[Senate Hearing 113-599]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 113-599
THE FISCAL YEAR 2015 BUDGET FOR
VETERANS' PROGRAMS
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
MARCH 12, 2014
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.fdsys.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
88-404 PDF WASHINGTON : 2015
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing
Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800;
DC area (202) 512-1800 Fax: (202) 512-2104 Mail: Stop IDCC,
Washington, DC 20402-0001
COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS
Bernard Sanders, (I) Vermont, Chairman
John D. Rockefeller IV, West Richard Burr, North Carolina,
Virginia Ranking Member
Patty Murray, Washington Johnny Isakson, Georgia
Sherrod Brown, Ohio Mike Johanns, Nebraska
Jon Tester, Montana Jerry Moran, Kansas
Mark Begich, Alaska John Boozman, Arkansas
Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut Dean Heller, Nevada
Mazie Hirono, Hawaii
Steve Robertson, Staff Director
Lupe Wissel, Republican Staff Director
C O N T E N T S
----------
March 12, 2014
SENATORS
Page
Sanders, Hon. Bernard, Chairman, U.S. Senator from Vermont....... 1
Isakson, Hon. Johnny, U.S. Senator from Georgia.................. 2
Brown, Hon. Sherrod, U.S. Senator from Ohio...................... 4
Johanns, Hon. Mike, U.S. Senator from Nebraska................... 5
Tester, Hon. Jon, U.S. Senator from Montana...................... 6
Hirono, Hon. Mazie, U.S. Senator from Hawaii..................... 7
Murray, Hon. Patty, U.S. Senator from Washington................. 183
Blumenthal, Hon. Richard, U.S. Senator from Connecticut.......... 190
Boozman, Hon. John, U.S. Senator from Arkansas................... 194
Moran, Hon. Jerry, U.S. Senator from Kansas...................... 199
WITNESSES
Hon. Eric K. Shinseki, Secretary, U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs; accompanied by Hon. Robert A. Petzel, M.D., Under
Secretary for Health; Hon. Allison A. Hickey, Under Secretary
for Benefits; Hon. Steve L. Muro, Under Secretary for Memorial
Affairs; Stephen W. Warren, Executive in Charge for Information
and Technology; and Helen Tierney, Executive in Charge for the
Office of Management and Acting Chief Financial Officer........ 8
Prepared statement........................................... 10
Response to posthearing questions submitted by:
Hon. Bernard Sanders....................................... 20
Hon. Richard Burr.......................................... 63
Hon. Jerry Moran........................................... 159
Hon. John Boozman.......................................... 166
Hon. Dean Heller........................................... 167
Response to request arising during the hearing by:
Hon. Johnny Isakson........................................ 182
Hon. Patty Murray.......................................... 184
Hon. Jon Tester............................................ 189
APPENDIX
Zumatto, Diane, National Legislative Director, AMVETS; prepared
statement...................................................... 207
Varela, Paul R., Assistant National Legislative Director,
Disabled American Veterans; prepared statement................. 209
Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA); prepared statement.......... 216
THE FISCAL YEAR 2015 BUDGET FOR
VETERANS' PROGRAMS
----------
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12, 2014
U.S. Senate,
Committee on Veterans' Affairs,
Washington, DC.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:02 p.m., in
room 418, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Bernard Sanders,
Chairman of the Committee, presiding.
Present: Senators Sanders, Murray, Brown, Tester,
Blumenthal, Hirono, Isakson, Johanns, Moran, and Boozman.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. BERNARD SANDERS,
CHAIRMAN, U.S. SENATOR FROM VERMONT
Chairman Sanders. OK, let's get to work.
I want to thank all of our guests from VA for being with us
today to discuss the budget.
Let me begin by thanking General Shinseki and others for
tackling some enormously difficult problems in this enormously
difficult period facing our veterans. I think if there is
anything that I have learned in the year and 3 months that I
have been Chairman of this Committee it is that the cost of war
is much, much greater, I think, than most Americans perceive.
We are dealing now with hundreds of thousands of men and
women who have come home from Iraq and Afghanistan, dealing
with traumatic brain injury and post traumatic stress disorder.
Those are tough illnesses to deal with, and the magnitude, the
numbers, are extraordinary. That is an issue I think we will
focus on today--the magnitude of that problem--hundreds of
thousands of men and women dealing with TBI and PTSD is a huge
issue.
We have seen 2,300 individuals suffer wounds in war that
make it impossible for them to have kids. How do we respond to
that?
We have seen a situation within the VA and throughout our
country there is a feeling that too many patients are being
overmedicated. What kind of alternatives are out there?
And I think VA, by the way, is doing some cutting-edge work
in trying to respond to pain and other problems through
complementary and alternative medicine. How do we address that?
We are dealing with an issue that several years ago the
U.S. Congress passed a very, very important piece of
legislation, making sure that people who served in Iraq and
Afghanistan have the ability to go to college. That has worked,
by and large, very, very well. Problems remain. How do we
address that?
Going back to the issues of mental health, we are all
distressed and saddened by the number of suicides that we face,
a very difficult issue inside the military, inside the VA,
inside the United States of America, our general population.
How do we deal with that?
We are dealing with the issue that the VA, in the last
several years, has transformed their claims system--going from
paper to digital. We think we are making some progress. We want
to continue that progress. How do we make sure that we continue
that progress so that every veteran in this country gets their
claim adjudicated in a timely manner?
The VA has, in my view, over the years done a good job in
terms of reaching out in primary health care through CBOCs. How
do we make sure that the proper number of CBOCs continue to be
built and maintained?
So, we have a whole lot of issues facing us. These are
tough times for the veterans' community, coming out of two
wars, dealing with older veterans from World War II, Korea,
Vietnam, and we are not going to turn our backs on those
veterans.
I, again, want to thank the VA. It is very easy to beat up
on the VA because they are big, they are bureaucratic, and they
are public, so that every problem they have, which is many when
you run 151 medical centers--I am sure that there is a problem
at every one every day, and often they get on the front pages.
But sometimes we forget that many millions of veterans are
accessing them and are very proud and happy with the care that
they are getting.
So, our job is to keep the VA moving forward, address the
serious problems they have, give them the support they need,
and that is what this budget hearing is about.
Senator Isakson.
STATEMENT OF HON. JOHNNY ISAKSON,
U.S. SENATOR FROM GEORGIA
Senator Isakson. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I appreciate Secretary Shinseki, Dr. Petzel and the rest of
you for being here today. I appreciate the job that you do.
Chairman Sanders made a very obvious statement; you all are
very easy to pick on, but you probably have the hardest job in
Washington, DC, and the biggest responsibility in the years to
come. We are grateful for your service and grateful for what
you do.
As I understand it, your request calls for $10 billion in
an increase in VA's overall budget and $2 billion in
discretionary spending.
You know, our responsibilities in Washington are to
appropriate and to legislate, but we also have another
responsibility in our committees, and that is oversight.
Some issues came up this morning that I think I want to
address in my opening statement so that Secretary Shinseki can
possibly address them in his responses later in the hearing.
As we heard from the Wounded Warrior Project this morning,
one area that needs oversight is the caregiver program. What we
know about this program so far included inconsistent decisions
regarding eligibility, no quality assurance to monitor the
quality, consistency, and timeliness of decisions, and no
formal process to appeal the decision or eligibility for
caregiver assistance.
I know many, including Chairman Sanders, believe this
program should be expanded and included to all veterans. Yet,
we need to ensure its proper implementation before we expand
this program. We should do this for any program and provide the
oversight necessary to do it right.
Since the beginning of 2013, the Veterans Health
Administration has been plagued by a series of quality
management issues that have resulted not only in patient harm
but also patient death. These issue range from the misuse of a
single patient multi-use insulin pen to an outbreak of
Legionella to delays in mental health care and GI consults.
You all know what we have experienced in the Atlanta VA, at
the medical center in Atlanta, with regard to mental health and
suicide.
The inspector general has released over 40 health care
inspections during the Congress. That is roughly three per
month.
Veterans have sacrificed so much already and deserve world-
class health care, yet our Nation's veterans are facing long
delays in scheduling appointments and assessing needed
services.
Another area the veterans face is the longtime backlog in
claims, which I know you are making progress on. I know by
2015--we have goals that are terrific, but we have got to make
sure we deal not just with statistics but with the actual
effect on the lives of these veterans and their families.
So, this work on reducing the claim times and the waste is
going to be critically important. 1.2 million veterans still
wait today for a determination. That is a huge number; there
are way too many.
On the issue of suicide, I want to thank Robert Petzel
immensely for three things--one, his willingness to come to
Atlanta in the field hearing that we conducted in August
including 2-\1/2\ hours of emotional, and I am sure painful to
a certain extent, information about the tragedies we had in the
Atlanta VA with three suicide deaths and one drug overdose.
Mr. Secretary, I want to commend you on the replacement of
the director at the hospital. The new director, Ms. Wiggins, is
doing an outstanding job.
Unfortunately, we had another incident about 2 weeks ago.
She was on the phone to me first when it happened, took
immediate action in terms of that incident, and accepted
responsibility where responsibility was needed to be accepted.
That is a great indication of the emphasis you, the
Secretary, have put--and Robert Petzel has put--on this issue
of suicide, which we must get our arms around. It is one area
where I think oversight is going to be critical for us to move
the paradigm and get best practices in every VA medical center
in the country.
Soft tissue injuries are the toughest to deal with. TBI and
PTSD are the legacy of the contemporary wars we have been
fighting. And suicide is the nasty byproduct of a drug overdose
and misuse of drugs in terms of treating people and not having
the right mental health follow-up with those patients.
I am going to personally dedicate a lot of my time--I know
John Boozman on our Committee is going to do the same--to delve
into the issues of suicide, find out where those tragedies are
taking place, and see if we can find common threads where we
can implement best practices in the Veterans Administration so
we do not lose so many soldiers by taking their own lives.
Right now, we are losing an average of 22 a day, which is
8,000 a year, and that is far too many. And it is not just
combat veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq. In fact, in Atlanta,
three of the four victims were veterans of the Vietnam-era war.
It is a pervasive issue in the VA. It is actually a
pervasive issue in the United States. We owe it to our veterans
and to our country to see to it that we find every best
practice possible and implement them.
One of the things I am going to do, Mr. Chairman, is I am
going to, as a one-man band or vigilante of one, is have field
hearings--or, as a Committee representative, have field
hearings--and do the oversight around the country necessary to
bring the best practices to light, to try to do what Robert
Petzel is doing right now, which is meeting with these
veterans, getting the right answers, and trying to correct the
paradigm, which I am grateful for you to do.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Chairman Sanders. Thank you.
Senator Brown.
STATEMENT OF HON. SHERROD BROWN,
U.S. SENATOR FROM OHIO
Senator Brown. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate your
leadership.
Thank you, Mr. Secretary and all of you who are serving our
veterans and serving our country so ably and so selflessly.
Thank you for that.
I reiterate the Chairman's comments about the cost of war.
I think that Senator Isakson's aptly pointing out the
terrible affliction--and Senator Tester has talked to me about
this, too--of suicide in the military attests to that, as do
unemployment rates, as do mental health problems, as do drug
addiction, all of those costs of war that we should think about
in this body more than we do.
A couple of things I wanted to mention--one is VRAP and the
significant contribution the Veterans Retraining Assistance
Program has made to our veterans, to our communities.
I have one brief story. Everett Chambers in Cleveland used
VRAP funds to get retrained as an electrical engineering
technician at Cuyahoga County Community College. He is one of a
number of people I have met in Youngstown, Cincinnati, and all
of over my State, who have benefited from VRAP. It is a program
that works. We should do all we can to make sure that more
people have that opportunity.
Obviously, you cannot come in front of us without
discussing the disability claims backlog and disability
ratings--the unevenness of the ratings from a bum knee in San
Diego being rating differently in terms of dollars than a bum
knee in Columbus or Cleveland. The fixing of both the backlog
and the disability ratings together makes sense.
The last issue I would like to mention is I remain
concerned with the Department's outsourcing more and more work.
First, I believe the quality of outsourced work is often
subpar. Second, many contractors lack the dedication of career
civil servants, especially when you realize that places like
the VA in Chillicothe, how assiduous they have been about
hiring veterans, and I know that VA centers and CBOCs all over
the country strive for that.
We should not be outsourcing these jobs. Civil servants who
decide to pursue a career assisting veterans lead to better
services compared to services provided by those that are
motivated by profit. I think we have seen that in example after
example after example.
It does not save taxpayer dollars. It may help politicians,
but it does not save taxpayer dollars. We saw this at the very
basic level in places like the Dayton VA medical center where
laundry was outsourced and now workers say the clothes come
back not as clean as they were.
If the VA continues to outsource more and more activities,
at some point, we are going to reach a point where the VA is a
health insurance provider and not a health care provider. That
does not serve veterans. It does not serve taxpayers. It does
not serve the public.
So, again, I thank you for your service, all of you.
Chairman Sanders. Thank you, Senator Brown.
Senator Johanns.
STATEMENT OF HON. MIKE JOHANNS,
U.S. SENATOR FROM NEBRASKA
Senator Johanns. Mr. Chairman, thank you.
And to the team that is here today on behalf of the
Veterans Administration, let me just say, welcome; we are glad
to have you here.
Mr. Secretary, thank you. You stopped by a couple weeks
ago, and that is always appreciated. So, I want to thank you
publicly for making that effort.
In the past years, as we all know, Congress has made the VA
a priority, and I believe appropriately so. The budget has been
provided and there have been personnel increases. In some
departments in the Federal Government, that is unheard of, but
I think it indicates this Committee's commitment to our
veterans and the commitment of the Congress to our veterans.
Quite honestly, I doubt that this year will be any
different. I think, again, veterans will be a priority, and we
will make sure that that happens.
Now, having said that--because I think that is on the good
news piece of the equation--there are still challenges that we
face. I do not think anybody in this hearing today is going to
make the case that we are doing a great job in terms of the
list to get disability ratings and get people an answer, which
is really what we are trying to do, get people information.
I keep hoping that we find that we are making progress. I
hope your testimony will deal with that issue, but the claims
backlog is a concern to all of us. It is not a partisan issue.
It is a very, very bipartisan concern.
The other thing that I am hoping there will be some
discussion about is capital improvements. I scratch my head
about this. And, Mr. Secretary, no reflection on you, but we
have a project in Omaha, probably like other places around the
United States, that is waiting for good news that we are moving
up the list. Every time I meet with you, we slip further down.
So, I am not saying there is a correlation. I am just
saying, gosh, it is frustrating for us. So, I am hoping to hear
your thoughts on that.
I just think we are going to have to be creative in this
area. I think you get near the bottom of the list, and these
are still 1940s-50s facilities that are outdated. We have great
employees trying to do the best they can under the
circumstances, but at the end of the day, some of the folks
near the bottom are going to be waiting a long time.
I may not live long enough to see this, but I would like to
see something creative to try to deal with that backlog.
Again, thank you for being here. I know you come here with
hearts that are pure. You want to help the veterans just like
we do, and maybe we can have a good dialog on how best to do
that in some of these areas.
Mr. Chairman, thank you.
Chairman Sanders. Thank you.
Senator Tester.
STATEMENT OF HON. JON TESTER,
U.S. SENATOR FROM MONTANA
Senator Tester. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I want to welcome everybody from the Veterans
Administration here today, too.
I do not have my reading glasses, so all the beautiful
notes that my staff wrote for me to tell you guys won't be
read. [Laughter.]
So, you are going to hear what I have to say. OK?
I think the backlog issue is always a big issue. You know,
we helped create that in Congress by doing the right thing a
few years back with the Vietnam Vets.
General Shinseki, having visited with you several times, I
know it is a high priority for you. We will keep working on it;
and this Committee is committed to help you get that backlog
down.
Staffing. I talked with Under Secretary Petzel a day or two
ago about this issue. It is critically important in rural
America. We are deficient. I think you guys are on top of it.
We just need to make sure we get some things done in that area.
I want to say a special thanks to Steve Muro. Thank you
very much, Steve, for your work on cemeteries. It is a very,
very important issue across the country, and I think you have
done some great work.
Mental health. It may be the biggest issue this country
faces, whether you are in the military or you are out, but it
is absolutely a critical issue in the military, and we need to
figure out how we can handle it.
It is very expensive, but we need to do everything we can
do, whether it is best practices or whether it is just plain,
old experts in the field, to be able to develop partnerships,
to be able to make sure that we give our veterans--as you guys
have heard from me before, particularly in rural America, that
those veterans need help. They are isolated anyway. It is a big
issue, and we need to work together to get that done.
Construction. I would just say that I understand, and I
think that you guys have done a great job on the CBOCs and the
Vet Centers and those things around the country. I think that
there is opportunity for some advancement there. But I think
you are dealing with operations and maintenance issues right
now in many of your buildings, getting them up to snuff so that
the potential for things like the veterans' home in Butte, MT,
does not hit the list.
I appreciate that prioritization, but I certainly would
look forward to working together with you guys and through the
Appropriations Committee to figure out some way in which we can
address some of these senior veterans who served this country
so very well in the military and in the private sector that
need and deserve a place to live their later years.
Next, I say thank you to the VSOs that are in the room--
thank you guys very, very much for your input to us regarding
the VA. They are not perfect. There are things that they have
to do, but I think it is through the leadership of the VSOs
that we are able to advocate on the issues that you think are
important.
And the one other issue I am going to talk about is
advanced appropriations. I think that is a big win for the VA,
and it would not have had happened without the veterans service
organizations all being on the same page.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Sanders. You did very well without your staff
notes.
Senator Hirono.
STATEMENT OF HON. MAZIE HIRONO,
U.S. SENATOR FROM HAWAII
Senator Hirono. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I want to add my thanks to that of the Members of this
Committee. All of us are very much in support of the
priorities, Mr. Secretary, that you have articulated.
Certainly, increasing access to VA benefits, cutting or
eliminating the backlog to claims, ending homelessness, the
mental health issues, the suicide rates--these are all areas
that we have bipartisan support on the Committee.
Of course, Hawaiian veterans face many of the same
challenges that veterans across the country face, and add to
that the fact that our veterans are--the distance is water, not
just land, as they live on all of our major islands.
I think it is really important to focus on the issue of
veteran homelessness. I recently visited the VET house in
Kalihi. I think it is an area of our community that, Mr.
Secretary, you know.
But, on the issue of homelessness, the support that we give
to programs such as the Veterans Engaged in Transition, VET,
houses, I think really hold promise.
So, this VET house that I visited is an eight-bedroom home
in a community in Kalihi. What very much impressed me was that
this was a situation where the veterans that were homeless are
in transitional housing. They have places to go after they
spend their 90 days in a stable environment because a lot of
the homeless veterans do not have that stability in their
lives. So, just to have a calm, supportive place for a period
of time to enable them to get on with their lives is what I saw
in this VET house.
This particular house was created by a non-profit entity in
partnership with money from a grant from the VA of $233,000.
They worked with the Institute of Human Services, which is a
non-profit organization in Hawaii that works to provide shelter
for the homeless. So, they are in the community.
The Lions, the Elks Club, other individuals and entities,
including Home Depot, by the way, which as a company has made a
huge commitment, as I am sure you know, to support veterans'
programs, but to supply beds and all of that, and then the
bedrooms were adopted by these community organizations.
It was a terrific combination of people coming together,
but it also would not have happened without the money from the
VA grant.
So, these are the kinds of programs that I very much
support as hands-on. And, yes, it is aid to veterans, but I
figure--you know what? Each one that we help to get on in a
positive way with their lives, that is worth doing.
So, I just wanted to let you know that every time I go
home, as I am sure my colleagues do, we visit with veterans,
which I did when I was home a couple weeks ago.
Thank you very much for your service.
Of course, I look forward to working with my colleagues to
make sure that we provide the kind of support that will enable
us to meet the challenges of our veterans.
Chairman Sanders. Thank you very much, Senator Hirono.
We may have some votes soon. So, we are going to have to
juggle things, and people will be leaving and coming.
So, let me begin and request short answers from the
panelists.
Oh, testimony. I knew I forgot something. You probably
wanted to say something, right?
Secretary Shinseki. I will try to be short in light of
the----
Chairman Sanders. Take your time. I am sorry.
Secretary Shinseki [continuing]. Very supportive comments
made by all the Members here today.
STATEMENT OF HON. ERIC K. SHINSEKI, SECRETARY, U.S. DEPARTMENT
OF VETERANS AFFAIRS; ACCOMPANIED BY HON. ROBERT A. PETZEL,
M.D., UNDER SECRETARY FOR HEALTH; HON. ALLISON A. HICKEY, UNDER
SECRETARY FOR BENEFITS; HON. STEVE L. MURO, UNDER SECRETARY FOR
MEMORIAL AFFAIRS; STEPHEN W. WARREN, EXECUTIVE IN CHARGE FOR
INFORMATION AND TECHNOLOGY; AND HELEN TIERNEY, EXECUTIVE IN
CHARGE FOR THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND ACTING CHIEF FINANCIAL
OFFICER
Secretary Shinseki. Chairman Sanders, Senator Isakson, and
other Members of the Committee, thanks for this opportunity
once again to present the President's 2015 budget and 2016
advance appropriations requests for the Department of Veterans
Affairs.
I am working my sixth budget cycle. I find that almost
incredible to understand, but it is the sixth budget cycle for
me.
Together all of us here have accomplished a lot, and I
deeply appreciate--all of us appreciate--your unwavering
support of our Nation's veterans. It does not just occur in
testimony. It occurs day to day as we engage with you.
Let me also acknowledge, as others have, the
representatives of our veterans service organizations who are
here today. Their insights and support make us better at our
mission, caring for veterans and families and survivors.
Mr. Chairman, I am going to take a few seconds just to
introduce the members of my panel here. To my extreme left is
Stephen Warren, the Executive in Charge for Information and
Technology. Next to him is Helen Tierney, VA's Executive in
Charge of the Office of Management, and she is also our Acting
Chief Financial Officer. To my right, Dr. Robert Petzel, Under
Secretary for Health, and then Allison Hickey, Under Secretary
for Benefits, and to her right, Steve Muro, Under Secretary for
Memorial Affairs.
Mr. Chairman, I do have a written statement. I ask that it
be included in the record.
Chairman Sanders. Without objection.
Secretary Shinseki. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The fiscal year 2015 budget and fiscal year 2016 advance
appropriations requests demonstrate once again President
Obama's steadfast commitment to our Nation's veterans. His
leadership, the support of the Congress, especially this
Committee, have allowed us for 5 years now to answer President
Lincoln's charge from 149 years ago, ``To care for him who
shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan.''
I thank the Members for your commitment to veterans and
seek once again your support of these budget requests.
The President's vision reflected in these requests is about
empowering veterans to help lead the rebuilding of the middle
class in this country, much as they did after World War II,
through access to quality health care, through benefits,
through education and training, the original GI Bill, and then
employment that enabled achieving the American dream.
The VA's 2015 budget request seeks $163.9 billion--$68.4
billion of that amount is in discretionary funding, including
medical care collections, an increase of 3 percent above our
2014 enacted funding level, this year's budget.
It also $95.6 billion in mandatory funding.
This budget also requests $58.7 billion for the fiscal year
2016 advance appropriations for medical care, an increase of
$2.7 billion, or 4.7 percent, above the fiscal year 2015
request that I am also submitting today.
It is another strong budget, and your support of it is
critical to providing veterans the care and benefits they have
earned through their service and sacrifice.
It enables VA to further the significant progress our
Department has already made on the top three priorities we
outlined years ago and have been working at during this
intervening time. One is to expand veterans' access to benefits
and services; second, eliminate the disability claims backlog
in 2015, as has been mentioned by a number of members; and
then, third, end the rescue of homeless veterans in 2015.
Since 2009, we focused the resources you provided to
address these three key priorities, among other requirements,
but these three priorities, to best serve veterans.
I would say, in terms of access, here is what we have
accomplished:
More than two million additional veterans have been
enrolled in VA health care.
We opened our 151st hospital, the first in 17 years,
and we have increased our community-based outpatient
clinics by 55, bringing our total to 820 community-
based outpatient clinics today.
More than a million veteran family members and
students have received VA educational assistance and
vocational training.
Nearly 90 percent of all veterans today have a burial
option within 75 miles of where they live, thanks to
Steve Muro's great work. We expect that that will
increase out through 2017. We have plans to do that, at
which point we will be at the 96th percent mark.
In terms of disability claims, the backlog has
declined 40 percent in the past 12 months. We are
transitioning from paper to digital processing, and we
are on track to end the backlog in 2015.
In terms of veterans' homelessness, the estimated
number of homeless veterans fell by 24 percent between
2010 and 2013, and we expect another reduction when
this year's point-in-time count is finally tallied up.
These are some of our key accomplishments.
I would also report to the Committee that our momentum is
up, we are making good progress across the board, and, as I
have in each of my appearances here, assure you that we will
continue to leverage every resource of the budget--money, time,
people--to do what is right for veterans.
As I have for 5 years now, I will assure you that we will
use these resources that the Congress provides effectively,
efficiently, and accountably to best care for veterans.
Again, thank you for this opportunity to appear here today
and for your continued support of veterans. I look forward to
your questions.
Thanks, Mr. Chairman.
[The prepared statement of Secretary Shinseki follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Eric K. Shinseki, Secretary,
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Chairman Sanders, Ranking Member Burr, Distinguished Members of the
Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Thank you for the opportunity to
present the President's 2015 Budget and 2016 advance appropriations
requests for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). This budget
continues the President's historic initiatives and strong budgetary
support for Veterans, their families, and survivors. We value the
sustained support that Congress has demonstrated in providing the
resources and legislative authorities needed to honor our Nation's
promises to these unique and special citizens. Let me acknowledge our
partners here today--the Veterans Service Organizations--whose insight
and support make us better at fulfilling our mission.
After more than a decade of war, many Servicemembers are returning
home and making the transition to Veteran status. As the war in
Afghanistan enters its final chapter, our work is more urgent than
ever. The current generation of Veterans will help to grow our middle
class and provide a significant return on the Nation's investments in
them. The President fully supports Veterans and their families, and by
providing them the care and benefits they have earned, we pay tribute
to the sacrifices that Veterans have made for this Nation.
The 2015 Budget for VA requests $163.9 billion--$68.4 billion in
discretionary funds, including medical care collections, and $95.6
billion in mandatory funds for Veterans benefits programs. The
discretionary request reflects an increase of $2.0 billion (3.0
percent) above the 2014 Budget level. The Budget also requests a 2016
advance appropriation for Medical Care of $58.7 billion, an increase of
$2.7 billion (4.7 percent) above the 2015 Budget. The President's 2015
Budget will allow VA to operate the largest integrated healthcare
system in the country, including nearly 1,750 VA points of healthcare
and approximately 9.3 million Veterans enrolled to receive healthcare;
the ninth largest life insurance provider, covering both active duty
Servicemembers and enrolled Veterans; an education assistance program
serving nearly 1.1 million students; a home mortgage program with a
portfolio of over 2 million active loans, guaranteed by the agency; and
the largest national cemetery system that leads the Nation as a high-
performing organization, with projections to inter 128,100 Veterans and
family members in 2015.
growing demand for va services and benefits
Long after conflicts end, VA requirements continue to grow, due to
the substantial needs of Veterans. VA's budgetary requirements arise
from our Nation's national security engagements, which are not within
our control. As the President said on Veterans Day last November,
``when we talk about fulfilling our promises to our Veterans, we don't
just mean for a few years; we mean now, tomorrow, and forever.'' Over
the next decade, the Department of Defense (DOD) predicts that military
separations will approach three million. This growing population is
demanding more services from VA than ever before. Currently, 11 million
of the approximately 22 million Veterans in this country are
registered, enrolled, or use at least one VA benefit or service, and
this number will undoubtedly continue to grow.
meeting va's top three goals
In 2015, our challenges are clear and significant. VA must deliver
on the ambitious goals we established 5 years ago, which are to:
Increase Veterans' access to VA benefits and services;
Eliminate the disability claims backlog in 2015; and
End Veterans' homelessness in 2015.
The 2015 Budget is critical to VA meeting these goals. Without the
proper level of funding to meet the growing demand for benefits and
services, investing in our physical and Information Technology (IT)
infrastructure to assure reliable access, eliminating the disability
claims backlog, and completing the rescue phase of ending Veterans'
homelessness become even more difficult. VA remains committed to
meeting these challenges and appreciates the continued support of the
Congress.
stewardship of resources
At VA, we are committed to responsible stewardship, using resources
effectively and efficiently and aggressively identifying budget
savings. Over the past three years, we have averaged $1.6 billion
annually in efficiencies and budget savings, and in 2015, that
commitment to budget efficiencies and savings is more than $2 billion.
We are attentive to areas in which we need to improve our operations,
and are committed to taking swift corrective action to eliminate any
practices that do not deliver value for Veterans. For 15 consecutive
years, VA delivered clean financial audits, during which time material
weaknesses were reduced from four to one, and in 2013, for the first
time, we had no significant deficiencies, having eliminated 16 prior
significant financial deficiencies. This is an area of major
accomplishment in our internal controls and fiscal integrity.
information technology
To serve Veterans as well as they have served us, we are working to
deliver a 21st century VA that provides medical care, benefits, and
services through a secure digital infrastructure. IT affects every
aspect of what we do at VA. It has a direct impact on the quality of
healthcare we provide Veterans; our ability to process claims
efficiently; and our ability to provide Veterans' benefits and
services. In 2013, VA IT systems supported nearly 1,750 VA points of
healthcare: 151 medical centers, 135 community living centers, 103
domiciliary rehabilitation treatment programs, 820 community-based
outpatient clinics, 300 Vet Centers, and 70 mobile Vet Centers. The
corresponding increase we have seen in the medical care spending for
these facilities directly translates to new and increased services
provided to Veterans. To provide Veterans access and benefits, we must
make the necessary investments in IT innovations and deployments.
Our 2015 Budget requests $3.9 billion for IT, consisting of $531
million for development; $2.3 billion for sustainment; and $1 billion
for more than 7,400 staff, most of whom serve in VA hospitals and
regional offices. The request will sustain our infrastructure while
making necessary investments in critical business processes, such as
modernizing healthcare scheduling, streamlining benefits processing,
enhancing and modernizing VA's electronic health record, enhancing data
security, and achieving health data interoperability with DOD.
Information security is a top priority at VA. The 2015 Budget
requests $156 million for information protection and cyber security, an
increase of $33 million (27 percent) over 2014. VA is constantly
strengthening information security and improving technology and
processes to ensure Veteran data and VA's network are secure. Like any
organization, public or private, we must continue to adapt. Our
security posture is based on a ``defense--in-depth'' approach, which
includes our partners at the Department of Homeland Security who
maintain an over watch on our exterior perimeter. Working inward from
our firewalls, VA has additional layers and protections that are
constantly monitoring potential threats.
Technology is also a critical component for achieving our goal to
eliminate the disability claims backlog in 2015. The 2015 Budget
requests $137 million in IT funding for the Veterans Benefits
Management System (VBMS), including $44.5 million for development and
$92.5 million for sustainment. The 2015 development funds will allow VA
to electronically process disability compensation claims in VBMS, from
establishment to award. Planned enhancements and increased automation
will allow end-users to focus on more difficult disability compensation
claims by reducing the time required to process less complex claims.
Sustainment funds will support the infrastructure behind VBMS as well
as the deployment of additional new functionality features.
The 2015 Budget continues our progress toward evolving VA's VistA
electronic health record (EHR) and achieving seamless integration of
health data with the DOD by 2017. The budget requests $269 million to
help achieve our shared goal of providing the best possible support for
Servicemembers and Veterans. In the near term, we are working to create
seamless integration of DOD, VA, and private provider health data. In
the mid-term, we are working to modernize the software supporting DOD
and VA clinicians. Together, these two goals will help to create an
environment in which clinicians and patients from both Departments are
able to share current and future healthcare information for continuity
of care and improved treatment. As we strive to build on our successful
history of health data sharing and collaboration, we understand our EHR
modernization efforts are complicated, dynamic, and multi-faceted.
improving and expanding access to benefits and services
The number of Veterans receiving VA benefits and services has grown
steadily and will continue to rise as overseas conflicts end and more
Servicemembers transition to Veteran status. In 2015, the number of
patients treated within VA's healthcare system is projected to reach
6.7 million, an increase of nearly one million patients (17.4 percent)
since 2009. Within VBA, the number of Veterans and survivors receiving
Compensation and Pension benefits will approach 5 million in 2015,
while the number of Education and Vocational Rehabilitation
beneficiaries will exceed 1.1 million.
We continue to improve access to VA services by opening new, and
improving current, facilities closer to where Veterans live. Since
January 2009, we have added approximately 55 community-based outpatient
clinics (CBOCs), for a total of 820 CBOCs, and the number of mobile
outpatient clinics and Mobile Vet Centers, serving rural Veterans, has
increased by 21, to the current level of 78. In addition, while opening
new and improved facilities is essential for VA to provide world-class
healthcare to Veterans, so too is enhancing the use of ground breaking
new technologies to reach countless other Veterans. We continue to
invest in ``taking the facility to the Veteran''--through expanded
access to telehealth, sending Mobile Vet Centers to reach Veterans in
rural areas where certain services are limited or difficult to reach,
and by deploying social media to connect with Veterans to share
information on the VA benefits they have earned.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) expands access to coverage, provides
new ways to bring down healthcare costs, improves the Nation's
healthcare delivery system, and has important implications for VA. VA
is ensuring a coordinated and collaborative approach to ACA
implementation. We estimate that there are approximately 1.3 million
uninsured Veterans, of which 1 million may be eligible for, but not
enrolled in VA healthcare. We will continue our education and outreach
efforts so Veterans know the healthcare law does not affect their VA
health benefits or out-of-pocket costs, and that Veterans enrolled in
VA healthcare do not need to take additional steps to meet ACA's new
coverage standards. We will also encourage Veterans' family members not
enrolled in a VA healthcare program to obtain coverage through the
Health Insurance Marketplaces.
A large part of our Veteran population hails from the small towns
of rural America. Some 3.1 million Veterans enrolled in VA's healthcare
system live in rural or highly rural areas, about 36 percent of all
enrolled Veterans. In total, more than $17.36 billion were obligated in
2013 for the health care needs of rural Veterans. As technology
advances and broadband access expands across rural America, we have
been able to extend the availability of VA healthcare through
telemedicine, web-based networking tools, and the use of mobile
devices--all of which help improve access to care and support economic
development for people in rural areas. Telehealth is a transformative
breakthrough in healthcare delivery in 21st century medicine, allowing
care to reach Veterans who otherwise may not have access, especially
those who live in rural and extremely remote areas. The 2015 Budget
requests $72 million for Rural Health telehealth.
Changing demographics are driving transformation at VA. Women now
comprise nearly 15 and 18 percent of today's active duty military
forces and Reserve component, respectively. Women are the fastest
growing segment of our Veteran population. Since 2009, the number of
women Veterans enrolled in VA healthcare increased by almost 29
percent, to 629,683. The 2015 Budget includes $403 million for gender-
specific healthcare services for women Veterans. Today, nearly 49
percent of our facilities have comprehensive women's clinics, and every
VA healthcare system has designated women's health primary care
providers and a women Veterans' program manager on staff.
The Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act (Caregivers
Act) marked a major step forward in America's commitment to those who
provide daily care for wounded warriors, who have borne the battle for
us all. The sustainment phase of the Caregivers program began in 2013,
and includes application processing; stipends; travel and healthcare
coverage; education, training, and competency; and IT support. The 2015
Budget includes $306 million for the Caregivers program, including $235
million for caregiver stipends.
Since VA began implementation of the Honoring America's Veterans
and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act in August 2012, more than
10,100 Veterans have contacted VA concerning Camp Lejeune-related
treatment, as of February 27, 2014. Of these, roughly 8,300 were
already enrolled in VA healthcare. Veterans who are eligible for care
under the Camp Lejeune authority, regardless of current enrollment
status with VA, will not be charged a co-payment for healthcare related
to the 15 illnesses or conditions recognized, nor will a third-party
insurance company be billed for these services. VA continues a robust
outreach campaign to these Veterans and family members while we press
forward with implementing this law. The 2015 Budget includes $51
million to provide healthcare for Veterans and family members who were
potentially exposed to contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune.
The 2015 Budget requests $99.6 million in IT funding for the
Veterans Relationship Management (VRM) initiative, which is
transforming Veterans' access to VA benefits and services by empowering
Veterans with new self-service tools. In addition, VRM is essential to
achieving our access goals. We are transforming VA's national call
centers into service centers by delivering enhanced, integrated,
system-wide telephone capabilities. VBA is also implementing the Client
Relationship Management Unified Desktop that provides Veterans or
beneficiary contact history and a consolidated view of benefit programs
for our employees to enhance the customer's experience and provide
responsive and complete information.
As part of this experience, VBA aggressively promoted eBenefits and
improved Veterans ability to enroll in and access VA benefits and
services. The joint VA/DOD eBenefits Web portal is a personalized
central location for Veterans, Servicemembers, and their families to
research, access, and manage their benefits and personal information.
More than 3.2 million Servicemembers and Veterans are enrolled in
eBenefits, and our goal is to expand enrollment to 5 million users in
2015. Over 50 self-service features, including online filing of claims,
online uploading of evidence, and claim status tracking are now
available in eBenefits; VA and DOD continue to expand functionality
with each quarterly release.
VA also continues to increase access to burial services for
Veterans and their families through the largest expansion of its
national cemetery system since the Civil War. At present, approximately
90 percent of the Veteran population--about 20 million Veterans--has
access to a burial option in a national, state, or tribal Veterans
cemetery within 75 miles of their homes. In 2004, only 75 percent of
Veterans had such access. This dramatic increase is the result of a
comprehensive strategic planning process that efficiently uses
resources to serve the greatest number of Veterans.
improving access to mental health services
We have been a Nation at war for more than a decade, and the state
of Servicemembers' and Veterans' mental health is a National priority.
At VA, meeting the individual mental health needs of Veterans is more
than a system of comprehensive treatments and services; it is a
philosophy of ensuring that Veterans receive the best mental healthcare
possible, while focusing on the overall mental well-being of each
Veteran. VA remains committed to doing all we can to meet this
challenge.
Through the strong leadership of the President and the support of
Congress, Veterans' access to mental healthcare has significantly
improved. Some of the stigma associated with seeking help has
diminished. We proactively screen all Veterans for PTSD, depression,
TBI, problem drinking, substance abuse, and military sexual trauma
(MST) to identify issues early and provide treatments and intervention
opportunities. We know that when we diagnose and treat people, they get
better. Rates of suicide among those who use VHA services have not
shown increases similar to those observed in all Veterans and the
general U.S. population. Since 2006, the number of Veterans receiving
specialized mental health treatment has risen each year from 927,000 to
more than 1.3 million in 2013. In addition, Outpatient visits and
encounters will increase to 12.8 million in 2015, from 12.1 million in
2013. Vet Centers are another avenue for mental healthcare access,
providing services to 195,913 Veterans and their families in 2013.
While we made significant progress in serving the growing number of
Veterans seeking mental healthcare, our work is not done. The 2015
Budget includes $7.2 billion for mental healthcare, an increase of $309
million (4.5 percent). VA efforts are crucial to dispel the lingering
stigma surrounding treatment, and help Veterans regain their dignity
and the ability to hold meaningful employment and maintain a home,
which helps, in turn, strengthen our Nation's economy.
