Veterans' Disability Benefits
Better Accountability and Access Would Improve the Benefits Delivery at Discharge Program Gao ID: GAO-08-901 September 9, 2008Recent military conflicts have increased interest in federal efforts to support servicemembers preparing to leave military service. Through the Benefits Delivery at Discharge (BDD) program, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), in collaboration with the Department of Defense (DOD), has made efforts to streamline access to veterans' disability benefits by allowing some servicemembers to file a claim and obtain a single comprehensive exam prior to discharge. This report examines VA's efforts to manage the BDD program and how VA and DOD are addressing challenges servicemembers face in accessing BDD. To address these objectives, GAO analyzed relevant documents and data, interviewed officials, and conducted site visits and interviews at selected military bases.
While VA awards compensation more quickly under BDD than through its traditional process, VA's efforts to manage the BDD program provide limited accountability for achieving optimal results. For example, the agency does not measure the time local VA personnel are developing BDD claims and thus has limited information on potential problems during claim development. Also, VA has reviewed BDD operations in only 16 of the 40 regional offices with the program. Reviewers in those 16 offices conducted limited assessments of some key aspects of program operations, such as ensuring that VA personnel fully developed claims prior to sending them to be rated. Finally, VA has not evaluated initiatives to improve the program, such as its effort to achieve paperless processing of BDD claims. As a result of these gaps in oversight, VA has limited information on how well the program is working or whether further improvements are warranted. VA and DOD have established BDD sites where most servicemembers discharging from the military have access to the program and issued policy guidance in July 2008 to extend access even further. Further, the agencies implemented an alternative predischarge program for members who have no or limited access to the BDD program, such as members of the National Guard or Reserves. However, whether the predischarge program expedites benefits for some members unable to use BDD cannot easily be determined, because VA does not collect sufficient data on these claims. To further improve BDD access, VA and DOD raise awareness of the program through VA benefits briefings, although attendance is not always mandatory. DOD recently established a goal of 85 percent attendance, but has not developed a plan for reaching this goal or a reliable method to measure participation. Finally, while a national agreement between VA and DOD gives local officials flexibility in implementing the cooperative exam process--a key aspect of BDD to streamline access to benefits--some bases have faced challenges maintaining local memoranda of understanding. VA and DOD have not recently evaluated or disseminated promising practices that could address such challenges.
RecommendationsOur 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.
Director: Team: Phone:GAO-08-901, Veterans' Disability Benefits: Better Accountability and Access Would Improve the Benefits Delivery at Discharge Program
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Report to Congressional Requesters:
United States Government Accountability Office:
GAO:
September 2008:
Veterans' Disability Benefits:
Better Accountability and Access Would Improve the Benefits Delivery at
Discharge Program:
Veteran's Disability Benefits:
GAO-08-901:
GAO Highlights:
Highlights of GAO-08-901, a report to congressional requesters.
Why GAO Did This Study:
Recent military conflicts have increased interest in federal efforts to
support servicemembers preparing to leave military service. Through the
Benefits Delivery at Discharge (BDD) program, the Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA), in collaboration with the Department of Defense
(DOD), has made efforts to streamline access to veterans‘ disability
benefits by allowing some servicemembers to file a claim and obtain a
single comprehensive exam prior to discharge. This report examines VA‘s
efforts to manage the BDD program and how VA and DOD are addressing
challenges servicemembers face in accessing BDD. To address these
objectives, GAO analyzed relevant documents and data, interviewed
officials, and conducted site visits and interviews at selected
military bases.
What GAO Found:
While VA awards compensation more quickly under BDD than through its
traditional process, VA‘s efforts to manage the BDD program provide
limited accountability for achieving optimal results. For example, the
agency does not measure the time local VA personnel are developing BDD
claims and thus has limited information on potential problems during
claim development. Also, VA has reviewed BDD operations in only 16 of
the 40 regional offices with the program. Reviewers in those 16 offices
conducted limited assessments of some key aspects of program
operations, such as ensuring that VA personnel fully developed claims
prior to sending them to be rated. Finally, VA has not evaluated
initiatives to improve the program, such as its effort to achieve
paperless processing of BDD claims. As a result of these gaps in
oversight, VA has limited information on how well the program is
working or whether further improvements are warranted.
Figure: BDD Timelines Measures Do Not Include Claims Development:
This figure is a chart showing that BDD timelines measures do not
include claims development.
[See PDF for image]
Source: GAO analysis of VA information.
[End of figure]
VA and DOD have established BDD sites where most servicemembers
discharging from the military have access to the program and issued
policy guidance in July 2008 to extend access even further. Further,
the agencies implemented an alternative predischarge program for
members who have no or limited access to the BDD program, such as
members of the National Guard or Reserves. However, whether the
predischarge program expedites benefits for some members unable to use
BDD cannot easily be determined, because VA does not collect sufficient
data on these claims. To further improve BDD access, VA and DOD raise
awareness of the program through VA benefits briefings, although
attendance is not always mandatory. DOD recently established a goal of
85 percent attendance, but has not developed a plan for reaching this
goal or a reliable method to measure participation. Finally, while a
national agreement between VA and DOD gives local officials flexibility
in implementing the cooperative exam process”a key aspect of BDD to
streamline access to benefits”some bases have faced challenges
maintaining local memoranda of understanding. VA and DOD have not
recently evaluated or disseminated promising practices that could
address such challenges.
What GAO Recommends:
GAO recommends that VA improve timeliness and accuracy measures for BDD
and predischarge claims data, collect additional data to monitor these
claims, evaluate the BDD paperless process initiative, and improve its
reviews of BDD operations. We recommend that DOD improve how it
measures its goal for participation in VA benefits briefings. We also
recommend that VA and DOD disseminate promising practices for the
cooperative exam process. DOD concurred with our recommendations. VA
generally agreed with our recommendations but did not agree to track
the timeliness of BDD and predischarge claims development.
To view the full product, including the scope and methodology, click on
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-901]. For more
information, contact Daniel Bertoni at (202) 512-7215 or
bertonid@gao.gov.
[End of section]
Contents:
Letter:
Results in Brief:
Background:
VA's Efforts to Manage the BDD Program Provide Limited Accountability
for Results:
VA and DOD Have Taken Steps to Increase Access to the BDD Program, but
Some Servicemembers Continue to Face Barriers to Participation:
Conclusions:
Recommendations for Executive Action:
Agency Comments and Our Evaluation:
Appendix I: Scope and Methodology:
Appendix II: Comments from the Department of Veterans Affairs:
Appendix III: Comments from the Department of Defense:
Appendix IV: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments:
Related GAO Products:
Tables:
Table 1: Filing a Claim through the BDD Program versus VA's Traditional
Process:
Table 2: VA's Timeliness and Accuracy Performance Measures for Claims
Overall:
Table 3: Operational Reviews of the BDD Program at VA Regional Offices:
Table 4: Use of Various Exam Providers to Conduct VA Exams at Bases
Offering the BDD Program:
Table 5: Challenges Local VA or DOD Personnel Reported to GAO in
Implementing Cooperative Exam Processes at Selected Bases Offering the
BDD Program:
Table 6: Key Selection Criteria for Site Visit Locations and
Interviews:
Figures:
Figure 1: BDD Claims Process and Responsibilities of BDD Intake and
Rating Offices:
Figure 2: Processing Timeliness for BDD Claims and Claims Overall:
Abbreviations:
BDD: Benefits Delivery at Discharge:
DOD: Department of Defense:
MOU: memorandum of understanding:
TAP: Transition Assistance Program:
VA: Department of Veterans Affairs:
VCAA: Veterans Claims Assistance Act:
United States Government Accountability Office:
Washington, DC 20548:
September 9, 2008:
Congressional Requesters:
Recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have heightened interest in
federal efforts to support injured servicemembers, including those
preparing to leave military service and transition to life as civilians
and veterans. The Benefits Delivery at Discharge (BDD) program is one
way the Departments of Defense (DOD) and Veterans Affairs (VA) are
working to ease this transition. First established in 1998, the BDD
program--administered by VA in cooperation with DOD--allows
servicemembers to complete their VA disability benefits application
while they are still in the military and provides access to VA
personnel located at their base to assist them. Additionally, the BDD
program provides the opportunity for servicemembers to receive one exam
that satisfies DOD's requirement to determine their general health and
VA's requirement to assess any claimed disabilities, instead of
separate exams for both DOD and VA. Since the military has a separate
disability evaluation process for servicemembers who are being
discharged because they can no longer perform their duties due to a
disabling condition, BDD is designed for members with conditions that,
while disabling, do not generally result in their being unable to
perform their military duties. Once a BDD application is approved,
according to VA officials, veterans may begin receiving benefits within
2 to 3 months, instead of the 6 to 7 months it would typically take if
they had applied after discharge under the traditional disability
claims process. In the past 5 years, about 140,000 servicemembers have
used the BDD program, which was available at 153 locations in the
United States, Germany, and South Korea, as of February 2008. More than
70 percent of servicemembers leaving the military in fiscal year 2007
were discharged at military bases offering the BDD program.
Despite these advantages, our prior work has found that DOD and VA have
had challenges sharing information, collecting data on outreach
efforts, and establishing a cooperative exam process at all BDD sites.
VA also has had difficulties meeting its goals for BDD program
participation and goals for the timely and accurate processing of
disability claims (including those filed through BDD).
At your request, we reviewed implementation of the BDD program.
Specifically, we assessed (1) VA's efforts to manage the BDD program
and (2) how VA and DOD are addressing challenges servicemembers face in
accessing BDD. To provide information for this report, we analyzed
relevant documents including legislation, directives, national and
local memoranda of understanding, and other related reports. We
conducted in-depth site visits and interviews with VA and military
officials at 9 of the 40 VA regional offices that have military bases
offering the BDD program in their jurisdiction and at 14 of the 142 DOD
bases offering BDD.[Footnote 1] We selected VA regional offices and
military bases based on the number of BDD and predischarge claims
completed in 2006 and representation of the four service branches,
among other factors. We interviewed officials from VA's Veterans
Benefits Administration, the Army Office of the Surgeon General, and
the BDD Working Group, among other national-level VA and DOD officials.
We also interviewed representatives from national veterans' service
organizations and other stakeholder groups. For selected fiscal years
between 2003 and 2007, we obtained VA data on outreach briefings
provided to servicemembers, DOD data on servicemembers' separation from
military service, and VA data on the number and timeliness of BDD and
other claims filed. We conducted this performance audit from July 2007
to September 2008 in accordance with generally accepted government
auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform
the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a
reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit
objectives. We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable
basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.
(See app. I for more detailed information on our scope and
methodology.)
