The VA's Office of Inspector General released a report Sept. 7 stating it had found several instances where the VA had collected debts without providing patients with legally required notice.
In total, the VA's Office of Inspector General identified three scenarios in which the VA improperly reduced payments to patients in order to collect debts created under the Veterans Benefits Administration's compensation program.
VA officials agreed that the debts were collected improperly and attributed the errors to business rules in VA's electronic systems.
"VA officials agreed that the veterans in [the three scenarios] were entitled to notices of indebtedness and due process before their benefit payments were reduced to recoup the debts," Larry Reinkemeyer, VA assistant inspector general, wrote in the report.
The VA officials agreed to review the systems and identify areas of improvement to ensure it complies with legal requirements for notice and due process.
The VA provides monthly payments to veterans to compensate for injuries or disabilities that occured or were made worse during their military service. A veteran may incur a debt to this benefits program when a compensation decision retroactively reduces a veteran's payment rate.
When a veteran owes a debt, the VA can withhold all or part of the veteran's monthly payments to recoup the money but first must send a notice about the debt along with steps the veteran can take to appeal.
The VA typically can't withhold benefit payments until a decision is made if a veteran initiates the steps to dispute or waive the debt within 30 days of the notice.
The report requested that the VA inform the VA's Office of Inspector General what actions it will take to ensure patients receive notice and due process before debts are collected going forward.