In response to the growing demand for mental health services, VA
enhanced capacity and improved the system of care so that services are
more readily accessible. In 2012, VA completed a comprehensive
assessment of the mental health program at every VA medical center and
is using the results of that assessment to improve programs and share
best practices across VISNs and facilities. VA also held mental health
summits at each of our 151 medical centers, broadening the community
dialog between clinicians and stakeholders.
We are developing new measures to gauge mental healthcare
performance, including timeliness, patient satisfaction, capacity, and
availability of evidence-based therapies. Evidence-based staffing
guidelines are being written for specialty and general mental health.
In addition, VA is working with the National Academy of Sciences to
develop and implement measures and corresponding guidelines to improve
the quality of mental healthcare. To help VA clinicians better manage
Veteran patients' mental health needs, VA is developing innovative
electronic tools. For example, Clinical Reminders give clinicians
timely information about patient health maintenance schedules, and the
High-Risk Mental Health National Reminder and Flag system allows VA
clinicians to flag patients who are at-risk for suicide. When an at-
risk patient does not keep an appointment, Clinical Reminders prompt
the clinician to follow up with the Veteran.
Since its inception in 2007, the VA's Veterans' Crisis Line in
Canandaigua, New York, answered nearly 1,000,000 and responded to more
than 143,000 texts and chat sessions from Veterans in need. The
Veterans' Crisis line provides 24/7 crisis intervention services and
personalized contact between VA staff, peers, and at-risk Veterans,
which may be the difference between life and death. In the most serious
calls, approximately 35,000 men and women have been rescued from a
suicide in progress because of our intervention--the rough equivalent
of two Army divisions.
eliminating the claims backlog
VA has no greater responsibility than ensuring Veterans and their
survivors receive timely, accurate decisions on their disability
compensation and pension claims. Too many Veterans have waited too long
to receive their benefits--and this has never been acceptable to VA,
including the employees of VBA, over half of whom are Veterans. To
attack this longstanding problem, we launched a historic plan to
transform our people, processes, and technology. Our strategy advances
VBA's tools, streamlines claims processes, trains its workforce,
improves workload management, and meaningfully enhances interaction
with Veterans and stakeholders to deliver more timely and accurate
benefit decisions and services to Veterans and their families. Despite
an escalating workload brought about by the correct decisions for
Veterans on Agent Orange, Gulf War, and combat PTSD presumptions--and
successful outreach to Veterans informing them of their benefits--we
are making steady progress toward our goal of eliminating the
disability claims backlog in 2015.
The 2015 Budget requests $2.5 billion for VBA, an increase of $28.8
million from 2014. VBA projects a beneficiary caseload of 5.1 million
in 2015, with more than $78.7 billion in disability compensation and
pension benefits obligations. We expect to process 1.5 million
compensation and pension claims in 2015, up from 1.25 million claims in
2014, an increase of nearly 17 percent over 2014.
Through our claims transformation initiatives, the use of mandatory
overtime, and other innovative strategies, we are making real progress
in reducing the disability claims backlog. As of March 8, 2014, the
backlog stood at 368,829 claims, down 242,244 (40 percent) from its
highest point on March 25th, 2013. Additionally, under its Oldest
Claims Initiative that began in April 2013, VA provided decisions to
over 500,000 Veterans whose claims had been pending the longest. VA
continues to work closely with DOD, the Internal Revenue Service, the
Social Security Administration, and our other Federal partners to
identify electronic data-sharing opportunities and process reforms to
streamline workflows and limit paper claims filing.
VBMS is key to VBA's transformation and success in meeting our 2015
goal. In June 2013, VBA completed national deployment of VBMS--six
months ahead of schedule--providing access to over 25,000 end-users.
Approximately 80 percent of VA's pending disability claims are in a
digital format for electronic processing in VBMS. Moving to a digital
environment is critical. VA anticipates there will be approximately
250,000 new Servicemembers transitioning to Veteran status each of the
next 4 years, for a total of one million new Veterans added during the
next four years. As a result of our increased efforts to enable more
Veterans to access the benefits they have earned and deserved, many of
these Veterans are likely to file a claim with VBA within the first
year of separation.
The 2015 Budget includes $138.7 million for continued investment in
the Veterans Claims Intake Program (VCIP), which converts paper claims
into an electronic format and enables electronic transfer of medical
and personnel records. This electronic transfer is critical to creating
the necessary digital environment for populating the eFolders and
supporting end-to-end electronic claims processing for each stage of
the claims lifecycle. Although VA continues to accept paper claims from
Veterans who are not familiar with or cannot access computer
technology, VBA is working with stakeholders to increase the number of
claims submitted electronically. VBA now converts paper claims to
electronic format as we receive them, saving time and effort and
improving accuracy. As of December 2013, over 25,000 VBMS users could
access 424 million electronic images converted from paper.
The 2015 Budget includes $94.3 million for the Board of Veterans'
Appeals (the Board), which we are requesting as a new appropriation
separate from the General Administration appropriation. The Board
provides direct service to Veterans and their families by conducting
hearings and issuing final appeals decisions. VA is actively pursuing
initiatives to improve the appeals process and reduce wait times for
Veterans, including a Board-led initiative that pre-screens appeals to
ensure that the record is fully developed and ready for adjudication.
The Board is also streamlining decision writing to increase output and
efficiency. Expanded use of VBMS and the eventual incorporation of
appeals functionality in VBMS will save resources currently spent
handling, accessing, storing, and transporting paper claims files
between the Board and VBA Regional Offices. The Board completed major
technological upgrades to its video teleconference (VTC) equipment and
the Board now conducts slightly over half of their hearings by video
teleconference, a significant increase from 29 percent in 2009. We
project appeals will increase to 72,786 cases in 2015, an increase of
12 percent from 2014's 64,941 cases.
ending veteran homelessness
Every Veteran who has served America ought to have a home in
America. We made great progress toward achieving our goal to end
Veteran homelessness in 2015. VA will use knowledge gained over the
past four years to ensure robust prevention programs are in place for
future years. The 2015 Budget request is essential for VA to
successfully achieve an end-to-the-rescue phase, and prevent future
homelessness among Veterans at-risk in the years to come.
Since 2009, VA, together with our Federal, state, and local
partners, has reduced the estimated number of homeless Veterans by 24
percent. We have conducted over six million clinical visits with over
600,000 Veterans who were homeless, at-risk of homelessness (including
formerly homeless). In 2013 alone, VA served more than 240,000 Veterans
who were homeless or at-risk of becoming homeless--21 percent more than
the year before. Over the past four years, the Point-in-Time (PIT)
count of homeless Veterans declined steadily, despite challenging
economic times. The PIT count estimate of the number of homeless
Veterans dropped from 75,609 in January 2009, to 57,849 in
January 2013, a 24 percent decrease.
VA's programs constitute the largest integrated network of programs
with components of homeless assistance in the Nation. They provide
homeless Veterans with nearly 80,000 beds or units, including permanent
supportive housing through the Department of Housing and Urban
Development-VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program; link Veterans
with needed mental health and other medical care; and provide
supportive services and opportunities to reintegrate Veterans back into
the community and workforce. VA's cost-effective, evidence-based
homeless programs produce large savings and cost avoidance in
budgetary, social, and economic terms. Using a Housing First strategy,
VA relies on research that shows that placing homeless Veterans into
Housing First reduces emergency room visits, other forms of intensive
hospitalization, and substance overdose. Medical care costs are roughly
three times as expensive for homeless compared to Veterans who are not
homeless.
Despite significant progress and important accomplishments, much
work remains. We estimate that between 2013 and 2015, approximately
200,000 Veterans will experience homelessness at some point in time. To
reach our goal of ending Veteran homelessness in 2015, the Budget
requests $1.6 billion for VA homeless-related programs, including case
management support for the HUD-VASH voucher program, the Grant and Per
Diem Program, the Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF)
program, and VA justice programs. This represents an increase of $248
million (17.8 percent) over the 2014 Budget level. This budget supports
VA's long-range plan to end Veteran homelessness by emphasizing rescue
for those who are homeless today, and prevention for those at risk of
homelessness.
HUD-VASH provides permanent supportive housing to the most
vulnerable of our homeless Veterans. The 2015 Budget requests $374
million for HUD-VASH, an increase of $47 million (14 percent) over the
2014 Budget level. This funding will support nearly 3,500 case managers
to provide intensive wraparound services to nearly 80,000 Veterans.
These case managers provide an average number of 12 clinical visits per
year to these Veterans to ensure that they remain in housing and do not
become homelessness again. Veterans in HUD-VASH are vulnerable; the
majority meets criteria for chronic homelessness, and suffers from
serious mental illness, substance use disorders, and chronic medical
conditions. This partnership remains the most responsive housing option
available to VA and is a critical component of our strategy to move
homeless Veterans from the streets to a safe and stable home.
The Grant and Per Diem Program helps fund community agencies
providing services to homeless Veterans with the goal of helping them
achieve residential stability, increase their skill levels and/or
income, obtain greater self-determination, independent living, and
employment as soon as possible. The 2015 Budget requests $253 million
for the Grant and Per Diem Program, an increase of $3 million (1.1
percent) over the 2014 Budget level. In 2015, the program will provide
over 15,500 transitional housing beds to Veterans through partnerships
with more than 650 projects.
VA's SSVF is a critical aspect of our strategy to prevent and end
Veteran homelessness. This program provides both prevention and rapid
rehousing services to Veterans and family members. In 2013, SSVF
successfully prevented over 60,000 at-risk Veterans and family members
from falling into homelessness, and successfully placed over 84 percent
of homeless Veterans and family members into permanent housing. In the
last three years, VA awarded grants totaling $459.6 million to 324
community agencies in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto
Rico, and the Virgin Islands. SSVF grants to private non-profit
organizations and consumer cooperatives provide a range of supportive
services to include outreach, case management, assistance in obtaining
VA benefits, and assistance in obtaining and coordinating other public
benefits. In 2015, VA will deploy SSVF grants strategically to target
resources to communities with concentrations of homeless Veterans.
In addition, VA's Justice Programs, which facilitate access to
needed VA treatment for Veterans in criminal justice settings such as
Veterans Treatment Courts, are an important prevention effort for
homeless and at-risk Veterans. The goal of these Courts is to divert
those with mental health issues and homelessness risk from the
traditional justice system and give them treatment and tools for
rehabilitation and readjustment. The first Veterans court was
established in 2008 in Buffalo, N.Y. By the end of 2013, there were 257
courts nationwide, positively affecting the lives of 7,724 Veterans; VA
serves Veterans in each of these courts. Many of the participating
Veterans have avoided incarceration and the cycle of homelessness, that
often follows incarceration. The 2015 Budget requests $35 million for
Veterans Justice Programs, an increase of $1.5 million (4 percent) over
the 2014 Budget level.
To increase homeless Veterans' access to benefits, care, and
services, VA established the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans
(NCCHV). The NCCHV provides homeless Veterans and Veterans at-risk for
homelessness free, 24/7 access to trained counselors. The call center
is intended to assist homeless Veterans and their families; VA medical
centers; Federal, state, and local partners; community agencies;
service providers; and others in the community. In 2013, the National
Call Center for Homeless Veterans received 111,096 calls (38 percent
increase over 2012) and made 78,622 referrals to VA medical centers (55
percent increase over 2012). The 2015 Budget requests $5.6 million for
NCCHV, an increase of $1.7 million (45 percent) over the 2014 Budget
level. VA has established 28 Community Resource and Referral Centers
(CRRC) to provide rapid assistance to homeless Veterans.
multi-year budget for medical care
Due to Congress's foresight, under the Veterans Health Care Budget
Reform and Transparency Act of 2009, VA includes a request for an
advance appropriation for its medical care budget. The legislation
requires VA to plan its medical care budget using a multi-year
approach, which ensures that VA requirements are reviewed and updated
based on the most recent data available and actual program experience.
The 2015 medical care budget of $59.1 billion, including collections,
will fund treatment to over 6.7 million unique patients, an increase of
4 percent over the 2013 estimate. Of those unique patients, 4.7 million
Veterans are in Priority Groups 1-6, an increase of more than 204,836
(4.5 percent). Additionally, VA anticipates treating over 757,600
Veterans from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, an increase of
over 141,100 patients (23 percent) over the 2013 level. VA also
provides medical care to non-Veterans through programs such as the
Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans
Affairs (CHAMPVA) and the Spina Bifida Health Care Program; we expect
this population to increase by over 42,600 patients (6.3 percent),
during the same period.
Based on updated 2015 estimates largely derived from the Enrollee
Health Care Projection Model, the 2015 Budget will allow VA to increase
funding for programs to end Veteran homelessness; continue
implementation of the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services
Act; fulfill multiple responsibilities under the ACA; provide for
activation requirements for new or replacement medical facilities; and
invest in strategic initiatives to improve the quality and
accessibility of VA healthcare programs. The 2015 appropriations
request includes an additional $368 million above the enacted 2015
advance appropriations level. Our multi-year budget plan assumes that
VHA will carry over a small percentage of unobligated balances from
2014 into 2015 to ensure that funds are available at the beginning of
the fiscal year to cover any unforeseen costs.
The 2016 medical care budget of $61.9 billion, including
collections, provides for healthcare services to treat over 6.8 million
unique patients, an increase of 1.5 percent over the 2015 estimate. The
2016 request for medical care advance appropriations is an increase of
$2.9 billion, or 4.9 percent, over the 2015 budget request. Medical
care funding levels for 2016, including funding for activations, non-
recurring maintenance, and initiatives, will be revisited during the
2016 budget process, and could be revised to reflect updated
information on known funding requirements and unobligated balances.
medical and prosthetic research
VA supports the President's national action plan to guide mental
health research across government, industry and academia, and develop
more effective ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat mental health
conditions like TBI and PTSD. VA's medical research programs
demonstrate the creativity and ingenuity of our Nation's greatest minds
to help save Veterans' lives, limit their incapacitation, and build a
better world for their families. Projects funded in 2015 will focus on
identifying or developing new treatments for Gulf War Veterans,
improving social reintegration following Traumatic Brain Injury,
reducing suicide, evaluating the effectiveness of complementary and
alternative medicine, developing blood tests to assist in the diagnosis
of PTSD and mild Traumatic Brain Injury, and advancing genomic
medicine.
In 2015, Medical Research will be supported through a $589 million
direct appropriation, and an additional $1.3 billion from VA's medical
care program, Federal grants, and non-Federal grants. Including Medical
Care support, other Federal resources, and private resources, total
funding for Medical and Prosthetic Research will be nearly $1.9 billion
in 2015. VA's research program benefits Veterans, their families, and
the Nation.
increasing employment opportunities for veterans
Under the President's leadership, VA, the Department of Labor, DOD,
and the entire Federal Government made Veterans' employment one of
their highest priorities. At VA, we led by example. We made great
strides during the last five years and remain committed to meeting our
goal of 40 percent of VA employees being Veterans, compared to 32.4
percent currently. During 2013, 33.8 percent of all new hires at VA
were Veterans, including an impressive 78.5 percent of all new
employees in our National Cemetery Administration (NCA).
We continue to work to ensure that all of America's Veterans have
the support they need and deserve when they leave the military, look
for a job, and enter the civilian workforce. The interagency Employment
Initiative Task Force, co-led by VA and DOD, developed a new training
and services delivery model to help strengthen the transition of our
Veteran Servicemembers from military to civilian life. Accordingly, the
2015 Budget includes $106 million to meet VA's responsibilities under
the President's Veterans Employment Initiative and the VOW to Hire
Heroes Act. In addition, the 2015 Budget includes $1 billion in
mandatory funding over 5 years to develop a Veterans Job Corps
conservation program that will put up to 20,000 Veterans back to work
over the next 5 years protecting and rebuilding America. Jobs will
include park maintenance projects, patrolling public lands,
rehabilitating natural and recreational areas, and law enforcement-
related activities. Additionally, Veterans will help make a significant
dent in the deferred maintenance of our Federal, state, local, and
tribal lands, including jobs that will repair and rehabilitate trails,
roads, levees, recreation facilities, and other assets. The program
will serve all Veterans, but have a particular focus on post-9/11
Veterans.
Since 2009, VA provided over $31.8 billion in Post-9/11 GI Bill
benefits in the form of tuition and other education-related payments to
cover the education and training of more than 1 million Servicemembers,
Veterans, family members, and survivors. As part of this effort VBA
launched an online GI Bill Comparison Tool to make it easier for
Veterans, Servicemembers, and dependents to calculate their Post-9/11
GI Bill benefits and learn more about VA's approved colleges,
universities, and other education and training programs across the
country. The GI Bill Comparison Tool provides key information about
college affordability and brings together information from more than 17
online sources and 3 Federal agencies, including the number of students
receiving VA education benefits at each school.
VA is also now working with Student Veterans of America to track
graduation and training completion rates, and we expect a draft report
by the end of 2014 to quantify program outcomes. The Post-9/11 GI Bill
continues to be a focus of VBA transformation, as it implements the
automated Long-Term Solution (LTS), VA's end-to-end claims processing
solution that utilizes rules-based, industry-standard technologies for
the delivery of education benefits. At the end of January 2014, we had
68,215 education claims pending, 21 percent lower than the total claims
pending the same time last year. The average days to process Post-9/11
GI Bill supplemental claims decreased by 9.1 days, from 16.1 days in
September 2012 to 7 days in January 2014. The average time to process
initial Post-9/11 GI Bill original education benefit decreased by 15.3
days in the same period, from 32.5 days to 17.2 days.
capital infrastructure
The 2015 Budget requests $1.06 billion for VA's major and minor
construction programs, the same as the 2014 Budget level. The capital
asset budget demonstrates VA's commitment to address critical major
construction projects that directly impact patient safety and seismic
issues and reflects VA's ongoing promise to provide safe, secure,
sustainable, and accessible facilities for Veterans. The request also
reflects the current fiscal climate and the great challenges VA faces
in order to close the gaps identified in our Strategic Capital
Investment Planning (SCIP) process.
Major Construction
The major construction request in 2015 is $561.8 million. The
request provides funding for four on-going major medical facility
projects. They include: (1) seismic corrections to renovate building
205 for homeless programs at the West Los Angeles, CA VA Medical
Center; (2) seismic corrections and construction of a new mental health
facility and parking structure at the Long Beach Healthcare System; (3)
construction of a new community living center (CLC), domiciliary and
outpatient facility in Canandaigua, NY; and (4) construction of a new
spinal cord injury/CLC facility, hospice nursing unit, and upgrades to
a high-risk seismic building in San Diego, CA. These projects represent
VA's most critical major construction projects and correct critical
safety and seismic deficiencies that are currently putting Veterans, VA
staff, and the public at risk. Once the projects are completed,
Veterans seeking care will be served in more modern and safer
facilities.
The 2015 Budget also includes $2.5 million for NCA for advance
planning activities and $7.5 million for land acquisition to support
the establishment of 5 additional national cemeteries in Cape Canaveral
and Tallahassee Florida; Omaha, Nebraska; southern Colorado; and
western New York to meet the burial access policies included in the
2011 budget.
Minor Construction
The 2015 Budget includes a minor construction request of $495.2
million. The requested amount would provide funding for ongoing and
newly identified projects that renovate, expand, and improve VA
facilities. This year's focus is a balance between continuing to fund
minor construction projects that we can implement quickly to maintain
and repair our aging infrastructure, while using major construction
funding to address life-threatening safety and seismic issues that
currently exist at multiple VA medical facilities.
Opportunity, Growth and Security Initiative
The Budget also includes a separate $56 billion Opportunity,
Growth, and Security Initiative to spur economic progress, promote
opportunity, and strengthen national security. This Initiative would
increase employment, while achieving important economic outcomes in
areas from education to research to manufacturing and public health and
safety. Moreover, the Opportunity, Growth, and Security Initiative is
fully paid for with a balanced package of spending cuts and tax
loophole closers.
At the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Opportunity,
Growth, and Security Initiative will support capital investments
essential to expanding and protecting Veterans' access to quality care
and benefits. By providing an additional $400 million for the VA
capital program, enactment of the Initiative will allow additional
progress in addressing the Department's highest priority capital needs,
including a major construction project to replace a seismically
deficient research facility in San Francisco, California.
national cemetery administration
The NCA has the solemn duty to honor Veterans and their families
with final resting places in national shrines and with lasting tributes
that commemorate their service and sacrifice to our Nation. We honor
those individuals' service through our 133 national cemeteries, which
includes two national cemeteries scheduled to open in 2015, 33
Soldiers' lots and monuments, the Presidential Memorial Certificate
program, and through the markers and medallions that we place on the
graves of Veterans around the world. The 2015 Budget includes $256.8
million for operations and maintenance to uphold NCA's responsibility
for this mission, including funds to open two new national cemeteries
and to begin preparations for opening two National Veterans Burial
Grounds.
NCA projects its workload will continue to increase. For 2015, we
anticipate conducting approximately 128,100 interments of Veterans or
their family members, and maintaining and providing perpetual care for
approximately 3.5 million gravesites. NCA will also maintain 8,882
developed acres and process approximately 362,900 headstone and marker
applications.
NCA maintains a strong commitment to hiring Veterans. Currently,
Veterans comprise over 74 percent of its workforce. Since 2009, NCA
hired over 450 returning Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans. In addition,
NCA awarded 66.5 percent of contract awards in 2013 to Veteran-owned
and service-disabled, Veteran-owned small businesses. NCA's committed,
Veteran-centric workforce is the main reason it is able to provide a
world-class level of customer service. NCA participated for the 5th
time in the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), sponsored by
the Federal Consulting Group and Claes Fornell International (CFI)
Group. In the 2013 review, NCA received a score of 96 out of a possible
100, the highest score to date for any organization in the public or
private sector.
NCA continues to leverage its partnerships to increase service for
Veterans and their families. As a complement to the national cemetery
system, NCA administers the Veterans Cemetery Grant Service (VCGS),
which provides grants to establish, expand, or improve state and tribal
Veterans' cemeteries. There are currently 90 operational state and
tribal cemeteries in 45 states, Guam, and Saipan, with five more under
construction. Since 1980, VCGS awarded grants totaling more than $566
million to establish, expand, or improve these Veterans' cemeteries. In
2013, these cemeteries conducted over 32,000 burials for Veterans and
family members.
legislation
In addition to presenting VA's resource requirements, the 2015
President's Budget also proposes legislative action that will benefit
Veterans. These proposals build on VA's legislative agenda transmitted
in the First Session of the 113th Congress, as part of the 2014
President's Budget. Let me highlight a few provisions: VA proposes a
measure that will allow better coordination of care when a Veteran also
receives other care at a non-VA hospital, by streamlining the exchange
of patient information. Additionally, we propose allowing the CHAMPVA
to cover children up to age 26, to make that program consistent with
benefits conferred under the ACA. We also are submitting a proposal
that would modernize our domiciliary care program by removing income-
based eligibility restrictions.
To continue our priority to end Veteran homelessness, VA proposes
increased flexibility in the Grant and Per Diem program to focus on the
transition to permanent housing. Also among our proposals is a measure
that would allow VA to speed payment of Dependency and Indemnity
Compensation and other benefits to surviving spouses by eliminating the
need for a formal claim when there already is sufficient evidence for
VA to act. We greatly appreciate consideration of these and other
legislative proposals included in the 2015 Budget and look forward to
working with Congress to enact them.
summary
Since the founding of our great Nation, Veterans helped our country
meet all challenges; this remains true today as Veterans help rebuild
the American middle class. At VA, we continue to implement the
President's vision and transform VA into a 21st century leader of
efficiency, effectiveness, and innovation within the Federal
Government. Our 2015 Budget supports Presidential priorities to always
add value to the Nation, boost economic growth, strengthen the middle
class, and work side-by-side with Federal partners to eliminate
unnecessary overlaps or redundancies.
Given today's challenging fiscal environment, this Budget focuses
VA resources, policies, and strategies on the most urgent issues facing
Veterans and provides the resources critical to expand access,
eliminate the disability claims backlog in 2015, and end Veteran
homelessness in 2015. There is no greater mission than serving
Veterans. Again, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you
today and for your unwavering support of Veterans.
[VA responses to posthearing questions follows:]
Response to Posthearing Questions Submitted by Hon. Bernard Sanders to
Hon. Eric K. Shinseki, Secretary, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
benefits programs
Question 1. Provide the current performance standards for employees
involved with the processing of claims.
Response. Attached are the performance standards for the Veterans
Service Representative (VSR) and Rating Veterans Service Representative
(RVSR) positions.
Attachment 1
NATIONAL PERFORMANCE PLAN
RATING VETERANS SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE (RVSR)
(Excludes PMC and IDES RVSRs)
ELEMENT 1--QUALITY (Critical)
The RVSR must consistently and conscientiously exercise sound,
equitable judgment in applying stated laws, regulations, policies and
procedures to ensure accurate information is disseminated to veterans
and accurate decisions are provided on all benefit claims administered
by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Fully Successful (Issue Based)
Experience level defined by time in position:
6-12 months: The accuracy rate during the
evaluation period equals or exceeds
80% (cumulative)
13-18 months: The accuracy rate during the
evaluation period equals or exceeds
85% (cumulative)
19-24 months: The accuracy rate during the
evaluation period equals or exceeds
90% (cumulative)
Over 24 months: The accuracy rate during the
evaluation period equals or exceeds
92% (cumulative)
Indicator
A random selection will be made of an average of 5 end products per
month regardless of number of issues decided. This includes completed
cases and partial ratings to determine the accuracy of the originator.
The selection of actions, while random, must reflect an appropriate mix
of work performed by the employee throughout the month (i.e. not from a
single day or single week).
If a routine review of a RVSR's work demonstrates the need for
quality improvement, an expanded sample of 10 total end products per
month will be reviewed for quality purposes.
Once an error is found and recorded concerning a specific issue
associated with the claim (ex: effective date), no additional errors
related to that issue should be recorded (consistent with M21-4 under
the Quality Review Structure for cascading effect).
ELEMENT 2--TIMELINESS (Critical)
Timely processing of veterans claims is of paramount importance as
it highly correlates with customer satisfaction. The RVSR will operate
in an efficient manner to accurately finalize claims using all
appropriate workload management tools and processes.
RVSRs are responsible for the types of work respective to their
assigned duties. Extenuating circumstances and notification to the
employee's supervisor will be considered.
Timeliness of Workload Management (includes rating, non-rating and
appeals)
Fully Successful
RVSRs must manage their workload in accordance with locally
established workload management plans.
There will be no more than 3 instances of RVSR specific duties not
being completed within locally established timeframes, or failure of
employee to notify their supervisor when cases cannot be worked within
established timeframes and reasons thereof during the evaluation
period. An incident will not be called until after the first
notification of non-compliance of the above standard.
Indicators
1 VETSNET Operations Reports (VOR)
2 Local Tracking Reports
3 Supervisory Assignments and Observation
4 Folder Aging Reports
5 VACOLS Reports
ELEMENT 3--OUTPUT (Critical)
Processes a minimum cumulative average number of weighted actions
on rating related end products and the following: EP 930 series,
statements of the case, supplemental statements of the case, claims
certified to BVA, hearing decisions, EP 290, 600, 095, 070, 172, 165.
Weighted action credit will be given based on number of issues
completed per the following:
1-2 issues completed: .5 weighted action
3-4 issues completed: 1 weighted action
5-9 issues completed: 1.5 weighted actions
Each additional 5 issues completed will be given .5 weight actions
(i.e. 10-14 issues completed: 2 weighted actions; 15-19 issues
completed: 2.5 weighted actions; 20-24 issues completed: 3 weighted
actions; et cetera)
Fully Successful
Experience level defined by time in position:
6-12 months: 1.5 weighted actions
13-18 months: 2 weighted actions
19-24 months: 2.5 weighted actions
Over 24 months: 3 weighted actions
* RVSRs on the Special Operations team will have an additional .25
weighted actions added to their output for each claim worked meeting
special operations criteria to account for the complexity of these
cases.
Indicators
VOR
ASPEN
VACOLS Reports
* Duplicate credit will not be allowed for self-correction of an
RVSR's error.
** Leave, union time, and special projects or assignments pre-
approved at the discretion of the supervisor are considered deductible
time. Unmeasured time, such as informal training, was considered in
developing the successful level and is not reportable deductible time.
ELEMENT 4--TRAINING (Critical)
RVSR will stay abreast of current laws and regulations, work
processes, policies and procedures and computer applications in order
to provide optimum service to our veteran population.
RVSRs are encouraged to actively participate in developmental
activities of self and others. For example, this may include
volunteering to conduct needed training, mentoring and second signature
reviews.
The RVSR will complete mandatory Core Technical Training
Requirements (CTTR) as outlined on a published training schedule and
within specified deadlines.
It is the responsibility of supervisors to provide RVSRs with a
training schedule in advance so they can complete their training
requirements. It is the responsibility of the RVSR to complete all
required training within established guidelines.
Performance under this element will be mitigated when the RVSR's
supervisor has not allotted sufficient time for RVSR to complete
training requirements or if the RVSR is not provided a schedule of
available training and the deadline they are to complete.
Fully Successful
Timely completion of nationally mandated training hours to include
core requirements and mandated local training during evaluation period.
Completes training within assigned deadlines with no more than 1
violation during evaluation period.
Indicators
TMS
Supervisory Observation
ELEMENT 5--Organizational Support (Non-critical)
Functions as a team member to enhance resolution of claims by work
actions. Maintains professional, positive, and helpful relationships
with internal and external customers (to include fellow employees and
all stakeholders) by exercising tact, diplomacy, and cooperation.
Performance demonstrates the ability to adjust to change or work
pressures, to handle differences of opinion in a businesslike fashion,
and to follow instructions conscientiously. As a team member,
contributes to the group effort by supporting fellow teammates with
technical expertise and open communications and by identifying problems
and offering solutions. Performance also demonstrates the ability to
effectively communicate in a courteous manner with internal and
external customers (to include fellow employees and all stakeholders).
The RVSR provides information to veterans and claimants that is
accurate, concise, complete and written in a non-adversarial,
respectful manner that demonstrates courtesy and compassion. This
information may be in the form of rating decisions, written
correspondence to claimants and other verbal communication with
claimants such as personal hearings.
Fully Successful: No more than 3 instances of valid complaints or
incidents.*
* A valid complaint or incident is one where a review by the
supervisor, after considering both sides of the issue, reveals that the
complaint/incident should have been handled more prudently and was not
unduly aggravated by the complainant. Disagreeing, per se, does not
constitute ``discourtesy.'' Valid complaints or incidents will be
determined by the supervisor and discussed with the employee.
Indicator
Verbal and/or written feedback from internal and/or external
customers. Observations by a supervisor with the complaint documented.
______
Attachment 2
NATIONAL PERFORMANCE PLAN
VETERANS SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE (VSR)
(Excludes PMC and PCT VSRs)
ELEMENT 1--QUALITY (Critical)
The VSR must consistently and conscientiously exercise sound,
equitable judgment in applying stated laws, regulations, policies and
procedures to ensure accurate information is disseminated to Veterans
and accurate decisions are provided on all benefit claims administered
by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Standard
Quality of Work
Successful Level
GS-7: The accuracy rate during the evaluation
period equals or exceeds 80% (cumulative)
GS-9: The accuracy rate during the evaluation
period equals or exceeds 85% (cumulative)
GS-10: The accuracy rate during the evaluation
period equals or exceeds 92% (cumulative)
GS-11: The accuracy rate for work produced during
the evaluation period equals or exceeds 93%
(cumulative)
Indicators
A random selection will be made of an average of 5 actions per
month regardless of number of contentions claimed. Quality of action
taken on each contention will be evaluated. The selection of actions,
while random, must reflect an appropriate mix of work performed by the
employee throughout the month (i.e. not from a single day or single
week).
If a routine review of a VSR's work demonstrates the need for
quality improvement, an expanded sample of an average of 10 actions per
month will be reviewed for quality purposes.
The ASPEN checklist to be used will mirror the STAR worksheet and
will include a component on systems compliance, which will be
considered a substantive error.
ELEMENT 2--TIMELINESS/WORKLOAD MANAGEMENT (Critical)
Timely processing of Veterans claims is of paramount importance, as
it is highly correlated with customer satisfaction. The VSR will
operate in an efficient manner to accurately finalize claims using all
appropriate workload management tools and processes.
VSRs are responsible for the cycles/type of work respective to
their assigned duties. If multiple timeliness sub-elements apply to a
VSR (e.g. average days awaiting award, non-rating, and corrective
actions) they must meet the fully successful level for all applicable
sub-elements to be successful for the element.
Extenuating circumstances and notification to the employee's
supervisor will be considered. An incident will not be called until
after the first notification of non-compliance of the above standard.
Timeliness
Timeliness of Rating End Products (including EP 930 series)
Fully Successful: All grade levels must meet locally established
timeliness requirements, which are to be derived from end of year
station targets.
The percentage of claims in each cycle pending over the locally
established cycle goal must align with station goals for percentage of
claims greater than 125 days. Management for each station sets goals.
Cycle Times
a. Average Days Awaiting Development
b. Average Days Awaiting Evidence
c. Average Days Awaiting Award
d. Average Days Awaiting Authorization
Timeliness of Non-Rating & Control End Products (i.e. EPs 600,
writeouts, 800 series)
Fully Successful: All grade levels must meet locally established
timeliness requirements, which should be derived from station targets.
Timeliness of Direct Services (i.e. IRIS, Congressional Inquiries,
etc.)
Fully Successful: All grade levels must meet locally established
timeliness requirements, which should be derived from station targets.
There will be no more than 5 instances where the VSR fails to meet
established timeliness, or failure of employee to notify their
supervisor when cases cannot be worked within established timeframes
and reasons thereof.
Timeliness of Special Projects & Duties (i.e. Women Veterans
Coordinators, AEW Project, etc.)
Fully Successful: There will be no more than 3 instances of tasks
not being worked within established timeframes, or failure of employee
to notify their supervisor when cases cannot be worked within
established timeframes and reasons thereof.
Timeliness of Corrective Actions
Fully Successful: There will be no more than 3 instances of failure
to complete a returned corrective action, or failure of employee to
notify their supervisor when cases cannot be worked, within three days
of the case being returned to them for correction.
Workload Management
Fully Successful: All grade levels must manage their workload in
accordance with locally established workload management plans. There
will be no more than 2 instances where the VSR fails to show compliance
with established workload management procedures.
Local management will be responsible for creating and communicating
a workload management plan that will identify the types of work to be
completed.
Indicators
VETSNET Operations Reports
Local Tracking Reports
Supervisory Observation
ELEMENT 3--OUTPUT (Critical)
Fully Successful: VSRs process a minimum cumulative average number
of outputs per day. Outputs will be counted as follows:
Development (Initial Development, Subsequent Development,
and Ready for Decision including rating Eps, EP 930s, administrative
decisions, appeals, non-rating Eps, and EP 600s)--.7
1-2 contention claim development (Initial Development,
Subsequent Development, and Ready for Decision including rating Eps, EP
930s, administrative decisions, appeals, non-rating Eps, and EP
600s)--.5
Telephone development--.1
Process award/decision (generate award, clear end
product)--.7
Authorize award--.33
Note 1: Subsequent development includes any actionable item, which
moves the claim forward and is subject to quality review.
Note 2: Telephone development requires contact with claimant,
representative, or medical facility to further the development of the
claim. Credit for telephone development may be taken in addition to
development credit.
Note 3: VSRs performing Post-Determination authorization duties
will receive an additional .5 weighted action for more complex cases
involving out of system payments or retroactive effective dates
preceding 1982 (earliest generate line in VETSNET).
Successful Level
GS-7: 4
GS-9: 5
GS-10: 5.5
GS-11: 6
Indicators
VOR
ASPEN
There will be no output element expectation for 90 days following
the completion of challenge training regardless of entry grade.
Duplicate credit will not be allowed for self-correction of a VSR's
error.
Leave, union time, and special projects or assignments pre-approved
at the discretion of the supervisor are considered deductible time.
Unmeasured time, such as informal training, was considered in
developing the successful level and is not reportable deductible time.
ELEMENT 4--TRAINING (Critical)
VSR will stay abreast of current laws and regulations, work
processes, policies and procedures and computer applications in order
to provide optimum service to our Veteran population.
Employees are encouraged to actively participate in self-
developmental activities.
Performance for this standard will be mitigated when the VSR's
supervisor has not allotted sufficient time for VSR to complete
training requirements or if the VSR is not provided a schedule of
available training and the deadline they are to complete.
It is the responsibility of supervisors to provide VSRs with a
training schedule in advance so they can complete their training
requirements.
Successful Level
GS-7/9/10/11: Timely completion of nationally mandated training
hours to include core requirements and mandated local training during
evaluation period. Completes mandatory training within assigned
deadlines with no more than 1 violation during evaluation period.
Indicators
TMS
Supervisory Observation
ELEMENT 5--Organizational Support (Non-critical)
Functions as a team member to enhance resolution of claims and
customer service contacts by work actions. Maintains professional,
positive, and helpful relationships with customers by exercising tact,
diplomacy, and cooperation.
Performance demonstrates the ability to adjust to change or work
pressures, to handle differences of opinion in a businesslike fashion,
and to follow instructions conscientiously. As a team member,
contributes to the group effort by supporting fellow teammates with
technical expertise and open communications and by identifying problems
and offering solutions. Performance also demonstrates the ability to
effectively communicate in a courteous manner with customers during the
personal or telephone interview process.
Successful Level
GS-7/9/10/11: No more than 3 instances of valid
complaints or incidents.*
* A valid complaint or incident is one where a review by the supervisor,
after considering both sides of the issue, reveals that the complaint/
incident should have been handled more prudently and was not unduly
aggravated by the complainant. Disagreeing, per se, does not
constitute ``discourtesy.'' Valid complaints or incidents will be
determined by the supervisor and discussed with the employee.
Indicators
Verbal and/or written feedback from internal and/or
external customers
Observations by a supervisor with the complaint
documented
Question 2. Provide the number of FTE at each VA regional office,
separated by job title and grade as of March 12, 2014.
Response. The attached spreadsheet provides full-time equivalent
(FTE) employees by regional office (RO), grade, and position.
Question 3. Provide the methodology utilized to allocate personnel
and resources to the regional offices and specifically address any
refinements made to this methodology in the past fiscal year.
Response. The Veterans Benefits Administration's (VBA) Resource
Allocation Model (RAM) is a systematic approach to distributing field
resources each fiscal year. The RAM utilizes a weighted model to assign
compensation and pension (C&P) FTE resources based on RO workload,
including rating inventory and rating, non-rating, and appeal receipts.
Starting in fiscal year (FY) 2014, the RAM includes additional
variables to more closely align with VBA's transformation to a
paperless, electronic environment, where receipts can be assigned and
managed at the national level. These variables include station
efficiency, quality, and RO capacity. VBA leaders use the model as a
guide, making adjustments for special circumstances or missions
performed by individual ROs. Special missions include Day-One Brokering
Centers, Integrated Disability Evaluation System (IDES) processing
sites, Benefits Delivery at Discharge sites, Quick Start processing
locations, and National Call Centers (NCC). Non-payroll and travel
resources are allocated to each RO based on business need, including
the number of FTE, benefit programs administered, and other unique
factors such as geographic location and jurisdiction.
Question 4. In 2009, VA began an effort to update the VA Schedule
for Rating Disabilities.
a. Provide an itemized list of funding expended in FY 2013 on the
rating schedule modernization.
Response. In FY 2013, VBA spent approximately $981,000 to support
updates to the VA Schedule of Rating Disabilities (VASRD), including
$902,000 for personal services, $30,000 for travel, and $49,000 for
rent, supplies, and other services.
b. Provide an itemized list of funding expended in FY 2014 on the
rating schedule modernization.
