VA provides compensation to veterans for service-connected disabilities. Veterans file claims for this compensation, and in some cases, a disability compensation medical examination is needed for VA staff to decide these claims. Disability compensation examiners must complete training courses before conducting an examination, and the PACT Act resulted in additional training. The OIG conducted this review to determine whether VHA examiners and VBA contract examiners are complying with training requirements, including the recently added PACT Act training, before completing related medical examinations.
The team found that 29 of 100 VHA medical opinions reviewed were provided before PACT Act training was completed. From this number, the team estimated that in calendar year 2023, VHA disability compensation examiners provided about 8,600 nonpresumptive PACT Act medical opinions (29 percent) before completing the PACT Act Key Terms and Medical Opinions course. VHA was notified of the training in January 2023 and established August 1, 2023, as the deadline for completion, in part, to allow time for local union notifications and negotiations and for compensation examiners to complete the training. Most of the instances where opinions were provided before PACT Act training was completed occurred before August 1, 2023, which suggests the issue of VHA examiners providing opinions without necessary training was mostly resolved by the deadline.
The team also found that generally, compared to VHA examiners, more VBA contract examiners had completed PACT Act training before providing medical opinions. Nevertheless, in any instance where examiners provide opinions before taking necessary training, VA risks claims decisions leading to improper payments to veterans. Therefore, the OIG made one recommendation to the under secretary for benefits to ensure an independent assessment and medical opinion is provided for the cases identified by the OIG during this review. VBA concurred with the recommendation.
