Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

VA Field Office Audit Finds Errors in Disability Payments, Failure to Offer Mental Disorder Treatment

A report released Thursday from the Veterans Administration Office of Inspector General found several shortcomings at the VA’s San Diego regional field office.

While most of the seven areas of findings were related to clerical issues such as mail processing, two more significant items were raised, with concern over whether Gulf War veterans were being properly notified as to their eligibility for mental health treatment and in the accuracy of disability claims.

On the disability issue, the audit found errors in 53 percent of the 79 disability claims sampled, overpaying some veterans by $335,764 and underpaying others $25,717. At the time of the field office inspection, the official stated goal was 92 percent accuracy in claims processing, a figure which has since been revised downward to 87 percent.

Reviewers also found that in the case of 16 Gulf War veterans, out of 30 total files reviewed, staff did not address whether the service members were entitled to receive treatment for mental disorders. Representatives said that reviewing eligibility for such benefits was a task “easy to overlook,” despite pop-up notifications reminding them to do so.

“The majority of staff and management we interviewed felt the pop-up notification was not effective as it was easy to ignore,” the audit states. In eight of the 16 cases where benefit consideration was missed, employees’ computer systems had specifically reminded them to make a benefit determination.

A high point of the report commended the field office for its outreach to homeless shelters and other homeless services providers. Local office directors are working to develop a plan to address the concern items noted.

A complete copy of the report is available here.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Making Love to Goats, Rachmaninoff, and Elgar

A report released Thursday from the Veterans Administration Office of Inspector General found several shortcomings at the VA’s San Diego regional field office.

While most of the seven areas of findings were related to clerical issues such as mail processing, two more significant items were raised, with concern over whether Gulf War veterans were being properly notified as to their eligibility for mental health treatment and in the accuracy of disability claims.

On the disability issue, the audit found errors in 53 percent of the 79 disability claims sampled, overpaying some veterans by $335,764 and underpaying others $25,717. At the time of the field office inspection, the official stated goal was 92 percent accuracy in claims processing, a figure which has since been revised downward to 87 percent.

Reviewers also found that in the case of 16 Gulf War veterans, out of 30 total files reviewed, staff did not address whether the service members were entitled to receive treatment for mental disorders. Representatives said that reviewing eligibility for such benefits was a task “easy to overlook,” despite pop-up notifications reminding them to do so.

“The majority of staff and management we interviewed felt the pop-up notification was not effective as it was easy to ignore,” the audit states. In eight of the 16 cases where benefit consideration was missed, employees’ computer systems had specifically reminded them to make a benefit determination.

A high point of the report commended the field office for its outreach to homeless shelters and other homeless services providers. Local office directors are working to develop a plan to address the concern items noted.

A complete copy of the report is available here.

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.