Response. In FY 2014, VBA will spend approximately $996,000 to
support updates to VASRD, including $947,000 for personal services,
$3,000 for travel, and $46,000 for rent, supplies, and other services.
c. Provide an itemized list of the requested funding in FY 2015 for
the rating schedule modernization. Also, include the number of FTE
assigned to or supporting this modernization effort.
Response. In FY 2015, VBA requested $3.0 million to update the
VASRD, including $952,000 for personal services, $30,000 for travel,
and $2.0 million for rent, supplies, and other services. The increase
in funding in FY 2015 is primarily due to a contracted earnings loss
studies. Five employees are currently assigned to support the VASRD
update project.
d. Provide the Project Management Plan, the VASRD Update Operating
Plan and project schedule for the rating schedule modernization.
Response. The Project Management Plan for the VASRD Update Project,
which contains the operating plan and project schedule, is attached.
e. Does the FY 2015 request include any funding to support updates
that will need to be made to IT solutions, including VBMS, disability
benefit questionnaires, rules-based calculators, or other initiatives
based on the current VASRD? How much funding does VA anticipate these
updates will require upon publication of final rules for the various
body systems?
Response. The FY 2015 budget request does not include funding to
change information technology (IT) systems related to the VASRD
modernization project, as VBA does not plan to publish the proposed
regulations until the fall of 2015. Consequently, any changes
necessitated by the new regulations will not be required until FY 2016.
Question 5. Provide the number of FTE assigned to or supporting
VA's accreditation program. Also, provide the following information for
calendar years 2012 and 2013.
a. The number of individuals per year who have sought recognition
to represent individuals before VA broken down by representatives of
service organizations, attorneys or agents.
Response. As of April 2014, the Office of General Counsel has
approximately 4 full-time equivalent employees (FTE) dedicated to the
accreditation program:
3 FTEs for 3 legal assistants
Approximately 0.1 FTE for an Assistant General Counsel
Approximately 0.4 FTE for a Deputy Assistant General
Counsel
Approximately 0.5 FTE total for 10 staff attorneys
From fiscal years 2009 to 2013, Department of Veterans Affairs has
annually received applications from approximately 2,400 individuals
seeking accreditation as Veterans Service Organization (VSO)
representatives; 2,430 individuals seeking accreditation as attorneys;
and 355 individuals seeking accreditation as claims agents. The
estimate for VSO representatives includes requests for cross-
accreditation, which occur when an individual seeks accreditation
through other organizations by virtue of his or her membership of and
accreditation through another organization. (Please note that the data
provided in the responses to Question 5 are approximations due to
database limitations.)
b. Of those requests for recognition, how many were granted and how
many were denied?
Response. From fiscal years (FY) 2009-2013, Department of Veterans
Affairs (VA) has annually granted accreditation to approximately 2,390
Veterans Service Organization (VSO) representatives; 2,410 attorneys;
and 65 claims agents. Because many VSO representatives seek cross-
accreditation with other organizations, the estimate for VSO
representatives does not reflect the total number of individual VSO
representatives granted accreditation.
From FYs 2009- 2013, VA has annually denied accreditation to
roughly 10 VSO representatives, 20 attorneys, and 290 claims agents.
Many claims agent applicants are not granted accreditation because they
do not take or pass the VA accreditation examination or otherwise fail
to pursue their application. Also, applicants may have been denied
because they were Federal employees, who are generally prohibited from
representing individuals before a Federal agency.
c. On average, how long does it take VA to process a request for
recognition?
Response. As of April 2014, applications for accreditation of
Veterans Service Organization representatives are processed in about
60-90 days; attorney applications in about 90-120 days; and claims
agent applications in about one year. Claims agent applications take
considerably longer because claims agent applicants need to take and
pass a Department of Veterans Affairs accreditation examination, submit
character references, and undergo a background check.
d. How many individuals had their recognition suspended or
canceled?
Response. From fiscal years (FY) 2008-2013, Department of Veterans
Affairs (VA) suspended accreditation for cause for 3 Veterans Service
Organization (VSO) representatives, 0 attorneys, and 0 claims agents.
From FYs 2008-2013, VA canceled accreditation for cause for 18 VSO
representatives, 1 attorney, and 1 claims agent.
Other accredited VSO representatives may have had their
accreditation canceled by their organizations for various reasons, such
as termination of employment, retirement, or failure to comply with the
organizations' training requirements. Other accredited attorneys and
claims agents may have had their accreditation suspended in 2011 for
failure to comply with VA's training requirements.
e. How many complaints were filed against individuals who are
recognized to represent claimants before VA, how many were found to
have merit, and how many were referred to the Inspector General, a law
enforcement agency, or other similar enforcement entity and how many of
the referred cases resulted in further enforcement, disciplinary or
legal action?
Response. Since January 2012 (Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
does not have complete numbers prior to 2012 because the database did
not track complaints before 2012), VA received approximately 60
complaints--8 complaints regarding accredited Veterans Service
Organization (VSO) representatives, 19 complaints regarding accredited
attorneys, 10 complaints regarding accredited claims agents, and 23
complaints regarding non-accredited individuals or organizations. In
about 20 of these complaints, Office of General Counsel (OGC) found the
matter not to have merit, or OGC did not receive the necessary
disclosure authorizations to follow up on the complaints. VA followed
up on approximately 40 of the 60 complaints. Currently, there are
approximately 30 complaints that are in pending or monitoring status.
In two instances, VA initiated cancellation proceedings against two
accredited attorneys for unlawful practices. These two matters are
currently awaiting a VA administrative hearing. In two other instances,
accredited attorneys refunded to Veterans fees that were allegedly
charged unlawfully. In five instances, accredited individuals changed
their business policies or practices.
Since 2009, VA has referred approximately 7 accreditation matters
to State Attorney General Offices. In one instance, a State Attorney
General's Office prosecuted a non-accredited individual engaged in
unlawful activities involving VA benefit claims for violation of State
consumer protection laws. This matter is currently pending with a State
administrative hearing judge.
va/dod collaboration
Question 6. According to the FY 2015 budget request, the Integrated
Disability Evaluation System (IDES) operates at 139 military treatment
facilities worldwide and is available to all servicemembers who are
referred to medical evaluation boards for fitness determinations. The
FY 2015 budget request noted 31,764 new referrals in 2013.
a. Has DOD provided VA with information on the anticipated number
of referrals that VA can expect the program to receive in FY 2015 or
future fiscal years?
Response. Projections were provided by the Department of Defense
(DOD). The total of 93,868 follows:
FY 2015: 27,213
FY 2016: 24,194
FY 2017: 21,195
FY 2018: 21,266
b. How many referrals has the program received in FY 2014 and how
many are anticipated in FY15?
Response. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) total for FYs
2014 and 2015 were 57,803, and below is the breakdown.
Projected referrals for FY 2014: 30,590 (Actual referrals
through March 2014: 14,475)
Anticipated referrals for FY 2015: 27,213
c. How many contract disability examinations were used to support
IDES in FY 2013 and to date in FY14?
Response. VA's total for FYs 2013 and 2014 were 24,717 and below is
the breakdown:
Veterans Health Administration (VHA)--VHA provided 2,123
exams in FY 2013 and 474 in FY 2014.
Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA)--In FY 2013, 15,142
VBA contract examinations were completed in support of Integrated
Disability Evaluation System (IDES).
FY 2014 through March 2014: 6,978 VBA contract
examinations were completed in support of IDES.
d. What specific actions have been taken to improve intra-agency
information exchange processes to ensure VBA meets the benefit
notification goal of 30 days?
Response. VA is taking the following actions to help meet the
benefit notification goal of 30 days for IDES claims:
VA must obtain verified service information before
finalizing IDES awards. DOD's Defense Manpower Data Center sends this
information to VA via the VA/DOD Identity Repository (VADIR), and VA
views the information using the Veterans Tracking Application. In
March 2014, separation, severance, and retired pay information from
VADIR was made available on the Veterans Information Solution, an
intranet-based application designed to provide a consolidated view of
information about Veterans and Servicemembers.
In coordination with the Providence Disability Rating
Activity Site (DRAS), the Navy has begun electronically submitting DD
Form 214s for IDES participants for final processing. This ensures the
electronic form is available to VA shortly after discharge and
eliminates delays associated with untimely submission of DD Form 214.
The Physical Evaluation Boards have agreed to include an
indication of the current duty status of members of the National Guard
and Reserve along with the request for preliminary IDES ratings. This
information allows the DRAS to immediately finalize and deliver
benefits to IDES participants who are not in active-duty status.
In April 2013, VA reviewed disability compensation
payments based on disability discharges and disability retired pay.
Based on this review, VA issued standard operating procedures for IDES
cases in August 2013 that allow disability compensation payments to
start without waiting for disability retirement payments to begin and
that do not result in the creation of an overpayment when retired pay
does begin. In addition, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service's
Retired Casualty Pay Subsystem completed a programming change in
February 2014 that allows VA to more timely process an additional set
of claims without incorrectly affecting retired pay.
e. Provide the amount of funding spent in FY 2013 and how many VA
employees were dedicated to the IDES process.
Response. VA's total for FY 2013 was $93,364,281 and below is the
breakdown:
Office of Policy and Planning (OPP)--During FY 2013, OPP
spent approximately $1,164,281, which is comprised of $570,630 for a
program management support contract, $568,651 in salary for 5 FTE, and
$25,000 in travel costs.
VHA--The FY 2013 IDES Supplemental Budget distributed to
the operational field sites supporting the IDES Program was $21.5
million. These funds were distributed to VAMCs with a direct IDES
mission to assist and defray costs associated with the deployment and
implementation of the IDES program. Staff located at VA medical centers
(VAMCs) are not solely dedicated to the IDES process.
VBA--During FY 2013, VBA spent approximately $70.7 million
for salaries and other general operating expenses for 643 FTE dedicated
to disability claims processing in the IDES process. Compensation staff
and Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment counselors are included in
this count. Veterans filing claims through the IDES sites are captured
in the nationwide Veteran caseload count and total compensation benefit
obligations; therefore, mandatory funding cannot be separated for this
program.
f. Provide the amount of funding spent in FY 2014 and how many VA
employees were dedicated to the IDES process.
Response. VA's total for FY 2014 was $73,092,082 and below is the
breakdown.
OPP--During FY 2014, OPP estimates it will spend
$1,192,082, which is comprised of $581,144 for a program management
support contract, $585,938 in salary for 5 FTEs, and $25,000 in travel
costs.
VHA--In FY 2014, supplemental funding for IDES was will no
longer provided to operational sites. IDES Supplemental funding was a
VHA initiative inacted to assist facilities having an IDES mission, to
assist them defray costs associated with the deployment and
implementation of the IDES Program. Once the IDES program matured and
was fully implemented, funding to assist with IDES operational costs
were included in VHA's Veterans Equitable Resource Allocation (VERA)
model. Staff located at VAMCs are not solely dedicated to the IDES
process.
VBA--During FY 2014, VBA estimates it will spend
approximately $71.9 million for salaries and other General Operating
Expenses (GOE) to support 648 FTE dedicated to disability claims
processing in the IDES process.
g. Provide the amount of funding requested in FY 2015 and how many
VA employees will be dedicated to the IDES process.
Response. VA total for FY 2015 was $75,297,179 and below is the
breakdown.
OPP--During FY 2015, OPP estimates it will spend
$1,197,179 which is comprised of $586,241 for a program management
support contract, $585,938 in salary for 5 FTEs, and $25,000 in travel
costs.
VHA--Starting in FY 2014, supplemental funding for IDES
was no longer provided to operational sites. IDES Supplemental funding
was a VHA initiative inacted to assist facilities having an IDES
mission, to assist them defray costs associated with the deployment and
implementation of the IDES Program. Once the IDES program matured and
was fully implemented, funding to assist with IDES operational costs
were included in VHA's VERA funding as described earlier.Staff located
at VAMCs are not solely dedicated to the IDES process.
VBA--During FY 2015, VBA estimates it will spend
approximately $74.1 million for salaries and other GOE to support 648
FTE dedicated to disability claims processing in the IDES process.
Question 7. VA's Office of Interagency Collaboration and
Integration is responsible for ``coordinating the implementation of the
Integrated Disability Evaluation System (IDES) and streamlining the
disability evaluation process through continual process improvements.''
a. What process improvements were made in FY 2014 to streamline the
process?
Response.
IDES Process Improvements (FY 2014)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Improvement Initiatives Impact Current Status
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disability Benefit Questionnaires (DBQ) Decrease rates of inadequate medical exams DBQs implemented at all
in IDES. and allow digitalization of IDES med exam IDES sites Oct. 1, 2013
information for input into Veterans
Benefits Management System (VBMS).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VHA providers were placed at the Reduce time and insufficient Providers are currently
Regional Offices and Disability Rating reports located at the Seattle
Activity Sites. Clarify questions raised regarding and Providence sites.
the disability exam [extra words to cause
a runover line]
Allow for training points
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VA Pays First.......................... VA will be able to pay separating Phase I and II have been
Servicemembers without waiting 20-25 days implemented and
for the Defense Finance and Accounting Servicemembers are no
Service to complete accounting processes longer waiting to receive
for Retired Pay cases with a skeleton pay.
record in the Recovery Care Program
Support System.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
b. What is the current status of electronic case file transfer
capabilities within IDES?
Response. Electronic case file transfer is currently pending the
establishment of a bi-directional interface between VA's Data Access
Service to VBMS. As an interim solution, VA and DOD are exploring
alternative methods of sending an electronic case file to VA's scanning
vendor for upload into VBMS.
Question 8. The problem of overmedication and medication management
is a national problem, one that both public and private health care
systems must address. VA has reported the Opioid Safety Initiative
(OSI) conducted at eight sites in Minnesota was a success.
a. Provide the Committee with the results of the OSI conducted at
the eight sites in Minnesota.
Response. At the American Academy of Pain Medicine's annual meeting
on March 7, 2014, Peter Marshall, M.D., from the Minneapolis VA Health
Care System presented a summary of methods and outcomes of the
Minneapolis VA OSI to the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and DOD
pain management leaders. The Minneapolis OSI team is submitting a
manuscript for publication in Pain Medicine describing OSI methods and
outcomes. These results include:
The number of patients prescribed high-dose (>200 Morphine
Equivalent Dose or MED) opioids for chronic, non-cancer pain has been
reduced by 70 percent.
The number of patients prescribed >400MED opioids for
chronic, non-cancer pain has been reduced by 86 percent.
With reduced numbers of patients receiving high-dose
opioids, the total amounts of opioids supplied to the Minneapolis
patient population (in MED) has fallen by 50 percent.
There has been a 13 percent reduction in total number of
unique patients who received at least one opioid prescription in the
past 30 days, while the total number of unique patients went up by 10
percent. This may reflect a change in ``treatment culture'' to use
alternatives to opioids for treating chronic, non-cancer pain.
Annual urine drug screening (UDS) in patients on opioids
for chronic non-cancer pain has increased from 21 percent to 55 percent
of patients. For patients on high-dose (>200MED), annual UDS has
increased from 30 percent to 64 percent of patients.
All other Veterans Service Integrated Network (VISN) 23
Health Care Systems are adapting this model and are at various stages
of implementation. Clinical pharmacists and Patient Aligned Care Teams
(PACT) are highly engaged in using team-based approaches to support
safe and effective care to their patients.
b. Provide a detailed description of the opioid safety program in
which all medical centers are now participating.
Response. OSI is a comprehensive monitoring program to provide safe
and effective pain care. Currently, all 21 VISNs and all VA medical
centers (VAMC) are able to access provider-specific opioid prescribing
data through a unique business intelligence tool named the Opioid
Safety Dashboard (OSD). OSD enables VISN and VAMC subject matter
experts trained in the safe use of opioids to assist providers in
maintaining safe prescribing practices. OSD identifies patients on
potential unsafe combinations of medications (such as opioids and
benzodiazepines) and those who would benefit from closer monitoring of
drug treatment through urine screening. This information is available
for use by subject matter experts and providers. OSD is updated
quarterly to reflect new prescriptions and monitor current prescribing.
Monitors include: the number of patients monitored using urine drug
screening, the number of patients on opioids and benzodiazepines, and
the total number of patients receiving opioids. This data is made
available for review by subject matter experts, providers, and VISN and
VAMC leadership. VHA Central Office also develops trending reports that
are reviewed by field-based pharmacy and clinical leadership.
Additionally, as part of the OSI, VHA Central Office has provided
field-based staff training materials that encourage the use of non-
opioid medications and alternatives, which reinforce the use of
complementary and alternative medicine as a vital tool to provide safe
pain care.
c. Provide a detailed description of the reasons for having all
medical centers participate in an opioid safety program and what plans
and procedures VA has to measure the success of the program.
Response. One of the primary goals of VHA is to ensure that the
care provided to Veterans is safe, high-quality and evidence-based. VHA
is implementing OSI system-wide to ensure that Veterans across the
Nation have appropriate access to safe prescribing of opioids, as this
is a treatment modality that is broadly used across VHA's health care
system. VHA is utilizing OSD to monitor utilization of urine drug
screening, provider-specific prescribing of opioids and
benzodiazepines, and the total number of opioids prescribed. The intent
of these monitors is to verify that Veterans experiencing chronic pain
receive safe, effective care. OSD serves as a tool to assist providers
and subject matter experts in their clinical practice as they treat
Veterans experiencing chronic pain.
d. Similar concerns regarding overmedication and medication
management have been raised about DOD's approach to the treatment of
wounded warriors. Based on the success VA has reported from the OSI
conducted at eight sites in Minnesota, are there lessons learned that
could be shared with DOD?
Response. The Minneapolis VA OSI team has shared information about
the methods and results with the Department of Defense (DOD) and the
private sector. At the American Academy of Pain Medicine's annual
meeting on March 7, 2014, Peter Marshall, M.D., from the Minneapolis VA
Health Care System presented a summary of methods and outcomes of the
Minneapolis VA OSI to the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and DOD
pain management leaders. Dr. Marshall also communicated with
Christopher Spevak, M.D., pain specialist at Walter Reed National
Military Medical Center, and shared Minneapolis OSI data and other OSI
and Minneapolis Pain Center program documents. The Minneapolis VA OSI
team is also available to provide other information and support if
requested by DOD. In addition, the Minneapolis OSI team is submitting a
manuscript for publication in Pain Medicine describing OSI methods and
outcomes.
e. What efforts are VA undertaking to make sure DOD is aware of
VA's work on this issue as DOD continues to address similar issues
among its wounded warrior population?
Response. VHA regularly presents progress on its various pain
management initiatives to the DOD/VA Health Executive Committee's (HEC)
Pain Management Work Group (PMWG), where discussion and planning of
joint programs in pain management take place. PMWG discusses issues
related to opioid safety including standardizing urine drug testing and
the implementation and use of the DOD/VA Chronic Opioid Therapy
Guidelines. OSI and its pilot results will be presented to the HEC PMWG
for a discussion of its general implementation in VHA and DOD more
widely. It is anticipated that the pilot results will be presented at a
full HEC meeting later in 2014.
Question 9. Provide a detailed description of how VA intends to
ensure the projected amount of money is collected through the Medical
Care Collections Fund in FY15.
a. Specifically, what plans does VA have for increasing the
collection of accurate third-party reimbursement information from both
existing and new patients?
Response. To ensure that VA collects the amount projected in fiscal
year (FY) 2015, VA has deployed seven industry best practice
Consolidated Patient Account Centers (CPAC) to manage back office
collection activities such as billing and accounts receivable follow
up. CPACs were deployed in FY 2012, which is 1 year earlier than
mandated under Public Law 110-387. CPACs focus on standardized
processes and intensive employee training has proven to be successful
as evidenced by both achievement of expected collection results and
performance in key industry performance metrics.
VA also has focused on identifying opportunities to improve front-
end revenue cycle processes related to collection of accurate insurance
information. Toward that end, VHA is deploying an Integrated Resources
Center (IRC) that provides resources to staff to increase their
knowledge of approved methods for obtaining and recording demographic
and health insurance information. The IRC library will include links to
intake training modules; current policies, procedures and directives;
scripts; a best practice registry; intake performance tracking; and
online training videos made in cooperation with VHA's Employee
Education Service.
b. How does VA plan to make up for any shortfall if the budget
projection of $3 billion is not met?
Response. VA does not expect to have a shortfall in the Medical
Care Collections Fund in 2015. All funding requirements and sources of
funds are reviewed periodically throughout the fiscal year. As of
May 2014 our aged 3rd Party receivables, which are defined as payments
from insurers that haven't been received by 90 days after billing,
amounted to $114 million.
Question 10. In its response to my post-hearing questions regarding
the FY 2014 budget request, VA noted it had developed and implemented
staffing guidance for general outpatient mental health programs.
a. Has VA developed a staffing model for determining the target
number of mental health staff for a whole facility? If no, please
explain any progress toward development of a staffing model and when
VA's expects to complete development and implementation.
Response. VA's guidance for outpatient staffing levels is developed
in the context of: (1) data on Veteran access to timely, full-spectrum
mental health services at appropriate intensity, and (2) information on
the local facility organization (e.g., number and location of
Community-Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOC)), the geographical area the
facility serves, and the availability of inpatient, residential,
telehealth, and regional specialty mental health services. It is
expected that appropriate staffing levels will vary somewhat based on:
local Veteran needs; whether the patient population resides in a rural
area; facility use of contracted or telehealth-based services,
collaborative service delivery with local residential treatment
programs, and other factors. As there are strong relationships between
mental health staffing levels and Veteran access to mental health
services, indications of poor access are considered a trigger for
review of adequacy of clinical staffing and planning for remediation of
access concerns.
VA has been developing staffing guidance based on patient demand to
assist facilities in ensuring consistent staffing for mental health.
For sites with hiring/staffing challenges, VA is expanding the use of
contracts and the use of telemental health. Methods to estimate future
staff needs based on mental health workload projections have been
drafted and are being reviewed and refined. This modeling will provide
targets for all mental health staffing needs at a facility. VHA expects
to conduct internal validation of this modeling over the next 2 fiscal
years to determine whether facility adherence to the model is
associated with maintenance of Veteran access to mental health services
as the mental health patient population grows, and adjust within that
time as necessary.
b. In the absence of such a model, describe the methodology VA uses
to accurately budget for mental health care.
Response. Please see the response to Question 10a.
Question 11. What percentage of dental care is provided at VA
facilities and what percentage is provided through non-VA care?
Response. For FY 2013, 86 percent of dental workload (measured in
Relative Value Units) was completed on-site at VA facilities and 14
percent was completed through non-VA Care. There were 462,254 total
patients, 442,688 received care within VA on-site and 54,929 received
care in the private sector. Some patients received care in both venues.
Question 12. Has VA experienced difficulties in recruiting
qualified individuals to fill open dental vacancies? If so, explain
what VA has done to address this issue.
Response. VA receives sufficient applications to recruit qualified
individuals to fill open dentist occupational vacancies with the
exception of certain scarce specialties such as oral surgeons. As of
July 15, 2014, there are 20 dentist vacancies and 2 dental hygienist
vacancies listed on the USAJobs Web site. The average speed of hire
(SOH) timeframe to hire these dental occupations is 41.99 days, which
is less than VA's SOH goal of 60 days. This data accounts for all hires
of the previously mentioned occupations from October 1, 2013, through
February 28, 2014.
Additionally, the following initiatives have been launched to
enhance the recruitment of dental hygenists and lab technicians:
Hygienists: The qualification standard for dental
hygienists is being updated to create a career ladder potential for
advancement for dental hygienists in VA that mirrors the private
sector.
Laboratory Technicians: The Central Dental Laboratories
maintain a skills development program to advance technicians skills and
abilities internally. Outsourced laboratory services are also used to
fill the gap.
Question 13. In the medical patient caseload portion of the FY 2015
budget request, VA estimates between FY 2014 and FY 2015, an additional
112,519 Priority Groups 1-6 veterans will access VA health care. Yet,
it estimates a decrease of 2,021 veterans in Priority Groups 7 and 8
for the same period of time and a further decrease of 9,249 veterans
from 2015 to 2016. Given the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires
Americans to obtain health care coverage before March 31, 2014, many
uninsured veterans will turn to VA for their health care needs. VA
estimates it will see an increase of 63,000 veterans in 2015 as a
result of ACA implementation.
a. Why does VA estimate a decrease in Priority Groups 7 and 8
veterans in the FY 2015 budget?
Response. VA's FY 2015 Medical Care budget request does not project
a decrease in Priority Group 7 and 8 enrolled Veterans, VA projects an
increase of 27,987 enrollees (see page 32 of the second volume of the
FY 2015 Budget). The 2,021 Veteran decline reflects the projected
decrease in the number of Priority Group 7 and 8 patients. The VA
Enrollee Health Care Projection Model (EHCPM) projects enrollee health
care services over a 20-year planning period. For each year, the EHCPM
projects the number of Veterans expected to be enrolled, their
priority, age, gender, special conflict status, and geographic
location. The patient projections model estimates the probability of
enrollees becoming patients each fiscal year. Patients are projected as
a function of enrollee type, priority, age, gender, special conflict
status, and assumed morbidity and reliance levels. While projections
for Priority Group 7 and 8 enrollees, as reflected in the FY 2015
budget submission, suggest a slight increase in enrollment for this
population, since many of these enrollees have some other form of
public/private health insurance coverage, they tend to be less reliant
upon VA for care, and therefore do not generate a corresponding
increase in patients, as noted by the projected decline of 2,021
Veterans in the chart on page 7 of the second volume of the FY 2015
Budget. Historical data also shows a decline in Priority Group 7 and 8
patients.
b. Provide the following information regarding priority groups:
i. The number of such veterans moving from Priority Groups 7
and 8 to Priority Groups 1-6 between FY 2014 and FY 2015; and
Response. The net number of enrollees that are projected to
move from Priorities 7 and 8 into Priorities 1-6 between FY
2014 and FY 2015 is 15,566. (**Note: This is the net number of
enrollees moving into Priorities 1-6. This means that enrollees
moving from Priority Groups 7-8 into Priority Groups 1-6 are
offset by enrollees moving from Priority Groups 1-6 into
Priority Groups 7-8. There are significant movements in both
directions, and the net movement is close to zero. Movements
from Priorities 4-8 into Priorities 1-3 are estimated to be
132,325 during the same time period (FY 2014 to FY 2015)).
ii. The number of veterans currently enrolled in the VA
health care system that VA expects will become ineligible, in
2015 and 2016, for VA health care due to its geographic means
test.
Response. Veterans currently enrolled do not become
ineligible based on a geographic means test, if they are
already enrolled.
Question 14. In the performance measure section of the President's
FY 2015 budget request, VA reports an increase of 38 percent, from 2012
to 2013, of targeted OEF/OIF veterans with a primary diagnosis of PTSD
who receive a minimum of eight psychotherapy sessions within a 14-week
period. Provide the Committee with the criteria utilized in FY 2012 and
FY 2013 individually to identify these targeted OEF/OIF veterans.
Response. VA did not report a 38-percent increase in the percentage
of Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation New
Dawn (OEF/OIF/OND) Veterans receiving 8 psychotherapy visits in 14
weeks. We believe that this number may have been incorrectly surmised
as it looks to be the difference between the measure in existence in FY
2012 and the measure in existence for FY 2013. However, these two
metrics are not comparable. Below is a description of each measure, and
a summary of the changes in utilization of psychotherapy across the 2
years.
In FY 2012, the measure (OEF 4) was a percentage defined by the
following numerator and denominator. The denominator (see FY 2012
Presidential Budget Submission, Volume II, page 1G-23) included
Veterans who were deployed in OEF/OIF/OND and had two primary diagnoses
of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in two outpatient encounters
that occur within 90 days of each other. Patients are entered into the
denominator once they received a second encounter with a primary
diagnosis of PTSD. A number of visit types such as telephone contacts
and vocational services were excluded when looking for qualifying
encounters. In addition, any Veteran who had already received at least
8 visits in 14 weeks in the previous 5 years was excluded from the
denominator. The numerator consisted of Veterans who are included in
the denominator and have encounters with PTSD as the primary or
secondary diagnosis for 8 psychotherapy sessions within a 14-week time
period after the qualifying encounters. The measure in FY 2012 was
reported as a straight percentage. At the end of the fiscal year, there
were cumulatively 8,155 Veterans in the numerator and 56,103 Veterans
in the denominator, for a percentage of 14.54 percent.
In FY 2013, the measure reported (OEF 41) was changed (see FY 2013
Presidential Budget Submission Volume II, page 1H-6). Conceptually, the
numerator and denominator remain the same as OEF 4, although some
additional exclusions were placed on the denominator such as an
expanded set of clinic types that would not count toward qualifying
encounters and the removal of Veterans who passed away after being
qualified for the denominator. Most importantly, however, the measure
was redefined to reflect the fact that not all Veterans will want or be
ready for this particular type of treatment. Previous VA research had
indicated that about 30 percent of Veterans offered these interventions
will actually begin the therapies. Therefore, the new measure is
calculated as the numerator divided by the denominator and then divided
by 30 percent. In FY 2013, the numerator was 8,530, the denominator was
53,297. The ratio to be used to compare to FY 2012 was 16.0 percent,
and the final measure (16 percent/30 percent) is 53.33 percent of all
OEF/OIF/OND Veterans who could benefit from the treatment and who will
want and be ready for the treatment.
It appears that whomever reported the 38-percent change mistakenly
subtracted the FY 2012 number from the FY 2013 number (a difference of
38.79), not being aware that the measures were not comparable. Since
the numerator and denominator are roughly comparable, we can say that
there was a 1.5 percent increase in the proportion of OEF/OIF/OND
Veterans receiving 8 visits in 14 weeks.
Question 15. What is the population size of the targeted
population? Has the population size changed since 2012?
Response. The ``targeted population'' is Veterans defined by the
denominators described in the response to question 14. In FY 2012, it
was 56,103 Veterans, while in FY 2013 it was 53,297. This number is
separate from the number of OEF/OIF/OND Veterans with PTSD served by
VA.
Question 16. In the performance measure section of the President's
FY 2015 budget request, VA reports that 73 percent of veterans answered
``yes'' to the shared decisionmaking question in the Inpatient Surveys
of the Health Experience of Patients (SHEP). VA also notes this
question will be deleted after Fiscal Year 2014 and replaced with
``alternative satisfaction measures.''
a. Provide the Committee with the ``alternative satisfaction
measures'' that will be used.
Response. The Self-Management Support measure, found in the Patient
Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Consumer Assessment of Health Providers
and Systems (CAHPS) that forms the basis of VHA's Outpatient SHEP will
replace the Inpatient Shared Decision Making measure. This new measure
has undergone extensive testing for validity and expands the concept of
shared decisionmaking into VA's PACTs, which forms the foundation of
our Veteran-centered health care efforts. This new measure is
calculated as the average of the weighted percentage of patients who
responded ``Yes'' to questions 35 and 36, ``in the last 12 months, did
anyone in this provider's office talk with you about specific goals for
your health,'' and ``in the last 12 months, did anyone in this
provider's office ask you if there are things that make it hard for you
to take care of your health,'' respectively, in the SHEP survey.
b. What measures or initiatives is VA currently implementing to
increase the percentage of veterans involved in making decisions
regarding their health care, including mental health?
Response. VHA has developed and piloted the Personal Health
Inventory as a tool for Veterans and teams. This tool allows Veterans
and providers to discuss life goals and preferences in a personalized
plan of care. A number of VHA facilities have deployed an interactive
bedside system, which allows the Veteran more direct access to their
care team. These systems allow the Veteran to provide input on their
care while at the facility and also provide an opportunity for staff to
respond timely to issues identified during the stay. Additionally, VHA
has developed and deployed staff training classes in order to educate
staff about involving Veterans in making decisions regarding their
health care.
Question 17. What measures and initiatives has VA utilized to
achieve a decrease in the amount it spends per patient for OEF/OIF/OND
veterans of $212 per veteran, from 2012 to 2013, while increasing the
spending by $45 per patient for all VA patients, during the same time
period?
Response. The decrease in cost per patient of $212 per Veteran from
2012 to 2013 was an error and the result of a miscalculation in
overhead costs. The correct 2012 actual is reflected in the table
below. On average, the OEF/OIF/OND Veterans population's medical care
is increasing in complexity which translates into an increased cost for
medical treatment. OEF/OIF/OND is a subset of the total obligations per
unique patient. This error had no impact on the total budget request,
as the correct actual data was included in the estimates generated by
the VA EHCPM.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012 Actual 2013 Actual
Description Difference
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OEF/OIF/OND
Obligations ($000)................................. $2,745,534 $3,208,682 $463,143
Unique Patients.................................... 544,088 616,487 72,399
Cost per Patient................................... $5,046 $5,205 $159
Obligations per Unique Patient
Obligations ($000)................................. $53,868,410 $55,453,211 $1,584,801
Unique Patients.................................... 6,333,091 6,484,664 151,573
Cost per Patient................................... $8,506 $8,551 $45
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Question 18. The FY 2015 budget request states that in 2013, the
HUD-VASH program funded 562 additional positions in various
disciplines, including peer support positions, employment specialists,
psychiatrists, nurses, and housing specialists.
a. How many additional positions in each discipline will be funded
with the $46.8 million increase for FY15?
Response. VA medical centers (VAMCs) receive funding for additional
positions to support the HUD-VASH Program after each VAMC's specific
allocation of new vouchers is determined. Until the FY 2015 specific
allocations occur, VA is only able to estimate the total number of
additional FTE expected to be funded based on previous years'
allocations; accordingly an estimated 500 additional FTE will be funded
in FY 2015.
b. Describe the service impact of the $138.5 million anticipated
reduction in the FY 2016 advanced appropriation request for this
program.
Response. The FY 2015 request of $321 million provides the funding
level needed to sustain current service levels in the Department of
Housing and Urban Development-VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) vouchers
as well as support 20,000 additional HUD-VASH vouchers issued in FY
2014 and FY 2015. A decrement of $200 million in FY 2015 (as reflected
in the FY 2015 Advanced Appropriation) or $138.5 million in the FY 2016
Advanced Appropriation will require significant reductions in the level
of case management support that can be provided to Veterans. The final
2016 funding level will be determined during the 2016 budget process
when updated data and metrics are available; however, if these
reductions occur in either year, the impact on HUD-VASH operations and
on the Veterans served by the program will be quite significant. Also,
service impacts could include significant reductions in level of case
mangagment support. Caseloads will increase considerably and process
times for moving Veterans from the streets to housing will also
increase significantly. VHA also anticipates an increase in negative
discharges from the program, including evictions and unit abandonment,
and we can expect additional negative outcomes due to the reduction in
frequency and intensity of case management support.
Question 19. The FY 2015 budget submission details that funding for
contract residential services (CRS) available through the health care
for homeless veterans program has recently ``been prioritized to ensure
that every VAMC has the capacity to offer ``bridge housing,'' services
that are targeted to and prioritized for homeless Veterans who are
transitioning from literal street homelessness.''
a. As of March 12, 2014, which VAMCs currently lack the capacity to
offer these services?
Response. VAMCs may request funding from VA Central Office to
establish Health Care for Homeless Veterans (HCHV) Contract Residential
Services (CRS) contracts. It is important to note that VAMCs only
request funding for HCHV CRS when the need for these services is not
being met by local community resources or by neighboring VA facilities.
VA uses HCHV CRS contracts to fill gaps in local continuums of homeless
services.
b. Describe the Department's efforts to ensure that bridge housing
is available to veterans, without regard to their gender in each
location.
Response. Each local VAMC that receives VA Central Office funding
to establish new or expand existing HCHV CRS contracts is expected to
include explicit contract language to ensure that housing services be
available to both male and female homeless Veterans. As of March 2014,
female Veterans make up 5 percent of the total population of homeless
Veterans admitted to HCHV CRS programs, representing an increase from 3
percent in FY 2012.
Question 20. The President's budget request indicates a transition
in the HVSEP program, with the provision of funding to hire 160
community employment coordinators.
a. Are these coordinators intended to supplement, or to replace,
the over 400 homeless or formerly homeless veterans currently staffing
this program as Vocational Rehabilitation Specialists?
Response. The Homeless Veteran Supported Employment Program (HVSEP)
hired formerly homeless or at-risk-of-homelessness Veterans as
Vocational Rehabilitation Specialists on term positions for a 4-year
period. Funding for these positions will end on September 30, 2014.
As a result of the HVSEP Initiative, 70 percent of HVSEP Vocational
Rehabilitation Specialists successfully transitioned into alternative
permanent employment, 358 within VA and 36 with other Federal agencies
or in the community.
In order to continue to provide a full-range of employment
services, the new Community Employment Coordinators will augment and
coordinate the competitive employment services that are currently
available for homeless and chronically homeless Veterans both at VAMCs
and in the community. The Community Employment Coordinators will
oversee the provision of training and guidance to all VA homeless
programs and staff on resources that result in competitive employment
outcomes for homeless Veterans. The Community Employment Coordinators
will also provide direct assistance in connecting Veterans to the most
appropriate and least restrictive VA and community-based employment
services leading to competitive employment with appropriate supports.
b. How will these coordinators interact with other employment
programs this population may be eligible for, such as VBA's Vocational
Rehabilitation program or the Department of Labor's Homeless Veterans
Reintegration Program Grantees?
Response. Partnerships with Federal, state, and community agencies
are critical in addressing unemployment among homeless Veterans. The
Community Employment Coordinators will serve as liaisons and referral
sources to VA and non-VA programs that provide community-based
employment opportunities and support services to homeless and
chronically homeless Veterans including but not limited to: Compensated
Work Therapy Programs; HCHV and HUD-VASH Employment Specialists;
Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) and Grant and Per Diem
(GPD) grantees that target employment; Veterans Benefits
Administration/Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment; Department of
Labor grantees such as the Homeless Veteran Reintegration Program; and,
state, local, community, and faith-based organizations.
construction and long range capital plan
Question 21. Provide a list of priority weights for the major
criteria and sub criteria used to inform the FY 2015 Strategic Capital
Investment Plan decision plan.
Response. The diagram below shows the major criteria and sub-
criteria priority weights that were used to inform the fiscal year (FY)
2015 Strategic Capital Investment Planning (SCIP) process.
Question 22. The FY 2015 budget request includes a number of
funding requests to renovate and realign VA Regional Offices. Of these,
which are due to decreased space requirements as a result of the
transition to a paperless claims processing system?
Response. The RO renovation and realignment projects were approved
for the following sites in FY 2015: Boston, Detroit, and New York.
These offices will be renovated to meet current size and safety
standards and realigned to optimize efficient space utilization, taking
into account that many paper claims received are being converted into
an electronic format. Renovation and realignment projects typically
take 2 to 3 years to complete. The FY 2015 budget request is dedicated
to developing the space design and determining the resulting space
savings. Funding for construction and realignment of the space would
then be included in the FY 2016 and 2017 budget requests.
a. Provide a list of any location where VBA has leased space for
the sole purpose of storing paper claims files. For each, also provide
an estimated date the lease will no longer be needed and the estimated
annual savings that would result from not leasing this space.
Response. The chart below shows the locations where separate file
storage is leased through General Services Administration, contracted
through Iron Mountain (or another storage vendor), or located on a
Veterans Health Administration campus. The ROs listed on the
spreadsheet have a project submission for renovation and realignment
over the next 10 years in VBA's long-range Strategic Capital Investment
Plan submission; however, projects beyond FY 2015 are notional and not
yet funded. VA will work to find solutions for removal of files from
these separately leased facilities ahead of the renovation schedule of
their respective RO, should funding become available.
Question 23. The FY 2015 budget submission details the department's
efforts to conduct onsite surveys of waste streams at 140 facilities in
order to assist meeting waste diversion goals and save disposal costs.
a. Share how these 140 facilities were chosen.
