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HRD-84-14 1 (1983-12-08)

handle is hein.gao/gaobabnew0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 


                  UNITED STATES GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE
   ,                      WASHINGTON. D.C. 20548


HUIANggOUt4                                       DECEMBER 8. 1983
   DIVIIIO




     The Honorable Harry N. Walters                         123007

     Administrator of Veterans Affairs

     Dear Mr. Walters:

          Subject: VA Can Reduce Disability Payments By
                    Ensuring That Veterans Receive Scheduled
                    Reexaminations (GAO/HRD-84-14)

          We have reviewed the Veterans Administration's (VA's) con-
     trols for ensuring that scheduled medical reexaminations for re-
     evaluating veterans' disabilities are being held. We found that
     many scheduled reexaminations are not being held because re-
     gional office staff do not always place reexamination dates in
     the master record file. VA is thus unable to identify some vet-
     erans whose disabilities are considered likely to improve. Many
     of these veterans continue receiving higher disability payments
     than they should be receiving.

          Although our findings pertain only to the locations
     visited, we believe the same conditions exist elsewhere. VA
     officials agreed that the regional offices we selected were not
     atypical, and these offices represent a large portion of VA's
     disability caseload. Accordingly, we estimate that VA could
     reduce disability benefits by at least $31 million annually by
     identifying veterans that should be scheduled for reexamina-
     tion. Further, if VA continues to make such errors, additional
     excess payments to other veterans will occur in the future.

          VA recently acted to correct some aspects of the problem.
     VA has planned a review to identify many of the cases that are
     missing reexamination dates. This effort could give VA informa-
     tion that would help in determining how much more case review
     would be warranted. As discussed in enclosure I, we believe
     some additional actions are needed and are making recommenda-
     tions (see p. 11) that we believe should correct the remaining
     aspects of the problem.

                                                              (400483)


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