Speaking before a House Committee yesterday, the chief financial officer for the Department of Veterans Affairs vowed to continuing overhauling their systems and procedures to help improve collection efforts related to the overpayment of benefits.
The department sent out 600,000 notices to veterans and their families during the 2018 fiscal year, attempting to collect $1.6 billion in overpaid benefits, such as mistakes in disability payouts and conflicts with other federal benefit programs. About 25% of all recipients of GI Bill benefits are receiving collection notices related to the overpayment of benefits, according to the Veterans Affairs Department.
“We are too often fragmented, uncoordinated and highly variable in our processes,” said Jon Rychalski, chief financial officer for the Department of Veterans Affairs, told members of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee yesterday. “Frankly, we have a way to go before we can declare success.”
The department had been withholding future checks until the overpayment had been satisfied, but has since changed its procedures and now spreads the repayment plans over 12 months.
To help, the department is deploying a new online debt payment system, but Rychalski said it will take at least three years before it is operational, because of the department’s “aging computer systems.”
Lawmakers were quick to rush to the defense of veterans, many of whom are being put into “dire financial straits” as a result of the collection efforts, said Rep. Chris Pappas [D-N.H.].