Results in Brief:
Although VA awards compensation more quickly under BDD than through its
traditional process, VA's efforts to manage and monitor the BDD program
provide limited accountability for achieving optimal results. For
example, while VA tracks the average number of days it takes to
complete work on all claims including BDD claims, VA does not track the
time spent on developing a BDD claim (usually 60 days or more) prior to
the servicemember's discharge. Similarly, VA includes BDD claims in its
overall measures of claims accuracy, but the agency does not track the
accuracy of BDD claims separately. As a result, VA lacks information on
how efficiently its personnel are developing or how accurately they are
rating BDD claims. In addition, VA has conducted limited reviews of
regional implementation of the BDD program. As part of its site visits
to oversee the management of regional offices, VA has reviewed BDD
operations in only 16 of the 40 regional offices with the program,
despite having visited all 40 offices. Moreover, VA reviews of the 16
offices contain limited evidence that some key aspects of BDD program
operations were reviewed, such as controls to ensure that VA personnel
collected all evidence necessary to rate the claim prior to sending it
to be rated. Finally, VA has not evaluated recent initiatives to
improve the program. For example, VA completed a pilot to process BDD
claims electronically but did not evaluate it before expanding the
initiative.
VA and DOD have made efforts to improve servicemembers' access to the
BDD program. VA and DOD currently offer the BDD program at 142 bases,
such that more than 70 percent of servicemembers leaving military
service potentially had access to the BDD program. Moreover, VA
recently issued policy guidance that allowed servicemembers being
discharged from any military base to file BDD claims at other locations
where VA personnel were located, such as at all of its 57 regional
offices. However, National Guard or Reserves members, while technically
eligible for the BDD program, typically do not remain on their bases
long enough after demobilizing to initiate a claim or exams within the
required time frame (60 to 180 days before discharge). For
servicemembers who have no or limited access to the BDD program, VA
established an alternative predischarge program. Under VA's
predischarge program, servicemembers may still initiate a disability
application--but may or may not complete the required medical exam
depending on how long they remain at their base--prior to discharge.
However, VA officials do not track sufficiently detailed data on either
predischarge or BDD claims to determine the extent to which this
program is actually helping those who have no or limited access to the
BDD program. VA and DOD also have coordinated to raise awareness about
the BDD program through VA benefits briefings to servicemembers, but
these efforts may not reach all those eligible. Attendance at these
briefings is mandatory for only one service branch--the Marines; for
the other services, VA and DOD officials told us military duties or
lack of support from commanders or supervisors may hinder
servicemembers from attending. DOD recently set a goal that 85 percent
of servicemembers attend these briefings, but has not established a
plan for reaching this goal or a reliable method for measuring
participation. Finally, although a national agreement between VA and
DOD affords local officials flexibility in establishing a cooperative
process to prevent redundancy and inconvenience in conducting
servicemembers' exams, some bases have faced difficulties maintaining
local memoranda of understanding due to lack of communication between
agencies or resource constraints. As a result, some servicemembers may
be burdened by multiple exams, which may in turn delay their claims, or
otherwise discourage them from participating in the program. Despite
these challenges, VA and DOD have not recently evaluated or
disseminated information about promising practices at some BDD
locations--such as VA personnel briefing incoming military leadership
in order to better facilitate program continuity--that might address
these challenges.
We are making several recommendations to strengthen accountability and
provide DOD and VA more information on the benefits of, and any
challenges involved with, the BDD program. We are recommending that VA
develop or explore options for improving timeliness and accuracy
measures for BDD and predischarge claims; collect and analyze data on
BDD and predischarge claims filed by component (for example, National
Guard or Reserves); conduct an evaluation of the paperless claims
processing initiative; and consistently conduct oversight reviews of
regional office implementation of the BDD program and report the
results of such reviews. We are recommending that DOD take steps to
ensure more accurate measurement of servicemembers participation in
transition briefings and establish a specific plan to meet its goal of
85 percent participation. Finally, we are recommending that VA and DOD
work together to identify and disseminate information on promising
practices in implementing the cooperative exam process.
We provided a draft of this report to VA and DOD for review and
comment. Both agencies provided written comments, shown in appendixes
II and III respectively, and VA provided technical comments which we
have incorporated into the report as appropriate. The agencies
generally agreed with most of our recommendations. However, VA did not
agree with our recommendation that it include the timing of claims
development in its calculation of BDD and predischarge claims
timeliness, stating that doing so would be inaccurate. We acknowledge
VA's efforts to measure timeliness of claims processing after a
servicemember becomes a veteran. However, we maintain that VA should
also track and account for the timeliness of BDD and predischarge
claims processing prior to servicemember discharge to help identify and
determine the extent of challenges intake personnel may be facing as
they develop these claims. Moreover, we continue to believe that by
accounting for the period that VA personnel are actively developing BDD
or predischarge claims, the agency would have a more accurate measure
of claims processing time. VA agreed in part with our recommendation
that it evaluate its paperless claims processing initiative, indicating
that expansion of the initiative will continue but will be monitored
and evaluated as it progresses. While we support VA's efforts to reduce
its use of paper files and move to a system of developing and rating
claims electronically, we maintain that it is important to conduct an
evaluation of the paperless initiative at the earliest possible time in
order to minimize potential implementation challenges.
Background:
Through its disability compensation program, VA pays monthly benefits
to veterans with service-connected disabilities. The amount of
disability compensation depends largely on the severity of the
disability, which VA measures in 10 percent increments on a scale of 0
percent to 100 percent. Beginning in December 2007, for veterans with
no dependents, basic monthly payments range from $117 for 10 percent
disability to $2,527 for 100 percent disability. Any member of the
armed forces who has seen active duty--including those in the National
Guard or Reserves--is eligible to apply for VA disability benefits
prior to leaving military service through VA's BDD program or an
alternative predischarge program.[Footnote 2] BDD started as a pilot
program in 1995 at three Army bases and three VA regional offices and
has since expanded to many locations which serve thousands of
servicemembers in the United States, Germany, and South Korea.
To participate in the BDD program, servicemembers generally must meet
six requirements: (1) be in the process of being honorably discharged
from military service,[Footnote 3] (2) initiate their application for
VA disability benefits between 60 and 180 days prior to their discharge
date, (3) sign a Veterans Claims Assistance Act (VCAA) form,[Footnote
4] (4) obtain and provide copies of their service medical records to
local VA personnel, (5) complete a VA medical exam, and (6) remain near
the base until the exam process is done. The 60-to 180-day time frame
is intended to provide sufficient time prior to discharge for local VA
personnel at BDD intake sites located on or near the base to assist
members with their disability applications, including scheduling their
exam(s). VA personnel at intake offices assemble claims-related
information and send the claims to one of two regional offices, known
as Rating Activity Sites, to be rated.[Footnote 5] Figure 1 shows the
BDD process and responsibilities of local VA intake and rating
personnel.
Figure 1: BDD Claims Process and Responsibilities of BDD Intake and
Rating Offices:
This figure is a chart with illustrations showing BDD claims process
and responsibilities of BDD intake and rating offices.
[See PDF for image]
Source: GAO analysis of Veterans Benefits Administration's Compensation
and Pension Adjudication Procedure Manual (M21-1MR), Chapter 2, Section
B, Section B; Art Explosion (images).
[End of figure]
Filing a VA disability claim through the BDD program can be faster than
filing a claim as a veteran under the traditional claim process,
because medical records are more readily accessible and key forms
needed to process the claim can be signed immediately. Moreover,
establishing that the claim is related to the member's military service
may be easier, since the member is still on active duty status. Table 1
summarizes the advantages of filing a claim through the BDD program
compared to using VA's traditional process.
Table 1: Filing a Claim through the BDD Program versus VA's Traditional
Process:
Medical records;
BDD claim: Medical records usually are at the military base where the
servicemember files the BDD claim;
Traditional claim: Medical records often must be obtained from federal
records centers and the veteran may have records with other medical
providers.
Service-connectedness;
BDD claim: Conditions claimed are generally presumed to be connected to
military service;
Traditional claim: The more time that has passed since discharge, the
harder it is to establish the connection between the conditions claimed
and military service.
Veterans Claim Assistance Act (VCAA) form;
BDD claim: The servicemember can sign the VCAA form immediately,
enabling VA to make decisions about the claim without waiting 30 days,
as is typically required;
Traditional claim: The VCAA form typically is mailed to the veteran who
has 30 days to sign and mail it back to VA.
Source: GAO analysis of VA information.
Note: VCAA requires VA to assist the individual with obtaining medical
records and exams to help verify the disabilities he or she is
claiming.
[End of table]
VA has a performance goal specific to the BDD program as well as goals
for disability claims generally. For the BDD program, VA has a goal to
increase the percentage of first-time disability claims filed through
the BDD program. To accomplish this, it is important for eligible
servicemembers to know about the program and to start their application
as soon as possible. Servicemembers generally learn of the BDD program
through VA-sponsored benefits briefings conducted at military bases as
part of Transition Assistance Program (TAP) sessions. Led primarily by
the Department of Labor, TAP consists of about 3 to 4 days of briefings
on a variety of topics related to benefits and services available to
servicemembers as they are discharged and begin life as veterans.
Generally, servicemembers are required to attend a short introductory
briefing, while all other sessions--including the VA benefits segment
in which members learn about BDD--are optional.
In addition to its goal for the BDD program, VA has general goals for
the timeliness and accuracy of all disability claims, as shown in table
2.[Footnote 6]
Table 2: VA's Timeliness and Accuracy Performance Measures for Claims
Overall:
Key performance measure used for claims overall: Timeliness: average
days pending;
Definition: For claims that have yet to receive a final decision, the
average time that a claim has been waiting for a final decision to be
made;
Performance results in fiscal year 2007[A]: 132 days;
Strategic goal: 100 days.
Key performance measure used for claims overall: Timeliness: average
days to process;
Definition: For claims that have received a final decision, the average
time it took to complete all work on the claim;
Performance results in fiscal year 2007[A]: 183 days;
Strategic goal: 125 days.
Key performance measure used for claims overall: Accuracy;
Definition: For a sample of claims that have received a final decision,
the percentage in which VA staff made no errors in processing the
claim;
Performance results in fiscal year 2007[A]: 88 percent;
Strategic goal: 98 percent.
Source: VA Congressional Budget Submission, Fiscal Year 2008; Veterans
Benefits Administration Compensation and Pension Adjudication Manual
(M21-1MR); Interview with VA Officials.
[A] Performance results in fiscal year 2007 were reported to GAO by VA
officials in May 2008.
[End of table]
VA's Veterans Benefits Administration is responsible for administering
and monitoring the BDD program along with other claims for VA benefits.
It also is responsible for the paperless BDD claims process, an
initiative intended to improve efficiency by converting claims-related
information stored in paper folders into electronic format and part of
VA's effort to have all claims VA-wide processed electronically by the
end of 2012.