Response. Given the travel time and cost associated with reaching
several of our facilities, VHA included 140 facilities in the review
process. These 140 facilities were chosen because they encompass a
cross-section of every VISN and complexity level of facility in the
system. This allows the lessons learned from these reviews to be shared
with those facilities not included in the review.
b. Share the results of these surveys.
Response. VHA continues to work with the vendor to resolve several
issues with the draft of the waste and recycling assessment summary
report. Until these issues are addressed, VA will not accept the report
as final. Once the report has been accepted, VA will provide the
Committee with a complete copy of the individual reports requested.
c. Share any outcomes that resulted from an analysis of this data.
Response. Based on the initial review of the survey report data,
there are areas of opportunity to increase recycling activities
throughout VHA, particularly in the operating rooms, management of food
waste, and composting. The survey also reinforced the need and benefits
of the new web-based waste and recycling system, which has been
implemented throughout VHA for tracking diversion rates in accordance
with Executive Order (EO) 13514, Federal Leadership in Environmental,
Energy, and Economic Performance. EO 13514 challenges government
agencies with diverting up to 50 percent of municipal solid non-
hazardous waste from landfills by the end of FY 2015. This is generally
accomplished through recycling, reuse and composting programs.
Question 24. Describe planned improvements in FY 2015 to the
functionality of VA's national utility metering data collection and
analysis system.
Response. In FY 2015, VA will expand the analysis and reporting
capabilities of its metering data collection and analysis system. These
new functionalities will build on the progress made in FY 2014 that
implemented services for integrating electric and non-electric (e.g.,
gas, water, steam, chilled water) meter data into the system. As
metering data is added to the system, these new capabilities will allow
energy managers to access data more easily and in different ways. These
expanded capabilities will accommodate data from all future as well as
existing electric and non-electric meters. VA also plans to conduct
training for personnel on the use of the database system's analyses and
reporting capabilities.
information technology programs
Question 25. The FY 2015 budget request indicates that a portion of
the cybersecurity funding requested ``will be used to maintain
information protection directives and handbooks so VA is compliant with
all applicable Federal requirements and standards'' such as FISMA,
HIPAA, the E-government Act, FIA, Privacy Act, and other requirements.
Provide a list of each directive and handbook that is not in
compliance, as of March 12, 2014.
Response. All Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) security-related
directives and handbooks are in compliance with Federal regulations and
guidelines. VA has drafted a new version of VA Handbook 6500 that
includes all the changes from National Institutes of Standards and
Technology (NIST) 800-53, Revision 4, which was published in May 2013.
Federal agencies have one year from the date of publication to come
into compliance with NIST guidelines. VA expects to publish this
version of VA Handbook 6500 by the end of fiscal year 2014. In the
interim, while the VA Handbook 6500 is going through VA's internal
concurrence process, VA is implementing the draft guidelines to secure
VA information technology systems, and will make any adjustments
necessary that are needed to reflect the final guidelines.
Question 26. How many additional FTE will be required in FY 2015 to
fully staff the reorganized Network Operations Center and Security
Operations Center? Of these, how many will be VA employees and how many
will be contract employees?
Response. The Department of Veterans Affairs takes the protection
of our Veterans' and employees' data seriously. VA has in place strong,
multi-layered defense to combat evolving cyber security threats.
Defenses include monitoring outside our network by external partners;
active scanning of Web applications and source code; and protection of
servers, workstations, networks, and gateways, among other security
efforts.
The Department will be reviewing all details of the proposed
reorganization of the VA Network Security Operations Center to ensure
that the continued high level of service is maintained should a
separate Network Operations Center (NOC) and a separate Security
Operations Center (SOC) be put in place. The current organizational
structure includes network and security staffs at two different
locations with varying skill sets and the intent of this re-alignment
is to improve efficiencies in responding to network and security
operational requirements. The ongoing review will include the
development and update of a strategy and concept of operations (CONOPS)
for the NOC and the SOC, which will be completed in FY 2015. The
results of the work to develop the strategy and CONOPS for the SOC and
the NOC will re-validate the government FTE and contractor current
staffing estimates and requirements and help guide the reorganization
efforts. VA will develop a phased approach to establish a recruitment
and retention strategy to support the proposed number of personnel for
each organization, to ensure that we maintain the highly technical
skills and expertise required to support security and network
operations.
Question 27. Of the additional funding requested for VBMS in FY
2015, how much does VA anticipate dedicating to making workload
management improvements to improve the ability of veterans service
organizations and other accredited representatives to assist veterans
in managing their claim?
Response. Veterans Service Organizations (VSO) currently have the
ability to perform a number of functions in Veterans Benefits
Management System (VBMS), including:
Conducting searches
Viewing assigned items in the VSO work queue
Viewing the Veteran eFolder and annotations
Viewing the Veteran Profile and service information
Viewing claim contentions and claim detail
Viewing rated issues and review ratings decisions
VBMS is being developed and implemented in a phased approach
consisting of incremental software releases. As the system evolves, new
functionality is delivered to the field and builds upon the
foundational architecture available in the latest system release. The
scope of each release is prioritized based on business needs as
determined by leadership direction, resources, business-line inputs,
field enhancement requests, and defect reports. Improvements to VBMS
workload management is one of the main goals for software releases in
fiscal year 2015.
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is currently determining the
specific capabilities to be delivered in each release. Once the
specific capabilities are finalized, funding can be allocated. Because
workload management capabilities for VSOs are not fully defined or
scoped, VA is not yet able to provide an estimate of resources
(personnel or money) required in 2015. VBMS generally deploys a new
software release at the end of each fiscal quarter, and the scope of
each release is finalized approximately 4 to 6 months before the
release date. VA would be happy to brief the Committee on this issue as
soon as the capabilities for VSOs in VBMS become fully defined and
scoped.
Question 28. The FY 2015 budget request includes $20 million to
rapidly replace obsolete telephony equipment and $92 million to provide
Voice as a Service solutions in order move away from private branch
exchanges and into a unified communication strategy. Are these amounts
sufficient for an enterprise-wide replacement? If not, provide a
deployment plan for this initiative, including a list of locations
where telephony equipment will be switched out in FY15.
Response. The Voice as a Service initiative will replace over 1,300
voice systems across the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
enterprise, including the voice systems at VA medical centers and
Regional Offices, over a period of approximately 10 years. The number
of systems migrated in a given year will be determined primarily by
funding availability.
The President's 2015 budget request of $92 million includes the
replacement of the first wave of over 200 voice systems and many
mandatory dependencies such as detailed site surveys, local area
network upgrades, wide area network augmentation, and recurring
operation and maintenance costs.
Please see the attached sheet showing the list of facilities
planned for fiscal year (FY) 2015 migration upon completion of the
current pilot project. Procurements supporting site preparation for the
locations listed in the attached sheet are funded and planned for
execution in FY 2014.
Question 29. Provide a list of the additional 36 VA Health
Information Exchange partners planned for 2014 and the partners VA
plans to add in 2015.
Response.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Partner Name City State Status FY 2014/2015
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HealtheConnections NY........... Syracuse.......... NY................ In Production..... FY 2014
Hawaii Pacific Health........... Honolulu.......... HI................ In Production..... FY 2014
University of California Davis.. Sacramento........ CA................ In Production..... FY 2014
Allina Health................... Minneapolis....... MN................ On-Boarding....... FY 2014
Mt Sinai Medical Center Miami... Miami Beach....... FL................ On-Boarding....... FY 2014
Sentara Health care............. Norfolk........... VA................ On-Boarding....... FY 2014
Dignity Health.................. San Francisco..... CA................ On-Boarding....... FY 2014
East Tennessee HIN.............. Knoxville......... TN................ On-Boarding....... FY 2014
HIETexas........................ Austin............ TX................ On-Boarding....... FY 2014
Lancaster General Health........ Lancaster......... PA................ On-Boarding....... FY 2014
Maine HealthInfoNet............. Portland.......... ME................ On-Boarding....... FY 2014
Medical University of South Charleston........ SC................ On-Boarding....... FY 2014
Carolina.
MetroHealth System.............. Cleveland......... OH................ On-Boarding....... FY 2014
Michigan HIN.................... East Lansing...... MI................ On-Boarding....... FY 2014
Oregon Community Health......... Portland.......... OR................ On-Boarding....... FY 2014
Redwood MedNet HIE.............. Ukiah............. CA................ On-Boarding....... FY 2014
Yale New Haven Health System.... New Haven......... CT................ On-Boarding....... FY 2014
Alaska eHealth Network.......... Anchorage......... AK................ Potential......... FY 2014
Cleveland Clinic................ Cleveland......... OH................ Potential......... FY 2015
CVS MinuteClinic................ Woonsocket........ RI................ Potential......... FY 2015
Geisinger Health Systems........ Danville.......... PA................ Potential......... FY 2015
Georgia HIN..................... Atlanta........... GA................ Potential......... FY 2015
Greater Dayton Area Health...... Dayton............ OH................ Potential......... FY 2015
HealtHIE Nevada................. Las Vegas......... NV................ Potential......... FY 2015
Kansas HIN (KHIN)............... Topeka............ KS................ Potential......... FY 2015
Social Security Administration.. Baltimore......... MD................ Potential......... FY 2015
University of Pittsburgh Medical Pittsburgh........ PA................ Potential......... FY 2015
Center (UPMC).
Wisconsin Statewide HIN (WISHIN) Madison........... WI................ Potential......... FY 2015
Alabama One Health Record....... Montgomery........ AL................ Potential......... FY 2015
Bronx RHIO...................... Bronx............. NY................ Potential......... FY 2015
Carle Foundation Hospital....... Urbana............ IL................ Potential......... FY 2015
Central Florida RHIO............ Orlando........... FL................ Potential......... FY 2015
ConnectVirginia................. Glen Allen........ VA................ Potential......... FY 2015
EHR Doctors..................... Pompano Beach..... FL................ Potential......... FY 2015
Hawaii HIE...................... Honolulu.......... HI................ Potential......... FY 2015
Health Access San Antonio....... San Antonio....... TX................ Potential......... FY 2015
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
______
Response to Posthearing Questions Submitted by Hon. Richard Burr to
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
general
Question 30. At the end of fiscal year 2011, the Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA) reported $1.2 billion in outstanding delinquent
debt owed to VA, of which $732 million was created in connection with
VA benefit payments. In response to questions about VA's fiscal year
2014 budget request, VA indicated that, at the end of fiscal year 2012,
there was $3.7 billion in outstanding delinquent debt owed to VA, of
which $1.6 billion was created in connection with VA benefit payments.
VA also indicated that, during fiscal year 2012, VA wrote off or waived
$201 million of debts to VA.
A. Please explain what factors led to an increase from $1.2 billion
to $3.7 billion in outstanding delinquent debt between the end of
fiscal year 2011 and 2012.
Response. According to the Treasury Report on Receivables (TROR),
the $3.7 billion amount referenced in this question relates to total
Department of Veterans Affairs debt outstanding at the end of fiscal
year (FY) 2012. This amount includes debt that is ``delinquent''
(greater than 30 days); debt that is less than 30 days old; and debt
that is part of an established loan or repayment agreement paid in
installments. Delinquent debt at the end of FY 2011 and FY 2012
remained stable at approximately $1.2 billion.
B. Please explain what factors led to an increase from $732 million
to $1.6 billion in outstanding benefit debt between the end of fiscal
year 2011 and 2012.
Response. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Treasury Report on
Receivables (TROR) records indicate that outstanding benefit debt
decreased slightly from $2.4 billion to $2.2 billion between the end of
fiscal years (FY) 2011 and 2012. VA TROR records indicate that
outstanding delinquent benefit debt decreased slightly from $770
million to $730 million between the end of FYs 2011 and 2012.
C. What was the total amount of outstanding delinquent debt at the
end of fiscal year 2013?
Response. $1,169,280,757.
D. What portion of that amount was debt created in connection with
VA benefit payments?
Response. $693,453,840
E. What portion of the delinquent debt was created in connection
with the Veterans Health Administration (VHA)?
Response. $474,551,351
F. What is the total value of debts for which VA waived recoupment
during fiscal year 2013 and what is the total value of debts that were
written off during fiscal year 2013?
Response. Fiscal year 2013 Waived and Written Off Debt:
$339,324,218
G. During fiscal year 2014, how much new debt does VA project will
be established?
Response. Based on current trends, Department of Veterans Affairs
estimates that it will establish $823,300 new Veterans Benefits
Administration debts and $379,597 new Veterans Health Administration
debts in fiscal year 2014.
H. During fiscal year 2015, how much new debt does VA project will
be established?
Response. Based on current trends, Department of Veterans Affairs
estimates that it will establish $880,900 new Veterans Benefits
Administration debts and $386,435 new Veterans Health Administration
debts in fiscal year 2015.
Question 31. In response to questions regarding VA's fiscal year
2014 budget request, VA indicated that approximately $285 million in
mandatory funding would be used to pay for non-direct benefits,
including the salaries for 98 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees.
A. For fiscal year 2015, please identify how much in mandatory
funding will be spent on non-direct benefits and how those funds would
be spent.
Response. In FY 2015, VBA expects to spend $296.7 million in
mandatory funding on non-direct benefits. The $296.7 million in
mandatory funding used to pay for non-direct benefits includes funding
for: Equal Access to Justice Act payments, Medical Examinations
payments, and Income Verification Matching (38 United States Code
(U.S.C.) section 5317) from the C&P account. This also includes:
Reporting Fees, State Approving Agencies (SAA), reimbursements to the
GOE account as authorized under Public Laws (P.L.) 101-237 and 105-368,
and reimbursement to the Office of Information and Technology (OIT)
account as authorized under Public Law 106-419, 108-454, and 112-56
from the Readjustment Benefits (RB) account.
Additionally, under section 3674 of title 38 U.S.C., VBA is
authorized to reimburse SAAs up to $19 million from the RB account.
This funding is authorized for the reasonable and necessary personal
services, travel, and administrative expenses incurred by the employees
of SAAs in carrying out contracts for agreements entered into with VBA
for the purposes of ascertaining the qualifications of educational
institutions for furnishing courses of education to eligible persons or
Veterans.
VBA is also authorized under section 3684 of title 38 U.S.C., to
pay any educational institution, or the sponsor of a program of
apprenticeship furnishing education or training under Chapter 31, 33,
34, 35, or 36, a reporting fee which will be in lieu of any other
compensation or reimbursement for reports or certifications which such
educational institution or joint apprenticeship training committee is
required to submit to the Secretary by law or regulation.
Below is a detailed breakdown of the requested funding:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
C&P ($000s)
Medical Exams................................................ $237,587
Equal Access to Justice Act.................................. $10,554
Income Verification Matching................................. $15,430
----------
C&P Total.................................................. $263,571
----------
RB ($000s)
SAAs......................................................... $19,000
Reporting Fees............................................... $13,574
Reimbursement to GOE (Outreach).............................. $591
----------
RB Total..................................................... $33,165
----------
Total...................................................... $296,736
------------------------------------------------------------------------
B. For fiscal year 2015, are mandatory funds expected to be used to
pay the salary of any VA employees? If so, please specify the amount(s)
and purpose(s).
Response. Section 5317 of title 38 U.S.C., directs VBA to pay the
expenses of administering certain income verification matching
activities with funds from the mandatory C&P appropriation.
Accordingly, the C&P appropriation reimburses the GOE account and OIT
account for administrative costs associated with verification of
eligibility for the C&P programs through income verification matching.
The FY 2015 reimbursement to the GOE account is estimated to be $14.7
million to support 165 FTE. In FY 2015, the reimbursement to the OIT
account is estimated to be $112,200 in support of one FTE.
P.L. 104-275 directs VA to make payments for contracts for the
pilot program for disability examinations from the C&P appropriation.
Accordingly, the C&P appropriation has reimbursed the GOE account for
the purposes of this pilot program. The FY 2015 reimbursement amount is
estimated to be $2.7 million to support 25 FTE.
Question 32. This budget would cut VA central office (VACO) funding
by $4 million or 1.2 percent; however, the offices that comprise VACO
would realize an increase of 38 FTE if this budget were adopted. During
last year's budget rollout on April 10, 2013, VA responded to a
question about the contradiction of an increase in FTE and a funding
decrease by stating that the additional staff is paid for out of the
Supply Fund and Franchise Fund. Additionally, throughout the budget
request for the General Administration account, many offices within
VACO indicate budget allocations and staffing under the heading
``reimbursement.''
A. Of the 2,832 staff requested in the fiscal year 2015 budget
request, how many are funded through the Supply Fund and Franchise
Fund? Please breakout this number by individual VACO offices (for
example, Office of the Secretary, Office of General Counsel, Office of
Policy and Planning, etc.).
Response. The budget reduction of $4 million in the General
Administration account is a result of the transfer of rent funds to the
Board of Veterans' Appeals' new appropriation account and is unrelated
to pay of personnel or full-time equivalent employees (FTE). In fiscal
year (FY) 2015, 74 FTE in the General Administration account (76 FTE in
FY 2014) are supported through reimbursements from the Supply Fund (60
within the Office of General Counsel, 7 within the Office of
Acquisition, Logistics and Construction, and 7 within the Office of
Management). No General Administration FTEs are supported by
reimbursements from the Franchise Fund.
B. For reimbursable FTE, please provide the Committee with
information regarding the office, department, or agency that is being
reimbursed, a description of the program or service for which they are
being reimbursed, and the number of staff associated with the
reimbursement. Please break this out by individual VACO offices (for
example, Office of the Secretary, Office of General Counsel, Office of
Policy and Planning, etc.).
Response. In fiscal year 2015, a total 1,096 full-time equivalent
employees (FTE) in the General Administration account are supported
through reimbursements. The table below shows the number of FTE for
each Staff Office and a brief description of the associated program or
activity.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
General Administration Staff Reimb.
Office FTE Description/Activity
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Office of the Secretary......... 24 Office of Employee
Discrimination Complaint
Adjud.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Office of General Counsel....... 41 Credit Reform Administration
63 Medical Care Recovery Act
60 Contract Law Support (Supply
Fund)
1 Specialized Legal Support
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Office of Management............ 10 Energy/Greening (OAEM)
24 Business Oversight (A123 &
others)
7 Oversight Reviews of Supply
Fund
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Office of Human Resources Admin. 267 Office of Resolution
Management
321 Human Capital Investment
Plan
20 VACO Campus Administration
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Office of Policy and Planning... 27 Customer Data Integration
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Office of Operations, Security 30 Identity Credentials and
and Prep.. Access Mgt. (HSPD-12)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Office of Public and Intergov. 4 Homeless Veterans Outreach
Affairs.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Office of Acquisition, Logistics 140 Resident Engineers Support
and Const.. for Const. Projects
48 Leasing (Medical Facilities)
7 Supply Fund Management
2 Support to NCA
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total......................... 1,096
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Question 33. The fiscal year 2015 budget request for VA proposes
the creation of a $1 billion Veterans Job Corps. This is the third year
the proposal has been included in the Department's budget request.
However, even though the Committee has previously asked VA to provide
more detailed information on the Veterans Job Corps proposal, the
Committee has not been provided with additional detail.
A. Historically, employment programs have not been a core mission
of the Department. Why has VA been tasked with undertaking the program
and not the Department of Labor, which focuses almost entirely on
employment?
Response. VA carries out a robust set of activities related to
Veterans' employment. A few examples include hosting job fairs for
Veterans; providing on-the-job training and apprenticeship
opportunities through the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill program; delivering
career counseling to Veterans in the VetSuccess on Campus program;
administering the Veterans' Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment
program; and partnering with the Departments of Defense and Labor in
Transition GPS, a program that helps separating Servicemembers
transition to the civilian workforce.
B. Will veterans who participate in this temporary program receive
any occupational licenses, certificates, or degrees that can be used in
the civilian labor market?
Response. The goal of the Veterans Job Corps is to enable Veterans
to leverage the skills developed in the military into jobs on the
country's public lands and in its communities, ranging from
conservation and infrastructure projects to law enforcement and first
responder jobs, such as park rangers, police officers, and
firefighters. VA would like to work with the Congress to pass
legislation to authorize the Veterans Job Corps and address details
such as credentialing and the program's linkages to VA's certificate,
licensing, and degree-granting programs, such as the Post-9/11 G.I.
Bill.
C. Will there be any guarantee of permanent employment for the
veterans who participate in this program?
Response. VA would like to work with the Congress to pass
legislation to authorize the Veterans Job Corps and address details
such as post-program employment opportunities for Veterans who
participate in the program.
readjustment benefits
Question 34. One item that VA pays for using mandatory funding is
reporting fees provided to educational institutions. For fiscal year
2013, please provide the number of institutions that received reporting
fees, the 10 largest payments made to an institution, and the number of
institutions that received total payments of $15 or less.
Response. In FY 2013, VBA paid $10.4 million in reporting fees to
10,578 institutions. Incorporating recoveries from these institutions,
net payments were $10.2 million, as shown in the FY 2015 Department of
Veterans Affairs' Budget Submission (Volume 3, pg. VBA-32). The chart
below shows the ten largest payments made to an institution in FY 2013.
Additionally, in FY 2013, 1,664 institutions received total payments of
$15 or less in reporting fees.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total
School Name Paid
------------------------------------------------------------------------
University of Phoenix (Online)............................... $339,132
American Public University System (American Military $169,596
University).................................................
Ashford University (Online).................................. $143,835
University of Maryland University College.................... $91,740
Liberty University........................................... $79,119
Grantham University.......................................... $75,600
Kaplan University............................................ $72,060
Columbia Southern University................................. $59,076
Central Texas College........................................ $55,752
University of Phoenix (San Diego)............................ $51,372
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Question 35. The authorization for certain work-study activities
expired in June 2013. Those work-study activities include outreach
programs with State approving agencies, working in State homes, and
administration of a national cemetery or state veterans' cemetery.
During fiscal year 2013, how many individuals participated in each of
those work-study activities?
Response. The table below provides FY 2013 data related to the
number of individuals performing work-study activities at SAAs, state
homes, and administration of a national cemetery or state Veterans
cemetery.
FY 2013 Work-Study Activities
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# of
Activity/location individuals
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SAAs............................................................................................... 36
State homes........................................................................................ 75
Administration of a national cemetery.............................................................. 84
State Veterans cemetery............................................................................ 19
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Question 36. On March 5, 2014, both the House and Senate Committees
on Veterans' Affairs were informed by VA that the Veterans Retraining
Assistance Program (VRAP) would be extended to make payments past the
statutory sunset date to participating veterans whose training program
will not be completed by March 31, 2014. Subsection (a)(2) of section
211 of Public Law112-56, the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011, which
established VRAP, explicitly sets the number of veterans who could
participate and limits participation to on or before March 31, 2014.
A. Subsections (a)(2) and (k) establish March 31, 2014, as the
sunset date of the program. What statutory authority exists in section
211 to allow for the extension?
Response. In February 2014, it became apparent that as many as
22,000 Veterans might be unable to complete their current term of
enrollment in Veterans Retraining Assistance Program (VRAP) courses of
study before the authority to issue VRAP payments expired on March 31,
2014. Many Veterans receiving retraining assistance were enrolled in
community colleges or other programs on a typical academic calendar,
and while enrollment periods vary from school to school, spring
semesters and quarters are generally completed by the end of June.
Without the assistance provided by VRAP, Department of Veterans Affairs
(VA) was concerned that many of these Veterans would be forced to
withdraw from their retraining programs in the middle of the academic
term. That would be both terribly disruptive and inconsistent with the
purpose of ensuring Veterans gain the skills they need. In some cases,
it might also mean that a Veteran would not obtain the degree or
certificate they would otherwise receive if allowed to finish their
current enrollment period.
Accordingly, VA's Office of General Counsel examined the relevant
statutes to determine whether it would be possible to make payments
prior to March 31, to assist those Veterans in finishing their term and
thereby maximize the benefits provided through this valuable program.
OGC's review concluded that there was no statutory bar to issuing
payments prior to the March 31, 2014 deadline to cover multiple months.
OGC further concluded that a policy decision to exercise VA's
discretion and make one-time payments to enable completion of ongoing
training would further Congress' intent with regard to the program,
namely to ensure that Veterans are retrained so that they can begin new
careers. OGC's analysis focused on the text of the relevant statute,
section 211, which does not set a date on which the program must end,
nor does subsection (a)(2) prohibit participation by veterans after
March 31, 2014. Instead, subsection (k) of the statute provides that
``[t]he authority to make payments under this section shall terminate
on March 31, 2014, and subsection (a)(2), which is entitled ``Number of
Eligible Veterans,'' simply places a cap on the number of Veterans
eligible for the program.
VA's action is consistent with the statute because no payments to
Veterans will be made after March 31, 2014. And read closely, section
211(a)(2)(B) does not prohibit participation after March 31, but rather
provides that the number of participants may not exceed 54,000.
Similarly, section 211(c), entitled ``Monthly Certification,'' requires
certification to the Secretary of enrollment ``for each month'' by
Veterans while participating in the program, but does not specify that
those certifications be made monthly, nor does it address frequency of
payments.
B. In order to receive a payment from VA for participating in VRAP,
a veteran has to certify monthly that he or she is a full-time student
in an approved course of study. The VA Office of Inspector General has
previously found VA had difficulties verifying the attendance status of
participating veterans, leading to VA making millions in erroneous
payments. Given the proposed payment of lump sum payments under the
extension, how will VA ensure that millions more will not be wasted?
Response. In order to be approved for the Veterans Retraining
Assistance Program (VRAP), a program must be approved for GI Bill
benefits under Chapter 36 of title 38 U.S.C. Consequently, the schools
are required to report changes in enrollment (or failure to meet the
school's standards of attendance, or conduct, as applicable) to VBA
``without delay.'' ``Without delay'' is defined by regulation as within
30 days. All approved programs are subject to periodic compliance
reviews, which include reviewing records for VRAP participants in order
to ensure that the schools (and students) are meeting the applicable
requirements. In addition, recipients of VRAP one-time payments are
specifically required, and instructed, to notify VBA immediately of
changes in enrollment status. This requirement also applies to
recipients of one-time payments issued under the various GI Bill
programs as well.
veterans benefits administration
Disability Compensation
Question 37. The Winston-Salem regional office helps with national
missions, such as the Benefits Delivery at Discharge program and the
Quick Start program, in addition to handling claims from North
Carolinians. That office currently has over 30,000 pending claims. For
that workload, how many employees would be appropriate and how many are
there currently?
Response. VBA's RAM is a systematic approach to distributing field
resources each fiscal year. The RAM utilizes a weighted model to assign
C&P FTE resources based on RO workload, including rating inventory and
rating, non-rating, and appeal receipts. Starting in FY 2014, the RAM
includes additional variables to more closely align with VBA's
transformation to a paperless, electronic environment, where receipts
can be assigned and managed at the national level. These variables
include station efficiency, quality, and RO capacity. Based on the FY
2014 RAM, the Winston-Salem RO FTE allocation for disability
compensation claims processing was 614 FTE. Nine additional FTE were
approved in March 2014 due to increased workload. As of March 30, 2014,
the number of FTE on board was 615.
Question 38. The fiscal year 2015 budget request does not include
projections for how long it will take to complete compensation and
pension claims in fiscal years 2014 and 2015. In fact, the budget books
reflect that this performance measure has been deleted.
A. What are VA's projections for how long it will take to complete
disability claims in those years?
Response. In FY 2013, the average days to complete (ADC) rating-
related claims was 348 days, a reflection of VBA's emphasis on
completing the oldest claims in the backlog during the second half of
FY 2013. That emphasis continued through the first quarter of FY 2014,
which ended with an ADC of 277 days for the quarter. ADC through the
end of the first half of FY 2014 further declined to 253 days. We
expect this trend to continue through the remainder of FY 2014 and into
FY 2015. By the second quarter of FY 2015, we expect the downward trend
in the monthly ADC to begin accelerating, leveling out to approximately
100 days for the last quarter of FY 2015.
B. Why is this metric being deleted from the budget request?
Response. VBA's Agency Priority Goal is to eliminate the backlog
and process all claims within 125 days in 2015. Both metrics, ADC and
Average Days Pending (ADP), remain important metrics to track. As we
drive toward our goal, VBA implemented an initiative in April 2013, to
process oldest claims first, which results in the ADC increasing in the
short-term, even as we make great progress in eliminating the backlog
for Veterans who have waited the longest for a decision. ADP is a
leading indicator that provides the best measure of the current state
of the claims inventory, and is the most meaningful way for Veterans to
understand how long their claim may take to process. The average number
of days rating claims are pending has been reduced from a peak of 282
days in March 2013, to 161 days as of April 5, 2014, which represents a
43-percent reduction. The number of claims in the backlog has been
reduced from a peak of 611,000 to 337,000 as of April 5, 2014, a 45-
percent reduction.
Question 39. The number of dependency adjustments waiting for VA
action increased from less than 50,000 in 2010 to nearly 240,000 in
March 2014. As of March 2014, 75 percent of the dependency adjustments
have been pending for longer than 125 days.
A. When does VA consider a dependency adjustment to be
``backlogged?''
Response. There is no defined parameter for a ``backlogged''
dependency adjustment; however, we do track them against the 125-day
goal for all disability claims.
B. What performance metrics does VA have in place with respect to
dependency adjustments and how quickly they should be acted on? With
on-going efforts to increase the automation for processing these work
items, will those performance metrics change?
Response. Each RO has a target for reducing the inventory of
pending dependency adjustments. VBA is working on several initiatives
that streamline the processing of dependency claims. Current and
upcoming initiatives that will help improve the speed and accuracy of
dependency claims processing are provided below.
Veterans can now request to add dependents using the
eBenefits portal. VBA's rules-based processing system (RBPS)
automatically processes over 50 percent of the dependency requests
submitted through eBenefits and automatically adjusts compensation
payments based upon the change in dependent status. This new automated
system reduces processing time to one day for many of these requests
and allows VBA to devote more resources to processing other, more
complex claims.
In the past year, VBA's Compensation Service (CS) released
several dependency-related procedural changes that simplify the
decision process and relax evidentiary standards. These include:
- Liberalizing evidentiary requirements for stepchildren,
under which VBA will accept a Veteran's lay statement as
sufficient proof to establish a stepchild as a dependent,
provided that the statement includes basic information about
the dependency change. VBA will request additional evidence to
support the claim only when it has a reason to question the
validity of the statement.
- Streamlining procedures when the beneficiary does not
provide VBA information sufficient to determine entitlement
dates. VBA will attempt to contact the Veteran by phone to
obtain the date of the dependency change and process the change
based upon information provided during the call.
CS is working to further relax evidentiary requirements
and streamline the procedures for processing dependency claims. This
initiative includes issuing additional procedural guidance to the ROs
and evaluating current regulations for the purpose of initiating
appropriate rulemaking to remove unnecessary processes.
New functionality is being developed for VBA's Customer
Relations Management Unified Desktop, which is utilized by VBA's agents
in its National Call Centers (NCC), which will allow the system to send
dependency claims that the NCC agents receive over the phone to RBPS
for automated processing.
As automation of dependency claims continues to improve,
more of these claims will be processed with greater efficiency and
improved timeliness. VA will set FY 2015 performance metric goals that
take into consideration inventory levels and the level of automation at
that time.
C. Has VA set any timelines, milestones, or goals for when this
inventory of dependency adjustments will be reduced to an acceptable
level?
Response. With VBA's record-breaking production of claims decisions
in recent years, dependency claims are also rising. To address the rise
in claims, VBA built a RBPS to automate processing and payment of
dependency claims for Veterans who file online. Over 50 percent of
dependency claims that are filed online are now being completed without
human intervention. The remaining 50 percent are immediately triaged to
make it easier for the claims processor to target the needed evidence
for resolution. This new IT capability will enable future claims filed
online to be completed quickly and accurately, and as a result, our
Veterans will receive their payments much faster. On April 4, 2014, VBA
awarded a contract to provide ``surge'' support to complete paper-based
dependency claims. Contract personnel will enter data from paper claims
into RBPS, which will allow a significant portion of these claims to be
electronically processed and adjudicated--just as if the Veteran had
input the data. VA also recently trained its call center agents to
resolve dependency claims issues over the phone to expedite those
claims already in the system.
ADC for a dependency claim in March 2014 was 207 days, down 75 days
from the first quarter of FY 2014.
Question 40. According to the authors of the fiscal year 2015
Independent Budget, ``the most significant change that has helped
reduce the backlog over the past year has been [the Veterans Benefits
Administration's] heavy reliance on mandatory overtime.''
A. Of the 1.17 million claims completed during fiscal year 2013,
what portion was completed as a result of overtime?
Response. VBA spent $71 million on overtime for direct C&P-related
claims processing, resulting in a conservatively estimated 91,000-
129,000 additional claims completed.
B. So far during fiscal year 2014, how many claims have been
completed in total and what portion was completed as a result of
overtime?
Response. Through the first two quarters of FY 2014, 631,000
rating-related claims have been completed. VBA estimates 65,000-70,000
of the claims completed to be attributed to overtime.
C. What portion of any increase in productivity during fiscal years
2013 and 2014 has resulted from other initiatives, such as the Veterans
Benefits Management System or segmented lanes? At this point, is VA
seeing a reasonable return on investment for those other initiatives?
Response. VBMS is projected to increase productivity in FY 2014;
however, it is difficult to extract the impact of each transformation
initiative from the combined people, process, and technology model that
are being concurrently implemented to determine individual initiative's
contribution to productivity outcomes.
VBA has seen improvements in performance as a result of its
transformation initiatives. As of May 22, 2014, VA has completed
833,000 claims in FY 2014, a 26-percent increase over the same time
last year and a 32-percent increase over two years ago. VBA has also
significantly reduced its inventory and backlog. As of May 22, 2014,
there were 574,000 claims pending in VBA's inventory, which represents
a 34-percent reduction from July 2012 when the inventory peaked at
884,000 claims. Similar improvements can be seen in the claims acklog
(i.e., pending over 125 days). As of May 22, 2014, 293 claims were in
the backlog--a 52-percent reduction since the backlog peaked in
March 2013.
D. What specific initiatives are expected to allow VA to handle
more claims in fiscal year 2015 than this year and what statistics or
information suggests that a 17 percent increase in productivity is
realistic?
Response. VA is focused on providing a long-term solution to a
decades-old problem. VBA is retraining, reorganizing, streamlining
business processes, and building and implementing technology solutions
based on the newly redesigned processes to improve benefits delivery.
Several transformation initiatives, as described below, are focused on
increasing the number of ratings completed per FTE. VBA is also
completing a thorough evaluation of its ability to meet the processing
demands of incoming workload, through ``demand'' and ``capacity''
analyses, which are currently in progress.
VBA's new organizational model, which incorporates a case-
management approach to claims processing, has been implemented at all
56 ROs. VBA projects that the segmented lanes initiative, part of this
new organizational model, will accelerate simpler claims, predictably
taking less time through the ``express'' lane, with the remainder of
claims flowing through either a ``special operations'' lane (claims
requiring special handling) or ``core'' lane. This segmented, case-
management approach to claims processing is creating efficiencies
within the workforce.
VBMS, VBA's Web-based electronic claims processing system, was
deployed to all 56 ROs 6 months ahead of schedule in June 2013. VBA has
also successfully deployed VBMS to the Appeals Management Center (AMC),
the Records Management Center, the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board),
all NCCs, and all VA medical centers. VBA is confident in its
Transformation Plan. Even during the ``year of change,'' VBA was able
to increase production by 12 percent in FY 2013 over
FY 2012. This is a clear indication that success will continue
during FY 2014 and culminate in the people, process, and technology
improvements that allow for our 17 percent forecasted increase in FY
2015.
Throughout 2014 and 2015, VBMS will focus on continuing to improve
electronic claims processing by providing increased system
functionality and more complex automation capabilities for all VBMS
end-users. VBMS enhancements will reduce dependency on legacy systems
for claims establishment, development, and rating. VBMS now has the
capability to accept electronic Veterans' Service Treatment Records
(STR) from DOD. Additionally, VBMS end-users (to include VA Medical
Center personnel and VSOs) will be able to leverage enhanced system
functionality to perform their work more efficiently and accurately.
Development of functionality will provide end-users with the ability to
process claims electronically from receipt to payment. The addition of
functionality and stabilization of system capabilities, in conjunction
with business process improvements, will increase production and
quality of claim decisions.
VBA's partnership with VSOs is crucial to our transformation. VBA
is greatly expanding education and collaboration efforts with VSOs that
result in the submission of more fully developed claims (FDC)--claims
that come to VBA ready for final review and decision (http://
www.benefits.va.gov/fdc/).
VBA is also completing the integration with other Federal agencies
that enables inter-departmental data review and exchange to support
pension and disability claims processing. This includes Social Security
Administration (SSA) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) (income
verification), and DOD (military personnel and medical records).
Question 41. According to information provided in connection with
the fiscal year 2014 budget request, the Veterans Benefits
Administration (VBA) planned to expend $40 million in fiscal year 2014
to pay for claims processing staff to work overtime.
A. During fiscal year 2013, how much in total was actually expended
to pay for overtime work by claims processing staff?
Response. In FY 2013, VBA expended a total of $71 million on
overtime for C&P rating claims processing.
B. During fiscal year 2014, how much is now expected to be spent on
overtime by claims processing staff and what outcomes are expected to
be achieved as a result of those overtime hours?
Response. VBA anticipates using approximately $100 million to fund
overtime for C&P rating claims processing in FY 2014, and estimates
completing approximately 168,000 claims associated with overtime
funding.
C. For fiscal year 2015, what level of funding is requested to pay
for overtime hours worked by claims processing staff and what outcomes
are expected to be achieved as a result of those overtime hours?
Response. VBA anticipates using approximately $60 million to fund
overtime for C&P rating claims processing in FY 2015, and estimates
completing approximately 101,000 claims associated with overtime
funding.
Question 42. VA is now projecting that it will complete about 1.25
million disability claims this year. That is about 72,000 less
completed claims than VA projected in the budget request last year and
370,000 less than projected in VA's 2013 backlog reduction plan. What
led to these decreases in the expected productivity for fiscal year
2014? Are there initiatives that are not having the expected impact on
productivity yet?
Response. The projections of received and completed claims in VBA's
2014 budget and VA's Strategic Plan to Eliminate the Compensation
Claims Backlog were based on assumptions made earlier in the budget
cycle that included a higher level of claims receipts and FTE.
Projections are periodically updated based on recent experience, the
impact of the transformation initiatives, and enhanced forecasting
capabilities.
Question 43. VA has a number of initiatives underway to reach its
goal of a 98 percent accuracy rate.
A. In total, how much did VA spend in fiscal year 2013 to carry out
all of those quality initiatives?
Response. VBA's transformation plan is based on over 40 high-impact
initiatives across people, process, and technology through a systematic
and repeatable gap analysis process. It is difficult to separate each
initiative's precise impact on quality and productivity; however, the
FY 2013 funding for four of the initiatives with the greatest impact on
quality is provided below:
VBMS: $51.1 million (VBA GOE program non-pay, non-IT
funding for paperless initiative)
Challenge training: $8.2 million
Quality Review Teams (QRT): $52 million
Station Enhancement Training (SET): $582,000
B. In total, how much is VA expecting to spend in fiscal year 2014
to carry out all of those quality initiatives, including the quality
review teams at each regional office?
Response. As previously noted, several initiatives impact quality.
A summary of FY 2014 funding for the primary initiatives focused on
improving quality is provided below:
VBMS: $159.9 million (VBA GOE program non-pay, non-IT
funding for paperless initiative)
Challenge training: $13.6 million
QRTs: $53 million
Training for underperforming claims processors: $10
million
C. In total, how much is VA requesting for fiscal year 2015 to
carry out all of those quality initiatives, including the quality
review teams at each regional office?
