VA Seeking Outside Contractor for Claim Development

Full Article at: Contractor to help VA with GI Bill claims

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Oct 28, 2009 14:26:24 EDT

"The Veterans Affairs Department is ready to admit it cannot process GI Bill benefits claims without help, announcing Wednesday that it is seeking an outside contractor to do some preliminary data collection and enrollment certification.

VA’s undersecretary for benefits, Patrick Dunne, said in a statement that a contractor “will assist VA in delivering education benefits to our veterans as quickly as possible.”

The formal solicitation for temporary contract support was issued Oct. 21 but not announced until Oct. 28.

A VA statement said the contractor will be involved in “claims-processing tasks,” but that VA personnel will make final claims decisions and generate payments.

Key tasks to be handled by contractors include validating student enrollment and providing recommendations on whether to pay, the statement said.

“All work will be reviewed and authorized by VA personnel,” the statement said. “VA will provide training on security and claims processing procedures. The contract personnel will assist in handling the least complex cases, which allows for rapid implementation of this initiative.”