For all servicemembers leaving the military, the military services
generally provide health assessments that consist of a questionnaire
about the member's general health and medical history, among other
topics. In some cases, members who are separating from the military may
receive a physical exam to obtain evidence on a particular medical
problem or problems that might exist. The exam obtains information on
the individual's medical history and includes diagnostic and clinical
tests, the scope of which depends on what disabilities are being
claimed. In general, VA's exam is more comprehensive and detailed than
the military services' separation exams, as military service exams are
intended to document continued fitness for duty, whereas the purpose of
the VA exam is to document disability or loss of function.[Footnote 7]
DOD and VA have coordinated their efforts to assist servicemembers who
are being discharged. In 1994, the Army and VA piloted three different
models for conducting single separation exams whereby servicemembers
could obtain one exam that satisfies requirements of both the Army and
VA.[Footnote 8] Subsequently, however, due to variation in the
availability of local resources, such as physicians trained to use VA's
exam protocols, DOD and VA agreed that local military bases should have
flexibility in implementing the exams, such as allowing either VA or
military physicians to conduct the exam. The agencies signed a
memorandum of agreement in 2004, delineating the roles and
responsibilities for each agency in establishing a cooperative
separation exam process. The national agreement delegates authority to
VA regional offices and individual military bases to create local
memoranda of understanding (MOU) that detail how the process will be
implemented at the local level.[Footnote 9] In addition to establishing
the cooperative exam process, in 2002, the agencies created a Joint
Executive Council to oversee joint efforts to eliminate barriers
servicemembers face as they leave the military, among other
purposes.[Footnote 10] The Joint Executive Council is composed of the
Health Executive and Benefits Executive Councils, the latter of which
is focused on improving information sharing between the agencies and
improving the transition process for servicemembers.
VA's Efforts to Manage the BDD Program Provide Limited Accountability
for Results:
VA's efforts to manage the BDD program provide limited accountability
for results in several respects. For example, VA has only one
performance measure specific to the BDD program, and lacks specific and
sufficient measures for timely and accurate processing of BDD claims.
Further, VA's site visits to oversee the management of regional offices
often did not include reviews of BDD operations and, when reviews of
BDD claims were conducted, did not address key aspects of program
operations. Finally, VA has implemented two key initiatives--
consolidation of rating activity and the paperless BDD claims
processing pilot--to improve program operations and performance, but
has not yet evaluated them.
VA Lacks Sufficient Performance Measures for the BDD Program:
VA has established one performance measure for the BDD program;
however, the measure only tracks participation in the program and
currently is being revised to address a key limitation. Since the 2005
fiscal year, VA has tracked the percentage of all disability claims
filed within 1 year of discharge that are filed through the BDD
program. VA's current strategic goal is for 65 percent of all claims
filed within a year of discharge to be filed through the BDD program.
However, in fiscal year 2007, only 43 percent of first-year claims were
filed through BDD, significantly short of VA's goal.[Footnote 11] This
measure includes first-year claims from servicemembers who were
discharged from non-BDD locations, as well as members of the National
Guard and Reserves who generally are demobilized so rapidly that they
cannot meet BDD requirements. As of April 2008, the BDD Working Group
(part of the Benefits Executive Council and comprised of officials from
VA and DOD) was revising the measure to account for only those members
who are discharged from bases with the BDD program and plans to submit
this revision to the Joint Executive Council for final approval, once
the Group determines the extent to which data from DOD are available.
As of August 2008, the Group had not determined how the revised measure
would be affected by VA's revised policy increasing the number of
locations where BDD claims would be accepted.
Despite having a measure for program participation, VA does not
adequately measure key aspects of BDD claims processing--timeliness and
accuracy--separately from claims that go through the traditional
process.[Footnote 12] Specifically, VA tracks timeliness of traditional
claims beginning from the date a veteran files a claim, while it tracks
timeliness of BDD claims from the date a servicemember is
discharged.[Footnote 13] This approach highlights a key advantage of
the BDD program--that it takes less time for the veteran to receive
benefits after discharge. However, the time VA spends developing a
claim before a servicemember's discharge--at least 60 days--is not
included in its measures of timeliness for processing BDD claims, even
though claims development is included in VA's timeliness measures for
traditional disability claims. Even with VA's approach for tracking
timeliness of BDD claims, VA data show that it is not processing claims
(including BDD claims) as quickly as expected. Specifically, by the end
of fiscal year 2007, the agency was taking an average of 76 days to
complete BDD claims, even though VA has an informal goal of completing
work on BDD claims no later than 60 days after discharge. In contrast,
VA was taking an average of 183 days to complete all claims, compared
to a goal of 125 days.[Footnote 14] (See fig. 2 for a comparison of how
VA measures timeliness of traditional claims and BDD claims.)
Figure 2: Processing Timeliness for BDD Claims and Claims Overall:
This figure is a timeline of processing BDD claims and claims overall.
[See PDF for image]
Source: GAO analysis of VA information.
Note: The figure portrays traditional claims as being filed on the day
the veteran is discharged only for the purpose of comparing the
timeliness of traditional claims with the timeliness of BDD claims.
Traditional claims average of 183 days to complete includes BDD and
predischarge claims. However, the number of BDD and predischarge claims
is relatively small and when disaggregated had only a small effect on
overall timeliness.
[End of figure]
VA officials told us the agency does not measure the timeliness of BDD
claims development for three reasons. First, there is no legal
authority to provide compensation because the member has not yet been
discharged and is therefore not yet a veteran. However, the fact that
the servicemember is not yet a veteran does not relinquish VA from
being accountable for the time spent developing BDD claims. In cases
where a member may decide to remain on active duty, VA should be able
to withdraw the application and not include the claim in its
measurement of BDD timeliness. Second, VA officials perceive most
development activities, such as obtaining the separation exam and
medical records, to be outside of their control. However, similar to
BDD claims, VA lacks complete control over claim development for
traditional disability claims, because VA relies on veterans to submit
their applications and relies on other agencies or medical providers
for records associated with the claim. Third, they said that a primary
objective of the program was to shorten the time from which the member
was entitled to benefits--by definition, after discharge--to the time
he or she actually received them. While timeliness of receipt of
benefits after discharge is useful information, excluding the time VA
personnel spend on developing BDD claims results in limited information
on challenges in this stage of the process and may inhibit VA from
taking action to address them. Personnel in 12 of the 14 BDD intake
bases we reviewed indicated significant challenges with various claims
development activities. For example, personnel on several bases told us
they had a hard time scheduling exams, because servicemembers were
leaving the area so they could complete their service at home, among
other reasons. Also, servicemembers at several bases may have to obtain
more than one exam and therefore take more time to complete their BDD
claim. Challenges such as these may delay the development of
servicemembers' claims, putting them at risk of having to drop out of
the BDD program. Unless VA tracks performance related to claims
development prior to discharge, it cannot easily identify problems and
compare performance across BDD locations.[Footnote 15]
Similar to its approach to measuring timeliness, VA has a key
performance measure for the accuracy of claims overall, but lacks an
approach for measuring the accuracy of BDD claims specifically. VA
measures the accuracy of claims by reviewing a sample of completed
claims from each of its 57 regional offices on a monthly basis and
determining the extent to which VA personnel correctly performed
duties, such as gathering sufficient evidence to rate the
claim.[Footnote 16] VA calculates a national accuracy rate, based on
the percentage of claims that were processed without any errors.
However, VA's accuracy reviews to date have focused on claims overall,
and have not targeted specific types of claims, such as BDD
claims.[Footnote 17] VA officials stated that the current sample
approach and size are sufficient for estimating a national accuracy
rate, but are not sufficient for obtaining precise results for specific
types of claims.[Footnote 18] Consequently, VA is unaware of the extent
to which BDD claims are more or less accurately processed relative to
other claims and has incomplete information to help identify problems
or challenges that BDD locations may face related to accurately
developing claims.
VA Has Not Consistently Reviewed BDD Operations in Regional Offices:
As part of its site visits to monitor operations in all 57 VA regional
offices, VA visited all 40 VA regional offices with the BDD program
between September 2002 and May 2008, but conducted reviews of BDD
operations in only 16 of these 40 offices (see table 3). VA had plans
to review BDD operations in eight VA regional offices in fiscal year
2008, consistent with VA's policy established in fiscal year 2004.
Table 3: Operational Reviews of the BDD Program at VA Regional Offices:
VA regional offices in which BDD operations were reviewed (16): Rating
activity sites: Salt Lake City, Utah;
Winston-Salem, N.C.
Other regional offices;
Atlanta, Ga;
Baltimore, Md;
Buffalo, N.Y;
Columbia, S.C;
Houston, Tex;
Los Angeles, Calif;
Muskogee, Okla;
Nashville, Tenn;
Phoenix, Ariz;
Roanoke, Va;
San Diego, Calif;
St. Louis, Mo;
Seattle, Wash;
Waco, Tex.
VA regional offices in which BDD operations were not reviewed (22):
Albuquerque, N.M;
Anchorage, Alaska;
Boise, Id;
Chicago, Ill;
Cleveland, Ohio;
Denver, Colo;
Fort Harrison, Mont;
Hartford, Conn;
Honolulu, Hawaii;
Jackson, Miss;
Little Rock, Ark;
Louisville, Ky;
Manchester, N.H;
Montgomery, Ala;
New Orleans, La;
New York, N.Y;
Newark, N.J;
Oakland, Calif;
Philadelphia, Penn;
Pittsburgh, Penn;
St. Petersburg, Fla;
Togus, Maine.
Source: GAO review of VA's Compensation and Pension Site Visit Reports
(September 2002 to May 2008).
Note: VA officials reported that they conducted site visits to all 40
regional offices with the BDD program and provided copies of reports
for all 40 offices, except for Lincoln, Neb., and Wichita, Kan.
[End of table]
For the 16 VA offices where reviews of the BDD program were conducted,
VA generally found the BDD program was being well run, with a few
exceptions. In conducting BDD reviews, VA uses a protocol that prompts
reviews of areas such as claim development, information dissemination,
and management of the exam process. For example, at one site, VA
reviewers noted that local personnel were processing claims according
to VA policy and personnel were doing a good job presenting information
about the program in VA benefits briefings. VA's reviews also
identified several areas in which regional officials needed to make
improvements. For example, at one site, several local agreements for
the exam process were not yet signed, and the local VA office's
outreach efforts were found to be poor--there was no information about
the program displayed on base and servicemembers were unable to contact
key BDD personnel. In most of these reviews, VA reviewers directed
regional officials to make changes to bring BDD operations into
compliance with VA policy or otherwise make improvements in their
implementation of the program.
However, compared to reviews of BDD operations at the two offices
dedicated to rating BDD claims, reviews at 14 other regional offices
that accept and develop BDD claims were lacking in two key respects.
First, VA policy is that regional office personnel fully develop BDD
claims before sending them to their rating office, even though the BDD
review protocol does not specifically prompt reviewers to determine the
extent to which regional offices are following this policy.[Footnote
19] Both rating office reviews addressed the extent to which claims
received from regional offices were fully developed, but only 4 of 14
regional office reviews provided any information on this topic. One
rating office review indicated that personnel were spending a
significant amount of time doing work to develop claims, work that
should have been done in the regional offices before sending the claim
to be rated. Further, several local VA personnel told us that it was
not unusual for claims to be sent with less than sufficient evidence
for rating personnel to make final decisions.
Second, both rating office reviews addressed the lack of agreements
between the rating office and several regional offices for processing
claims, while none of the 14 regional office reviews did. VA policy
directs the rating offices to have agreements with all of the regional
offices in their jurisdiction to define roles and responsibilities for
processing BDD claims. When reviewing rating operations, VA reviewers
found that both rating offices had only a few of these agreements and
recommended that additional agreements be established. However, none of
the reviews of regional offices that lack agreements reported this
problem, even though VA's BDD operations review protocol specifically
prompts reviewers to check for the agreements.