Response. For FY 2015, VBA has requested the following funding for
these initiatives:
VBMS: $162.5 million (VBA GOE program non-pay, non-IT
funding for paperless initiative)
Challenge training: $15.5 million
QRTs: $57 million
D. Nation-wide, how many full-time equivalents are currently
assigned to these quality review teams?
Response. In April 2014, approximately 650 Quality Review
Specialists were assigned to the QRTs nationwide.
E. If the fiscal year 2015 budget request is adopted, how many
individuals Nation-wide would be assigned to these teams?
Response. During the development and piloting of the QRTs, analysis
showed an appropriate staffing ratio of one Quality Review Specialist
to every 15 claims processors. VBA anticipates continuing to utilize
this staffing ratio for QRT positions during FY 2014 and FY 2015;
resulting in consistent staffing levels for both years.
Question 44. VA's ``appeals resolution time'' in fiscal year 2013
was 923 days, an increase of 267 days since fiscal year 2010. Also, the
number of pending appeals has increased by more than 30 percent over
the past few years. Although VA recently sent the Committee a plan to
improve the appeal process, it does not have details about when this
inventory of appeals will be reduced.
A. How much in total is expected to be expended by VBA to process
appeals during fiscal year 2014?
Response. In FY 2014, VBA estimates that funding for claims
processors to process appeals will total $86.6 million. This includes
funding for the approximately 900 claims processors at the ROs and the
AMC.
B. What level of funding is requested in total for fiscal year 2015
for purposes of processing appeals by VBA?
Response. In FY 2015, VBA estimates that funding for claims
processors to process appeals will total $89.3 million.
C. When does VA expect the inventory of appeals to start to decline
and when will it reach a level that VA considers acceptable? Please
provide any goals, timelines, or milestones that VA has set with regard
to the reduction in pending appeals.
Response. The rate of appeals (approximately 11 percent) has
remained steady over last 20 years, regardless of quality or
production. As more claims are completed, more appeals are received.
VA's large inventory of pending appeals is due in part to the record
number of claims VBA has completed over the past four years. VA expects
to complete well over a million claims again in FY 2014.
As noted in VA's Strategic Plan to Transform the Appeal Process,
which was provided to the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs on
February 26, 2014, the current process provides appellants with
multiple reviews in VBA and one or more reviews at the Board, depending
upon the submission of new evidence or whether the Board determines
that it is necessary to remand the matter to VBA. Although VA has
allocated significant resources to the appeals workload, the multi-
step, open-record appeal process set out in current law precludes the
efficient delivery of benefits to all Veterans. The longer an appeal
takes, the more likely it is that a claimed disability will change,
resulting in the need for additional medical and other evidence. VA is
implementing a series of initiatives to improve the appeal process and
continues to work with Congress and other stakeholders to explore long-
term solutions that would provide Veterans the timely appeals process
they deserve.
VBA has established the following strategic targets for appeals:
Veterans Appeals Control Time--7 days
Veterans Appeals Pending (across all ROs)--174,945
Veterans Appeals ADP--182 days
VA Form 9 ADP--320 days
Question 45. In the fiscal year 2015 budget request, the
discretionary request for the disability compensation program includes
$557 million for Other Services. Please provide a detailed itemized
list of how that funding would be utilized during fiscal year 2015. To
the extent any of the funds will be spent on contracts, please explain
the nature of the contract and the expected outcomes.
Response. The discretionary request for $557 million contains
funding of $440.4 million for contracts that directly impact or support
the delivery of disability compensation claims:
Contract Medical Examinations ($250.8 million)
Veterans Claims Intake Program (scanning) ($134.4 million)
Program management and systems engineering support
services for the VBMS ($32.8 million)
Development of instructional methodologies and systems
that support the training and skills development of the disability
compensation workforce ($8.3 million)
Development of the Centralized Mail Processing System
($7.8 million)
Program management, scientific, technical, and engineering
support for Compensation Service and the VBA Operations Center ($6.3
million).
The request also includes $32.4 million for studies and analyses
that support strategic planning ($16.7 million) and innovation ($15.7
million).
The remaining $83.8 million is for administrative and management
support costs associated with VBA-internal support agreements, such as
Franchise Fund fees for Debt Management Center, Financial Services
Center, Computer Data Center Operations services, and for support
attained via interagency agreements with the Department of Homeland
Security, the Department of the Treasury, and the National Archives and
Records Administration.
Question 46. According to the fiscal year 2015 budget request, the
disability compensation program expects to spend $33 million on travel
during fiscal year 2014, which is $15.8 million higher than the amount
spent during fiscal year 2013 and $10 million higher than the amount
originally requested for fiscal year 2014. What factors led to this
increase in expected travel expenditures?
Response. The primary factor that led to this increase is the $10
million appropriated for targeted training for claims processors to
increase production and help eliminate the claims backlog.
Additionally, Challenge Training classes were sourced at a planned
throughput of 220 seats per class.
Question 47. In response to questions about the fiscal year 2014
budget request, VA indicated that VA completed approximately 81 claims
per direct full-time equivalent in fiscal year 2013 and expected to
complete at least 90 claims per full-time equivalent in fiscal year
2014 and at least 100 claims per full-time employee in 2015. To date in
fiscal year 2014, how many claims have been completed per compensation
and pension direct labor full-time equivalent?
Response. FY 2014 through the end of March, C&P direct FTE
completed an average of 47.4 claims per FTE. VBA is on target to reach
90 claims per FTE by the end of the fiscal year.
Question 48. In response to questions about the fiscal year 2014
budget request, VA indicated that VA expected to receive more than
200,000 fully-developed claims in fiscal year 2014 and expected it to
take on average 100 days to process those claims.
A. How many fully-developed claims are now expected to be filed
during fiscal year 2014 and during fiscal year 2015?
Response. VBA expects to receive more than 380,000 FDCs in FY 2014
and more than 485,000 FDCs in FY 2015.
B. To date in fiscal year 2014, how many days on average is it
taking to complete fully-developed claims?
Response. Through March of FY 2014, FDCs have been completed in an
average of 144 days.
C. For fiscal year 2015, how long is it projected to take to
complete fully-developed claims?
Response. VA projects to complete FDCs in 125 days or less in 2015,
with a September 2015 monthly target of 90 days to complete FDCs.
D. For fiscal year 2014, how much is expected to be spent on
marketing materials for the fully-developed claims program and related
training?
Response. VBA expects to spend $1.4 million on materials that
promote the FDC program. This dollar amount is comprised of
expenditures on contracts for:
Promotional materials
VBA translation services
FDC and training support
FDC eBenefits campaign
E. For fiscal year 2015, what level of funding is requested for
purposes of promoting the fully-developed claims program?
Response. VBA requested approximately $941,000 in the FY 2015
budget submission.
Question 49. In response to questions about the fiscal year 2014
budget request, VA indicated that it was requesting $10 million in
order to contract with private entities to retrieve medical records
from private medical providers.
A. In total, how much was spent on that initiative during fiscal
year 2013 and what was the average time it took the contractors to
obtain private medical records (or otherwise close out the development
action)?
Response. In FY 2013, VBA obligated $2.1 million to continue the
Private Medical Records (PMR) initiative. The contractor resolved PMR
requests, either by obtaining PMRs or otherwise completing development
action, in an average of 12 days.
B. How much is now expected to be spent on this initiative during
fiscal year 2014 and how long on average is it currently taking the
contractors to obtain private medical records (or otherwise close out
the development action)?
Response. In FY 2014, VA plans to spend $9.3 million on the PMR
initiative. In FY 2014 through April 3, 2014, the contractor resolved
over 114,000 PMR requests in an average of 12 days.
C. Is any funding requested with respect to this initiative for
fiscal year 2015? If so, please specify the amount.
Response. For FY 2015, VA is requesting $15.7 million to support
the ongoing costs of the nationally implemented PMR program.
Question 50. In response to questions about the fiscal year 2014
budget request, VA indicated that it expended $366,139 in fiscal year
2012 for purposes of updating the disability rating schedule. The
fiscal year 2015 budget request reflects that ``VBA projects that it
will complete its review of the 15 body systems in the rating schedule
by December 2016.''
A. During fiscal year 2013, how much was spent with respect to
efforts to update the disability rating schedule?
Response. In FY 2013, VBA spent approximately $981,000 to support
updates to the VA Schedule of Rating Disabilities (VASRD), including
$902,000 for personal services, $30,000 for travel, and $49,000 for
rent, supplies, and other services.
B. During fiscal years 2014 and 2015, how much is expected to be
spent with respect to efforts to update the disability rating schedule?
Response. In FY 2014, VBA will spend approximately $996,000 to
support updates to VASRD, including $947,000 for personal services,
$3,000 for travel, and $46,000 for rent, supplies, and other services.
In FY 2015, VBA requested $3.0 million to update the VASRD, including
$952,000 for personal services, $30,000 for travel, and $2.0 million
for other services. The increased in funding in FY 2015 is primarily
due to a contracted earnings loss study.
C. Of those 15 body systems, how many will be addressed by
regulations published during the remainder of fiscal year 2014 and how
many will be addressed by regulations published during fiscal year
2015?
Response. Under the Project Management Plan, none of the VASRD body
systems will be addressed by regulations published during FY 2014. VA
will address each of the 15 body systems with a notice of proposed
rulemaking published in the Federal Register by fall 2015, allowing 60
days for public comments. Subsequently, VA will review public comments
and revise the proposed rules as appropriate before publishing them as
final.
Question 51. In response to questions about the fiscal year 2014
budget request, VA estimated that about $663,000 had been spent on
earnings loss studies needed to complete revisions of the disability
rating schedule but that the contract had been terminated before the
final report had been provided. VA indicated that, through this
spending, it ``learned that due to statutory limitations,
individualized earnings data cannot be obtained from the Internal
Revenue Service.''
A. Please explain what, if any, information was obtained as a
result of that $663,000 in expenditures that could be used to complete
the revisions to the rating schedule?
Response. VA received six of the nine contract line item numbers
outlined in the contract with George Washington University for an
earnings loss study. VA does not expect any more deliverables to be
provided under this contract. The six deliverables provided to VA are
as follows:
1. Obtained Security Clearance: The contractor completed all
paperwork, provided all background information, and completed
all training courses necessary to secure security clearance and
authorization to use VA databases and perform tasks on VA
property.
2. Lessons Learned Report: The contractor reviewed VASRD and
prior earnings loss studies. The contractor prepared and
delivered a written report identifying important lessons
learned through previous earnings loss studies and developed a
strategy for providing an improved earnings loss study.
3. Comprehensive Draft Project Management Plan (PMP), Final
PMP, and Leadership Briefing: The contractor provided VA with a
copy of a PMP detailing a plan for accomplishing the tasks and
subtasks.
4. Data base of Service-Connected Disabled Veterans: The
contractor provided a database set, based on a compilation of
data gathered from VA, including a sample of service-connected
disabled Veterans, rating information, and other data points
such as Social Security numbers, dates of birth, names, and
disabilities. The contractor coordinated sampling methodology
across the various data sets to ensure consistency,
representativeness, and confidentiality.
5. Approach Plan and Briefing: The contractor briefed VA
leadership on a plan to address each aspect of the contract
deliverables, identifying an obstacle in receiving required
data. IRS and SSA provided the contractor with data encrypted
into groups, and the contractor was unable to assess the impact
of earnings losses based on individual service-connected
disabilities compared to the control group.
6. Earnings Loss Model: VA requested a systematic analysis of
compensation payments for disabilities associated with body
system profiles and rating criteria identified in VASRD. The
contractor delivered a formula with variables to evaluate all
earnings loss databased on individual service-connected
disabilities. However, due to the lack of individually
identified data from the IRS and SSA, the contractor was unable
to insert the data into the formula. Without the necessary
data, the formula did not provide VA with the requested
information.
B. Was VA's Office of General Counsel consulted about possible
statutory limitations before VA entered into a contract for these
earnings loss studies?
Response. Yes, VA's Office of General Counsel (OGC) was consulted
prior to the execution of the contract for the earnings loss study. The
contract was tailored to meet the specific needs of the earnings loss
study and ultimately approved by OGC. Upon encountering the statutory
limitations regarding the release of individual income data, VA
contacted IRS' OGC. IRS informed VA that the release of individual data
for the purpose of the study was specifically prohibited by statute.
After IRS confirmed the statutory prohibition, the period of
performance for the initial contract expired. A revised statement of
work was prepared, stating that George Washington University was only
authorized to complete the terms of the contract using aggregate data
and could not condition the completion of the contract upon receipt of
individual data.
C. Does the fiscal year 2015 budget request include any funding for
earnings loss studies? If so, please specify the amount and the
expected deliverables from any such studies.
Response. The FY 2015 budget request includes $2.5 million for
external earnings loss studies in support of ongoing and future VASRD
revisions. Formulation of any such studies has not begun; therefore, VA
cannot state with any degree of certainty what deliverables will be
derived from such studies.
Question 52. VA and the Department of Defense (DOD) have rolled out
worldwide an Integrated Disability Evaluation System (IDES), through
which an injured or ill servicemember, before being medically
discharged from the military, completes both the DOD disability rating
system and the VA disability rating process.
A. During fiscal year 2013, how much in total did VA expend with
respect to the Integrated Disability Evaluation System and how many VA
employees were dedicated to the IDES process?
Response. During FY 2013, VBA spent approximately $70.7 million for
salaries and other GOE for 643 FTE dedicated to disability claims
processing in the IDES process. Compensation staff and VR&E counselors
are included in this count. Veterans filing claims through the IDES
sites are captured in the nationwide Veteran caseload count and total
compensation benefit obligations; therefore, mandatory funding cannot
be separated for this program.
B. During fiscal year 2014, how much in total does VA expect to
expend with respect to the Integrated Disability Evaluation System and
how many VA employees will be dedicated to the IDES process?
Response. During FY 2014, VBA estimates it will spend approximately
$71.9 million for salaries and other GOE to support 648 FTE dedicated
to disability claims processing in the IDES process.
C. During fiscal year 2015, how much in total is VA requesting with
respect to the Integrated Disability Evaluation System and how many VA
employees would that level of funding support?
Response. During FY 2015, VBA estimates it will spend approximately
$74.1 million for salaries and other GOE to support 648 FTE dedicated
to disability claims processing in the IDES process.
Pension and Fiduciary Service
Question 53. According to the Monday Morning Workload report for
March 8, 2014, the Pension Management Center in Philadelphia, PA, had
over 21,000 pending claims and 52 percent had been pending for longer
than 125 days. By comparison, the Pension Management Center in St. Paul
had 9,600 pending claims and less than 20 percent had been pending for
longer than 125 days.
A. How many full-time equivalent employees are currently assigned
to each Pension Management Center and how many are expected to be
assigned to each Pension Management Center during fiscal year 2015?
Response. For FY 2014, the Pension Management Centers (PMC) have a
combined allocation of 1,145 FTE. The Philadelphia PMC is allocated 430
FTE; Milwaukee PMC is allocated 340 FTE; and the St. Paul PMC is
allocated 375 FTE. Staffing levels are expected to remain the same in
FY 2015. The allocations are based on VBA's RAM. The RAM utilizes a
weighted model to assign C&P FTE resources based on workload.
B. How many claims are expected to be received by each Pension
Management Center during fiscal year 2014 and during fiscal year 2015?
Response. VBA estimates that the three PMCs will receive
approximately 140,000-150,000 claims in the rating-related category
during FY 2014 and 150,000-160,000 in FY 2015.
C. How many claims are expected to be completed by each Pension
Management Center during fiscal year 2014 and fiscal year 2015?
Response. Expected production from the three PMCs in FY 2014 is
160,000-170,000 claims, with a similar amount in FY 2015.
D. For each Pension Management Center, how many veterans died in
fiscal year 2013 and to date in fiscal year 2014 after a decision on
their claim had been rendered but before they received a retroactive
award of pension benefits? In how many of those cases were the
retroactive benefits paid out as accrued benefits?
Response. During FY 2013, VA PMCs released retroactive benefit
payments to 354 Veterans who had died on or before the date of an award
of benefits was processed. As of April 9, 2014, VA has paid these
retroactive payments as accrued benefits in 41 cases. For FY 2014
through April 9, 2014, the PMCs released retroactive payments to 183
Veterans who had died on or before the date of an award of benefits was
processed. As of April 9, 2014, VA has paid retroactive payments as
accrued benefits in 47 cases. A breakdown of this data by pension
management center is provided below:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of cases where Number of cases VA paid
the Veteran died prior retroactive payment as
to receiving their accrued benefit
retroactive payment -------------------------
Pension Management Center --------------------------
FY 2014 thru FY 2014 thru
FY 2013 April 9, FY 2013 April 9,
2014 2014
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Milwaukee, WI............................................... 135 60 28 10
Philadelphia, PA............................................ 116 58 8 11
St. Paul, MN................................................ 103 65 5 26
---------------------------------------------------
TOTAL..................................................... 354 183 41 47
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E. For each Pension Management Center, how many veterans were
declared incompetent during fiscal year 2013 and to date in fiscal year
2014; how long on average did it take for a fiduciary to be assigned to
those veterans; and how frequently did the veterans die before the
assignment of a fiduciary had been completed?
Response. From October 1, 2012, through March 31, 2014, VA PMCs
declared 42,436 beneficiaries (Veterans and Survivors) incapable of
managing their funds. The chart below provides the data for each PMC by
fiscal year.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Incompetency
Incompetency Decisions
Pension Management Center Decisions FY2014 thru
FY2013 March31, 2014
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Philadelphia, PA........................ 9,913 2,121
Milwaukee, WI........................... 12,115 4,258
St. Paul, MN............................ 10,963 3,066
-------------------------------
Total............................... 32,991 9,445
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nationally, the fiduciary hubs averaged 83 days to complete the
appointment of a fiduciary for a beneficiary who was rated incompetent
in FY 2013. For FY 2014 through March 31, 2014, it took an average of
51 days to complete a fiduciary appointment. This timeliness data
includes all incompetent C&P beneficiaries, both Veterans and
Survivors. VA systems cannot further categorize this timeliness
information for pension only or by PMC.
Regarding Veterans who died before an initial fiduciary appointment
was completed during FY 2013 through March 31, 2014, VA systems cannot
categorize this information by the PMC that issued the incompetency
decision. However, for all C&P incompetency decisions issued nationally
for both Veterans and Survivors, whether issued by a PMC or a RO
Veterans Service Center, 376 beneficiaries passed away before an
initial fiduciary appointment was completed.
Question 54. In the fiscal year 2015 budget request, the
discretionary request for the pension, dependency and indemnity
compensation, burial, and fiduciary programs includes $17.8 million for
Other Services for fiscal year 2015. Please provide a detailed itemized
list of how that funding would be utilized during fiscal year 2015. To
the extent any of the funds will be spent on contracts, please explain
the nature of the contract and the expected outcomes.
Response. The discretionary request for $17.8 million contains
funding of $11.8 million for contracts that directly impact or support
the delivery of pension claims:
Contract Medical Examinations ($2.3 million)
Program management, scientific, technical, and engineering
support for Pension and Fiduciary Service ($1.2 million)
Development of instructional methodologies and systems
that support the training and skills development of the Pension and
Fiduciary workforce ($8.3 million)
The remaining $6.0 million is for administrative and management
support costs associated with VBA-internal support agreements, such as
Franchise Fund fees for Debt Management Center, Financial Services
Center, Computer Data Center Operations services, and for support
attained via interagency agreements with the Department of Homeland
Security, the Department of the Treasury, and the National Archives and
Records Administration.
Question 55. According to VA's fiscal year 2013 Performance and
Accountability Report, the average days it took to complete a pension
claim increased from 113 days in 2012 to 140 days in 2013.
A. During fiscal years 2012 and 2013, how many claims processing
personnel were dedicated to working on pension claims?
Response. In FY 2012, an average of 906 employees were dedicated to
processing claims at the PMCs. In FY 2013, there was an average of 905
employees. In addition to pension claims, these employees also
processed dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC), parents DIC,
accrued, and monetary burial benefit claims, as well as all related
benefit adjustments.
B. For fiscal years 2014 and 2015, how many claims processing
personnel are expected to be dedicated to working on pension claims?
Response. As of February 28, 2014, PMCs had 910 employees dedicated
to claims processing. VA expects this number to increase through FY
2014, as the PMCs bring on an additional 35 employees to meet the PMCs'
FY 2014 allocation. VA does not anticipate a change in the PMCs' total
staffing allocation in FY 2015.
Appeals Management Center
Question 56. Since 2003, certain cases remanded by the Board of
Veterans' Appeals (BVA or Board) have been handled at a centralized
entity called the Appeals Management Center.
A. During fiscal year 2013, how much was spent on the Appeals
Management Center and what level of staffing did that funding support?
Response. In FY 2013, $21.1 million was spent by the AMC for
payroll, non-payroll, and travel. This supported staffing of
approximately 228 FTE.
B. During fiscal year 2014, how much is now expected to be spent on
the Appeals Management Center and what level of staffing will that
funding support?
Response. In FY 2014, approximately $20.6 million is expected to be
spent by the AMC for payroll, non-payroll, and travel. This is expected
to support staffing of approximately 221 FTE.
C. In total, how much funding is requested for fiscal year 2015 for
the Appeals Management Center and what level of staffing would that
funding support?
Response. VBA anticipates that the FY 2015 staffing levels will be
consistent with FY 2014 levels and therefore funding will also be
consistent with FY 2014.
D. For fiscal year 2014, what are the key performance targets for
the Appeals Management Center?
Response. The FY 2014 AMC key performance targets consist of the
following metrics and corresponding targets:
ADP for remands from homeless Veterans--70 days
Remand inventory--7,500
ADP for remands--75 days
ADC remands--140 days
Remand production--27,900
Accuracy of remand decision--90 percent (3-months rolling)
Education
Question 57. According to the fiscal year 2015 budget request, the
discretionary request for Education programs includes $16 million for
Other Services. Please provide a detailed itemized list of how those
funds would be utilized during fiscal year 2015. To the extent any of
the funds will be spent on contracts, please explain the nature of the
contract and the expected outcomes.
Response. The $15.9 million request contains funding of $5.4
million for contracts that support Education Service, including:
Program management and systems engineering support
services for the Post-9/11 GI Bill ($4.4 million);
Development of instructional methodologies and systems to
support the training and skills development of the Education workforce
($608,000);
Publication and distribution of outreach pamphlets and
letters to satisfy intent of Public Law 101-237 and Public Law 105-368
($242,000);
National Student Clearinghouse Contract for degree
attainment data ($81,000); and
SAA Contract to support the development and implementation
of a RAM ($103,000).
The remaining $10.5 million is for administrative and management
support costs associated with VBA-internal support agreements, such as
Franchise Fund fees for Debt Management Center, Financial Services
Center, Computer Data Center Operations services, and for support
attained via interagency agreements with the Department of Homeland
Security, the Department of the Treasury, and the National Archives and
Records Administration.
Question 58. According to the fiscal year 2015 budget request, the
discretionary request for Education programs includes $3.6 million for
printing, compared to $522,000 requested for fiscal year 2014. The
budget request includes this explanation: ``Printing obligations
increase $3.1 million primarily as a result of realigned non-IT
administrative obligations from the Office of Information and
Technology to VBA.'' Please provide a more detailed explanation of how
these funds will be spent, how they were previously accounted for in
the budget, and the need for the change.
Response. The funding will be used for the centralization and
modernization of printing associated with Post-9/11 GI Bill claims
processing. It will cover expenses necessary for the printing of more
than 3.6 million letters VA anticipates mailing to Veterans and other
eligible beneficiaries. The $3.1 million provides for the centralized
printing performed at VA's information technology centers, and the
$522,000 provides for printing conducted at VBA regional processing
offices. The $3.1 million ``increase'' shown in the budget is not a new
requirement. Instead, it is a shift in accounting for costs of the
Post-9/11 GI Bill program. In FY 2013 and previous years, centralized
printing and mailing of Post-9/11 GI Bill letters were provided as an
operating expense of the information technology centers. Although
printing and mailing functions may, at times, require information
technology support, the functions are more operational. As such, in FY
2014 and beyond, the centralized printing and mailing costs for Post-9/
11 GI Bill letters is being realigned more appropriately as an
operating expense of VBA.
board of veterans' appeals
Question 59. In response to questions about the fiscal year 2014
budget request, the Board indicated that it expects to spend over $2
million per year on ``costs (salary and benefits) of union
representatives'' and ``costs (salary and benefits) of BVA managers who
work on labor relations matters, labor relations counsel, and other
labor relations support staff.''
A. In fiscal year 2013, how much was actually expended for those
purposes?
Response. In fiscal year (FY) 2013, the Board of Veterans' Appeals
(the Board) spent a total $1,925,654 for labor relations matters,
including $1,022,024 for costs (salary and benefits) of union
representatives, and $903,630 for costs (salary and benefits) of Board
managers, labor relations counsel, and other labor relations support
staff who work on labor relations matters.
B. In fiscal years 2014 and 2015, how much is now expected to be
spent for those purposes?
Response. Based on historical data from FY 2002 to April 2014, the
Board expects to pay a total of approximately $2,307,582 in FY 2014
($1,267,111 for costs (salary and benefits) of union representatives
and $1,040,471 for costs (salary and benefits) of Board managers, labor
relations counsel, and other labor relations support staff who work on
labor relations matters); and $2,380,610 in FY 2015 ($1,303,631 for
costs (salary and benefits) of union representatives and $1,076,979 for
costs (salary and benefits) of Board managers, labor relations counsel,
and other labor relations support staff who work on labor relations
matters).
C. During fiscal years 2014 and 2015, how many hours of ``official
time'' (or union time) are expected to be paid for by the Board with
Federal funding?
Response. Based on a historical data from FY 2002 to April 2014,
the Board estimates paying for a total of approximately 17,077 hours of
official union time (official time) in FY 2014, and 17,261 hours of
official time in FY 2015.
Question 60. According to the fiscal year 2015 budget request, the
Board is requesting $3 million for Other Services for fiscal year 2015.
Please provide an itemized list of how these funds are expected to be
spent during fiscal year 2015.
Response. The $2,975,200 for Other Services in fiscal year 2015
will be allocated in the following manner:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Xerox................................................... $575,000.00
Transcription Services (2 Vendors)...................... 560,000.00
Promisel and Korn, Inc. Electronic Research Materials 405,000.00
Service and Maintenance Contract.......................
JD Power and Associates Contract for customer 332,000.00
satisfaction analysis for hearing and non-hearing
processes..............................................
West Group Contract-On-line Access to Westlaw Legal 320,000.00
Database for legal research by the Board's judges and
attorneys..............................................
Department of Homeland Security......................... 140,000.00
Financial Service Center................................ 140,000.00
Board's Share of VA Central Office's (VACO) Human 135,000.00
Capital Investment Plan................................
Office of Personnel Management.......................... 105,000.00
United Parcel Services Appellant Records Shipment 80,000.00
Contract...............................................
Defense Finance and Accounting Services................. 64,000.00
Security and Investigations Center...................... 42,000.00
Office of Resolution Management......................... 40,000.00
NextCut Document Shredding Contract for disposition of 27,000.00
sensitive materials....................................
VACO Services Cost...................................... 10,000.00
VA Record Center and Vault.............................. 200.00
---------------
Total Other Services................................ $2,975,200.00
------------------------------------------------------------------------
general administration
Office of the Secretary
Question 61. According to the fiscal year 2015 budget request, 88
FTE are requested for the Office of the Secretary. Please provide a
list of the positions that would be filled with that funding and the
pay-grades for those positions.
Response. A list of 95 positions in the Office of the Secretary is
provided below.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grade Number of Positions
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Senior Executive Service...................... 13
15............................................ 15
14............................................ 31
13............................................ 16
12............................................ 6
11............................................ 4
9............................................. 5
8............................................. 1
7............................................. 2
6............................................. 2
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Question 62. In 2010, the VA Center for Innovation was established
as part of the Secretary's strategy to modernize the Department of
Veterans Affairs and move the agency into the 21st Century. Over the
last several years, this office has focused on piloting innovative
ideas to support the Secretary's initiative.
A. Please provide the Committee with the amount of funding utilized
for grants during fiscal year 2013 through Industry Competitions,
Employee Competitions, Special Projects, and Prize Contests.
Response. Department of Veterans Affairs Center for Innovation
(VACI) funding is provided by Veterans Health Administration, Veterans
Benefits Administration, and Office of Information and Technology. VACI
utilized funding as follows across the categories mentioned above:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Industry Competition...................................... $17,783,605
Employee Competition...................................... $15,475,594
Special Projects.......................................... $10,303,064
Prize Competitions........................................ $0
-------------
Total................................................. $43,562,263
------------------------------------------------------------------------
B. Please provide the Committee with the amount of funding that
would be available for grants during fiscal year 2015 through Industry
Competitions, Employee Competitions, Special Projects, and Prize
Contests.
Response. Department of Veterans Affairs Center for Innovation
(VACI) expects funding in the amount of $56 million in fiscal year
2015. Exact disposition of these funds across the Industry Competition,
the Employee Competition, Special Projects, and Prize Contests has yet
to be determined. Please note that VACI typically utilizes the
acquisition process rather than grant mechanisms when working with
external entities. Funding mechanism to support internal activities is
dependent upon the specifics of the project.
Office of General Counsel
Question 63. The Office of General Counsel is requesting $2 million
for Other Services for fiscal year 2015. Please provide an itemized
list of how these funds would be spent during fiscal year 2015.
Response.
Question 64. Within the Office of General Counsel, Professional
Staff Group VII represents VA before the U.S. Court of Appeals for
Veterans Claims.
A. Currently, how many employees are assigned to Professional Staff
Group VII and what is the average number of active cases per attorney?
Response. Professional Staff Group (PSG) VII has 104 full-time
equivalent employees onboard and 5 approved vacancies that are in the
process of being filled. The average number of active cases per
attorney is 44. An ``active case'' is one in which the Secretary has
yet to file his dispositive pleading.
B. For fiscal year 2015, what level of funding is requested to
support Professional Staff Group VII and how many employees would that
level of funding support?
Response.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FTE Funding
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PSG VII....................................... 109 $15,818,532
------------------------------------------------------------------------
C. With the requested funding level, what would be the expected
average number of active cases per attorney during fiscal year 2015?
Response. The average number of active cases per attorney will be
maintained in the range between 45 and 50.
D. How many motions for extension of time did Professional Group
VII file during fiscal year 2013?
Response. Professional Staff Group VII filed a total of 1,864
extension motions in fiscal year 2013.
E. How many motions for extension of time has Professional Staff
Group VII filed to date during fiscal year 2014?
Response. During the period between October 1, 2013, and March 31,
2014, Professional Staff Group VII filed approximately 1,296 extension
motions.
Question 65. In response to questions about the fiscal year 2013
budget request, VA indicated that ``implementation budget planning will
occur in 2013'' for the Regulation Rewrite Project. Then, on
November 26, 2013, VA made this announcement:
After many years of collaborative work between VA and Veterans
Service Organizations (VSOs), the VA Compensation and Pension
Regulation Rewrite Proposed Rule combines all previous
iterations of the proposed rule and will be posted on the
Federal Register (www.regulations.gov) starting November 27,
2013 for 120 days of public comment and review. However, VA
does not intend to publish a final rulemaking anytime soon * *
*.
A. When was the determination made to indefinitely delay the final
publication of these regulations?
Response. The determination to delay the final publication of these
regulations until after Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has
successfully eliminated the claims backlog was made in September 2011
in order to avoid conflicts with VA's highest priority effort to
eliminate the claims backlog in 2015. VA already had decided to honor
the request of several Veterans Service Organizations (VSO) to provide
the public with an additional opportunity to review and comment on the
entire body of proposed regulations before the new 38 CFR Part 5
regulations were published as final. Consequently, in November 2013,
the Rewrite Project published its 21st proposed rule, which
consolidated VA's responses to the 20 previous proposed rules and
solicited any additional comments from the public and VSOs. In 2014, VA
will review the comments, draft a final rule containing VA's responses,
and draft and publish any additional proposed rules necessary to keep
the Rewrite Project up to date until it can be implemented.
B. Are any funds requested for fiscal year 2015 to advance this
project?
Response. The Secretary's delegate for the written portion of the
Regulation Rewrite Project in the Office of the General Counsel, the
Office of Regulation Policy and Management, does not require additional
funding. Funding necessary for implementing the Regulation Rewrite
Project will be determined once the claims backlog has been eliminated.
Question 66. In a 2013 report on VA's program for accrediting
individuals to represent claimants seeking veterans' benefits, the
Government Accountability Office reported that ``VA has dedicated only
a few staff to administer its accreditation program, which has resulted
in limited monitoring efforts and workload backlogs.''
A. Currently, how many full-time equivalent employees are dedicated
to VA's accreditation program?
Response. Currently we have approximately four full-time equivalent
employees (FTE) dedicated to the accreditation program:
3 FTEs for 3 legal assistants
Approximately 0.1 FTE for an Assistant General Counsel
Approximately 0.4 FTE for a Deputy Assistant General
Counsel
Approximately 0.5 FTE total for 10 staff attorneys
B. How much funding is requested for the accreditation program for
fiscal year 2015 and what level of staffing would that funding support?
Response. For fiscal year 2015, Office of General Counsel has
allocated approximately $372,175.77 for the 4 FTEs dedicated to the
accreditation program
Office of Management
Question 67. According to the fiscal year 2015 budget request, the
Office of Management requests $41 million for Other Services for fiscal
year 2015. Please provide an itemized list of how those funds would be
used.
Response. A major portion of the $41 million in `Other Services'
includes $37.4 million in reimbursable authority that the Office of
Management (OM) will collect to provide services across the Department,
including:
$33 million for Department-wide Defense Finance and
Accounting Services payroll support;
$4 million for reviewing and testing internal controls
over financial reporting, as required by Appendix A of Office of
Management and Budget Circular A-123; and
$400,000 for operations support to the Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA) Center for Innovation.
The portion of the request for appropriated funding in `Other
Services' is $3.6 million and includes:
$1 million for service level agreements for the Financial
Services Center, Security Investigations Center, and other service and
maintenance agreements for conducting normal operations;
$1 million for audit readiness and verification of annual
financial reporting;
$320,000 for training related to the VA Learning
University and Human Capital Investment Plan; and
The remaining balance of funds in ``Other Services'' is primarily for
the Office of Personnel Management's user fees related to USAJobs, USA
Staffing, e-Classification and e-OPF (Official Personnel Folder) and
for internal legacy automation services.
Question 68. According to the fiscal year 2015 budget request, the
Office of Finance within the Office of Management manages the Debt
Management Center.
A. For fiscal year 2015, what level of resources is expected to be
used to operate the Debt Management Center and what level of staffing
would those resources support?
Response. The anticipated total expenses related to the Debt
Management Center for fiscal year 2015 is $28,632,384 supporting a
staff of 229 full-time equivalent employees.
B. How many telephone lines does the Debt Management Center
currently operate and how many would be operated during fiscal year
2015?
Response. The Debt Management Center (DMC) currently operates 192
incoming toll-free telephone lines with our inbound 800 service. In
fiscal year (FY) 2014, DMC increased from 144 toll-free lines to 192
toll-free lines, which is a 35-percent increase in phone line capacity.
This increase provides more Veteran access to the DMC and further
reduces blocked call situations. In FY 2015, we plan to continue to
provide that service level unless Veteran demand increases.
C. During fiscal year 2013, how many debts were referred to the
Debt Management Center, what was the total value of those debts, and
how much did the Debt Management Center recoup?
Response. In fiscal year (FY) 2013, 769,443 Veterans Benefits
Administration (VBA) debts were referred to the Debt Management Center
(DMC) totaling $1,386,566,000. During FY 2013, the DMC recouped
$1,202,023,000 in VBA debts.
In FY 2013, 810,853 Veterans Health Administration (VHA) debts were
referred to the DMC totaling $383,281,000. During FY 2013, the DMC
recouped $220,267,000 in VHA debts.
D. How many new debts are expected to be referred to the Debt
Management Center during fiscal years 2014 and 2015?
Response. The Debt Management Center (DMC) estimates 823,000
Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) debts will be referred in fiscal
year (FY) 2014 and 880,900 VBA debts will be referred in FY 2015.
The DMC estimates 379,597 Veterans Health Administration (VHA)
debts will be referred in FY 2014 and 386,435 VHA debts will be
referred in FY 2015.
Office of Human Resources and Administration
Question 69. In response to questions about the fiscal year 2014
budget request, VA indicated that initiatives undertaken through the
Human Capital Investment Plan ``are expected to have immediate,
tangible, and measureable impact on the services provided to
veterans.''
A. Please describe any measurable outcomes that have resulted from
these initiatives to date.
Response. In support of the Secretary's vision to transform VA and
equip employees to work in alignment with that vision, VA launched the
Human Capital Investment Plan (HCIP). HCIP programs include those that
improve VA's ability to hire and retain high-quality employees, empower
employees to advance their careers, improve their performance and
skills, and increase their personal and professional development. All
VA employees impact the services provided to Veterans. Trained and high
performing VA employees in support roles enable physicians, nurses,
benefits administrators, or cemetery operators to focus directly on
serving our Veterans. Quantifiable outcomes from HCIP funding to date
include:
Provided over 2.3 million instances of leadership and
managerial training through the VA Learning University to improve
employee performance and skills; develop and enable VA employees to
meet the rapidly changing healthcare and benefits environment; and to
increase personal employee development and empower employees to advance
their careers and provide more precise and efficient service.
Trained over 30,000 managers and supervisors on mandatory
Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO), diversity and inclusion, and
conflict management training.
Assisted over 126,900 Veterans in skills translation and
resume writing through the VA4Vets Web site.
Hired over 2,290 Veterans at VA, with ired Veterans hired
under noncompetitive appointments achieved in under 29 calendar days on
average.
Provided employment assistance to 43,929 Veterans by:
- Conducting over 119 employment preparation presentations.
- Participating in over 94 Veteran Career Events, reaching
more than 24,790 Veterans.
Officially partnered with 12 Federal agencies through
resource agreements to utilize VA's services developed through HCIP
funding to facilitate Veteran hiring across the Federal Government.
Provided human resource (HR) training opportunities to
over 4,700 VA H.R. professionals, which improved support to those who
directly serve our Veterans.
Delivered virtual H.R. professional training curriculum
with 1,688 training instances to close competency gaps.
Provided career guidance through the MyCareer@VA portal to
over 200,000 VA employees.
Responded to 2,458 calls from VA employees through the
Resolution Support Center and resolved 1,598 of their complaints and
issues at the earliest opportunity, enhancing job satisfaction and
diverting them from more costly avenues of redress.
Sponsored 400 student interns from diverse and minority
serving institutions and anticipates sponsoring an additional 155
interns in fiscal year (FY) 2014 to build a diverse qualified pipeline
for VA employment.
Supported over 2,100 accommodations for employees with
disabilities through VA's Centralized Reasonable Accommodations Fund
since its inception, and projects funding approximately $500,000 in
accommodations in FY 2014.
Funded the hiring of nearly 100 students and employees
with disabilities under term or permanent appointments through VA's
Centralized Workforce Recruitment Program, in support of Executive
Orders supporting the employment of individuals with disabilities and
disabled Veterans. As a result of this and other related initiatives,
VA has one of the highest representations of individuals with targeted
disabilities in all of Federal Government (over 2 percent).
