VA Health Care

Medical Centers Need to Improve Collection of Veterans' Copayments Gao ID: HRD-90-77 March 28, 1990

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO assessed whether the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) implemented a cost-effective copayment billing and collection process.

GAO found that: (1) in fiscal year (FY) 1988, 159 VA medical centers' collections exceeded costs, which yielded a return of $1.36 for each $1 spent; (2) the centers achieved a 174-percent inpatient care return rate, compared to a 108-percent return rate for outpatient care; (3) five medical centers collected only half of the owed copayments mostly due to their failure to bill veterans; (4) centers' collection difficulties were attributed to billing delays; and (5) in FY 1988, VA centers collected about $9.9 million, with a net return of $2.6 million.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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