VA Implemented Initiatives to Improve the BDD Program, but Has Yet to
Evaluate Their Effectiveness:
VA implemented two significant initiatives to improve the BDD program
but has yet to evaluate their effectiveness. In 2006, VA completed its
effort to consolidate rating activities for BDD claims in two regional
offices--Salt Lake City, Utah, and Winston-Salem, North Carolina--in
order to improve the consistency and timeliness of BDD ratings. Through
the consolidation, VA assigned the Salt Lake City office responsibility
for rating BDD claims originating from intake sites within the 21
regional offices in VA's central and western regions and South Korea,
and assigned the Winston-Salem office responsibility for rating BDD
claims from 19 regional offices in VA's southern and eastern regions
and Germany. In fiscal year 2007, each rating office completed about
11,000 BDD claims. VA officials said that they monitor claims workloads
between the rating offices and in one case sent claims from one office
to the other so claims could be processed more quickly. However, VA has
not conducted an evaluation to determine whether consistency has
improved compared to prior practices.
VA also has yet to evaluate a second BDD initiative, known as the
paperless claims processing initiative. The primary goals of this
initiative were to increase the timeliness of claims processing and to
increase the security of BDD claims information. VA completed its pilot
of this initiative using claims from four military bases[Footnote 20]
in June 2007, in which it converted more than 2,000 paper BDD claims
into electronic format. Without conducting an evaluation of the pilot,
VA awarded a contract to a company to assist the agency in scanning
claims in September 2007 as part of implementing the paperless
initiative. In implementing the initiative, the agency experienced some
delays, because there were not enough personnel able to convert the
files into electronic format. However, in June 2008, VA reported that
it had met its interim deadlines for expanding the initiative to more
bases and was on schedule for BDD claims to be processed electronically
by its final deadline of October 1, 2008.
Well-developed evaluations have a number of benefits perhaps, most
importantly, yielding sound results to support effective program and
policy decisions.[Footnote 21] VA's lack of evaluations of these
initiatives may have resulted in changes to BDD processes that provided
less than optimal service to servicemembers who apply to the BDD
program. Although the paperless initiative may soon be fully
implemented, the agency has yet to evaluate the extent to which the
initiative is reaching stated goals, and make any adjustments needed to
improve its effectiveness.
VA and DOD Have Taken Steps to Increase Access to the BDD Program, but
Some Servicemembers Continue to Face Barriers to Participation:
VA and DOD have taken a number of steps to increase access to the BDD
program, but program participation continues to be a challenge for some
servicemembers. VA and DOD have implemented the BDD program at bases
from which most servicemembers are discharged and have implemented an
alternative program for servicemembers who cannot meet some of the
logistical requirements necessary to participate in the BDD program.
However, the extent to which this alternative program expedites
benefits for some servicemembers is unclear because data are limited.
VA and DOD have also coordinated to provide servicemembers with
information on the BDD program; however military duties and changes in
local military leadership may hinder some members' attendance. Finally,
although VA and DOD implemented local MOUs to provide a cooperative
exam process at most bases offering BDD, some bases have experienced
challenges in maintaining MOUs.
Servicemembers Who Cannot Meet BDD Program Requirements May Participate
in a New Predischarge Program, but Data Are Limited:
Although VA and DOD have designed the BDD program in such a way as to
provide most servicemembers with access, some members may not be able
to participate. Specifically, although VA and DOD offered the program
at 142 bases, as of September 2007, close to 29 percent of
servicemembers were not able to file a BDD claim, because they were
discharged at bases not offering the program.[Footnote 22] In July
2008, VA issued policy guidance that allowed servicemembers being
discharged from any military base to file BDD claims at other locations
where VA personnel were located, such as at all of its 57 regional
offices. However, according to a VA official, the revised policy did
not increase the number of military bases that served as intake sites
for BDD claims.
Nevertheless, some servicemembers discharged from bases offering the
BDD program still may not be able to file a claim through the BDD
program, because they do not meet some of the eligibility requirements,
such as initiating a claim 60 to 180 days prior to discharge or
remaining within the vicinity of the base in order to complete their
exams. According to VA officials, this is particularly a challenge for
demobilizing servicemembers of the National Guard and Reserve, because
they typically remain at a base for no more than 2 to 5 days before
returning home. According to VA officials, in this short time frame,
National Guard and Reserve members are generally unable to complete the
VA exam needed to participate in the BDD program. VA officials also
told us that it can be challenging in this short period of time for
National Guard and Reserve members to obtain required copies of their
service medical records. Similarly, according to VA officials we spoke
with, other servicemembers, such as those in the Navy, also may be
unable to participate in the program because they may be located on
ships or other remote locations up until a few days prior to discharge.
Finally, servicemembers going through the DOD Medical Board process are
ineligible for the BDD program because, according to one VA official
these servicemembers typically do not have an assigned discharge date
until after the 60-to 180-day window. Having a firm discharge date is
required for program participation to avoid servicemembers returning to
active duty service after completing the claims process, according to
VA officials.[Footnote 23]
In April 2007, VA established a new predischarge program to provide
members who cannot participate in the BDD program, such as National
Guard and Reserve members or members going through the Medical Board
process, an opportunity to initiate disability claims before they are
discharged, however data are limited. Typically, under this program,
local VA personnel develop servicemembers' claims as much as possible
prior to discharge and then send the claim to the VA regional office
closest to where the servicemember will reside. However, the extent to
which servicemembers are filing VA disability claims through the new
predischarge program is unclear. VA officials told us that when they
first began accepting predischarge claims in April 2007, they were
concerned with data accuracy, because the distinction between
predischarge and BDD claims was relatively new.[Footnote 24] Concern
with data quality prevented us from analyzing claims filed under
predischarge. However, VA does collect data on claims filed by military
service and has recently updated its claims management program to
include the ability to track claims by base of origin. In the
futureæwith respect to claims filed under BDD, predischarge, and
traditional claims processesæVA should be able to draw comparisons
among the military branches. However, the agency does not collect data
that allow it to distinguish between National Guard or Reserves and
full-time active duty servicemembers who file such claims.
Consequently, VA officials are unable to determine the extent to which
either program is meeting the needs of the servicemembers they are
intended to serve.
Meeting the needs of servicemembers would include providing timely and
accurate decisions for predischarge claims; however much like BDD
claims, accuracy is not measured separately for predischarge claims and
timeliness measures for these claims do not include claims development
prior to discharge. According to VA officials, the timeliness of
predischarge claims may vary substantially from both BDD and
traditional claims. For example, servicemembers who are on base only a
few days prior to discharge, such as members of the National Guard and
Reserves, may have enough time only to fill out the application before
returning home and may need to schedule the VA exam necessary to fully
develop their claim after discharge. Overall, this will most likely
result in less timely receipt of VA disability compensation than
through the BDD program, but more timely than traditional claims. On
the other hand, servicemembers with more time before discharge may be
able to complete more or all of the claim development process,
including the VA exam, during this time frame. Moreover, because
predischarge claims are generally developed in two locationsæat a base
before discharge and at the VA regional office closest to where the
servicemember will reside after dischargeæthere may be more
opportunities for error in the development process. Because VA does not
separately or adequately track accuracy and timeliness of predischarge
claims, it may be unable to identify trends and potential challenges
associated with developing and processing these claims.
VA and DOD Have Coordinated to Provide Briefings with Information about
BDD, but Military Duties and Other Factors May Hinder Some
Servicemembers from Attending:
VA and DOD have coordinated to provide servicemembers with information
about the BDD program through VA benefits briefings and other
initiatives, but attending these briefings is optional for most
servicemembers. According to DOD and VA personnel, servicemembers most
commonly learn about the program through VA benefits briefings
conducted as part of the Transition Assistance Program (TAP) sessions,
although at some bases they may also learn about BDD through base
television spots, papers, and word of mouth. The Marine Corps is the
only service branch to require servicemembers to attend VA benefits
briefings. For the other service branches, participation requirements
may vary by base and command. In addition, DOD policy mandates
servicemembers' participation in preseparation counseling, which
includes a checklist where servicemembers may indicate any subsequent
services they would like to receive, such as participation in VA
benefits briefings. However, some members may not recognize they are
entitled to receive VA benefits prior to attending a VA benefits
briefing.
Whether commanders and supervisors encourage servicemembers to attend
briefings varies by base. In our current and prior work, we found that
commanders' and supervisors' support for transition services, such as
VA-sponsored benefits briefings, play a role in determining whether
servicemembers have access to these services.[Footnote 25] Even though
DOD policy requires commanders to allow servicemembers to attend TAP
sessions upon the member's request made during preseparation
counseling, VA personnel at one base told us that they have received
calls from servicemembers who have not been released from their duties
to attend the briefings. In these cases, VA personnel told us that they
called supervisors--and, in some cases, had to go higher up the chain
of command--to obtain permission for these members to attend briefings.
Similarly, based on a site visit report VA officials characterized the
outreach at two bases as cumbersome due to conflicting missions between
VA and DOD and because some base commanders did not fully support the
BDD program. VA officials also noted that briefings were not mandatory
at these bases and that in many cases, servicemembers were called back
from the briefings due to conflicting military requirements.
To address these concerns, some military officials have recommended
that servicemembers be required to attend TAP sessions. Some DOD
officials told us that servicemembers may not recognize the importance
of the VA benefits briefings if participation is not required, because
members have a host of discharge requirements and limited time to
complete them. TAP representatives at DOD have proposed making
attendance at VA briefings mandatory for all service branches,[Footnote
26] and VA reports that it has pursued an agreement with DOD to make
such attendance mandatory. Similarly, following issuance of the report
of the Task Force on Returning Global War on Terror Heroes[Footnote 27]
in April 2007, DOD officials considered mandating servicemember
participation in TAP, including the VA benefits briefings, to ensure
the transition needs of servicemembers discharging from military
service are fully addressed, according to one DOD official.[Footnote
28]
Rather than mandate attendance, in August 2007 DOD decided to implement
a recommendation of the Task Force that DOD establish a goal that 85
percent of separating servicemembers and demobilizing National Guard
and Reserve members participate in TAP sessions, including VA benefits
briefings. However, DOD has yet to develop specific plans for reaching
this goal, and has delegated this responsibility to the recently formed
TAP Executive Steering Committee. According to DOD, as of May 2008,
membership of the Committee is still being finalized and the Committee
has not yet convened. In the course of our review, we learned that TAP
participation data may be inaccurate or overstated. For example, VA and
DOD officials told us that attendance is tracked by documenting the
number of servicemembers, rather than using unique identifiers for each
servicemember. As a result of this practice, servicemembers who attend
more than one briefing may be counted more than once, thus overstating
the number of members actually attending them.
