted invoices for progress reports that were not adequately completed. The complainant reported being told the progress report was just “a cover page, there’s an agenda, there’s six empty pages, there’s an ending. That’s what they turned in to get paid for this deliverable.” Because the complainant referenced the time frame from October 2019 through March 2020 for the deliverables and indicated Cerner was behind in billing VA in January 2020, the OIG reviewed just the progress reports associated with that timeframe for the first task order under the governing contract to assess the allegation. The OIG did not substantiate the allegation as there was detailed information in progress reports, but did note VA lacked timelines for when contractors needed to provide corrections to insufficient progress reports. The delays observed for contractors’ corrections to progress reports could limit VA’s ability to promptly and accurately monitor contractors’ progress on particular tasks. This management advisory conveys the information necessary for the Electronic Health Record Modernization Integration Office to determine if remedial actions are warranted.