Implemented diversity and inclusion programs that have
resulted in the increase of VA's Workforce Diversity Index for the last
4 years, and the decrease of per capita informal EEO complaints from
1.39 to 1.26 percent, and formal complaints from 0.73 percent to 0.61
percent since FY 2012.
B. With the funding requested for fiscal year 2015, what
measureable outcomes would be expected during that year?
Response. In FY 2015, the measurable outcomes that would be
expected through use of the total obligational authority provided from
budget authority, HCIP and other reimbursables are:
Improved acquisition of diverse, high-performing, fully
engaged VA employees delivering excellent service to Veterans.
Improved retention of diverse and high-performing
employees.
Increased survey indicators of a fully engaged workforce.
Improved H.R. services by developing and certifying H.R.
professionals to succeed in a dynamic environment.
Improved reintegration for VA's deployable Reserve
Component Servicemember employees.
An increase in the number, diversity, and gender
representation of Veteran employees at VA.
Improved responses to customer satisfaction survey for
direct Veteran services.
An increase in the accommodation and number of disabled
Veteran employees.
Strengthened management of workers' compensation claims to
reduce costs by returning employees with work capacity back to work.
Improved employee perceptions of safety programs through
Department-wide surveys and training programs.
Question 70. According to the fiscal year 2015 budget request, the
Office of Human Resources and Administration (HR&A) requests $198
million for Other Services for fiscal year 2015. Please provide an
itemized list of how those funds would be used. To the extent any of
these funds will be spent on contracts, please explain the nature of
the contract and the expected outcomes.
Response. In addition to the ongoing initiatives provided
throughHCIP, HRA requests funding in Other Services for Office of
Resolution Management (ORM), Office of Administration, and Office of
Human Resources Management (OHRM). The specific amounts for contracts
aligned to these respective services are identified below.
HCIP funding of $161 million includes initiatives such as:
leadership and managerial training; the career portal, MyCareer@VA; the
skills translator and resume builder, VA for VETS; the Human Resource
Academy; the Senior Executive Service Collaborative Web site and
Performance Management; the National Diversity Internship Program; the
Reasonable Accommodation Program; and Conflict Management Training.
Continued training investment in these areas is necessary to improve
service to our Nation's Veterans and their families through a more
effective and engaged VA workforce.
ORM contracts include: Alternative Dispute Resolution Mediations;
conflict management training; development and maintenance of info tech
equipment; and temporary services for a visually impaired employee.
OHRM funding includes: the Child Care Subsidy Program (CCSP). CCSP
is a nationwide program that assists lower income VA employees whose
total family income is less than $59,999 per year with the cost of
child care. Eligible employees receive a subsidy based on their total
family income. Over 2,000 VA employees have applied to participate in
the program and new applications are received daily.
Additionally, funding is provided for the next generation human
resource information system, HRSmart. HRSmart is a
state-of-the-art human resource solution to VA's personnel management
and pay challenges. The new HRSmart will replace VA's 51-year-
old-legacy system and will provide the following H.R. functions:
1) Personnel action processing, to include an entry-on-duty
solution; 2) Benefits management; and 3) Compensation management, to
include an interface to the Defense Finance and Accounting Service
(DFAS) for payroll services. The new system will also interface with
other internal and external systems, such as VA's electronic official
personnel Folder (eOPF), VA's Time and Attendance System, and the
Office of Personnel Management's USA Staffing System.
A breakdown of current estimated FY 2015 contract costs of $198
million follows:
Current Estimated FY 2015 Contract Costs
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cost (in
Office Contract Description Millions)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
HCIP Training and Transformation $161
Initiatives
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ORM (EEO complaint Contracts for Investigation of EEO $9
processing) complaints,
Court Transcription Services
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Administration Contracts with Other Government $7
Agencies for Mailroom Operations,
Employee Health Unit/Employee
Fitness Center, Transit Benefits,
and Records Storage/Management,
etc.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
OHRM Child Care Subsidies; HRSmart $21
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total .................................... $198
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Question 71. According to the fiscal year 2015 budget request, the
Office of Human Resources and Administration plans to spend $11.2
million on travel during fiscal year 2014 and requests $10.8 million
for travel during fiscal year 2015.
A. In total, how many employees are expected to travel during
fiscal year 2014, how many unique travel trips are expected to occur,
and what is the expected average cost per expected trip?
Response. Please see the response to question 71B.
B. For fiscal year 2015, how many unique travel trips is the $10.8
million expected to support?
Response. The travel budget identified in the HRA chapter of the
budget request is primarily for travel provided for HCIP. The current
2014 estimates for travel have been reduced from what was submitted in
the original budget request last year.
HCIP allocates most of its travel funds for training programs
conducted by the VA Learning University (VALU). VALU provides training
on a corporate level in the areas of leadership development, competency
improvement, and technical training. These training courses are
provided to all VA employees, not just HRA employees. VALU, through its
HCIP funding, covers the cost not only of the training but all travel
costs associated with attendance at the training. Travel associated
with HCIP-funded, VALU-sponsored training is tracked separately in the
travel management system from all other HRA travel and therefore is
listed separately from other HRA travel in the tables below.
Other travel not associated with HCIP, but included in the HRA
budget is for ORM, which handles the processing of discrimination
allegations and conflict resolution for both field and VA Central
Office EEO-related cases. HRA travel funds also provide reimbursements
to other VA offices for travel incurred for attendance at training
sessions associated with new union contracts as well as travel
associated with normal HRA business.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
($ in millions)
HRA Travel Costs ---------------------
FY 2014 FY 2015
------------------------------------------------------------------------
VALU-sponsored travel............................. $8.5 $9.4
All other HRA travel not included in VALU totals.. $1.4 $1.4
---------------------
Total........................................... $9.9 $10.8
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of Trips FY 2014 FY 2015
------------------------------------------------------------------------
VALU-sponsored travel............................. 5,363 5,900
All other HR&A travel not included in VALU totals. 910 918
---------------------
Total........................................... 6,273 6,818
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(whole $)
Average Cost of Trip ---------------------
FY 2014 FY 2015
------------------------------------------------------------------------
VALU-sponsored travel............................. $1,585 $1,593
All other HRA travel not included in VALU totals.. $1,540 $1,540
---------------------
Total........................................... $1,578 $1,584
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Question 72. The Corporate Senior Executive Management Office
(CSEMO), within the Office of Human Resources and Administration, was
created to provide a ``centralized approach to the executive life cycle
management.'' Under its responsibilities, CSEMO has created two
training programs--Senior Executive Leadership Development Course I
(SLC I) and Senior Executive Leadership Development Course II (SLC II).
According to the budget request, CSEMO is developing a third
developmental training program referred to as SLC III.
A. Please provide the Committee with a detailed description of the
SLC III course, including curriculum, cost estimate (travel, facility
rentals, course material, etc.) and when the course will be available
to VA senior executives.
Response. CSEMO is considering SLC III as a follow-on course for
senior executives who have completed SLC I and II. VA is presently in
the concept pre-design phase of future SLC courses and does not have
such information.
B. For each training program (SLC I, SLC II, and SLC III), please
provide the amount VA expects to spend in fiscal year 2015.
Response. VA projects holding 2-3 cohorts (sessions) of SLC I and
II in 2015, based on the volume of new senior executive hires through
the end of FY 2014 and into FY 2015. For SLC I and II, the estimated
cost per cohort is based on the average cost of previous year cohorts
with an added 5 percent, assuming the program content and cohort size
remain about the same.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Course # Cohorts Estimated cost
------------------------------------------------------------------------
SLC I....................................... 2 $179,096
SLC II...................................... 3 $506,066
---------------------------
Total................................... 5 $685,162
------------------------------------------------------------------------
VA will be able to provide SLC III cost estimates after the design is
completed.
C. How much was spent on each training course (SLC I, SLC II, and
SLC III) for fiscal year 2009 through fiscal year 2014? Please
breakdown by fiscal year, by category of spending (travel, facility
rentals, course material, etc.), and by training program.
Response.
SLC I: There were two cohorts of SLC I, a training course
for newly appointed senior executives, in late FY 2012 (SLC I was
initiated in 2012).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Program
SLC I Dates Costs Travel Total
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cohort 1.......................... July 22-27, 2012.................. $58,728 $32,938 $91,666
Cohort 2.......................... Aug 25-31, 2012................... $53,464 $25,436 $78,900
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* There were no SLC I cohorts held in FY 2013.
SLC II: This course on strategic thinking and leading
change began in FY 2011.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Program
SLC II Cohorts Costs OPM Fee Travel Total
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FY 2011.................... Cohorts 1 - 3.............. $528,986 $23,804 $49,777 $602,567
FY 2012.................... Cohorts 4 - 16............. $2,535,946 $95,098 $273,391 $2,904,435
FY 2013.................... Cohorts 17 - 19............ $428,367 $16,063 $39,441 $483,871
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Question 73. The Veteran Employment Services Office (VESO) was
established by VA HR&A to comply with Executive Order 13518. Please
provide a detailed budget for VESO, including the number of FTE,
requested appropriations, and the amount projected to be spent on all
VESO initiatives including VA for Vets.
Response. VESO is funded through reimbursements received from HCIP.
VESO has 49 full-time equivalent employees. The detailed budget
estimates for VESO and the VA for Vets initiative for FYs 2014 and 2015
are included below:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Initiative Name 2014 Cost 2015 Cost
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subtotal Personnel Compensation............. 4,275,296 4,318,049
Subtotal Regular Benefits................... 1,206,096 1,218,157
---------------------------
Total Pay................................. 5,481,392 5,536,206
VA for Vets Web Site and Helpdesk........... 8,437,625 8,690,754
---------------------------
Total Initiative.......................... 8,437,625 8,690,754
Travel...................................... 301,000 306,117
Transportation of Things.................... 3,000 3,051
Printing & Reproduction..................... 75,000 76,275
Training.................................... 70,000 71,190
Other Services.............................. 411,298 418,290
Supplies & Materials........................ 28,000 12,250
---------------------------
Total Non-Pay (Including Initiative)...... 9,325,923 9,577,927
---------------------------
Total Cost.............................. $14,807,315 $15,114,133
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Office of Policy and Planning
Question 74. The fiscal year 2015 budget request includes $27
million to be spent on Other Services by the Office of Policy and
Planning. Please provide a specific itemized list of how these funds
would be spent. To the extent any of these funds will be spent on
contracts, please explain the nature of the contract and the expected
outcomes.
Response. Of the $27 million to be spent on other services by OPP,
$19.3 million is from reimbursement from customer offices for servies
provided, supplementing $7.8 million from budget authority.
Descriptions of work and expected outcomes are as follows:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated
$ Amount
for Description of Work Performed Expected Outcomes
Contract
------------------------------------------------------------------------
$1,800,000 Support the enterprise Program Establish an
Management Office (ePMO) in the integrated
expansion and operation of the requirements
Program Management Center of development
Excellence (PMCOE) to further framework, enabled
develop and promulgate program by a world-class
management standards, doctrine, and program management
policy. The PMCOE addresses all capability, which
disciplines of program management aligns project
including general program plans and outcomes
management, requirements, cost to Department goals
estimation, acquisition strategy, and objectives to
systems engineering, enterprise improve services to
architecture, test and evaluation, Veterans.
and construction management.
Further, the PMCOE supports the
institutionalization of the
Department's acquisition program
management framework and supports
the development of a subordinate end-
to-end requirements gathering,
prioritization, and approval
process.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
$1,100,000 Provide support to ePMO's oversight Enable performance
of the planning and execution of key monitoring and
programs within VA's benefits, support resolution
health, and corporate portfolios to of risks within
ensure effective oversight, VA's highest
integration, and sustainment of new priority programs
capabilities into the routine to increase
operations of the Department. opportunities for
program success to
improve services
that benefit
Veterans.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
$500,000 Assist ePMO in executing the Quality feedback
Secretary's Carey Performance reports for
Excellence Program by training applicants used to
personnel to understand the Baldrige continuously
criteria to develop application improve management
packages, provide support to systems and service
examiners during consensus week, to Veterans.
provide technical editing support,
and provide feedback reports to
applicants for continuous
improvement purposes.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
$600,000 Provide the Office of Interagency Ensure IDES meets
Collaboration and Integration program goals and
project management support, continues to
technical support, performance improve the
measurement, and process delivery of
improvements/business process seamless, cost-
reengineering support for the effective quality
implementation and oversight of the services to
IDES. transitioning
Veterans.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
$1,500,000 Support the Office of Corporate Establish
Analysis and Evaluation (CAE) in programming
maturing the multi-year planning, excellence and data-
programming, budgeting, and driven analytical
execution (PPBE) framework capabilities that
established to optimally align VA inform effective
services with 21st century Veterans' strategic resource
needs. The work will aid VA's multi- allocation and
year programming process and conduct stewardship of VA
independent analysis/review, resources to
corporate studies and analysis, and effectively serve
other PPBE activities across VA. Veterans.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
$500,000 Automation of CAE's requirements Streamline and
development system, which currently automate
uses spreadsheets and other "flat programming
files" to perform the complex tasks capability to allow
of annual programming including: more efficient and
Automated input functions effective
for capability requirements analytical
proposals and special interest capabilities that
analysis; inform effective
Ability to save all input strategic resource
data in a relational database (RDB); allocation and
and stewardship of VA
Easy data-downloads from RDB resources.
to standard Microsoft tools.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
$950,000 Assist the Office of Policy in: Enable better
Supporting internal business strategic decision
process and VA's governance process; making among VA
Executing strategic studies senior leaders
environmental scanning and analysis regarding services
processes to identify long-range to Veterans and
issues and drive innovation and management of the
transformation; Department.
Executing VA's quadrennial
strategic planning process focused
on strategic outcomes that influence
policies, programs and resources;
and
Executing VA's policy
analysis process that is proactive,
externally engaged, and internally
aligned.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
$16,091,00 Support VA in developing Customer Provision of the
0 Data Integration (CDI), establishing most appropriate,
enterprise accountability and the effective and
integration of processes and systems efficient service
to support an integrated, Veteran- possible while
centric authoritative view of VA's reducing burden on
customers and their needs. Veterans and
improving delivery
of VA services and
benefits.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
$380,000 Assist the Office of Data Governance Provide an
and Analysis (DGA) in the expansion integrated view of
and support of the U.S. Veteran Veteran users and
Eligibility Trends and Statistics non-users of VA
(USVETS) multidimensional database benefits or
and analysis system; provide services, as well
statistical application system (SAS) as statistical
programming support for the National analysis and
Center for Veterans Analysis and reports on Veterans
Statistics. to support VA
planning, policy
development, and
decision making.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
$370,000 Provide DGA with global information Enhance GIS platform
systems (GIS) analysis to: and integration of
Provide technical and SAS and GIS
professional GIS services to technologies which
supplement staff's efforts by improve Veteran
compiling, creating, and modifying data dissemination
GIS layers and related tools; and data analysis
Enhance DGA's integrated Web- by deploying new
based mapping capability with mapping
analysis system datasets and fully capabilities in the
integrate the geospatial analysis ArcGIS intranet and
dashboard (GAD) and geospatial internet portal.
analysis tools (GAT) into the
analysis system and intranet portal;
and
Develop interactive web
applications and display interactive
maps presenting data on Veteran
population and VA programs.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
$859,000 Support the Office of the Actuary by Provide models to
using cutting edge analytic tools to predict Veterans'
develop predictive models that demands and use of
predict future demand, utilization, VA products and
and cost for various VA benefit services, and
programs and health care services. identify key
metrics to support
VA policy analysis
and strategic
planning process,
enabling VA to
identify and
strategically
target its
resources to better
serve Veterans.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
$750,000 Develop training, guidance, and other Improve the
materials for DGA to: Department's data
Support enterprise-wide governance
implementation of advanced data maturity, improving
governance concepts and practices; management and
Further develop the concepts governance of data
in VA's data governance training for quality
program; and improvement.
Provide program support to
the data governance activities and
CDI efforts.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
$1,300,000 Acquire Veteran demographics and The integrated data
socio-economic data from commercial will enable a more
data sources for DGA to supplement complete view of
existing VA data sources. Veteran users and
non-users of VA
benefits or
services for
enhanced
statistical
analyses, outreach,
and modeling.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
$200,000 Provide DGA with a special supplement Better understanding
to the current population survey on of Veteran
Veterans on such topics as employment
demographics, VA status, VA health, challenges to
education, etc. This is a critical alleviate Veteran
survey to capture Veteran employment unemployment.
statistics.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
$215,000 Policy analysis conducted on new Robust analysis to
legislation and emerging needs of inform the
Veterans. Department on
future Veteran
requirements.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
$130,000 Supports Departmental franchise N/A
activities, such as security
clearances and payroll processing.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Question 75. For fiscal year 2015, the budget request includes over
$25 million for the Office of Policy and Planning and would support 116
employees. For each office within the Office of Policy and Planning,
please identify the positions and pay-grades for employees that would
be assigned to that office during fiscal year 2014 and fiscal year 2015
and the number of contractors that are expected to be assigned to each
such office.
Response.
2014
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Title Series Grade
------------------------------------------------------------------------
5Office of the Assistant Secretary0
Assistant Secretary............. 301 ES
Executive Assistant to the 301 GS 15
Assistant Secretary............
Scheduler/Program Support to 301 GS 11
Assistant Secretary............
Principal Deputy Assistant 301 SES
Secretary......................
Scheduler/Program Support to 301 GS 11
Principal Deputy Assistant
Secretary......................
Senior Policy Advisor........... 343 GS 15
Operations
Director of Operations.......... 343 GS 15
Human Capital Manager........... 301 GS 14
Administrative Officer.......... 301 GS 13
Communications Specialist....... 343 GS 9
Budget Officer.................. 343 GS 13
------------------------------------------------------------------------
5Office of Interagency Collaboration and Integration0
Executive Director.............. 301 SES
Scheduler/Program Support....... 301 GS 11
Integrated Disability Evaluation System Service (IDES)
Director IDES................... 301 GS 15
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 14
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 14
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 11
Joint Executive Council/Senior Oversight Committee Service (JEC/SOC)
Director JEC/SOC................ 301 GS 15
Special Assistant............... 301 GS 15
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 14
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 9/11
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 14
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 14
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 11
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 9
------------------------------------------------------------------------
5Corporate Analysis and Evaluation Service0
Executive Director.............. 343 SES
Programming Service
Director........................ 343 GS 15
Budget Analyst.................. 560 GS 14
Operations Research Analyst..... 1515 GS 14
Budget Analyst.................. 560 GS 14
Operations Research Analyst..... 1515 GS 14
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 14
Program Analyst................. 343 GS 13/14
Program Analyst................. 343 GS 13/14
Analysis & Evaluation Service
Director........................ 343 GS 15
Operations Research Analyst..... 1515 GS 14
Operations Research Analyst..... 1515 GS 14
Operations Research Analyst..... 1515 GS 14
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 13
Operations Research Analyst..... 1515 GS14
Operations Research Analyst..... 1515 GS 14
------------------------------------------------------------------------
5Office of Policy0
Deputy Assistant Secretary...... 343 SES
Program Support................. 301 GS 9
Policy Analysis Service
Director........................ 343 GS 15
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 14
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 11
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 13
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 9/11
Management Analyst.............. 399 GS 13
Management Analyst.............. 301 GS 9
Strategic Studies Group
Director........................ 343 GS 15
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 14
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 14
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 12
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 11
Strategic Planning Service
Director........................ 343 GS 15
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 14
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 14
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 14
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 13
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 11
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 11
------------------------------------------------------------------------
5Office of Data Governance and Analysis0
Deputy Assistant Secretary...... 343 SES
National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics
Executive Director.............. 301 SES
Program Support................. 301 GS 11
Analysis and Statistics Service
Director........................ 1530 GS 15
Statistician.................... 1530 GS 14
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 14
Statistician.................... 343 GS 13
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 14
Statistician.................... 1530 GS 14
Statistician.................... 1530 GS 14
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 13
Statistician.................... 343 GS 13
Reports and Information Service
Director........................ 343 GS 15
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 14
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 14
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 14
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 14
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 12
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 9
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 14
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 12
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 12
Office of the Actuary
Chief Actuary................... 1510 SL
Deputy Chief Actuary............ 1510 GS 15
Actuary......................... 1510 GS 14
Economist....................... 110 GS 14
Actuary......................... 1510 GS 14
Actuary......................... 1510 GS 14
Actuary......................... 1510 GS 14
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 14
------------------------------------------------------------------------
5Enterprise Program Management Office0
Executive Director.............. 301 SES
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 11
Deputy Director................. 301 GS 15
Executive Program Manager....... 301 SES
Program Management Policy Service
Director........................ 343 GS 15
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 14
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 14
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 14
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 13
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 14
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 14
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 14
Operational Management Review
Director........................ 343 GS 15
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 11
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 13
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 14
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 9
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 14
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 14
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 14
Resource Management Service
Director........................ 343 GS 15
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 14
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 14
Management Analyst.............. 343 GS 13
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additionally, OPP has contracts in place with third parties that
involve their employees working in VA facilities. However, VA does not
control those companies' independent business decisions regarding
staffing requirements. Thus, VA is unable to give a number of
contractor employees assigned to OPP.
Office of Operations, Security, and Preparedness
Question 76. For fiscal year 2015, the Office of Operations,
Security, and Preparedness requests total resources of $31.3 million
and 133 employees. Please provide a list of the positions that would be
filled with that funding and the pay-grades for those positions.
Response. The Office of Operations, Security, and Preparedness
(OSP) request consists of $17.9 million in budget authority and $13.4
million in reimbursable authority for a total of $31.3 million in FY
2015 budget. The personnel services portion of that request is $17.6
million to support 133 full-time employee equivalents.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grade Title Organization Position
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OSP Front Office
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Honorable Assistant Secretary (A/S) OSP Assistant Secretary
GS-12 Special Assistant to A/S OSP Staff Assistant
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Office of Resource Management (ORM)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GS-15 Director, Resource Mngt. Resource Management Director, ORM
GS-13 Staff Assistant to Director Resource Management Staff Assistant
GS-12 Program Analyst Resource Management Program Analyst
GS-14 Budget Analyst Resource Management Budget Officer
GS-14 Administrative Officer Resource Management Admin Officer
GS-12 Staff Assistant Resource Management Admin Officer
GS-14 Resource Manager Resource Management Management Analyst
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Office of Emergency Management (OEM)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SES Deputy Assistant Secretary OEM Emergency Management DAS OEM
GS-14 Senior Staff Assistant Emergency Management Support
GS-11 Staff Assistant Emergency Management Support
GS-12/13 Management Analyst (Public Health) VACANT Support
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Planning, Exercise, Training, and Evaluation Service (PETE)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GS-15 Dir--Emergency Management Spec. OEM/PETE Director PETE
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Planning
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GS-14 Lead Emergency Mgt. Spec. OEM/PETE Planning
GS-11/12/13 Emergency Management Spec. (Planner/ OEM/PETE Planning
Liaison Officer (LNO))
GS-13 Program Analyst--Geographic OEM/PETE Planning
Information System (GIS)
Intern OEM/PETE
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Planning
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GS-11/12/13 Emergency Management Spec.(DHS LNO) OEM/PETE Planning
GS-9/11/12 Program Analyst--GIS OEM/PETE Planning
GS-11/12/13 Management Analyst (Planner/LNO) OEM/PETE Planning
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exercise, Training, and Evaluation
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GS-14 Team Lead/Exercises OEM/PETE Planning
GS-11/12/13 Emergency Management Spec. OEM/PETE Planning
(Exercise)
GS-12/13 Emergency Management Spec. OEM/PETE Planning
(Continuity)
GS-12/13 Emergency Management Spec. OEM/PETE Planning
(Training)
GS-12/13 Emergency Management Spec. OEM/PETE Planning
(Evaluator)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VA Integrated Operations Center (IOC)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GS-15 Director/(Supv.) VA IOC (FY 12) OEM IOC
GS-14 (Supv.) Readiness Operation Spec OEM IOC
GS-13 Readiness Operation Spec. (Team OEM IOC
Lead)
GS-9/11/12 Readiness Operation Spec. OEM IOC
GS-9/11/12 Readiness Operation Spec. OEM IOC
GS-9/11/12 Readiness Operation Spec. OEM IOC
GS-9/11/12 Readiness Operation Spec. OEM IOC
GS-9/11/12 Readiness Operation Spec. OEM IOC
GS-9/11/12 Readiness Operation Spec. OEM IOC
GS-9/11/12 Readiness Operation Spec. OEM IOC
GS-9/11/12 Readiness Operation Spec. OEM IOC
GS-12/13 Program Analyst OEM IOC
GS-12/13 Program Analyst OEM IOC
GS-12/13 Program Analyst OEM IOC
GS-12/13 Readiness Operations Specialist OEM IOC
(National Operations Center
Liaison)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operations & National Security
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GS-15 Director (Readiness Op. Spec.) OEM COOP/COG
GS-14 Emergency Management Spec. OEM National Security
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operations
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GS-14 Readiness Operation Spec. (Site B OEM COOP/COG
Director)
GS-13 Readiness Operation Spec. (Deputy OEM COOP/COG
Director for Site B)
GS-11 Readiness Operation Spec. OEM COOP/COG
GS-9/11/12 Readiness Operations Spec. OEM COOP/COG
GS-9/11/12 Readiness Operations Spec. OEM COOP/COG
GS-12 Readiness Operation Spec. (Director OEM COOP/COG
Site C)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
National Security Service
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GS-14 Special Security Officer OEM National Security
GS-13 Special Security Representative OEM National Security
GS-13 Special Security Representative OEM National Security
GS-13 Special Security Representative OEM COOP/COG
(ROS)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Personnel Security & Identity Management (PSIM)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SES Director, Personnel Security and PSIM PSIM
Identity Management
GS-12 Staff Assistant to Director PSIM PSIM
GS-15 Director, HSPD-12 PSIM HSPD-12
GS-14 Deputy Director, Homeland Security PSIM HSPD-12
Presidental Directive (HSPD)-12
GS-13 Physical Security Specialist PSIM HSPD-12
GS-13 Program Analyst PSIM HSPD-12
GS-11 Director, Personnel Identification PSIM HSPD-12
Verification (PIV) Office
GS-343-11 Program Analyst PSIM HSPD-12
GS-7 Program Specialist PSIM PIV Office
GS-7 Program Specialist PSIM PIV Office
GS-7 Program Specialist PSIM PIV Office
GS-7 Program Specialist PSIM PIV Office
GS-7 Program Specialist PSIM PIV Office
GS-7 Program Specialist PSIM PIV Office
GS-15 Director, Personnel Security and PSIM PSS
Suitability (PSS)
GS-14 Acting Director/Deputy Director, PSIM PSS
PSS
GS-12/13 Security Specialist PSIM PSS
GS-12/13 Security Specialist PSIM PSS
GS-12 Security Specialist PSIM PSS
GS-12 Security Specialist PSIM PSS
GS-11 Security Specialist PSIM PSS
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Identity, Credentials, and Access Management (ICAM)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GS-15 Director, ICAM ICAM ICAM
GS-11 Staff Assistant ICAM ICAM
GS-14 Administrative Officer ICAM ICAM
GS-12 Staff Assistant ICAM ICAM
GS-14 Program Analyst ICAM ICAM
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Identity Management (Identity Mgt.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GS-14 Director--Identity Management Identity Mgt. Identity Mgt.
GS-11 Staff Assistant Identity Mgt. Identity Mgt.
GS-14 Program Analyst Identity Mgt. Identity Mgt.
GS-14 Program Analyst Identity Mgt. Identity Mgt.
GS-11/12/13 Program Analyst Identity Mgt. Identity Mgt.
GS-11/12/13 Program Analyst Identity Mgt. Identity Mgt.
GS-7/9/11 Program Support Identity Mgt. Identity Mgt.
GS-7/9/11 Program Support Identity Mgt. Identity Mgt.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Access Management
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GS-14 Director--Access Management Access Mgt. Access Mgt.
GS-11 Staff Assistant Access Mgt. Access Mgt.
GS-14 Program Analyst Access Mgt. Access Mgt.
GS-14 Program Analyst Access Mgt. Access Mgt.
GS-11/12/13 Program Analyst Access Mgt. Access Mgt.
GS-11/12/13 Program Analyst Access Mgt. Access Mgt.
GS-7/9/11 Program Support Access Mgt. Access Mgt.
GS-7/9/11 Program Support Access Mgt. Access Mgt.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On-Board/Monitor/Off Board
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GS-14 Director-On-Board/Off-Board On-Board/Off-Board On-Board/Off-Board
GS-11 Staff Assistant On-Board/Off-Board On-Board/Off-Board
GS-14 Program Analyst On-Board/Off-Board On-Board/Off-Board
GS-11/12/13 Program Analyst On-Board/Off-Board On-Board/Off-Board
GS-7/9/11 Program Support On-Board/Off-Board On-Board/Off-Board
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Office of Security & Law Enforcement (OSLE)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SES Director for OSLE OSLE OSLE Lead
GS-13 Program Analyst OSLE Operations
GS-13 Administrative Officer OSLE Operations
GS-11 Staff Assistant OSLE Operations
GS-15 Director, Police Service OSLE Police Lead
GS-07 Program Support Assistant OSLE Operations
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LEO/Investigations
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GS-14 Chief Oversight & Investigations Lead
GS-13 Criminal Investigator Oversight & Investigations Crim Inv.
GS-13 Criminal Investigator (Watch Oversight & Investigations Crim Inv.
officer)
GS-13 Criminal Investigator Oversight & Investigations Crim Inv.
GS-13 Criminal Investigator Oversight & Investigations Crim Inv.
GS-12/13 Criminal Investigator Oversight & Investigations Crim Inv.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Intelligence & Crime Analysis
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GS-14 Chief Intell & Crime Analysis Lead
GS-12/13 Criminal Investigator (Watch Intell & Crime Analysis Crim Inv.
officer)
GS-13 Criminal Investigator (Watch Intell & Crime Analysis Crim Inv.
officer)
GS-13 Criminal Investigator (Watch Intell & Crime Analysis Crim Inv.
officer)
GS-12/13 Criminal Investigator Intell & Crime Analysis Crim Inv.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Executive Protection (EX Pro)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GS-14 Chief Executive Protection Lead
GS-13 Criminal Investigator Executive Protection EX Pro
GS-13 Criminal Investigator Executive Protection EX Pro
GS-13 Criminal Investigator Executive Protection EX Pro
GS-11 Criminal Investigator Executive Protection EX Pro
GS-13 Criminal Investigator Executive Protection EX Pro
GS-13 Criminal Investigator Executive Protection EX Pro
GS-12 Criminal Investigator Executive Protection Security
GS-12 Criminal Investigator Executive Protection Security
GS-12 Security Specialist Executive Protection EX Pro
GS-12 Security Specialist Executive Protection EX Pro
WL-9 Motor Vehicle Operator Executive Protection EX Pro
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Infrastructure Security & Policy
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GS-14 Chief Policy & Infrastructure Lead
Protection
GS-13 Security Specialist Policy & Infrastructure Security
Protection
GS-12 Security Specialist Policy & Infrastructure Security
Protection
GS-12/13 Criminal Investigator Policy & Infrastructure EX Pro
Protection
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Question 77. For fiscal year 2015, the Office of Operations,
Security, and Preparedness requests $10.3 million for Other Services.
Please provide a specific itemized list of how these funds would be
spent. To the extent any of these funds will be spent on contracts,
please explain the nature of the contract and the expected outcomes.
Response. OSP uses contract support in the following areas:
Department of Homeland Security/Federal Protective Service Contract
Guards for General Service Administration leased spaces in the Capital
Region ($3.0 million); and Program support for the HSPD-12 program
management office ($3.0 million). The new ICAM/On-Boarding and Off-
Boarding Program uses contract Program Management support ($3.0
million). OSP also pays for support for Continuity of Operations sites
and Continuity of Government sites, which are located outside of the
National Capital Region ($750,000). OSP also has internal VA Service
Level Agreements totaling $525,000 and some small maintenance
contracts.
Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs
Question 78. For fiscal year 2015, the Office of Public and
Intergovernmental Affairs requests total resources of $22.8 million and
90 employees. Please provide a list of the positions that would be
filled with that funding and the pay-grades for those positions.
Response.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GRADE # POSITIONS
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SES/EX 6 Assistant Secretary, Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs; Executive
Director; Director Intergovernmental Affairs; Director Public Affairs; Deputy
Assistant Secretary Intergovernmental Affairs
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15 16 Executive Assistant; Special Assistant; Program Management; Public Affairs Specialist;
Program Specialist; Deputy Director Homeless Veterans Initiative Office; Director of
Media Relations; Speechwriter
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
14 27 Public Affairs Specialist; Program Specialist; Staff Assistant; Program Analyst;
Management Analyst
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
13 15 Budget Analyst; Program Specialist; Public Affairs Specialist; Program Specialist
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12 5 Staff Assistant; Special Assistant; Program Analyst; Program Specialist
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11 12 Public Affairs Specialist; Staff Assistant
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10 2 Program Support Assistant
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9 5 Program Specialist; Program Support Assistant; Public Affairs Specialist; Student
Trainee
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8 0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7 2 Program Support Assistant
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Question 79. In response to questions about the fiscal year 2014
budget request, VA indicated that the Office of Public and
Intergovernmental Affairs employs at least four speechwriters, paid at
the GS-15 level.
A. In total, how much funding is requested for fiscal year 2015 for
speechwriters for this office?
Response. For fiscal year (FY) 2015, the Office of Public and
Intergovernmental Affairs (OPIA) requests $555,370 for three
speechwriters.
B. On average, how many speeches do these individuals write per
year and for which VA officials are they drafting speeches?
Response. Currently, there are three OPIA speechwriters, though
there are four billets--the fourth position was added in 2008 in
anticipation of expected retirements, to ensure continuity in senior
leaders' communications; there are currently no plans to fill the
fourth position. The three speechwriters directly support the
Secretary, Deputy Secretary, and Chief of Staff of the Department of
Veterans Affairs. As required, they may also provide expertise,
editing, fact checking, and review of products written for
Undersecretaries, Assistant Secretaries, and other VA executives.
Duties of the three speechwriters in support of the three
principals extend well beyond writing speeches and include composing,
refining, and revising Congressional testimony; composing select
correspondence; conducting current and historical research for a
variety of written products, drafting articles on behalf of senior
leaders for various publications; writing Department messages on behalf
of senior leaders; composing scripts for senior leaders' videotaped
remarks; editing products pertinent to the Office of the Secretary
composed by other offices; reviewing and providing input for White
House and other government agencies' documents involving Veterans; and
occasional travel to support the Secretary at major speaking events.
Each of the three speechwriters works on estimated 225-250 products
annually.
Question 80. Responses to questions about the fiscal year 2014
budget request indicate that public affairs personnel from the Office
of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs are located in New York,
Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, and Dallas.
A. Please identify the locations of the offices for public affairs
personnel located outside of Washington, DC. For example, are they co-
located with VA medical centers or regional offices?
Response.
New York-- Located with the New York Veterans Benefits
Administration (VBA) Regional Office
Washington, DC--Located in VBA Business Office
Atlanta--Located in Atlanta VBA building
Chicago--Located in Chicago VBA Regional Office
Denver--Located in Denver VBA Regional Office
Los Angeles--Located on Greater Los Angeles Medical Center
campus
Dallas--Located with Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN)
17 offices
B. Please provide a description of the responsibilities and
performance metrics for personnel located at these public affairs
regional offices.
Response.
Responsibilities:
Manage Office of Public Affairs (OPA) regional office in
accordance with Department policy. Efficiently organize staff workload,
establish deadlines, and ensure achievement of quality standards.
Recommend appropriate training and career-development activities,
submit nominations for performance awards.
Maintain appropriate liaison with Administrations, VISNs,
and facility staffs. Monitor professional development of public affairs
officers at the regional and facility levels, assist by informal
coaching and formal training.
Respond to queries from the news media in a timely manner.
Make referrals in accordance with OPA and department policy.
Initiate contacts with the news media and generates news
media interest in VA programs, officials and events.
Advise facilities, regional leadership and senior
departmental leadership on the media relations aspect of issues. Stay
informed of topics of Department-wide interest in addition to local and
regional issues.
Develop timely, accurate event memos, briefing papers,
read-ahead files and other information to prepare senior Department
leaders during visits to the region.
Accompany senior Department leaders during visits to the
region or help in arranging appropriate assistance from other
personnel. Maintain the flexibility to assist senior leaders with
little or no advance warning.
Assist in the preparation of news releases, fact sheets,
media advisories, and letters to the editor, op-eds, and media pitches,
in accordance with the highest professional standards.
Inform in a timely manner facility and regional directors
and public affairs officers of Departmental policy affecting various
issues.
Maintain regular contact with all facilities and
appropriate regional offices within the region, assist regional and
facility public affairs offices on the preparation of public affairs
products, promote and participate in regional public affairs councils.
Alert the Director of Media Relations, the Deputy
Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs and the Assistant Secretary for
Public and Intergovernmental Affairs, the press secretaries, other
staff members and the chain-of-command of situations involving the news
media that may require their attention.
Monitor activities of the news media and advise the press
secretaries and Office of Media Relations director on appropriate VA
response.
Make recommendations on media relations plans, crisis
communications strategies and promotional campaigns based upon the
highest professional standards and a practical understanding of issues
and the workings of the media.
Performance Metrics:
Number of personnel trained; media queries fielded; feedback from
senior leaders on trip support; results of media pitches; assessment of
relationships with senior leaders and associated public affairs
officers in their region.
C. For fiscal year 2015, what level of funding is requested to
maintain public affairs personnel in locations outside of Washington,
DC?
Response. OPA would need the same infrastructure funding as that of
FY 2014, for 22 full-time employees, associated travel and automation
needs.
Question 81. For fiscal year 2015, the Office of Public and
Intergovernmental Affairs requests $9.5 million for purposes of an
adaptive sporting program for veterans with disabilities. Please
provide a breakdown of how those funds are expected to be expended.
Response. For FY 2015, OPIA requests $9.5 million for purposes of
the adaptive sports grant program and the monthly assistance allowance
for disabled Veterans training in Paralympic sports (Paralympic
allowance). During FY 2015, the adaptive sports grant program is
expected to expend $7.5 million through the adaptive sports grant. With
the passage of P.L.113-59 in December 2013, VA is transitioning to a
competitive grant program as opposed to awarding grants only to the
United States Olympic Committee as authorized under previous
legislation. Since the transition is still in progress, specific
details of FY 2015 fund expenditures cannot be projected at this time.
However, VA fully expects eligible entities to apply for grants up to
$7.5 million to provide adaptive sporting opportunities for disabled
Veterans and disabled members of the Armed Forces. As for the
Paralympic allowance, $2.0 million is projected to be expended in
Paralympic allowance payments and authorized expenses.
Question 82. In response to questions about the fiscal year 2014
budget request, the Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs
indicated that it planned to spend $300,000 in fiscal year 2013 to
``establish an agency-wide VA History Office'' and ``develop history
outreach programs.''
A. In total, how much has been expended on these initiatives and
how much is requested for these purposes for fiscal year 2015?
Response. The expended (contract) amount is $209,073 for FY 2014.
Currently, there are no FY 2015 funds programmed for a continuation of
this effort.
B. What measurable outcomes does VA expect to achieve as a result
of these initiatives?
Response. The ongoing and short-duration FY 2014 effort is intended
to assess the Department's current history and archival programs, and
offer recommendations on what can be done to improve and enhance those
existing programs.
Question 83. In the fiscal year 2015 budget request, the Office of
Public and Intergovernmental Affairs seeks $495,000 for Other Services.