Most BDD Sites Have Local Memoranda of Understanding to Provide a
Cooperative Exam Process, but Maintaining Them Has Been a Challenge for
Some Bases:
Most BDD sites, as defined prior to July 2008, had local MOUs to
provide a cooperative exam process, but implementation varied
significantly. Through a national agreement and memoranda, DOD and VA
have provided a framework for local VA and DOD officials to create
their own MOUs. According to VA, as of May 2008, 130 of the 142 DOD
bases that offered the BDD program in fiscal year 2007 had a local MOU
in place; the remaining 12 were newer and had yet to establish local
MOUs.[Footnote 29]
As noted previously, the national agreement recognizes that not all
bases may be able to provide a single separation exam for
servicemembers, and therefore affords local officials the flexibility
to develop a process to support servicemembers in completing a VA exam
prior to being discharged. Information provided by VA demonstrated a
range of implementation practices. For example, implementation of the
cooperative exam process varied by who conducts the exams: VA
physicians or contractors, DOD physicians, or a combination. According
to data provided by VA, more than 60 percent of bases offering the BDD
program in 2007 had local MOUs that call for the exclusive use of VA
physicians, while almost 30 percent used VA contractors to conduct
exams (see table 4). Only about 7 percent of bases offering BDD
conducted VA exams through a sequential process utilizing resources and
exams from both VA and DOD. For example, at two bases, DOD officials
started the exam process by conducting diagnostic testing, such as
hearing and vision tests; a VA physician or contractor conducted the
remainder of the exam in order to meet both VA and DOD separation
requirements. At bases offering the BDD program overseas, VA exams were
conducted by physicians under contract with DOD, because VA does not
have VA physicians located at these bases.
Table 4: Use of Various Exam Providers to Conduct VA Exams at Bases
Offering the BDD Program:
Providers: VA physician;
Number of bases[A]: 79;
Percentage: 61.
Providers: VA contractor;
Number of bases[A]: 37;
Percentage: 28.
Providers: DOD contractor;
Number of bases[A]: 5;
Percentage: 4.
Providers: VA and DOD physicians;
Number of bases[A]: 8;
Percentage: 6.
Providers: VA contractor and DOD physicians;
Number of bases[A]: 1;
Percentage: 1.
Providers: Total;
Number of bases[A]: 130;
Percentage: 100.
Source: GAO analysis of VA information.
[A] The number of bases does not include the 12 bases VA recently
added, because they do not have signed local MOUs outlining the
administration of the cooperative exam process.
[End of table]
Neither DOD nor VA had a process in place to comprehensively track the
implementation of local MOUs, and we found in our site visits that some
bases were not conducting exams as stipulated in the local
MOUs.[Footnote 30] For example, even when a local MOU called for
exclusive use of a VA physician or contractor to provide one
cooperative exam, we found that some servicemembers participating in
the BDD program were required to go through two exams--a DOD separation
exam and a VA exam. Specifically, at some bases, DOD physicians and VA
contractors conducted exams independent of each other and did not share
any of the exam results or lab work. In contrast, at another base
offering BDD, VA contractors conducted VA exams and provided copies to
DOD physicians who used the exam to satisfy servicemembers' service
branch discharge requirements. Some servicemembers at bases where
multiple exams are conducted may find this burdensome and consequently
choose not to participate in the program or find it takes longer for
their claims to be developed.
In general, our site visits and interviews revealed two primary
challenges associated with maintaining a cooperative exam process that
may cause delays for servicemembers participating in the BDD program or
discourage their participation. As shown in table 5, officials in 8 of
the 14 bases we visited and interviewed identified challenges in
administering a cooperative exam process.
Table 5: Challenges Local VA or DOD Personnel Reported to GAO in
Implementing Cooperative Exam Processes at Selected Bases Offering the
BDD Program:
Service branch (Number of bases): Air Force (2 bases);
Reported challenges: One base reported communication and resource
challenges. Specifically, DOD personnel were unaware that a signed
local MOU on a cooperative exam process existed. Personnel also
reported that finding space to conduct VA exams is difficult;
One base reported no challenges.
Service branch (Number of bases): Army (8 bases);
Reported challenges: Two bases reported communication challenges;
* One base reported that the cooperative exam process was not being
conducted as outlined in the local MOU due to changes in command
leadership and some DOD officials were unfamiliar with the program.
Officials reported a new local MOU was needed;
* At another base DOD personnel reported that they could not implement
the cooperative exam process as outlined in their local MOU because of
challenges in coordinating VA and Army separation requirements and base
commanders placing less emphasis on providing a single separation exam;
Three bases reported communication and resources challenges;
* At one base, the cooperative exam process was not being conducted as
outlined in the local MOU because local officials were unable to find
physicians qualified to conduct exams that met both VA and Army
protocols. Personnel also reported that some military personnel do not
have a good working relationship with VA and some personnel have
difficulties adapting to new processes;
* At another base, physicians often performed exams that did not meet
VA protocols and the limited number of physicians contracted to conduct
VA exams caused backlogs;
* One base reported a lack of coordination between VA and DOD and
acknowledged that the cooperative exam process was not currently in
practice, because DOD personnel believed the practice resulted in lost
productivity even though it was convenient to the servicemember;
Three bases reported no challenges.
Service branch (Number of bases): Marine Corps (2 bases);
Reported challenges: One base reported resource challenges.
Specifically, the cooperative exam process worked well in the past, but
was not consistently being used because of the operational sensitivity
and timeframes associated with recent conflicts;
One base reported no challenges and was considered by VA to be a model
site.
Service branch (Number of bases): Navy (2 bases);
Reported challenges: One base reported communication challenges.
Specifically, local officials indicated that they had not coordinated
to provide a cooperative exam process and that servicemembers received
both a military separation exam and a VA exam;
One base reported no challenges, and the current MOU was being updated
to more accurately reflect the cooperative exam process.
Source: GAO analysis of VA information.
[End of table]
One challenge identified at five bases involved resource constraints,
which can delay servicemembers' exams or otherwise make it difficult to
meet time frames required by the BDD program. For example, at one base
there was no designated VA exam provider for more than 7 months and, as
a result, there was a significant backlog of exams. At another base
that had difficulties hiring physicians, VA officials told us that DOD
physicians performed exams that only met DOD requirements because
meeting VA requirements was more time intensive. One VA staff member
told us that DOD physicians often view providing VA exams as a strain
on already limited resources and give it lower priority than their
other duties. In another example, VA officials told us that VA staff at
one base were displaced due to construction and were not guaranteed new
space once work was completed. Such a lack of adequate space to conduct
exams could limit servicemembers' access to VA personnel or require
them to travel off-base to one or more physicians' offices for their
exams. In contrast, at the one base VA officials identified as a model
for conducting a cooperative exam process, VA contract physicians
conduct exams on-site and VA personnel also were located on-site.
Another challenge identified at seven bases related to lack of
communication about or awareness of the local cooperative exam MOU,
which could affect servicemembers' access to timely and efficient
exams. In one case, communication between base commanders and VA was
conducted on what they referred to as a need-only basis, if at all. On
the other end of the spectrum, local VA and DOD personnel at some bases
told us they held regular meetings to ensure the cooperative exam
process was being implemented in line with the local MOU. Staffing
uncertainties, caused by deployment of a key DOD local official or
changes in command leadership, created additional communications
challenges on some bases and made it difficult to administer local
MOUs. For example, after a leadership change at one base, the military
personnel we spoke with were not familiar with the BDD program or the
cooperative exam process established by their signed local MOU. As a
result, contrary to their local MOU, servicemembers at this base were
required to get both a DOD separation physical and a VA exam. Such a
requirement could delay claims processing or discourage some
servicemembers from participating in the BDD program. Similarly,
veterans' service organization officials told us that one of their
staff members who was discharged from a base with limited communication
between VA and DOD was referred back and forth between VA and DOD in
order to complete both departments' discharge requirements. Ultimately,
according to veterans' service organization officials, this member did
not complete the exam process within BDD's required time frames and had
to file the claim after discharge. In contrast, to facilitate a smooth
transition, personnel at one base held briefings to help incoming
leadership understand the BDD program and the administration of the
ongoing local MOU.
DOD and VA have provided some guidance to date on implementing and
maintaining local MOUs. However, personnel in some of the sites we
visited were unfamiliar with how other bases were implementing the
cooperative exam processes and expressed interest in learning about
promising practices at other bases. Further, neither VA nor DOD has
recently evaluated or disseminated best practices associated with
successful implementation that might help local officials address
challenges they face in administering this process.
Conclusions:
The BDD program has been regarded by many as a success story--an
effective means for thousands of separating servicemembers to receive
their disability benefits faster than if they had filed a claim under
VA's traditional process. This program does have inherent advantages;
however, VA has not yet taken enough steps to ensure accountability in
its implementation of the program. For example, without adequate
measures for BDD timeliness and accuracy, VA is unable to sufficiently
monitor development of BDD claims. Second, given that VA has conducted
reviews of BDD operations in only 16 of the 40 regional offices, its
monitoring approach has, to date, been insufficient to identify and
resolve variations from VA policy, such as sending claims forward to be
rated without sufficient evidence. Further, without evaluating its
recent initiatives to improve the program, such as paperless claims
processing, VA may not be taking full advantage of opportunities to
improve implementation of the program.
Additionally, DOD and VA have taken several important steps to extend
BDD access to servicemembers at military bases other than the 142
intake sites, inform servicemembers about BDD and facilitate their BDD
applications. Nevertheless, servicemembers continue to face a variety
of challenges gaining prompt access to benefits provided by this
important program. First, servicemembers unable to attend VA benefits
briefings may not become aware of the BDD program, or even the benefits
to which they are entitled. Although VA and DOD have set a goal for
servicemembers' participation, without a plan or a way to accurately
measure progress toward meeting that goal, the agencies have little
information on the extent to which VA benefits briefings are reaching
all transitioning servicemembers who may benefit from the BDD program.
Second, absent collection and review of data on claims filed by
component, VA cannot know the extent to which servicemembers have
comparable access to and receive timely benefits under these two
programs. Finally, not all servicemembers are afforded the convenience
of a cooperative exam, because VA has not taken steps to ensure that
local officials are maintaining their MOUs or capitalizing on best
practices. To the extent that VA and DOD do not address gaps in
accountability and challenges to participation in the BDD program,
these agencies are missing opportunities to further this program's
success and assist all servicemembers in their transition from military
duty to civilian life.
Recommendations for Executive Action:
To improve accountability for performance in the BDD program and
alternative predischarge program, we recommend that the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs direct the Under Secretary of Veterans Benefits to:
1. track and account for the time needed for claims development
activities that occur prior to discharge in the agency's timeliness
calculation for BDD and pre-discharge claims;
2. consider the cost of options for separately estimating the accuracy
of BDD and predischarge claims;
3. collect data for all claims filed by component (for example,
National Guard or Reserves) and analyze the extent to which different
components are filing claims and receiving timely benefits under BDD,
predischarge and traditional claims processes;
4. conduct an evaluation of the paperless claims processing initiative
to determine which adjustments, if any, are needed to improve its
effectiveness; and:
5. include program reviews of BDD operations as part of oversight
visits to regional offices with BDD operations and take steps to
further ensure such reviews are conducted and reported on more
consistently.
To ensure that potentially eligible participants are aware of the BDD
program, we recommend that the Secretary of Defense direct the Under
Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness to establish:
1. an accurate measure of servicemembers' participation in TAP
including VA benefit briefings; and:
2. a plan with specific time frames for meeting its goal of 85 percent
participation rate in TAP.
To ensure that servicemembers have full access to a cooperative exam
process that is convenient, efficient, and consistent for
servicemembers, the Chairs of the Joint Executive Council should direct
the Benefits Executive Council to identify and disseminate information
on promising practices that address challenges local officials commonly
face.