Please provide a breakdown of how those funds would be expended. To the
extent any of these funds will be spent on contracts, please explain
the nature of the contract and the expected outcomes.
Response.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Object Class 24 Amount (Est) Description
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Printing Services............. $100,000 Printing of the Veterans' benefits handbook; Translation
services.
-----------------
Total..................... $100,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contracts/Name Amount (Est.) Description
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Barbaricum LLC................ $234,400 To establish, maintain, and distribute a customized executive
daily news summary.
Gov-Delivery.................. $25,000 Gov. delivery provides an enterprise (Department-wide)
customized email service for users who subscribe/opt in to
updates from VA.
Misc. Contracts............... $135,600 Rent, Transit Subsidy, UPS Service, Service Level Agreements,
Copier Maintenances.
-----------------
Total..................... $395,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Question 84. According to the fiscal year 2015 budget request, the
Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs requests $344,000 for
travel for fiscal year 2015. How many trips is that level of funding
expected to support and what is the average expected cost per trip?
Response. OPIA's request of $344,000 for travel in FY 2015 is
expected to support an estimated 189 trips with an average estimated
cost of $1,811. These trips support the OPIA mission including tribal
affairs, State Veterans Affairs offices, the Adaptive Sports Program
and employee training.
Question 85. Please provide the Committee data on how much VA spent
on outreach activities in fiscal year 2014 and is projected to be spent
during fiscal year 2015. The information should include, but is not
limited to: 1) the amount in aggregate VA spent enterprise-wide on
advertising outreach, 2) a breakdown by administration of the amount
spent on outreach, and 3) the categories of spending VA believes
encompass all forms of outreach undertaken and the funding breakdowns.
Response.
FY 2014 Advertising and Outreach Spending
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Social/
Television Radio Ads Print Ads Digital Outreach Total
Ads Media
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VHA.......................... See ** See ** See ** See ** **VHA does not $21,726,574
below below below below centrally track
costs
associated with
outreach events
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VBA.......................... See * below See * below $878,068 $878,068
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NCA.......................... $74,325 $74,325
attendance at
outreach
conventions/
conferences
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Center for Faith Based and $15,576 $15,576
Neighborhood Partnerships. Travel/Per Diem
to attend
outreach
activities
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Center for Minority Veterans. $50,837 $50,837
Travel/Per Diem/
Booth Rentals,
participating
in outreach
activities
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Center for Women Veterans.... $3,000 $3,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
National Veterans Outreach... $2,241,822 $322,402 $1,216,064 $2,000,000 $5,780,288
Ad council
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*VBA has a FY 2014/2015 contract that includes Public Service Announcement (PSA) development. Airing of radio
and TV PSAs are through donated air time.
**VHA does not centrally track costs associated with outreach events.
**The total VHA advertising dollars spent by program offices, VISNs, and VAMCs (as of 3d qtr) is $21,726,574.
Projected FY 2015 Advertising and Outreach Spending
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Social/
Television Radio Ads Print Ads Digital Outreach Total
Ads Media
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VHA.......................... $27,647,865
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VBA.......................... See ** See ** $912,500 $912,500
below below
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NCA.......................... $80,875 $80,875
attendance at
outreach
conventions/
conferences
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Center for Faith Based and $8,004 $8,004
Neighborhood Partnerships. Travel/Per Diem
to attend
outreach
activities
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Center for Minority Veterans. $65,000 $65,000
Travel/Per Diem/
Booth Rentals,
participating
in outreach
activities
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Center for Women Veterans.... $3,000 $3,000
participating in
outreach
activities
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
National Veterans Outreach... See *** See *** See *** See *** See *** Below $0
Below Below Below Below
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*VBA has a FY 2014/2015 contract that includes Public Service Announcement (PSA) development. Airing of radio
and TV PSA's are through donated air time.
**VHA does not centrally track costs associated with outreach events.
**The total VHA advertising dollars spent by program offices, VISNs, and VAMCs for FY 2015 is $27,647,865.
***All FY 2015 National Veterans Outreach Advertising and outreach activities were pre-paid with FY 2013 and FY
2014 dollars.
The National Veterans Outreach (NVO) office, in collaboration with
respective VA administration and OSVA special assistant staff outreach
leads, comply with the premise that outreach is undertaken by VA to
increase awareness of VA benefits and services and how to access them.
The information provided in the preceding outreach responses entail the
major categories in which outreach is planned and executed:
advertising, event participation and through on-line engagement. Where
appropriate, funding for those outreach programs is reported.
Increasingly, VA is expanding outreach to better engage through public
private partnerships. VA is presently developing policy to help guide
public private partnerships while VHA, in particular, is developing
best practices and procedures as part of their community engagement
mission. There is no funding line identified at this time for
establishing public private partnerships across VA. VA will report all
outreach activities conducted in accordance with title 38U.S.C, Chapter
63, for the submission of the biennial report.
Question 86. Please provide a detailed budget for the National
Veterans Outreach Office (NVO), including the number of FTE, a
leadership chart, requested appropriations and budget projections, and
current outreach initiatives and projects underway.
Response. Number of FTE: 4
FY 2015 Budget Forecast
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Object Class Amount
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Printing & Reproduction) $45,000
(Contracts: Advertising, Outreach) $4,080,000
(Supplies & Materials) $3,600
-------------
Total $4,128,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Current Outreach Initiatives:
Contract management and execution of the media buy and Web
development contract for the VA Explore Web site.
Management and preparation of the Congressionally-mandated
Biennial Outreach Report.
Planning, coordination, and execution of the National
Veterans Day Observance at Arlington National Cemetery.
Planning for an outreach training program as part of the
2014 OPIA National Training Academy.
Quarterly updates with VSO/NGO communications leads on VA
Outreach Initiatives and teaming opportunities.
Question 87. In response to questions about the fiscal year 2014
budget request regarding what metrics NVO uses to determine whether a
program is duplicative, VA stated: ``NVO leadership and team members
confer regularly with other VA Staff Offices and with all three VA
Administrations to review the status of current programs and review
proposals for new projects. Through this detailed process, potential
for duplicity is identified and plans developed to ensure programs that
may be duplicative in nature are not executed by NVO.''
A. During fiscal year 2014, which outreach programs or projects
were identified as duplicative? Please list all programs and projects
that were identified.
Response. VA purchased digital keyword advertising with Google and
Bing for the VA Explore outreach campaign. The Veterans Health
Administration (VHA), at the VISN level, submitted some of the same
keywords for use in a local campaign. VA and VHA compared the lists of
search terms for the campaigns and the zip codes of the areas targeted.
The two groups negotiated which terms each campaign would purchase and
determined the best way to optimize both campaigns while avoiding
conflicts.
B. Which programs were not implemented because of this
determination?
Response. No advertising campaign was terminated.
Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs
Question 88. For fiscal year 2015, the Office of Congressional and
Legislative Affairs requests $6 million and 45 employees. Please
provide a list of the positions that would be filled with that funding
and the pay-grades for those positions.
Response. The 45 positions and their corresponding pay-grades are
as follows:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Assistant Secretary.......................... EX
Director Congressional Affairs............... SES
Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary......... SES
Director of Operations....................... GS-15
Director, Benefits Legislative Service....... GS-15
Director, Health Legislative Service......... GS-15
Director, Legislative Service................ GS-15
Director, Corporate Enterprise Legislative GS-15
Service.
Director, Congressional Reports and GS-15
Correspondence.
2--Special Assistants........................ GS-15
2--Administrative Officers................... GS-14
Executive Correspondence Analyst............. GS-14
13--Congressional Relations Officers......... GS-12/13/14
Government Accountability Office (GAO) GS-14
Liaison Officer.
6--Program Analysts.......................... GS-9/11
Assistant Director, Congressional Liaison GS-14
Service.
Senior Congressional Liaison Representative.. GS-13
Congressional Liaison Officer................ GS-13
3--Congressional Liaison Representatives..... GS-12
Staff Assistant.............................. GS-11
3--Congressional Liaison Assistant........... GS-7/8/9
Program Assistant............................ GS-8
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Question 89. In response to questions regarding the fiscal year
2014 budget request, the Office of Congressional and Legislative
Affairs indicated that, during fiscal year 2013, only 13 percent of
questions for the record had been submitted on time; 75 percent of
testimony had been submitted on time; and only 24 percent of reports
had been submitted on time. By comparison, during fiscal year 2012, 75
percent of questions for the record had been submitted on time; 88
percent of testimony had been submitted on time; and 68 percent of
reports had been submitted on time. Please explain the root causes for
the increased delays during fiscal year 2013 in providing this
information to Congress and the deterioration in timeliness since 2012.
Response. During fiscal year (FY) 2013, the Office of Congressional
and Legislative Affairs (OCLA) experienced a decrease in specific
performance metrics while experiencing a dramatic increase in workload
requirements. In FY 2013, the Department conducted 999 briefings, both
as a result of Congressional requests and Departmental initiatives.
This was a 45-percent increase over FY 2012. During
FY 2013, OCLA responded to 3,544 requests for information; a 29-
percent increase over the number responded to in FY 2012.
In 2013, OCLA developed a Workload Dashboard that identifies all of
the congressional action items the office is currently working. As of
March 20, 2014, the OCLA Dashboard listed the following outstanding
items:
8 Hearings
158 Congressional Requests for Information
101 Executive Congressional Correspondence items addressed
to the Secretary
86 Questions for the Record
11 Hearing Deliverables
Additionally, OCLA is also working:
- 688 Congressional Constituent Casework Inquires
- 21 GAO actions
- 18 Requests for Technical Assistance on Legislation
- 52 Briefings within the next 30 days
The total volume of work constitutes over 1,000 concurrent action
items. Given this extensive volume of work, OCLA reviews and
prioritizes its efforts to support both the Department and Congress.
Unfortunately, with such a large workload, there will be items that
will take longer to complete than we would like. In FY 2014 through the
end of May 2014, the Department has responded to 94 percent of the
questions for the record on-time and has submitted 97 percent of its
testimony on-time.
Question 90. In response to questions regarding the fiscal year
2014 budget request, the Office of Congressional and Legislative
Affairs indicated that, during fiscal year 2014, its goal was to submit
90 percent of questions for the record on time; to submit 90 percent of
testimony on time; and to submit 85 percent of reports on time.
A. To date, are those goals being met? If not, please identify the
percent of questions for the record, testimony, and reports that have
been submitted on time during fiscal year 2014.
Response. In FY 2014 through May, 2014, OCLA had achieved the
following results:
Percent of Questions for the Record submitted on time:
Goal 85 percent/Actual 94 percent
Percent of Testimony submitted on time: Goal 90 percent/
Actual 97 percent
Percent of Congressionally Mandated Reports submitted on
time: Goal 85 percent/Actual 18 percent
B. Are there any personnel consequences for any VA employees (such
as in performance reviews or receipt of bonuses) caused by failure to
meet those goals? If so, please specify which employees and the
potential consequences.
Response. OCLA employee performance plans include provisions
regarding meeting performance measures and metrics which directly
affect the employee's overall performance rating. The overall
performance rating determines whether an employee will be recommended
for a potential performance award.
Question 91. For fiscal year 2015, please identify the goals set by
the Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs for submitting
questions for the record, testimony, and reports on time.
Response. For FY 2015, OCLA's target goals are as follows:
Percent of Questions for the Record submitted on
time:
85 percent
Percent of Testimony submitted on time:
90 percent
Percent of Congressionally Mandated Reports
submitted on time:
85 percent
Question 92. According to information in the fiscal year 2015
budget request, the Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs
(OCLA) stated: ``In 2013, OCLA supported 62 hearings and conducted over
999 congressional briefings, including educational seminars. OCLA
responded to 3,544 requests for information in addition to 477
questions for the record.''
A. How many briefings, requests for information, and questions for
the record submitted in 2013 were not answered or fulfilled by
December 31, 2013?
Response. At the end of calendar year 2013, OCLA had the following
workload:
Briefings: 41 (includes Congressionally requested and
Departmental proposed briefings within 30 days)
Requests for Information: 119
Questions for the Record: 625
B. How long, on average, did it take OCLA to respond to requests
from the Hill?
Response. VA strives to provide Congress with accurate and quality
information in a timely manner. As indicated in FY 2013, OCLA
facilitated over 999 congressional briefings (45-percent increase over
FY 2012), including educational seminars, responded to 3,544 requests
for information (29-percent increase over FY 2012), and provided
responses to 477 questions for the record. OCLA also supported 311
requests for technical assistance on proposed legislation. OCLA
facilitated 51 GAO Entrance Conferences, 36 Exit Conferences, and
responded to 31 Draft Reports and 35 Final Reports. Given the
complexity, and competing priorities of many requests, not every
request for information receives a response within requested timeline.
OCLA is working to improve its communications with Congress regarding
priorities to ensure needed information is received on time. OCLA does
not maintain an average time to completion statistic for responding to
Congressional requests.
Office of Acquisition, Logistics, and Construction
Question 93. For fiscal year 2015, the Office of Acquisition,
Logistics, and Construction requests $9.5 million for Other Services.
Please provide a specific itemized list of how these funds would be
spent. To the extent any of these funds will be spent on contracts,
please explain the nature of the contract and the expected outcomes.
Response. The $9.5 million in the fiscal year (FY) 2015 Office of
Acquisition, Logistics, and Construction (OALC) budget request includes
the expenditure categories shown in the chart below.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Obligation Type Amount
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Permanent Change of Station Obligations..................... $700,000
Repair of Furniture and Equipment, Equipment Rental......... 57,000
Department of Homeland Security Services.................... 463,000
Recurring Maintenance and Repair............................ 50,000
Training.................................................... 362,000
Contracts................................................... 7,832,000
-----------
Total................................................... $9,464,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The $7.8 million for contracts includes the items shown in the
chart below.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FY 2015 Description Comments
------------------------------------------------------------------------
$370,000 Financial Service Center MOU between VA centralized
Memorandum of Understanding accounting and finance center
(MOU) and Construction and
Facilities Management (CFM)
for necessary support.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
$140,000 Interagency Agreement Documentation of VA's most
Historic American Buildings significant historic
Survey (HABS) properties, National Historic
Landmarks, in compliance with
Section 110 of the National
Historic Preservation Act to
document the official
Historic American Building
and Landscape Surveys
submitted to the Library of
Congress.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
$500,000 Base Competency Scheduling Contract to continue
development of competencies
which are general to
Construction Management and
apply to all roles and
positions.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
$30,000 Federal Facilities Council National Academy of Sciences
(FFC) contract in support of FFC
activities to identify
advancing technologies,
processes, and management
practices to improve the
planning, design,
construction, management,
operation and evaluation of
Federal facilities.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
$293,000 US Army Corps Engineers Engage the Army Corps of
Interagency Agreement Engineers to review major
construction projects.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
$262,041 Miscellaneous Multiple small contracts for
less than $10,000 each.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
$150,000 Human Capital Investment Reimbursement for Human
Plan Reimbursement Resources and Administration
services to CFM for support
of recruitment, hiring and
employee development training
programs.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
$35,000 LYNX Photo Management Secure construction photo
management software support
annual renewal.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
$170,000 National Institute of The contract is for
Building Sciences--CII participation in a research
Benchmarking project that will establish
industry benchmarks for
medical facilities. The 2-
year study concludes with
this second year of funding.
VA was a cosponsor of the
research project to
facilitate benchmarking VA
medical facility contribution
to other medical facility
construction projects. The
outcome will allow VA to
evaluate projects and
processes to define future
improvements.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
$50,959 Defense Finance and Interagency agreement to
Accounting Service (DFAS) process VA and CFM payroll.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
$200,000 OALC Front Office Mission support service
contract(s).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
$2,000,00 Plans and Programs This effort will provide
0 Construction Review Council support to CFM in the
(CRC) and Program implementation and reporting
Management (PM) Support of the capital program
contracts improvement plan. The
contract will provide support
documentation and tracking of
improvements in the
construction process.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
$1,000,00 Construction Project This effort continues the
0 Management--TRIRIGA sustainment of the TRIRIGA
software for construction
management. The software will
provide a collaborative
construction management tool
for VA. The utilization of
this product will improve
contract administration and
project oversight.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
$750,000 Corporate and Regional Provide post-production
Matrixed Budget System support on an existing
(CRMBS) Post Production Government-Off-The-Shelf
Support contract product to include bug-fixes,
security updates, routine
maintenance and updates to
ensure compliance with US
Congress Rehabilitation Act
to make their electronic and
information technology
accessible to people with
disabilities.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
$1,691,00 VA Facilities Management MOU with the Department of
0 School MOU Veterans Affairs Acquisition
Academy (VAAA), to develop
multi-modal delivery of
comprehensive curricula of
educational programs and
courses relevant to VA's
infrastructure and the total
healthcare environment.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
$190,000 Advisory Council Historic Renewal of Interagency
Preservation Liaison Agreement to provide
dedicated support to VA on
complex and controversial
historic preservation issues.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
$7,832,00 Total
0
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Question 94. The fiscal year 2015 budget request for Construction,
Major Projects, includes a request of $75.5 million for the Advanced
Planning Fund. This appropriated fund is comprised of ``no year money''
and is used to develop the early stages of construction projects for
VHA, the National Cemetery Administration, the Veterans Benefits
Administration, and VA central office staff offices.
A. To date, what is the unobligated balance of the Advanced
Planning Fund?
Response. As of March 31, 2014, the unobligated balance is $180
million.
B. For fiscal year 2015, please provide a detailed description and
amount for each project expected to be funded through the Advanced
Planning Fund.
Response. VA plans to obligate $107.8 million for the remainder of
FY 2014. The table below reflects the anticipated use of the Advanced
Planning Fund in FY 2015:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Planned
Project Obligations
2015
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bronx, New York--Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)................. $2,000,000
Perry Point, Maryland--Replace Community Living Center $300,000
(CLC)....................................................
Livermore, California--Realignment and Closure Palo Alto $2,000,000
(Design).................................................
Long Beach, California--Seismic Correction Building 7 and $200,000
126; Demolition Building 7...............................
Long Beach, California--Mental Health and CLC............. $300,000
Palo Alto, California--Ambulatory Care/Polytrauma Rehab... $3,000,000
Portland, Oregon--Retrofit and Renovation................. $17,000,000
San Francisco, California--Seismic Retrofit B 1,6 and 8/ $200,000
Replace B12..............................................
American Lake, Washington--Building 81 Seismic Replacement $7,000,000
West Los Angeles--New Tower and Building 500 Seismic $25,000,000
Correction...............................................
West Los Angeles--12 Buildings Seismic Upgrade............ $3,200,000
National Cemetery Administration Projects................. $11,000,000
Staff Offices............................................. $4,000,000
Veterans Benefits Administration Projects................. $1,000,000
Historic Preservation, Environmental, and Cost Estimating $7,400,000
Services.................................................
Facilities Standards and Criteria......................... $20,000,000
Integrated Strategic Master Plans......................... $30,000,000
-------------
$133,600,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------
C. Please describe in detail the metrics used to determine the size
of the budget request for the Advanced Planning Fund?
Response. VA's request for this line item is based on the estimated
need to support project and other requirements funded through this
fund. VA's Advanced Planning Fund line item provides funding for
schematic design, design development, and construction document phases
up to 100 percent of design for Major Construction projects. This will
allow VA to complete at least 35 percent of total design prior to
requesting construction funds. It can be used to prepare facility
master plans, historic preservation plans, conduct environmental
assessments and impact studies, energy studies or audits, and design
and construction-related research studies including post-occupancy
evaluations. The funds are also utilized to maintain construction
standards, such as: design guides, design standards, specifications,
and space criteria.
Question 95. VA has a large inventory of buildings across the
Nation to carry out its mission. According to a response to questions
about the fiscal year 2014 budget request, VA expected to have
approximately 941 unused or underutilized buildings.
A. In fiscal year 2013, how much, if any, cost avoidance or savings
did VA realize by selling vacant or underutilized buildings and how
many vacant or underutilized buildings did VA have at the end of fiscal
year 2013?
Response. At the end of FY 2013, VA had approximately 922 vacant or
underutilized buildings, of which 427 (46 percent) were historic
buildings. Of the 922, 242 were vacant and 680 were underutilized.
The 922 buildings account for approximately 9.9 million square feet
(SF) of space in vacant or underutilized buildings. Of that total, 4.2
million SF is located in vacant buildings and 5.6 million SF is located
in underutilized buildings.
VA does not track actual costs at the building level; however, the
Department does use a proration methodology to report building level
costs to the Federal Real Property Profile annually. For FY 2013, VA
estimates it spent approximately $20.2 million on the 922 vacant and
underutilized assets in its portfolio. A further breakdown of those
costs is an estimated $4.6 million on the 242 vacant buildings and
$15.6 million on the 680 underutilized assets.
Compared to FY 2012, when the estimated cost to operate vacant and
underutilized buildings was $23.4 million annually, the FY 2013
estimated cost ($20.2 million) represents a cost avoidance of
approximately $3.2 million. The reduction in operating costs for these
buildings is the result of reuse and disposal of vacant and
underutilized buildings; it is not the result of revenue gained from
selling any properties. VA did not sell any vacant or underutilized
properties in FY 2013.
B. In fiscal year 2014, how much, if any, cost avoidance or savings
does VA expect to realize by selling vacant or underutilized buildings
and how many vacant or underutilized buildings does VA expect have at
the end of fiscal year 2014?
Response. VA projects it will dispose or reuse 50-60 vacant or
underutilized buildings in FY 2014, resulting in an estimated 867
vacant or underutilized buildings at the end of FY 2014. Of that 867,
approximately 197 are projected to be vacant and 670 underutilized.
Based on the planned disposal or reuse of 50-60 buildings, the
overall cost to operate vacant and underutilized buildings is projected
to drop to $19.7 million annually in FY 2014, a reduction of
approximately $0.5 million from the FY 2013 amount ($20.2 million). The
projected reduction in operating costs for these buildings is the
result of reuse and disposal of vacant and underutilized buildings; it
is not the result of revenue gained from selling any properties.
VA continues to pursue disposing or reusing un-needed assets;
however, there are challenges in further reducing VA inventory in this
area. Of the projected 867 vacant or underutilized assets, 391 (45
percent) are considered historic buildings, limiting VA's ability to
dispose or reuse these assets in many cases.
Competing stakeholder interests in some of these vacant or
underutilized assets also has hampered disposal or reuse efforts. VA is
looking at further opportunities to reduce our vacant and underutilized
footprint, as mentioned earlier. Having tools in place, such as the
expansion of VA's Enhanced-Use Lease (EUL) authority, currently in
proposed legislation under consideration by Congress, would help
overcome some of these challenges and allow VA to more effectively
reduce its inventory of vacant and underutilized assets.
Question 96. The Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business
Utilization (OSDBU) is an office within the Office of the Secretary,
although the budget for the office is paid for by the Office of
Acquisition and Logistics Supply Fund.
A. Please provide a detailed budget for OSDBU, including FTE and
requested budget for fiscal year 2015.
Response. Because the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business
Utilization (OSDBU) is funded by the Supply Fund, the OSDBU budgeting
cycle is not the same as the Presidential budget request. The OSDBU
2015 budget request is due to the Supply Fund Board in August 2014 and
is currently under development. The following budget history is
provided:
OSDBU Total Budget
($ in thousands)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012 Actual 2013 Actual 2014 Estimate
-----------------------------------------------------------
Budget FTE Budget FTE Budget FTE
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VA Veteran-Owned Small Business Verification........ $11,892 19 $16,818 19 $18,545 16
Strategic Outreach.................................. $7,050 8 $1,645 7 $4,814 7
Acquisition Support................................. $761 6 $1,087 7 $1,892 8
Operations.......................................... $878 9 $10,866 9 $5,112 10
-----------------------------------------------------------
Total Expenditures.............................. $20,581 42 $30,416 42 $30,363 41
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B. Please provide a detailed budget for the Center for Verification
and Evaluation (CVE) within OSDBU, including FTE, requested budget for
fiscal year 2015, and metrics used by CVE to measure effectiveness.
Response. Because the Center for Verification and Evaluation (CVE)
is within the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization
(OSDBU), which is funded by the Supply Fund, the CVE budgeting cycle is
not the same as the Presidential budget request. The OSDBU 2015 budget
request is due to the Supply Fund Board in August 2014 and is currently
under development. The following budget history is provided:
CVE Budget
($ in thousands)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012 2013 2014
Actual Actual Estimate
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FTE....................................... 19 19 16
Obligations:
FTE..................................... $ 1,874 $2,166 $1,778
Professional Services................... $0 $6,630 $7,537
Travel.................................. $7 $37 $30
Training................................ $0 $669 $8
Printing and reproduction............... $0 $0 $0
Contract Support........................ $9,912 $7,246 $8,912
Supplies and materials.................. $97 $29 $13
Equipment............................... $2 $41 $7
Rents................................... $0 $0 $240
Security................................ $0 $0 $20
-----------------------------
Total obligations..................... $11,892 $16,818 $18,545
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has invested heavily in
building a robust and effective system for verifying Veteran-Owned
Small Business eligibility for the VA Veterans First Program. In fiscal
year (FY) 2013 we spent $6.9 million to build verification capacity and
in FY 2014 we are spending $12.3 million in non-recurring investments
to ensure that the system is efficient and cost-effective. As a result
we expect the verification program costs to be approximately $14.7
million in FY 2015 to handle 6,000 applications.
Metrics used by CVE to determine effectiveness:
Total applications processed
Number of initial applications processed
Number of requests for reconsideration processed
office of inspector general
Question 97. For fiscal year 2015, the Office of Inspector General
requests $11.8 million for Other Services. Please provide an itemized
list of how those funds would be utilized.
VA OIG Response: The fiscal year (FY) 2015 request for Other
Services includes the following contractual services, interagency
agreements, employee training, VA cross-cutting services, and other
procured services:
Consolidated Financial Statement Audit contract for FY
2015
Human Resources/Payroll Processing Services--Departments
of Treasury and Agriculture
Federal Information Security Management Act Review
contract
Employee Training
VA Franchise Fund Services--Information Technology
processing, financial services, employee relocation services,
background investigations, and records storage
Council of the Inspectors General for Integrity and
Efficiency
Building security services--Department of Homeland
Security and VA
Investigative Services--credit/database access, forensic
examinations, transcription services, fingerprinting, communications
agreements
Other miscellaneous administrative/support services provided by VA
and other sources.
Question 98. With the requested level of resources for fiscal year
2015, how many benefits inspections would the Office of Inspector
General plan to conduct?
VA OIG Response: The Office of Inspector General plans to conduct
20 inspections of VA Regional Office operations in FY 2015. Our
independent inspections provide recurring oversight focused on
disability compensation claims processing and the performance of
Veterans Service Center operations.
veterans health administration
Question 99. According to the budget request, VA will spend $534
million to activate medical facilities in fiscal year 2015. And, the
estimate for activations for fiscal year 2015 increased $404 million
over the amount included in advanced appropriations.
A. Please break out the $534 million by appropriations account.
Response. Please refer to the table below:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Appropriation ($000)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Medical Services............................................. $395,416
Medical Support & Compliance................................. $42,800
Medical Facilities........................................... $96,200
----------
Activations, 2015 Estimate............................... $534,416
------------------------------------------------------------------------
B. How much, in total, does VA intend to spend in fiscal year 2016
for medical facility activations? Please break this figure out by
appropriations account.
Response. Please refer to the table below:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Appropriation ($000)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Medical Services............................................. $96,200
Medical Support & Compliance................................. $10,400
Medical Facilities........................................... $23,400
----------
Activations, 2016 Estimate............................... $130,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------
C. Please provide a full list of the facilities that will be
activated with these funds, with the amount of funding estimated for
each facility broken down into non-recurring and recurring costs.
Response. Please see attached.
D. Please provide a detailed explanation for the $404 million
increase above the advanced appropriations amount for medical facility
activations for fiscal year 2015.
Response. Please refer to above attachment.
Question 100. In an effort to ensure veterans are getting the
mental health care they need, VA recently ended an initiative to hire
1,600 new mental health providers and more than 900 Peer Specialists.
This effort also included filling the open positions that already
existed within the mental health program.
A. To date, what is the number of mental health positions currently
unfilled?
Response. As of June 2014, the current number of unfilled positions
for mental health is 2,762.83, which is a vacancy rate of 10.15
percent. For peer specialists the vacancy rate is 7.7 percent.
B. Have all mental health providers hired under this initiative
been trained in evidence-based therapies? If not, when will the
providers be trained?
Response. No. All mental health providers hired have not been
trained in evidence-based psychotherapies. Determination of the need
for training in evidence-based psychotherapies is based on clinical
role, provider credentials, and program assigned. For example, while
some of the staff hired included registered nurses, their role is to
provide case management services and not evidenced-based psychotherapy.
Since May 2012, VA has trained 3,446 unique VHA staff and trainees (not
including Vet Center) in one or more of the 15 evidence-based
psychotherapies that have centralized training. The tracking database
cannot distinguish between staff hired as a result of the initiative
and those hired before the initiative. Training in evidenced-based
therapies is an ongoing process based on expansion of these therapies
as well as staff turnover.
C. Have all the Peer Specialists been trained and are they
currently providing care to veterans? If not, when will they be
trained? Please provide the Committee with a list of facilities that
received Peer Specialists positions and the number of Peer Specialists
at each facility.
Response. VHA currently has 952 peer support staff hired or
converted to support the hiring initiative, delivering services to
Veterans at every medical center and at every very large CBOC. (Please
note, as of April 2014, very large is defined as a CBOC that has more
than 10,000 Veterans enrolled.) VHA hired 420 Peer Specialists who were
already trained and certified and have been providing counselor
services upon being hired. VHA has trained and certified 564 Peer
Support Apprentices; 202 Peer Support Apprentices have since been
promoted to Peer Specialists and the remaining 362 Peer Support
Apprentices are waiting their 12-month time limited appointment
requirement before eligibility for promotion to Peer Specialist. VHA
has 22 Peer Support Apprentices scheduled for training and an
additional 24 Peer Support Apprentices awaiting confirmation on
scheduled training. Attached below is a complete facility listing and
the number of peer-to-peer counselors per facility.
Question 101. According to the budget request, VA estimates a ``net
increase in enrollment will be 56,000 in 2014 and 63,000 in 2015'' due
to the mandate that all Americans have health care under the Affordable
Care Act. How many veterans does VA estimate would leave the system for
other health care in 2014 and 2015?
Response. VA has been closely monitoring Veteran enrollment in
response to ACA, but it is likely still too early to assess changes in
enrollment and to attribute them directly to the ACA. VA can report
that of the Veterans to whom VA sent ACA outreach letters, almost 7,150
enrolled in VA health care after receiving such a letter (through
February 2014). From July 2013 through January 2014, VA also received
252 requests from Veterans to disenroll from VA health care. Although
Veterans are not required to provide a reason for enrolling or
disenrolling, and other factors may also influence Veterans' decisions
to enroll in or disenroll from VA health care, only 49 Veterans
requested to disenroll during the same 6-month timeframe in the
previous year (July 2012 through January 2013). The experience to date
in 2014, based on this data, for both enrollment and disenrollment, is
lower than originally projected in the budget request. VA will continue
to monitor the impact of ACA on the VA health care system and make
necessary changes to future budget estimates.
As background, the analysis to estimate the impact of ACA on VA
health care was based on data from three sources--the 2010 Public Use
Microdata Sample files from the American Community Survey (ACS), The
Lewin Group's Health Benefit Simulation Model (HBSM), and VA's EHCPM.
The HBSM predicts how Veterans' health care choices might change as a
result of ACA. This model was used to estimate the change in VA
enrollment (both those enrolling and those leaving VA for other
coverage) in response to the ACA. For an individual with a given
primary health coverage status before ACA, the HBSM predicts the
individual's likelihood of remaining in the same primary coverage
status or transitioning to another status after implementation of ACA.
These likelihoods are based on individual-level factors that are also
modeled, such as the individual's Federal poverty level, whether the
individual is employed, employer type, and employer size. The results
of the analysis suggested that most Veterans who have employer-provided
insurance as their primary insurance will not have a change of status
as a result of ACA, nor will Veterans who have coverage provided by
Medicaid, Medicare, TRICARE, or the Indian Health Service. According to
The Lewin Group's initial assessment, the vast majority of Veterans
will not choose to change their source of health care coverage as a
result of the ACA.
Veterans who are most likely to newly enroll in VA health care to
obtain minimum essential coverage are Veterans who currently have no
health coverage. The 2010 ACS data indicate that about 1.4 million
Veterans have no form of health coverage. About 1 million of these
Veterans may be eligible to enroll in VA by meeting VA's income-
eligibility requirements. However, because many of these Veterans may
also be eligible for Medicaid or for tax credits if they buy insurance
in the health insurance marketplaces, not all of them are likely to
enroll in VA health care.
Veterans who are likely to obtain non-VA coverage in response to
the ACA are those who rely very little on VA for their health care.
There are about 924,000 Veterans in this category. Some of them are
expected to disenroll from VA in order to avail themselves of premium
tax credits (if otherwise eligible) to purchase qualifying coverage in
the health insurance marketplace. Another portion of this group would
enroll in Medicaid if their state expands Medicaid coverage and some
would take up employer-provided insurance in response to the ACA.
Veterans who obtain coverage through Medicaid or employer-provided
insurance are not expected to disenroll from VA (and instead maintain
dual enrollment), but their reliance on VA is likely to decline.
Question 102. VA provides dental care to veterans who are 100
percent service-connected disabled, for dental conditions that are
service-connected, or care that is medically necessary. In addition, VA
provides access for veterans to dental insurance through the VA Dental
Insurance Program.
A. Please describe in detail the metrics VA uses to measure access
to VA's dental clinics.
Response. VA uses access measures to quantify how many patients
waited and how many are currently waiting for care. Dental clinics use
the same access metrics that are used for all VA medical appointments.
The VHA Support Service Center Wait Time Pending report was designed to
help reduce the number of future appointments with long waits. The
report shows the number of patients and appointments in the queue but
gives greater detail for those patients who have already waited more
than 14 days from the recorded create date for an upcoming visit.
B. What is the current wait time for an appointment in a VA dental
clinic? Please break this information out by facility.
Response. As of June 30, 2014, 5.50 percent of all pending dental
appointments for new patients were greater than 14 days of the create
date. The facility specific access list report is attached.
Embedded in the above spreadsheet, five pages:
C. How many open positions does VA currently have for dental
providers and on average how long does it take to hire a dental
clinician?
Response. As of July 15, 2014, there are 20 dentist vacancies and 2
dental hygienist vacancies listed on the USAJobs Web site. As of
April 2014, the average SOH timeframe to hire dental clinicians is
41.99 days, which exceeds the VA SOH goal of 60 days. The SOH metric
begins with the date request received through the date of tentative
offer.
D. Please submit to the Committee the Dental Patient Satisfaction
Survey.
Response. Please see attached eight pages.
Question 103. In a response to a question about the fiscal year
2014 budget request on consolidating VHA Fee Programs processing
system, VHA indicated they had not consolidated in the same manner as
the Consolidated Patient Account Centers (CPAC) but had begun ``work on
a centralized claims processing system, known as * * * Health Claims
Processing'' (HCP). Please provide the Committee a detailed update on
the implementation of HCP.
Response. HCP was chartered by VA to demonstrate the use of VA's
Financial Service Center (FSC) to process health care claims for Non-VA
Medical Care (previously known as FEE). The project is managed by the
VHA Chief Business Office (CBO) in a partnership with the FSC. The FSC
supports CBO with claims processing support for several VISNs
experiencing high claim volume/ backlogs. For claims processed by FSC,
VAMCs continue to be responsible for the Non-VA Care Coordination
component, which includes eligibility determination and authorization
for Purchased Care.
In addition, FSC has supported CBO in developing two HCP modules
which support and introduce improvements to the upfront processes of
Non VA Care including eligibility determinations as well as the
authorization of inpatient care in the community (known as Hospital
Notification). The Eligibility module is in production use at 3 VAMCs
and is in the process of being integrated with the existing Fee Basis
Claims System (FBCS). The national release of this functionality is
currently scheduled to begin in March 2015. The module for Hospital
Notification is scheduled for a January 2015 deployment to a second
VAMC for testing and will be integrated with FBCS in the second half of
2015.
Question 104. Because information on VISN headquarters funding was
left out of last year's request, Ranking Member Burr submitted a
question for the record asking ``[h]ow much does VA expect to spend in
fiscal years 2014 and 2015 for VISN headquarters functions?'' While VA
never answered the question, this year's budget request provided the
answer.
A. What accounts for the $115 million increase between fiscal year
2013 and 2014 at a time when VA was reducing the size the VISN staff?
Response. There was a $105 million increase in obligations from
2013 actuals to 2014 estimate. The 2013 actual of $186.8 million
reflects actual obligations at the end of the fiscal year for the VISN
headquarters only. The 2014 estimate of $291.6 million reflects
projections for VISN headquarters and includes consolidated VISN
functions, such as laundry, laboratory, and human resources. In 2013,
these funds were initially sent to the VISN headquarters and then
disseminated to the VAMCs. FY 2014 reflects a transition year for how
these funds are initially disseminated to the field.
B. VISN Directors were given a deadline of December 31, 2013, to
reduce their staff to no more than 65 FTEs; why did VISN 23 miss this
target date? Please describe what remedies are being put in place to
help VISN 23 reach the target.
Response. VISN 23 was compliant with the required staffing levels,
with the exception of Bio-Medical Engineering and Health Care
Technology which they requested to function as a consolidated service.
The VISN Staffing Workgroup is conducting a review of all requests for
consolidated service to validate those occupational functions which are
best suited for consolidation.
If VISN 23's Bio-Medical Engineering/Health Care Technology
proposal is approved, the staff are either moved to a consolidated
service account or dispersed back to the local medical facilities. The
VISN would then be 8 full-time equivalent employees (FTEE) under their
currently approved ceiling of 59 FTEE.
C. In a meeting with Ranking Member Burr in 2012, senior VHA
officials indicated they planned to reduce the number of VISN staff
first, and then explore the overall number of VISNs needed. Has the
second phase started? If not, when does VA expect to begin this phase
of the VISN reorganization?
Response. The former Under Secretary for Health convened a
workgroup in 2013 to review the composition of VISNs relative to
Veteran population, health care service complexity levels, geography,
budget, and other factors that are unique to each VISN. The workgroup
developed the criteria and methodology that would be used to review the
size and composition of the VISNs. The workgroup presented its findings
and recommendations to VHA leadership in late 2013. VHA leadership
instructed the review team to reevaluate certain criteria and revise
recommendations for consideration. These recommendations were to
provide for a tiered or staggered approach to any reorganization effort
that would allow for a phased implementation of any changes.
Question 105. The Honoring America's Veterans and Caring for Camp
Lejeune Families Act was signed into law 18 months ago. VA started
treating Camp Lejeune Veterans in August 2012 when the President signed
the law; however, family members are still waiting. When will VA start
processing claims for Camp Lejeune families?
Response. VA can begin reimbursing eligible Camp Lejeune family
members now that the interim final rule has been published and is
effective. The interim final rule was published in the Federal Register
on September 24, 2014 and became effective on October 24, 2014. Now
that the Camp Lejeune family member rule is effective, VA will
reimburse family members, as the last payer, for health care costs that
are related to the 15 conditions in the law and were incurred from
March 26, 2013, the day the Congressional appropriations were made,
onward.
Question 106. In response to a question by Chairman Sanders in the
Committee hearing on the budget about what debt forgiveness programs
are available to attract primary care physicians to work for VA, Dr.