Agency Comments and Our Evaluation:
We provided a draft of this report to VA and DOD for review and
comment. Both agencies provided written comments, shown in appendixes
II and III respectively, and VA provided technical comments which we
have incorporated into the report as appropriate.
VA agreed with most of our recommendations. Specifically, VA agreed to
conduct a cost-benefit analysis to separately evaluate the accuracy of
BDD and predischarge claims. VA also agreed to evaluate its capacity to
collect data for analyzing the extent to which different components are
filing claims and receiving timely benefits under BDD, predischarge,
and traditional claims processing. VA also agreed to conduct oversight
reviews of BDD operations regularly and consistently. VA concurred in
part with our recommendation to evaluate its paperless processing
initiative prior to additional expansion, noting that it plans to move
forward with the initiative but will simultaneously monitor and
evaluate its progress. While we support VA's efforts to reduce its use
of paper files and move to a system of developing and rating claims
electronically, we maintain that it is important to conduct an
evaluation of the paperless initiative at the earliest possible time to
minimize potential implementation challenges, and modified our
recommendation accordingly.
VA did not concur with our recommendation that it include the time its
personnel spend on developing BDD and predischarge claims in its
corresponding timeliness measures for three reasons. Specifically, VA
stated that (1) it has no legal authority to pay benefits until the
member has been discharged and becomes a veteran; (2) a servicemember
may not be discharged as planned in that the member's time may be
extended or the member may decide to remain on active duty; and (3) the
development time prior to discharge would not be an accurate measure of
VA timeliness, because it is possible that a claim could be fully
developed well in advance of the member's discharge date, in which case
the claim could await rating and payment decisions for months. We did
modify the recommendation and acknowledge VA's efforts to measure
timeliness of claims processing after a servicemember becomes a veteran
and that VA lacks legal authority to pay benefits before discharge.
However, VA personnel are spending resources to develop claims prior to
discharge, and the lack of authority to pay benefits does not preclude
VA from tracking and accounting for those activities. Moreover, if VA
accounted for time that its personnel are actively developing BDD or
predischarge claims--as opposed to including the time that claims have
already been developed and are only waiting for the servicemember to be
discharged--then the agency would more accurately measure claims
timeliness. Consistent with our recommendation, VA could collaborate
with DOD to develop and implement these measures, because local
military officials also play a role in facilitating a member's BDD
application in that they must release servicemembers from their duties
for claims-related activities, such as getting their medical exams and
records.[Footnote 31] This would also be consistent with past
practices, whereby VA and DOD collaborated in defining measures of
participation in BDD under the auspices of their Joint Executive
Council.[Footnote 32]
DOD concurred with all of our recommendations. For example, DOD agreed
to develop a more accurate measure of servicemember participation in
TAP as well as a plan to help it reach its goal of 85 percent
participation. DOD expressed some concern that, because most of TAP is
voluntary and is provided by other agencies, it will face challenges in
developing its participation measure and plan. We agree that the
voluntary nature of the program represents a challenge, but maintain
that effective outreach to servicemembers and coordination with other
agencies should help DOD implement these recommendations.
As agreed with your offices, unless you publicly announce its contents
earlier, we plan no further distribution of this report until 30 days
after its issue date. At that time, we will send copies of this report
to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Secretary of Defense, appropriate
congressional committees, and other interested parties. We will also
make copies available to others upon request. In addition, the report
will be available at no charge on GAO's Web site [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov].
If you or your staffs have any questions about this report, please
contact me at (202) 512-7215 or at bertonid@gao.gov. Contact points for
our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found
on the last page of this report. Key contributors to this report are
listed in appendix IV.
Signed by:
Daniel Bertoni:
Director, Education, Workforce, and Income Security Issues:
List of Requesters:
The Honorable Steve Buyer:
Ranking Member, Committee on Veterans' Affairs:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable John J. Hall:
Chairman, Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs:
Committee on Veterans' Affair:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Harry E. Mitchell:
Chairman, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations:
Committee on Veterans' Affairs:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable John F. Tierney:
Chairman, Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs:
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Jason Altmire:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Michael Arcuri:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Nancy Boyda:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Bruce Braley:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Christopher Carney:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Kathy Castor:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Yvette Clarke:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Steve Cohen:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Joe Courtney:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable David Davis:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Joe Donnelly:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Keith Ellison:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Brad Ellsworth:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Gabrielle Giffords:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Kirsten Gillibrand:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Phil Hare:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Baron Hill:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Mazie Hirono:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Paul Hodes:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Henry "Hank" Johnson, Jr.:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Steve Kagen, M.D.:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Ron Klein:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Nick Lampson:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable David Loebsack:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Tim Mahoney:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Jerry McNerney:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Christopher Murphy:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Patrick Murphy:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Ed Perlmutter:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Ciro Rodriguez:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable John Sarbanes:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Joe Sestak:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Carol Shea-Porter:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Heath Shuler:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Albio Sires:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Zachary Space:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Betty Sutton:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Timothy Walz:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Peter Welch:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Charles Wilson:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable John Yarmuth:
House of Representatives:
[End of section]
Appendix I: Scope and Methodology:
Our overall research objectives were to examine the Department of
Veterans Affairs' (VA) efforts to manage and improve the Benefits
Delivery at Discharge (BDD) program and determine how VA and the
Department of Defense (DOD) are addressing challenges servicemembers
face in accessing the program. To address these objectives, we reviewed
several key documents, such as policy guidance, program manuals, and
service regulations (see section on Review of Key Documents) and
conducted interviews with national DOD and VA officials (see sections
on Interviews with National DOD and VA Officials and Veterans' Service
Organizations). We also visited five VA regional offices, including the
two regional offices with rating activity sites, and conducted phone
interviews with officials in another four regional offices (see section
on Site Visits and Interviews at VA Regional Offices and Military
Bases). We also conducted site visits and interviews with VA and DOD
personnel at 14 bases offering the BDD program within the jurisdiction
of these VA regional offices. In addition, VA provided us with
information on the number and location of bases offering the BDD
program, the number of claims filed, exam providers used, and program
timeliness reports. DOD provided us with data on the number of
servicemembers who were discharged (see section on VA and DOD data). We
assessed the reliability of these data and determined they were
suitable for the purposes of this report. These data were current as of
February 2008. Finally, we reviewed prior GAO reports and other
relevant documentation. We conducted this performance audit from July
2007 to September 2008 in accordance with generally accepted government
auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform
the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a
reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit
objectives. We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable
basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.
Review of Key Documents:
We obtained and reviewed a variety of documentation from VA, such as
the VA Compensation and Pension Adjudication Procedure Manual Rewrite,
policy guidance, copies of local memoranda of understanding (MOU) on
the cooperative exam process, and Compensation and Pension site visit
reports. We also obtained and reviewed a variety of documentation from
DOD, including service regulations, memoranda and directives, and task
force reports. We also reviewed reports from both agencies' inspectors
general on their evaluations of assistance provided to transitioning
servicemembers.
Interviews with National DOD and VA Officials:
We interviewed national DOD and VA officials to understand the
administration and monitoring of the BDD program, including officials
with the Army Office of the Surgeon General, VA/DOD Coordination
Office, VA's Director of Benefits Delivery at Discharge, VA's Office of
Quality Assurance, and VA's Office of Field Operations. Our interviews
with VA officials and personnel covered the following topics: roles and
responsibilities for processing BDD claims, BDD performance measurement
and data systems, oversight of regional implementation of BDD, and VA's
initiatives to improve BDD. Our interviews with DOD officials and
personnel covered efforts and challenges to providing outreach for the
BDD program, including the implementation of a new participation goal.
We also met with VA and DOD representatives on the Benefits Executive
Council's BDD Working Group to discuss the status of various
initiatives related to BDD, including the development of a new
participation measure.
Interviews with Veterans' Service Organizations:
To gain additional perspectives on the management and improvement of
the BDD program and servicemembers' access to the program, we
interviewed officials from a number of veterans' service organizations,
including Disabled American Veterans, Paralyzed American Veterans,
Military Officers Alumni Association, and Veterans of Foreign Wars,
among others. These interviews included organization personnel who
helped develop BDD claims at select military bases.
Site Visits and Interviews at VA Regional Offices and Military Bases:
We conducted site visits to bases offering the BDD program under the
jurisdiction of five VA regional offices--Chicago, Illinois; Roanoke,
Virginia; Salt Lake City, Utah; Seattle, Washington; and Winston-
Salem, North Carolina. We also conducted phone interviews with bases
offering the BDD program under the jurisdiction of an additional four
VA regional offices --Buffalo, New York; San Diego, California;
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Waco, Texas. In total, we conducted site
visits and phone interviews with nine VA regional offices and 14 bases
offering the BDD program.
We selected a mix of regional offices and bases using the following
criteria: (1) the presence of a base offering the BDD program, (2)
dispersion across the four Veterans Benefits Administration geographic
areas (eastern, southern, central, and western), (3) the number of BDD
and predischarge claims filed in 2006, and (4) representation of the
military service branches. We also considered whether the regional
office included one of the two BDD rating offices. In making our
selections, we also factored in the regional office's and bases'
reputation for the administration of the BDD program, which we
determined based on input from national DOD and VA officials and other
sources. Table 6 lists our selected site visit locations and summarizes
the selection criteria for each regional office.
Table 6: Key Selection Criteria for Site Visit Locations and
Interviews:
VA regional office[A]: Site Visits: Chicago;
Base: Naval Station Great Lakes;
Veterans Benefits Administration geographic area: Central;
Average number of BDD claims in development per week, 2006[B]: 2;
Service branch: Navy.
VA regional office[A]: Site Visits: Roanoke;
Base: Fort Lee;
Walter Reed Army Medical Center;
Veterans Benefits Administration geographic area: Southern;
Average number of BDD claims in development per week, 2006[B]: 20;
Service branch: Army;
Army.
VA regional office[A]: Site Visits: Salt Lake City;
Base: Hill Air Force Base;
Veterans Benefits Administration geographic area: Western;
Average number of BDD claims in development per week, 2006[B]: 930;
[Empty];
Service branch: Air Force.
VA regional office[A]: Site Visits: Seattle;
Base: Fort Lewis;
Whidbey Island Naval Air Station;
Veterans Benefits Administration geographic area: Western;
Average number of BDD claims in development per week, 2006[B]: 16;
Service branch: Army;
Navy.
VA regional office[A]: Site Visits: Winston-Salem;
Base: Camp Lejeune;
Fort Bragg;
Veterans Benefits Administration geographic area: Southern;
Average number of BDD claims in development per week, 2006[B]: 2,639;
Service branch: Marine Corps;
Army.
VA regional office[A]: Interviews: Buffalo;
Base: Fort Drum;
Veterans Benefits Administration geographic area: Eastern;
Average number of BDD claims in development per week, 2006[B]: 11;
[Empty];
Service branch: Army.
VA regional office[A]: Interviews: Pittsburgh;
Base: Landstuhl Medical Center;
Yongsan Garrison;
Veterans Benefits Administration geographic area: Eastern;
Average number of BDD claims in development per week, 2006[B]: 12;
Service branch: Army;
Army.