Petzel stated the $60,000 cap of the Education Debt Reduction Program
(EDRP) ``could be higher.'' In fact, the Caregivers and Veterans
Omnibus Health Services Act authorizes the Secretary to waive the
$60,000 cap. In addition, the budget request states ``EDRP was not
utilized to the extent expected for the Mental Health Hiring Initiative
(MHHI).''
A. How many times has the Secretary waived the $60,000 cap? Please
provide a list by provider type and the amount of debt eventually paid.
Response. No Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP) applicants
have requested a waiver above the $60,000 cap; therefore, no waiver
requests have required Secretary action/approval.
B. How did VA expect to utilize EDRP for MHHI? Please provide a
detailed explanation of why it was not utilized as envisioned.
Response. In May 2012, VHA dedicated funding for 1,000 EDRP awards
specifically for title 38 and hybrid title 38 permanent hires for the
Mental Health Hiring Initiative (MHHI). All VISNs and facilities were
notified of the availability of these funds to enhance their
recruitment and retention efforts. Each facility is responsible for
determining which positions are hard to recruit and include the EDRP
incentive in the vacancy announcement accordingly. Over 4,000 clinical
mental health professionals have been hired as part of the MHHI; 634
vacancy announcements for MHHI positions included the offer of the EDRP
incentive. Of the employees hired from those vacancy announcements, 109
new employees have applied and been approved for EDRP in the amount of
$5,243,001. As of April 1, 2014, there are 27 MHHI Psychology hires
that have been offered EDRP but cannot apply until they have been
licensed and converted to an excepted appointment. While VHA
anticipated more EDRP usage for this important hiring initiative, there
are a number of reasons it may not have been used to the extent
expected. In particular, not all newly hired mental health
professionals have qualifying education loan debt, and facilities may
have determined that many of the positions hired were not hard to
recruit. For example, pay for social workers in VHA is considered quite
competitive with private sector, and nearly one-fourth of the clinical
professionals hired as part of the MHHI were social workers. A survey
of EDRP Coordinators is being conducted to identify barriers to using
the program; that may prove beneficial to understanding the program's
usage.
Homelessness
Question 107. Since the beginning of the Administration's
initiative to eliminate veterans homelessness by 2015, VA's programs to
assist homeless veterans have received a 67 percent increase in funding
since fiscal year 2010. In 2013, there were 57,849 homeless veterans on
any given night in January; however, this only represents a 24 percent
decrease in the number of homeless veterans since 2010.
A. As we move into the end of rescue phase, how will the
Administration define success?
Response. VA's goal is a systematic end to Veteran homelessness,
which means there are no Veterans sleeping on our streets. Should
Veterans become homeless, or be at-risk of becoming homeless, VA will
have the capacity to quickly connect them to the help they need to
achieve housing stability. The ultimate goal is that all Veterans have
permanent, sustainable housing with access to high-quality health care
and other supportive services that improve their quality of life.
B. What process will VA use to determine whether the rescue phase
will need to be extended beyond 2015?
Response. VA recognizes there will always be a rescue component to
homelessness. An end to homelessness among Veterans does not mean that
a Veteran will never experience a housing crisis again. Changing
economic realities and the unpredictability of life may create
situations where a Veteran could experience or fall back into
homelessness, or be at-risk of homelessness. We can prevent the number
of homeless Veterans by identifying those who are most at-risk and
quickly connecting them to programs that provide temporary financial
assistance and access to housing, health care, employment assistance
and other supportive services that help them obtain and sustain
housing. Through coordination with other Federal and local partners,
each community will have coordinated entry systems that can rapidly
connect the Veteran to housing, health care and other supportive
services that not only ends the episode of homelessness but promotes
full reintegration back into the community. VA must also continue to
utilize identified data to monitor its progress in ending homelessness
and, when necessary, make local adjustments based on need.
C. What steps has the Administration taken to ensure that, as the
troop drawdowns begin and continue over the next couple of years, these
newly separated servicemembers do not fall into homelessness?
Response. VA has put into place a robust integrated system of care
that focuses on both homeless prevention and rapid re-housing. Through
its partnerships at the Federal and local levels, VA is using data-
driven solutions that are evidenced-based and research-informed to
quickly connect homeless Veterans to services and to prevent those at
highest risk for becoming homeless to maintain housing. VA has
coordinated with DOD to retool the Transition Assistance Program, which
asks questions related to housing and vocational instability. This
partnership promotes VA's capacity to more rapidly identify those most
at risk for housing instability and connect them to preventative
services, like the GI Bill, SSVF, benefits and other health care
supports to mitigate risk and promote greater community readjustment
and improved quality of life.
Question 108. The fiscal year 2016 advanced appropriation request
currently has a significant decrease in funding for current homeless
programs. If VA does not meet its goal for fiscal year 2015, will there
be an increase in funding for homeless programs for fiscal year 2016
and will this be an increase above fiscal year 2015 funding?
Response. VA must sustain the progress that has been made thus far
by maintaining the level of resources that have been allocated to date.
VA's FY 2015 budget request calls for critical investments toward
ending homelessness among Veterans while strengthening our systems of
care for all individuals and families who experience homelessness.
Although the Point-in-Time (PIT) estimate is an important data point
for measuring progress, it is not the sole or primary data source VA
uses to draft its budget. In preparation for the FY 2015 Budget
Submission, VA used its own program evaluation data, poverty data,
census data, and other health care data sources. VA will use all of
these data sources to evaluate the effectiveness of VA's homeless
programs and the PIT data to help adjust investments to priority
communities where progress needs to accelerate to achieve the goal of
ending Veteran homelessness.
Progress to date demonstrates that when new resources are invested
in proven solutions and existing programs adopt best practices, it will
be possible to end Veteran homelessness. To achieve the promise of
ending Veteran homelessness, VA needs both investments in known,
effective programs and a continued transformation of our existing
systems to help Veterans swiftly achieve and maintain permanent
housing. VA will need continued support from Congress for targeted
programs like HUD-VASH, SSVF, Continuums of Care-funded Permanent
Supportive Housing, Emergency Solutions Grants for Rapid Re-Housing and
other programs that increase access to safe, affordable, permanent
housing.
Question 109. The fiscal year 2015 budget request includes an
additional 10,000 Housing and Urban Development Veterans Affairs
Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) vouchers, which would bring the total
number of vouchers to roughly 68,155.
A. The fiscal year 2015 advance appropriation request submitted
with the fiscal year 2014 budget request did not include an additional
10,000 vouchers for fiscal year 2015. What metrics were used to
determine the need for additional vouchers for fiscal year 2015?
Response. The most recent data available from the 2013 PIT Count,
suggests that there are still over 58,000 homeless Veterans on any
given night. HUD-VASH vouchers are a critical component of our system
and its ability to house these Veterans. With so many Veterans still
homeless, it is clear that additional vouchers would be needed to end
Veteran homelessness.
B. What is the total number of vouchers needed to meet the
Administration's goal of ending veterans homelessness by 2015?
Response. At this point in time, it is not possible to definitively
state the total number of vouchers needed to end Veteran homelessness.
The total number of vouchers needed is dependent upon future data
points, which HUD and VA can only estimate. The future data points
include the future inflow of Veterans into homelessness, future
placement rates accomplished with existing resources, and future
placements rates accomplished with any new resources.
Question 110. The fiscal year 2015 budget request includes a $200
million increase for the Supportive Services for Veteran Families
(SSVF) program. Since the beginning of SSVF, this program has seen a
significant increase in funding each fiscal year. What type of analysis
was conducted to determine the need for an additional $200 million in
funding for fiscal year 2015?
Response. In determining the need for additional funding for the
SSVF Program, VA used a stock and flow analytic tool that included data
from the national PIT Count of homeless persons, VA's program
utilization data, and national poverty data to model future
homelessness trends. Based on these results, VA was able to project the
number of homeless and at-risk Veteran families that would need access
to SSVF rapid re-housing and prevention services. This model showed a
gap in services that could impact VA's ability to end Veteran
homelessness by the end of 2015. As a result, VA requested an
additional $200 million for SSVF. It is important to note that SSVF
emphasizes short-term crisis interventions that focus on the Veterans
needing time-limited support to help them stabilize in permanent
housing. Once VA meets its goal of ending Veteran homelessness, SSVF
will be able to shift resources in order to prevent episodes of Veteran
homelessness.
Question 111. Recently, VA changed the eligibility requirements for
several programs, which has caused concern among the provider
community.
A. How will the changes in eligibility requirements impact veterans
seeking services through VA's homeless programs?
Response. No changes to VA homeless program eligibility
requirements are in effect at this time. VA is currently reviewing the
implications that changes in eligibility would have on Veterans and the
homeless program provider community.
B. How many veterans currently seeking services will no longer be
eligible for services through VA's homeless programs?
Response. No changes to VA homeless program eligibility
requirements are in effect at this time. VA is currently reviewing the
implications that changes in eligibility would have on Veterans and the
homeless program provider community.
C. What steps is VA taking to ensure that veterans who are
currently receiving services but will no longer be eligible for these
programs are transitioned to other community resources?
Response. No changes to VA homeless program eligibility
requirements are in effect at this time. VA is currently reviewing the
implications that changes in eligibility would have on Veterans and the
homeless program provider community.
Question 112. In December 2011, VA signed 38 leases creating a
public-private partnership to develop housing units for homeless
veterans. Through the Building Utilization Review and Repurposing
initiative, VA identified unused or underutilized property, which would
create an additional 4,100 housing units. How many additional units of
housing were available through this program in fiscal year 2013 and how
many will be available by the end of fiscal year 2014?
Response. VA currently has approximately 1,674 units of housing
available through its EUL program. Of that number, 222 units are the
direct result of EUL leases that are part of the Building Utilization
Review and Repurposing (BURR) initiative. In FY 2013, 74 units were
made available, and in FY 2014, an additional 148 units will be brought
online, totaling 222 units directly related to BURR.
Rural Health
Question 113. Project ARCH was established through Public Law 110-
387 to provide non-VA care to eligible highly rural enrolled veterans
in five VISNs. This pilot program is set to expire at the end of 2014.
A. Please provide the Committee with the total number of veterans
who participated in this pilot and the total costs at each pilot site.
Response.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cost (Invoiced
VISN Unique as of February
Veterans 2014)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1............................................ 1,051 $3,914,105
6............................................ 336 $386,607
15........................................... 400 $345,233
18........................................... 1,745 $12,261,291
19........................................... 1,690 $19,544,700
--------------------------
Total.................................... 5,222 $36,451,936
------------------------------------------------------------------------
B. When does the Department plan to determine whether to extend
and/or expand this program?
Response. Section 104 of Public Law 113-146, the Veterans Access,
Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014, extended Project ARCH for an
additional two years, specifically until August 7, 2016. Section 104
specifies that the pilot program be carried out in Veterans Integrated
Service Networks (VISNs) 1, 6, 15, 18, and 19 (and such other locations
as the Secretary considers appropriate), and amends the eligibility
criteria under the pilot to include Veterans enrolled in VA's system of
patient enrollment as of August 1, 2014. The legislation sets standards
for timely scheduling and occurrence of medical appointments under the
pilot, requires outreach about the pilot program, and requires VA to
make use of existing contracts or, in lieu of extending current
contracts, enter into new contracts to carry out the pilot program.
In carrying out Project ARCH, VA conducted competitive acquisitions
and awarded contracts with performance periods established commensurate
with the law. All current contracts for Project ARCH were set to expire
on September 30, 2014, but a six month extension to those contracts was
executed. On September 26, 2014 the President signed H.R. 5404 ``The
Department of Veterans Affairs Expiring Authorities Act of 2014.''
Section 409 provides contracting requirement relief, permitting
sustainment of the existing contractors under Project ARCH. VA
appreciates Congress's support of Project ARCH, and is actively working
contracting activities to continue the pilot as required by Section
104.
Additionally, VA is working diligently to ensure Veteran access to
care is not interrupted when Project ARCH concludes. VHA's Patient-
Centered Community Care (PC3) program will be available to rural
Veterans to help bridge this gap.
Under PC3, VHA has contracted with Health Net Federal Services and
TriWest Healthcare Alliance to develop a network of providers to
deliver covered care. This will provide eligible Veterans coordinated,
timely access to specialty care through a comprehensive network of non-
VA providers who meet VA quality standards when VA cannot readily
provide the specialty care in-house due to geographic inaccessibility,
lack of available specialists, and other factors. PC3 contracts have
been awarded in six regions.
VA envisions the integration of PC3 will perpetuate increased
access for Veterans in distance-challenged areas, provide quality
health specialty care within all applicable VISN locations, and
systematically reduce cost over time to ensure Veterans have accessible
health care closer to their homes.
Question 114. In fiscal year 2014, the Office of Rural Health
funded approximately 114 Rural Veteran Transportation Programs. Please
provide the Committee with a list of where these projects are currently
located, how many veterans are participating, and what metrics are used
to determine the success of these projects.
Response. The 14 Rural Veteran Transportation Programs are being
used in the following locations: Wilmington, Delaware; Beckley, West
Virginia; Dayton, Ohio; Danville, Illinois (two projects); Battle
Creek, Michigan; Indianapolis, Indiana (two projects); Iron Mountain,
Michigan; Muskogee, Oklahoma; Harlingen, Texas; Spokane, Washington;
Yuba City, California; Saginaw, Michigan.
In fiscal year 2014, VHA data indicates that these transportation
programs served 14,494 rural Veterans and saved those Veterans over
379,000 travel miles. In addition, these projects have traveled 986,000
miles transporting rural Veterans in nearly 34,500 separate trips and
an overall Veteran satisfaction rating 4.8 (5.0 scale, with 5
indicating completely satisfied).
Long-term Care
Question 115. More than half of the veterans seeking healthcare
through VA are over the age of 65. As the veterans population continues
to age, the Department will be faced with challenges of chronic health
conditions as well as increasing demand for long-term care services.
The fiscal year 2015 budget request includes a decrease in funding for
State Veterans Homes grants. How will the decrease in construction
funding impact the availability of beds for veterans seeking long-term
care through State Homes?
Response. The decrease in the FY 2015 budget for funding State
Veterans Home construction grant applications is projected to have a
minimal impact. Although it is not possible at this time to predict
with certainty how the FY 2015 budget will affect the number of new bed
construction grant applications received, the two unfunded construction
bed projects on the FY 2014 priority list were applications to replace
existing beds. Therefore, these two projects would not affect bed
availability. The current bed levels in the State Veterans Home program
are such that occupancy rates average 85 percent. An occupancy rate
averaging 85 percent indicates that a significant number of nursing
home beds throughout the State Veterans Home program are consistently
unfilled or unused.
As VA examined budgetary needs for Long-Term Services and Supports
(LTSS), the focus remained on anticipated shifts in LTSS utilization
from institutional to non-institutional care. As enrollees have greater
access to home and community-based services, it is expected there will
be less demand for long-stay facility-based services. This not only
applies to VA's own Community Living Centers and contracted nursing
home programs but to State Veterans Nursing Home programs as well.
Transportation
Question 116. VA has several transportation programs, including the
Veterans Transportation Service (VTS), beneficiary travel, and numerous
pilot programs that are supported through the Office of Rural Health.
A. How does VA track all funding utilized to provide for the
transportation of veterans to VA facilities?
Response. Funding for transportation of Veterans comes from several
sources depending on the program utilized. For VTS, VHA's CBO and
Office of Rural Health partner to provide funds to the VA facilities.
Funds are tracked by the respective programs through the dispersal
process and also at the facilities by using specific budget object
codes and fund control points. Funding for the Beneficiary Travel
program is part of the individual facility budget and is also tracked
at the local level by use of budget object codes and fund control
points, and nationally via the VHA Support Service Center.
B. What metrics does VA have in place to ensure that these programs
and pilot programs are not duplicative?
Response. VTS has a well-established collaborative partnership with
VHA's Office of Rural Health. VTS and the Office of Rural Health meet
on a monthly basis to discuss joint efforts and to consider all aspects
of shared projects, including expansion/deployment of program
functions, programs interaction and coordination of efforts. This
process is defined in a Memorandum of Understanding between the
programs that includes several features to guarantee non-duplication
and enhanced collaboration at the facility level. These features
include:
Joint review of all medical center and VISN submissions/
applications for participation and requests for funding to both
programs;
An identified methodology for comprehensive planning,
identifying locations for joint funding and the funding formulas;
Specific agreements regarding sustainment funding; and
Specific metric reporting elements and a metric reporting
system.
Medical Support and Compliance
Question 117. The Medical Support and Compliance appropriations
account provides funding for the management, administration, and
security of the more than 1,750 facilities throughout VHA. The VA
medical centers and Other Field Activities subaccount is projected to
decrease by $147 million or 3.7 percent between fiscal year 2014 and
fiscal year 2015 and increase by $177 million or 4.7 percent between
fiscal year 2015 and fiscal year 2016. The VA medical centers and Other
Field Activities subaccount supported 36,977 FTE in 2013.
A. What accounts for the $147 million decrease between fiscal year
2014 and fiscal year 2015?
B. What accounts for the $177 million increase between fiscal year
2015 and fiscal year 2016?
C. What is the estimated FTE for 2014, 2015, and 2016?
Response. Total Medical Support and Compliance obligation estimates
for FY 2014-2016 take into consideration anticipated changes in FTEE
levels; travel and transportation of persons; rent, communications, and
utilities; printing and reproduction; contractual services; supplies
and materials, equipment; and, lands and structures based on past
history and future requirements. Increases in FY 2015 and FY 2016
represent for the most part inflationary increases. Once those
obligation estimates are determined, VA maintains the same proportion
as reflected in the latest actual available (2013 actual for purposes
of the FY 2015 Congressional submission) (see Percent of Overall
Medical Support and Compliance Staffing by Function Table). VHA is
undertaking an analysis of staffing levels and overall resources
necessary to support the delivery of medical care. This analysis
includes both central and field activities and may result in a shift in
funding allocations among activities. VA has already assumed a total
reduction of 1,289 FTEEs in 2015 compared to 2014. Please refer to the
table below.
Percent of Overall Medical Support and Compliance Staffing by Function
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Description 2013 2014 2015 2016
------------------------------------------------------------------------
VAMCs and Other Field Activities 65% 65% 64% 64%
VISN Headquarters............... 3% 5% 5% 5%
VHA Central Office.............. 12% 10% 11% 10%
Consolidated Patient Account 5% 5% 5% 5%
Centers........................
Office of Informatics and 4% 4% 4% 4%
Analytics......................
Health Administration Center.... 4% 4% 4% 4%
Employee Education Service 1% 1% 1% 1%
Center.........................
VHA Service Center.............. 4% 4% 4% 4%
Health Resource Center.......... 1% 1% 1% 1%
Health Eligibility Center....... 1% 1% 1% 1%
Consolidated Mail Outpatient 0% 0% 0% 0%
Pharmacies.....................
National Center for Patient 0% 0% 0% 0%
Safety.........................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Question 118. The VHA Central Office subaccount is projected to
increase by $12 million or 1.9 percent between fiscal year 2014 and
fiscal year 2015 and increase by $13 million or 2 percent between
fiscal year 2015 and fiscal year 2016. The VHA Central Office
subaccount supported 1,680 FTE in 2013.
A. What accounts for the $12 million increase between fiscal year
2014 and fiscal year 2015?
B. What accounts for the $13 million increase between fiscal year
2015 and fiscal year 2016?
C. What is the estimated FTE for 2014, 2015, and 2016?
Response. The response to question 117 also applies to questions
118-125.
Question 119. The CPAC subaccount is projected to increase by $5.7
million or 1.9 percent between fiscal year 2014 and fiscal year 2015
and increase by $6.4 million or 2.1 percent between fiscal year 2015
and fiscal year 2016. The CPAC subaccount supported 3,082 FTE in 2013.
A. What accounts for the $5.7 million increase between fiscal year
2014 and fiscal year 2015?
B. What accounts for the $6.4 million increase between fiscal year
2015 and fiscal year 2016?
C. What is the estimated FTE for 2014, 2015, and 2016?
Response. The response to question 117 also applies to questions
118-125.
Question 120. The Office of Informatics and Analytics (OIA)
subaccount is projected to increase by $4.9 million or 1.9 percent
between fiscal year 2014 and fiscal year 2015 and increase by $5.6
million or 2.1 percent between fiscal year 2015 and fiscal year 2016.
The OIA subaccount supported 634 FTE in 2013.
A. What accounts for the $4.9 million increase between fiscal year
2014 and fiscal year 2015?
B. What accounts for the $5.6 million increase between fiscal year
2015 and fiscal year 2016?
C. What is the estimated FTE for 2014, 2015, and 2016?
Response. The response to question 117 also applies to questions
118-125.
Question 121. The Health Administration Center (HAC) subaccount is
projected to increase by $4.2 million or 1.9 percent between fiscal
year 2014 and fiscal year 2015 and increase by $4.7 million or 2.1
percent between fiscal year 2015 and fiscal year 2016. The HAC
subaccount supported 1,055 FTE in 2013.
A. What accounts for the $4.2 million increase between fiscal year
2014 and fiscal year 2015?
B. What accounts for the $4.7 million increase between fiscal year
2015 and fiscal year 2016?
C. What is the estimated FTE for 2014, 2015, and 2016?
Response. The response to question 117 also applies to questions
118-125.
Question 122. The Employee Education Service Center (EES)
subaccount is projected to increase by $1.3 million or 1.9 percent
between fiscal year 2014 and fiscal year 2015 and increase by $1.5
million or 2.1 percent between fiscal year 2015 and fiscal year 2016.
The EES subaccount supported 370 FTE in 2013.
A. What accounts for the $1.3 million increase between fiscal year
2014 and fiscal year 2015?
B. What accounts for the $1.5 million increase between fiscal year
2015 and fiscal year 2016?
C. What is the estimated FTE for 2014, 2015, and 2016?
Response. The response to question 117 also applies to questions
118-125.
Question 123. The VHA Service Center (VSC) subaccount is projected
to increase by $4.7 million or 1.9 percent between fiscal year 2014 and
fiscal year 2015 and increase by $5.3 million or 2.1 percent between
fiscal year 2015 and fiscal year 2016. The VSC subaccount supported
2,489 FTE in 2013.
A. What accounts for the $4.7 million increase between fiscal year
2014 and fiscal year 2015?
B. What accounts for the $5.3 million increase between fiscal year
2015 and fiscal year 2016?
C. What is the estimated FTE for 2014, 2015, and 2016?
Response. The response to question 117 also applies to questions
118-125.
Question 124. The Health Resource Center (HRC) subaccount is
projected to increase by $0.9 million or 1.8 percent between fiscal
year 2014 and fiscal year 2015 and increase by $1.1 million or 2.1
percent between fiscal year 2015 and fiscal year 2016. The HRC
subaccount supported 729 FTE in 2013.
A. What accounts for the $0.9 million increase between fiscal year
2014 and fiscal year 2015?
B. What accounts for the $1.1 million increase between fiscal year
2015 and fiscal year 2016?
C. What is the estimated FTE for 2014, 2015, and 2016?
Response. The response to question 117 also applies to questions
118-125.
Question 125. The Health Eligibility Center (HEC) subaccount is
projected to increase by $0.9 million or 1.9 percent between fiscal
year 2014 and fiscal year 2015 and increase by $1 million or 2.1
percent between fiscal year 2015 and fiscal year 2016. The HEC
subaccount supported 265 FTE in 2013.
A. What accounts for the $0.9 million increase between fiscal year
2014 and fiscal year 2015?
B. What accounts for the $1 million increase between fiscal year
2015 and fiscal year 2016?
C. What is the estimated FTE for 2014, 2015, and 2016?
Response. The response to question 117 also applies to questions
118-125.
Medical Facilities
Question 126. The Medical Facilities account provides for the
operations and maintenance of VHA facilities. The Engineering and
Environmental Management Services subaccount is projected to decrease
by $23.3 million or 4.3 percent between fiscal year 2014 and fiscal
year 2015 and increase by $19 million or 3.7 percent between fiscal
year 2015 and fiscal year 2016. This subaccount supported 3,182 FTE in
2013.
A. What accounts for the $23.3 million decrease between fiscal year
2014 and fiscal year 2015?
B. What accounts for the $19 million increase between fiscal year
2015 and fiscal year 2016?
C. What is the estimated FTE for 2014, 2015, and 2016
Response. Total Medical Facilities obligation estimates for FY
2014-FY 2016 take into consideration anticipated changes in FTEE
levels; travel and transportation of persons; rent, communications, and
utilities; printing and reproduction; contractual services; supplies
and materials, equipment; and lands and structures based on past
history and future requirements. Once those obligation estimates are
determined, VA maintains the same proportion as reflected in the latest
actual available (2013 actual for purposes of the FY 2015 Congressional
Submission) (see Percent of Overall Medical Facilities (Excluding Non-
Recurring Maintenance Table). FY 2015 Estimate for Non-Recurring
Maintenance (NRM) reflects the FY 2015 Advance Appropriation level. FY
2016 NRM estimate of $460.6 million continues the same program funding
level as projected in FY 2015. VA has already assumed a total reduction
of 823 FTEEs in 2014 compared to 2013. Overall FTEE level estimates for
Medical Facilities are 22,818 in 2014-2016. FTEE levels are subject to
change. VHA is undertaking an analysis of staffing levels necessary to
support the delivery of medical care (estimated delivery date
September 2014).
Percent of Overall Medical Facilities P(Excluding Non-Recurring
Maintenance)
(Obligations)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Description 2013 2014 2015 2016
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Engineering & Environmental 14% 13% 12% 12%
Management Services............
Plant Operations and Leases..... 31% 37% 42% 42%
Transportation Services......... 4% 3% 3% 3%
Grounds Maintenance & Fire 2% 2% 2% 2%
Protection.....................
Recurring Maintenance & Repair.. 14% 13% 12% 12%
Operating Equipment Maintenance 12% 11% 10% 10%
& Repair.......................
Environmental Management Service 18% 16% 15% 15%
Other Facilities Operation 1% 1% 1% 1%
Support........................
Textile Care Processing and 5% 4% 4% 4%
Management.....................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Question 127. The Plant Operations and Leases subaccount is
projected to increase by $233.3 million or 15 percent between fiscal
year 2014 and fiscal year 2015 and increase by $82.5 million or 4.6
percent between fiscal year 2015 and fiscal year 2016. This subaccount
supported 1,369 FTE in 2013.
A. What accounts for the $233.3 million increase between fiscal
year 2014 and fiscal year 2015?
B. What accounts for the $82.5 million increase between fiscal year
2015 and fiscal year 2016?
C. What is the estimated FTE for 2014, 2015, and 2016?
Response. The response to question 126 also applies to questions
127-135.
Question 128. The Transportation Services subaccount is projected
to decrease by $5.9 million or 4.3 percent between fiscal year 2014 and
fiscal year 2015 and increase by $4.8 million or 3.7 percent between
fiscal year 2015 and fiscal year 2016. This subaccount supported 1,140
FTE in 2013.
A. What accounts for the $5.9 million decrease between fiscal year
2014 and fiscal year 2015?
B. What accounts for the $4.8 million increase between fiscal year
2015 and fiscal year 2016?
C. What is the estimated FTE for 2014, 2015, and 2016?
Response. The response to question 126 also applies to questions
127-135.
Question 129. The Transportation Services subaccount is projected
to decrease by $5.9 million or 4.3 percent between fiscal year 2014 and
fiscal year 2015 and increase by $4.8 million or 3.7 percent between
fiscal year 2015 and fiscal year 2016. This subaccount supported 1,140
FTE in 2013.
A. What accounts for the $5.9 million decrease between fiscal year
2014 and fiscal year 2015?
B. What accounts for the $4.8 million increase between fiscal year
2015 and fiscal year 2016?
C. What is the estimated FTE for 2014, 2015, and 2016?
Response. The response to question 126 also applies to questions
127-135.
Question 130. The Ground Maintenance and Fire Protection subaccount
is projected to decrease by $3.6 million or 4.3 percent between fiscal
year 2014 and fiscal year 2015 and increase by $2.9 million or 3.7
percent between fiscal year 2015 and fiscal year 2016. This subaccount
supported 732 FTE in 2013.
A. What accounts for the $3.6 million decrease between fiscal year
2014 and fiscal year 2015?
B. What accounts for the $2.9 million increase between fiscal year
2015 and fiscal year 2016?
C. What is the estimated FTE for 2014, 2015, and 2016?
Response. The response to question 130 also applies to questions
127-135.
Question 131. The Recurring Maintenance and Repair subaccount is
projected to decrease by $22.5 million or 4.3 percent between fiscal
year 2014 and fiscal year 2015 and increase by $18.4 million or 3.7
percent between fiscal year 2015 and fiscal year 2016. This subaccount
supported 3,309 FTE in 2013.
A. What accounts for the $22.5 million decrease between fiscal year
2014 and fiscal year 2015?
B. What accounts for the $18.4 million increase between fiscal year
2015 and fiscal year 2016?
C. What is the estimated FTE for 2014, 2015, and 2016?
Response. The response to question 126 also applies to questions
127-135.
Question 132. The Non-Recurring Maintenance subaccount is projected
to decrease by $334 million or 42 percent between fiscal year 2014 and
fiscal year 2015 and remain at $460.6 million for fiscal year 2016.
This subaccount supported 121 FTE in 2013.
A. What accounts for the $334 million decrease between fiscal year
2014 and fiscal year 2015?
B. What is the estimated FTE for 2014, 2015, and 2016?
Response. The response to question 126 also applies to questions
127-135.
Question 133. The Operating Equipment Maintenance and Repair
subaccount is projected to decrease by $18.9 million or 4.3 percent
between fiscal year 2014 and fiscal year 2015 and increase by $15.4
million or 3.7 percent between fiscal year 2015 and fiscal year 2016.
This subaccount supported 2,012 FTE in 2013.
A. What accounts for the $18.9 million decrease between fiscal year
2014 and fiscal year 2015?
B. What accounts for the $15.4 million increase between fiscal year
2015 and fiscal year 2016?
C. What is the estimated FTE for 2014, 2015, and 2016?
Response. The response to question 126 also applies to questions
127-135.
Question 134. The Environmental Management Service subaccount is
projected to decrease by $28.7 million or 4.3 percent between fiscal
year 2014 and fiscal year 2015 and increase by $23.5 million or 3.7
percent between fiscal year 2015 and fiscal year 2016. This subaccount
supported 10,512 FTE in 2013.
A. What accounts for the $28.7 million decrease between fiscal year
2014 and fiscal year 2015?
B. What accounts for the $23.5 million increase between fiscal year
2015 and fiscal year 2016?
C. What is the estimated FTE for 2014, 2015, and 2016?
Response. The response to question 126 also applies to questions
127-135.
Question 135. The Textile Care Processing and Management subaccount
is projected to decrease by $7.6 million or 4.3 percent between fiscal
year 2014 and fiscal year 2015 and increase by $6.2 million or 3.7
percent between fiscal year 2015 and fiscal year 2016. This subaccount
supported 1,264 FTE in 2013.
A. What accounts for the $7.6 million decrease between fiscal year
2014 and fiscal year 2015?
B. What accounts for the $6.2 million increase between fiscal year
2015 and fiscal year 2016?
C. What is the estimated FTE for 2014, 2015, and 2016?
Response. The response to question 126 also applies to questions
127-135.
national cemetery administration
Question 136. The fiscal year 2014 current estimate for Grants for
Construction of Veterans' Cemeteries is $62.1 million; however, the
budget estimate for fiscal year 2015 was only $44.6 million, a
difference of $17.4 million. The fiscal year 2015 request for the grant
program is $45 million.
A. What led to the unobligated balance of $16.1 million that was
left over from fiscal year 2013?
Response. The Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) ability to
obligate grant funds depends in large part on a state's readiness to
proceed. Two projects experienced issues late in the Federal fiscal
year that could not be resolved by the proposed suspense date. One
project could not proceed as anticipated due to Environmental
Assessment issues, and the other could not proceed due to timing of
conveying the underlying land to the state. By the time the two
projects were deferred by the states, it was too late to re-allocate
the funds to other projects. VA has committed the $16.1 million to
other projects and plans to make awards this fiscal year.
B. Does VA expect a similar carryover into fiscal year 2015? If so,
please provide the amount and reasoning for the assumption.
Response. No, Department of Veterans Affairs does not anticipate a
similar carryover into fiscal year 2015. However, because final grant
awards are based on a state's readiness, a small amount of carryover
each year is not unusual.
C. How many states have pending requests for state veteran
cemeteries grants? Please list the grant application by state,
location, and priority status.
Response. The fiscal year 2014 Priority List (attached) has a total
of 87 pending grant requests for state and tribal cemeteries. These
grant requests are identified by priority groups 1-4:
Priority Group 1--Projects needed to avoid disruption in burial
service that would otherwise occur at existing veterans cemeteries
within 4 years of the date of the preapplication. Such projects would
include expansion projects, as well as improvement projects (such as
construction of additional or replacement facilities) when such
improvements are required to continue interment operations.
Priority Group 2--Projects for the establishment of new Veterans
cemeteries.
Priority Group 3--Expansion projects at existing Veterans
cemeteries when a disruption in burial service due to the exhaustion of
existing gravesites is not expected to occur within 4 years of the date
of the preapplication.
Priority Group 4--Improvement projects for cemetery landscaping or
infrastructure, such as building expansion and upgrades to roads and
irrigation systems, that are not directly related to the development of
new gravesites. Operation and Maintenance Projects that address
National Cemetery Administration's national shrine standards of
appearance are included in this group.
Question 137. The fiscal year 2015 budget requests states:
``Internments in 2013 were 124,785 and are expected to peak at about
130,000 in 2017. Internments will begin to decline gradually and
expected to be about 126,000 in 2020.''
A. Please provide the Committee with detailed information on the
number of veterans whose families chose an inurnment (please breakdown
between in-ground inurnment and those urns placed in a columbarium) as
compared to the number who elected for an in-ground casket burial over
the last five years.
Response.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Full Casket................................................... 57,634 59,503 61,036 59,708 61,656
In-Ground Cremains............................................ 30,023 31,547 33,155 33,327 33,588
Columbaria.................................................... 18,704 20,757 23,221 25,121 29,541
-------------------------------------------------
Total Interments.......................................... 106,361 111,807 117,412 118,158 124,785
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B. What are the projections for inurnments compared to in-ground
casket burial through 2020?
Response.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Full Casket............................... 61,800 61,900 61,700 61,900 61,500 60,100 59,700
In-Ground Cremains........................ 32,500 33,600 33,200 32,700 31,800 30,900 29,800
Columbaria................................ 31,400 32,600 34,300 35,400 35,500 36,800 36,600
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Interments...................... 125,700 128,100 129,200 130,100 128,800 127,800 126,100
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C. Will an increase in the numbers of inurnments versus in-ground
casket burial affect VA's long-term projections on the need for
additional land acquisition and construction? If so, please provide a
detailed explanation.
Response. National Cemetery Administration (NCA) projects that the
number of inurnments versus in-ground casket burials will continue to
increase for the foreseeable future; however, it is unlikely that this
trend will affect the need for additional land acquisition and
construction. In fiscal year (FY) 2013, NCA conducted 60,742 in-ground
burials in national cemeteries, which comprised 49.4 percent of total
interments. NCA projects to conduct approximately 50,200 in-ground
casket burials in national cemeteries, comprising 45.5 percent of total
interments in FY 2050. These data illustrate both the continuing need
for burial space at Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) national
cemeteries and the demand for in-ground casket burials as an option for
Veterans who choose interment in a national cemetery. Through the use
and continued development of land-saving features, such as pre-placed
crypts, columbaria, and memorial walls, NCA will maximize land use at
national cemeteries and slow the rate at which new land may need to be
acquired. However, the demand for new land will continue for the
foreseeable future to ensure that VA is able to meet the burial needs
of Veterans and their eligible family members.
Question 138. Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) has faced a number
of management, infrastructure, and information technology challenges in
the last five years. The National Cemetery Administration (NCA) was
called upon to assist the Department of the Army and ANC to fix the
numerous issues that were discovered at the cemetery. Many of these
challenges have been resolved through the development of new
technology, including geospatial tools and other grave location
applications. Has NCA incorporated any of the new technology into its
operations? If so, please detail the technology and how it is being
used.
Response. National Cemetery Administration (NCA) is pursuing
several technologies to improve cemetery operations, ensure the
accountability of remains, and enhance the experience of visitors at
Department of Veterans Affairs national cemeteries. NCA works
continuously to upgrade existing information systems, such as the
Burial Operations Support System and the Automated Monument Application
System. NCA has implemented automation enhancements to these systems
utilized for critical processes, including scheduling of committal
services, establishing records of interment, and ordering and tracking
delivery of headstones and markers.
NCA is also conducting pilot studies to integrate geospatial
information technology to enhance documentation associated with the
interment process and the marking of graves. At Indiantown Gap National
Cemetery, PA, employees are testing GPS technology to attach geographic
coordinates to digital records of casket and urn tags, and temporary
and permanent gravesite markers. In a separate project, NCA is
utilizing architect engineers to survey existing gravesites at six
cemeteries to compile GPS information along with digital photographs of
each headstone and marker. NCA is assessing the potential for eventual
nationwide adoption of such processes to improve the accuracy of
gravesite layout maps and records of interment; to support caretakers
in the field with information immediately available via mobile devices;
and to enhance visitors' ability to locate gravesites and obtain other
information concerning the history and features of national cemeteries.
NCA plans to adopt geospatial information technology with all
interments that are conducted at five new national cemeteries that are
planned to open nationwide beginning in 2015.
Question 139. When burial requests are initiated with the National
Cemetery Scheduling Office, NCA personnel ask a number of questions
regarding burial arrangements, including whether a veteran is
ineligible pursuant to title 38, United States Code (U.S.C.), section
2411. Please provide a list of all the questions that are asked by NCA
to funeral homes, family members, and other individuals who have
contacted NCA for burial.
Response. The National Cemetery Administration employee asks a
series of questions during the initial interview process to establish a
record of interment and eligibility for burial. The following points
guide the gathering of information from families or their
representatives who call to schedule a burial in a Department of
Veterans Affairs national cemetery.
1. National cemetery selected.
2. Determine if this is a first interment using the burial
eligibility of a Veteran or a subsequent interment (Veteran or
dependent is already interred).
3. If subsequent interment, name of the decedent who is already
interred.
4. Decedent's full name, gender, SSN, date of death, date of birth,
and relationship to Veteran.
5. Contact information (Funeral Home, director's name, phone
number, and email address).
6. Next of Kin information (name, relationship to the deceased,
SSN, phone number, and address).
7. Determine if the decedent resided within 75 miles of the
requested cemetery.
8. Zip code and County of decedent at time of death.
9. Type of burial (casket or cremation), casket size, liner size,
urn size.
10. Marital status of Veteran.
11. If the spouse is a Veteran: Determine if a set-aside gravesite
is requested.
12. Ask if there are adult disabled dependent children who may be
eligible for future interment.
13. Determine military documentation to establish eligibility for
burial.
14. Ask whether the decedent had ever committed a capital crime.
15. Ask whether the decedent had been convicted of a sexual offense
for which a minimum of life imprisonment was imposed.
16. Determine if the family has requested a service with military
honors.
17. Ask if the family desires an emblem of belief on the headstone
or marker; and if so, what type.
vocational rehabilitation and employment
Question 140. The fiscal year 2015 budget request proposes a
legislative change to title 38, U.S.C., section 3697 to remove the
annual funding limitation available to provide contract vocational and
educational counseling to individuals qualifying under section 3697(A).
A. Please provide the Committee with the number of veterans who
have participated in this counseling.
Response. The current VetSuccess on Campus contract for Chapter 36
vocational and educational counseling support runs from July 2013 to
July 2014.