VA regional office[A]: Interviews: San Diego;
Base: Camp Pendleton;
Veterans Benefits Administration geographic area: Western;
Average number of BDD claims in development per week, 2006[B]: 395;
Service branch: Marine Corps.
VA regional office[A]: Interviews: Waco;
Base: Dyess Air Force Base;
Fort Bliss;
Veterans Benefits Administration geographic area: Central;
Average number of BDD claims in development per week, 2006[B]: 102;
Service branch: Air Force;
Army.
Source: GAO analysis of DOD and VA information.
[A] Salt Lake City and Winston-Salem are BDD rating offices.
[B] These data show the average number of BDD claims that was in
development each week in selected regional offices in calendar year
2006.
[End of table]
VA Regional Office Site Visits and Interviews:
During our VA regional office site visits and most of our phone
interviews, we spoke with regional office management responsible for
the administration of the BDD program, including the regional office
managers and service center managers.[Footnote 33] In addition, at the
rating offices, we spoke with BDD coaches responsible for the
supervision of the processing and rating of BDD claims.
Base Site Visits and Interviews:
During our base site visits or phone interviews, we also spoke with VA
and military personnel responsible for the administration of the BDD
program and the cooperative exam process. In addition, during our site
visits we toured the bases, including exam facilities. At one base we
attended the VA benefits portion of a Transition Assistance Program, as
well as a claims workshop. We also followed-up on some of our site
visits by phone or e-mail to collect additional information.
VA and DOD Data:
To examine VA's timeliness and accuracy for processing BDD claims, VA
provided us with the following information for fiscal year 2007: (1)
average number of days pending for BDD claims specifically and all
claims (including BDD); (2) average number of days to complete work on
claims for BDD claims specifically and all claims (including BDD); and
(3) percentage of all claims that were accurately rated by VA rating
personnel.
To examine servicemembers' access to the BDD program, VA provided us
with (1) the total number of claims filed through the BDD program for
fiscal years 2003 through 2007; (2) the number filed in each of the two
rating offices in fiscal year 2007; and (3) the percentage of first-
year claims filed through the BDD program in fiscal years 2005 through
2007. VA also provided us with the number of claims filed through the
predischarge program, an alternative to the BDD program between April
2007 and April 2008.
To examine servicemembers' access to bases offering the BDD program, VA
provided us with a list of bases offering the BDD program and the
status of their implementation of local MOUs for administering a
cooperative exam process, as well as copies of these MOUs. From this
list, we calculated the total number of bases offering the BDD program
and the number of bases with MOUs in place. To examine challenges to
providing a cooperative exam process, VA provided us with a list of VA
exam providers for bases offering the BDD program. From this list, we
calculated the use of exam providers across bases offering the BDD
program.
To examine servicemembers' access to bases offering the BDD program,
DOD provided us with data on the number of servicemembers discharged
from bases internationally in fiscal year 2007. From these data, we
analyzed the total number and percentage of servicemembers who were
discharged from bases offering the BDD program.
[End of section]
Appendix II: Comments from the Department of Veterans Affairs:
The Deputy Secretary Of Veterans Affairs:
Washington:
August 4, 2008:
Mr. Dan Bertoni:
Director:
Education, Workforce and Income Security:
U.S. Government Accountability Office:
441 G Street, NW:
Washington, DC 20548:
Dear Mr. Bertoni:
The Department of Veterans Affairs has reviewed your draft report,
Veterans' Disability Benefits: Better Accountability and Access Would
Improve the Benefits Delivery at Discharge Program, (GAO-08-901) and
concurs with the majority of your recommendations.
The enclosures address the Government Accountability Office's
recommendations and provide additional discussion and technical
comments to the draft report. VA appreciates the opportunity to comment
on your draft report.
Sincerely yours,
Signed by:
Gordon H. Mansfield:
Enclosures:
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Comments to Government
Accountability Office (GAO) Draft Report VETERANS' DISABILITY BENEFITS:
Better Accountability and Access Would Improve the Benefits Delivery at
Discharge Program (GAO-08-901):
Recommendation 1: Include time needed for claims development activities
that occur prior to discharge in the agency's timeliness calculation
for BDD and pre-discharge claims and measure timeliness of BDD and pre-
discharge claims separately from timeliness for traditional claims.
Non Concur - The Benefits Delivery at Discharge (BDD) program helps
service members complete the disability compensation application
process and required medical examinations prior to their separation
from service, so that payment of compensation can begin as soon as
possible after separation. VA assists service members in filing a BDD
claim up to 180 days prior to their projected date of separation. VA
does not consider in its timeliness calculation the period between
receipt of the BDD claim and the service member's separation from
service because:
* VA has no legal authority to pay benefits until the claimant is
separated from military service. Fully developed claims therefore must
be held until the service member is separated.
* The active duty service time may be extended, or the service member
may decide to remain on active duty.
* Inclusion of development time prior to a service member's separation
from service would not be an accurate measure of VA's timeliness.
For example, when a service member files a claim on the 180th day prior
to discharge, a diary is established with a date of claim 6 months in
the future. After the examination report and service treatment records
are scanned and forwarded to the rating activity site (RAS), the claim
still cannot be promulgated until the day following the service
member's release from active duty. By the time a service member is
released from service, the claim might have been at the RAS in a ready
for decision status for several months.
Since the time that elapses between the receipt of a pre-discharge
claim and the award of benefits is not directly related to the
development of the claim, it should not be included in the measurement
of VA's timeliness. In BDD claims, the date of separation drives the
timeliness of actions prior to discharge. By contrast, in traditional
claims processing, it is the date of receipt of the claim that drives
timeliness.
Recommendation 2: Consider the cost of options for separately
estimating the accuracy of BDD and pre-discharge claims.
Concur – The Veterans Benefit Administration (VBA) will conduct a cost-
benefit analysis to separately evaluate the accuracy of BDD and quick
start pre-discharge claims processing.
Recommendation 3: Collect data for all claims filed by component (for
example, National Guard or Reserves) and analyze the extent to which
different components are filing claims and receiving timely benefits
under BDD, pre-discharge and traditional claims processes.
Concur – VBA will evaluate its capacity to collect this data.
Recommendation 4: Prior to additional expansion, conduct an evaluation
of the paperless claims processing initiative to determine which
aspects of the initiatives have been effective, which have not, and
what challenges remain for future expansion.
Concur in part – VA believes it must continue to move forward with the
paperless claims processing initiative. However, VBA will continue to
monitor all aspects of this initiative and evaluate its progress to
ensure we proceed effectively and efficiently, and that changes do not
negatively impact delivery of benefits to veterans.
Recommendation 5: Include program reviews of BDD operations as part of
oversight visits to regional offices with BDD operations and take steps
to further ensure such reviews are conducted and reported on more
consistently.
Concur – C&P Service has been conducting oversight visits to BDD intake
sites since 2005. Members from the C&P Service Procedures and Program
Development Staff perform reviews of BDD operations at field stations
and RAS.
[End of section]
Appendix III: Comments from the Department of Defense:
Office Of The Under Secretary Of Defense:
4000 Defense Pentagon:
Washington, D.C. 20301-4000:
Personnel And Readiness:
August 5, 2008:
Mr. Daniel Bertoni:
Director, Education, Workforce, and Income Security Issues:
U.S. Government Accountability Office:
441 G. Street NW:
Washington, D.C. 20548
Dear Mr. Bertoni:
This is the Department of Defense (DoD) response to the GAO draft
report GAO-08-901, 'Veteran's Disability Benefits: Better
Accountability and Access Would Improve the Benefits Delivery at
Discharge Program,' dated July 8, 2008 (GAO Code 130790).
We have reviewed the draft report and provide the enclosed written
comments.
My point of contact is Mr. Michael Lincecum, who can be reached at 703-
696- 8710 or via email at michael.lincecum@osd.pentagon.mil.
Sincerely,
Signed by:
Jeanne B. Fites:
Deputy Under Secretary of Defense Program Integration:
Enclosure:
As stated:
GAO Draft Report - Dated July 8, 2008 GAO Code 130790/GAO-08-901
"Veterans' Disability Benefits: Better Accountability and Access Would
Improve the Benefits Delivery at Discharge Program":
Department Of Defense Comments To The Recommendations:
Recommendation 1: The GAO recommends that the Secretary of Defense
direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness to
establish an accurate measure of Service Members' participation in the
Transition Assistance Program (TAP), including VA benefit briefings.
DOD Response: Concur. There are four parts of TAP: 1) Pre-Separation
Counseling (which is the only part DoD controls and is mandatory by
law); 2) the 2.5-day Employment Workshop (which the Department of Labor
(DoL) provides - not mandatory); 3) the 4-hour VA Benefits Briefing
(which the Veterans Affairs provides - not mandatory); and 4) the 2-
hour Disabled Transition Assistance Program (DTAP) briefing (which VA
also provides only if applicable to the individual Service member -
also not mandatory). Participation numbers for each part of TAP (with
the exception of pre-separation counseling) may vary widely because 3
of the 4 parts are not mandatory and, in some Services, the DoL
Workshop and VA Benefits briefings are not given in conjunction with
one another.
Recommendation 2: The GAO recommends that the Secretary of Defense
direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness to
establish a plan with specific timeframes for meeting its goal of 85
percent participation rate in the Transition Assistance Program.
DOD Response: Concur. However, there are four parts of TAP, only one of
which is mandatory (pre-separation counseling). Even if DoD/DoL/VA had
perfect communications mechanisms whereby every separating Service
member at the appropriate time in their transition process was informed
of the DoL and VA parts of TAP, they could still choose to NOT attend
them.
Recommendation 3: The GAO recommends that the Chairs of the Joint
Executive Council direct the Benefits Executive Council to identify and
disseminate information on promising practices that address challenges
local officials commonly face.
DOD Response: Concur.
[End of section]
Appendix IV: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments:
GAO Contact:
Daniel Bertoni, (202) 512-7215 or bertonid@gao.gov:
Staff Acknowledgments:
Michele Grgich (Assistant Director), Jason Palmer (Analyst-in-Charge),
John Larsen, and Amber Yancey-Carroll made significant contributions to
this report. Walter Vance provided assistance with research methodology
and data analysis. Rebecca Beale, Elizabeth Curda, Martin Scire, and
Greg Whitney provided subject matter expertise. Roger Thomas provided
legal counsel. Rachael Valliere provided assistance with writing, and
Mimi Nguyen provided assistance with graphics.
[End of section]
Related GAO Products:
Veterans' Benefits: Increased Focus on Evaluation and Accountability
Would Enhance Training and Performance Management for Claims
Processors. GAO-08-561. Washington, D.C.: May 27, 2008.
Federal Disability Programs: More Strategic Coordination Could Help
Overcome Challenges to Needed Transformation. GAO-08-635. Washington,
D.C.: May 20, 2008.
VA and DOD Health Care: Progress Made on Implementation of 2003
President's Task Force Recommendations on Collaboration and
Coordination, but More Remains to Be Done. GAO-08-495R. Washington,
D.C.: April 30, 2008.
VA Health Care: Additional Efforts to Better Assess Joint Ventures
Needed. GAO-08-399. Washington, D.C.: March 28, 2008.
DOD and VA: Preliminary Observations on Efforts to Improve Care
Management and Disability Evaluations for Servicemembers. GAO-08-514T.
Washington, D.C.: February 27, 2008.
Information Technology: VA and DOD Continue to Expand Sharing of
Medical Information, but Still Lack Comprehensive Electronic Medical
Records. GAO-08-207T. Washington, D.C.: October 24, 2007.
DOD and VA: Preliminary Observations on Efforts to Improve Health Care
and Disability Evaluations for Returning Servicemembers. GAO-07-1256T.
Washington, D.C.: September 26, 2007.
GAO Findings and Recommendations Regarding DOD and VA Disability
Systems. GAO-07-906R. Washington, D.C.: May 25, 2007.
Information Technology: VA and DOD Are Making Progress in Sharing
Medical Information, but Are Far from Comprehensive Electronic Medical
Records. GAO-07-852T. Washington, D.C.: May 8, 2007.
Veterans' Disability Benefits: Processing of Claims Continues to
Present Challenges. GAO-07-562T. Washington, D.C.: March 13, 2007.
Veterans' Disability Benefits: Long-Standing Claims Processing
Challenges Persist. GAO-07-512T. Washington, D.C.: March 7, 2007.
High Risk Series: An Update. GAO-07-310. Washington, D.C.: January 31,
2007.
Veterans' Disability Benefits: VA Can Improve Its Procedures for
Obtaining Military Service Records. GAO-07-98. Washington, D.C.:
December 12, 2006.
Military Disability Evaluation: Ensuring Consistent and Timely Outcomes
for Reserve and Active Duty Service Members. GAO-06-561T. Washington,
D.C.: April 6, 2006.
Military Disability System: Improved Oversight Needed to Ensure
Consistent and Timely Outcomes for Reserve and Active Duty Service
Members. GAO-06-362. Washington, D.C.: March 31, 2006.
VA and DOD Health Care: Opportunities to Maximize Resource Sharing
Remain. GAO-06-315. Washington, D.C.: March 20, 2006.
Veterans' Benefits: Further Changes in VBA's Field Office Structure
Could Help Improve Disability Claims Processing. GAO-06-149.
Washington, D.C.: December 9, 2005.
Veterans' Disability Benefits: Claims Processing Challenges and
Opportunities for Improvements. GAO-06-283T. Washington, D.C.: December
7, 2005.
Veterans' Disability Benefits: Claims Processing Problems Persist and
Major Performance Improvements May Be Difficult. GAO-05-749T.
Washington, D.C.: May 26, 2005.
Military and Veterans' Benefits: Enhanced Services Could Improve
Transition Assistance for Reserves and National Guard. GAO-05-544.
Washington, D.C.: May 20, 2005.
VA and DOD Health Care: Efforts to Coordinate a Single Physical Exam
Process for Servicemembers Leaving the Military. GAO-05-64. Washington,
D.C.: November 12, 2004.
Veterans' Benefits: Improvements Needed in the Reporting and Use of
Data on the Accuracy of Disability Claims Decisions. GAO-03-1045.
Washington, D.C.: September 30, 2003.
[End of section]
Footnotes:
[1] BDD also is present at 11 Coast Guard bases which are administered
by the Department of Homeland Security, for a total of 153 BDD sites.
We limited our review to the 142 DOD bases offering BDD.
[2] Servicemembers who are either ineligible or unable to apply through
the BDD program may be able to use VA's other predischarge program
whereby local VA personnel develop claims as much as possible before
the member is discharged and then send the claim to the VA regional
office where the member will reside while personnel in that office
finish work on the claim.
[3] Prior to July 2008, the BDD program was offered at 153 military
bases, most of which had memoranda of understanding (MOU) related to
their cooperative exam processes. These 153 bases are located within
the jurisdiction of 40 VA regional offices. (In total, VA has 57
regional offices, generally 1 per state or territory.) Of the 153
bases, 142 are within DOD, and 11 are within the Department of Homeland
Security. In July 2008, VA issued policy guidance allowing
servicemembers from other bases to file BDD claims at all of its 57
regional offices, as well as other facilities where VA personnel are
located, such as VA healthcare facilities.
[4] The Veterans Claims Assistance Act of 2000 (VCAA) (Pub. L. No. 106-
475) assigns VA the duty to assist veterans in obtaining any records
relevant to their claims, provided the veterans adequately identify
such records so that VA is able to request them.
[5] In order to increase the consistency of BDD claims, in 2006 VA
completed its consolidation of BDD rating activity into two regional
offices--one in Salt Lake City, Utah and one in Winston-Salem, North
Carolina.
[6] VA has several other measures for claims overall, including
measures of satisfaction and how well VA keeps veterans informed of
benefits, among others.
[7] See GAO, VA and DOD Health Care: Efforts to Coordinate a Single
Physical Exam Process for Servicemembers Leaving the Military, GAO-05-
64 (Washington, D.C.: Nov. 12, 2004).
[8] A 1997 report on the pilot programs concluded that all of the
approaches for exams were successful and that, overall, they eliminated
redundant exams and medical procedures, decreased resource
expenditures, increased the timeliness of VA's disability rating
decisions, and improved servicemembers' satisfaction. The report also
recommended that single separation exam programs be expanded to include
all military services.
[9] Servicemembers who have been severely wounded and who are therefore
referred to DOD's disability evaluation system to be assessed for
continued fitness of duty are explicitly excluded from BDD. However,
these servicemembers may still initiate a claim for VA disability
benefits prior to discharge under VA's predischarge program. In
addition, DOD and VA initiated a pilot in November 2007 wherein
servicemembers who are found unfit for duty under DOD's disability
evaluation system will receive VA disability ratings that can be used
to determine both DOD and VA disability benefits. As part of the pilot,
VA obtains predischarge claims from servicemembers.
[10] National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004, Pub. L.
No. 108-136 § 583, 117 Stat. 1392, 1490-92, required VA and DOD to
establish a joint executive committee. VA and DOD use their Joint
Executive Council structure to fulfill this legislative requirement.
See GAO, VA and DOD Health Care: Opportunities to Maximize Resource
Sharing Remain. GAO-06-315 (Washington, D.C.: Mar. 20, 2006).
[11] Results were higher in prior years--55 percent and 46 percent for
fiscal years 2005 and 2006 respectively--although, in contrast to 2007,
these results included non-BDD predischarge claims. According to VA
officials, 53 percent participated in either BDD or predischarge in
fiscal year 2007.
[12] Multiple performance measures can help agencies account for and
balance the effects of competing demands, such as service quality and
stakeholder concerns, on program operations. See GAO, Agencies' Annual
Performance Plans Under the Results Act: An Assessment Guide to
Facilitate Congressional Decisionmaking, GAO/GGD/AIMD-10.1.18
(Washington, D.C.: February 1998).
[13] While VA lacks a separate performance measure on BDD timeliness,
VA officials reported the agency does track the average days BDD claims
are pending a decision and the average days it takes VA to complete
work on BDD claims separately from traditional claims. However, VA
includes only the time after servicemember discharge when tracking BDD
timeliness.
[14] Since compensation from BDD claims is typically awarded in 76 days
instead of 183 days for traditional claims, veterans who used BDD
received their compensation on average about 3 months sooner than
veterans who did not use BDD.
[15] According to VA officials, VA has recently updated its primary
claims management database to identify the base at which BDD and other
predischarge claims are initiated, thus facilitating its ability to
determine which bases may encounter challenges in developing such
claims.
[16] Our prior work has recommended improvements in VA's approach to
measuring and using accuracy results. See GAO, Veterans' Benefits:
Improvements Needed in the Reporting and Use of Data on the Accuracy of
Disability Claims Decisions, GAO-03-1045 (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 30,
2003).
[17] Similarly, VA does not collect data on the extent to which
decisions involving BDD claims are appealed or the extent to which
appealed BDD decisions are remanded by the Board. Remanded appeals are
those for which the Board determines there is insufficient evidence to
make a decision or finds an error in how the claim was processed. VA's
data system for managing appeals does not distinguish BDD claims from
other claims.
[18] Accuracy results for the Salt Lake City and Winston-Salem regional
offices should not be used to make inferences about the BDD program,
since BDD claims comprise only a portion of claims served by these
offices.
[19] The protocol does prompt reviewers to inquire about the extent to
which inadequate examination reports result in claims being identified
as less than fully developed.
[20] The bases are Bremerton Naval Hospital, Camp Lejeune, Fort Carson,
and Fort Bragg.
[21] Evaluations of pilot programs might assess program activities'
conformance to statutory and regulatory requirements, program design,
and professional standards or customer expectations. See GAO,
Performance Measurement and Evaluation: Definitions and Relationships,
GAO-05-739SP (Washington, D.C: May 2, 2005).
[22] In fiscal year 2007, more than 70 percent of active duty
servicemembers who were being discharged had access to the program.
This percentage does not include members of the National Guard or
Reserve forces.
[23] However, as noted previously, DOD and VA are piloting a program
whereby the assessment used to determine a wounded soldier's fitness
for duty can be used to determine VA disability benefits for those
ultimately deemed unfit.
[24] According to VA, 19,151 predischarge claims were filed between
April 2007 and April 2008. This number includes claims currently
pending, those in development, and those that have been completed.
[25] GAO, Military and Veterans' Benefits: Enhanced Services Could
Improve Transition Assistance for Reserves and National Guard, GAO-05-
544 (Washington, D.C.: May 20, 2005).
[26] GAO-05-544.
[27] Task Force on Returning Global War on Terror Heroes, Report to the
President (April 2007). The Task Force was created by the President on
Mar. 6, 2007, to improve the delivery of federal services and benefits
to Global War on Terror servicemembers and veterans.
[28] The Veterans' Disability Benefits Commission also has recommended
that Congress mandate TAP briefings and attendance throughout DOD.
[29] VA noted that its policy guidance (Fast Letter 08-20), signed July
2, 2008, eliminated the requirement for a local MOU to be in place in
order for VA to accept a BDD claim. In this guidance, VA expanded the
definition of a BDD claim, removing the criterion that BDD claims may
be accepted only at military bases where local MOUs are in place.
[30] Although DOD and VA lack a comprehensive tracking system, VA's
exam contract organization--which conducts exams for 37 bases offering
BDD--tracks and reports to VA the number of exams it provided to
servicemembers and whether they are single separation exams.
[31] For more information on effective collaboration, see GAO, Results-
Oriented Government: Practices That Can Help Enhance and Sustain
Collaboration among Federal Agencies, GAO-06-15 (Washington, D.C.: Oct.
21, 2005).
[32] VA/DOD Joint Executive Council Strategic Plan Fiscal Years 2008-
2010 (November 2007).
[33] During our phone interviews we spoke with VA regional office
management responsible for the administration of the BDD program at all
but one of the selected VA regional offices. We did not interview
regional office management in the Pittsburgh, Pa. VA regional office
because the BDD program was almost entirely administered overseas at
the two sites under its jurisdiction, Landstuhl Medical Center
(Germany) and Yongsan Garrison (South Korea).
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