Approved VA Claims Rubber Stamped
In Navy-Speak, “Gun Decking” is the falsification of documents and reports. This fine old tradition supposedly began in the days of sail, when midshipmen would measure their ships position via noon sun lines or evening star sights, and retire to the gun decks to make their individual calculations. See where this is going?
VA staffer accused of blindly approving over 85,000 disability claims
By Zita Ballinger Fletcher
Veterans’ disability benefits claims were blindly rubber-stamped by a senior veterans service representative (VSR) at the Philadelphia VA Regional Benefit Office for years, resulting in an estimated $2.2 million in improper payments, a government watchdog report has found.
A hotline tip made about the employee resulted in an investigation which found they were approving payments at a high volume without even opening or reading attached documents.
The errors caused by the federal worker included improper payments to veterans, violations of regulations that could affect veterans’ benefits and procedural deficiencies, the report found.
The blind approvals occurred from at least fiscal year 2022 through 2024, when the employee was found to have authorized about 85,300 claims — 19 times the national average, and at an 84% error rate.
As a senior VSR, the employee was responsible for final review and approval of veteran benefits claims awards — a complex task demanding thoroughness to ensure that claim information is correct and veterans receive appropriate benefits.
However, it was common knowledge within the office that the employee was not actually working, the Office of Inspector General report revealed.
Hat tip to Andy1100M for the inspiration.
Category: Guest Link, Veteran Health Care
Like radio in the readings in the A-Div. logbook during your 4 hour AC&R watch.
I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop:
“Well we know you WERE approved for 80% and have planned around that, but since this guy was just gun decking we reviewed your case and find you at 30%.”
Classic case of “you snooze you lose” – I mentioned to Jeff yesterday that this looked like a good story and I would write it on it this morning. Oops…
In the Army we use a different phrase but essentially the same meaning…”pencil-whipping”. As in “how is that fat jerk still in the Army?” “ah, his last 5 PT tests have been pencil-whipped”
As I often told my Marines, “Pencil whipping is a fine art. There are many practitioners, but few masters.”
Oh sure, my fucking file gets colonosocpy level scrutany and 85,300 other fucktards sail through.
Fuck Me. Dry in the ASS. As usual.
Yup. Me too. “We’re sorry the Army gave you two kinds of cancer, but it doesn’t seem to slow you down. Zero percent for you!”
How many years did the US Government spend telling our Vietnam Veterans that “Agent Orange only kills plants, it doesn’t hurt the human body.”?
What chaps me is the troops who were approved by this REMF will have to pay that back with interest.
IMHO, Blue Falcons like this need to bear the full weight of the fiscal loss, with 10% interest, compounded daily.
Reduce the payments to what they should be, but don’t make them suffer financially for the jerks’ actions.
I second this!
*Sigh* The more you expand government, the more incompetent they are at their jobs.
Presently there are fewer incompetent ass hats working, at least for now. I feel that’s a good thing.
At least as of 12:01 Wednesday morning.
Odie, if I could like what you wrote twice, I would!
Things were so much nicer this afternoon…
My file at the VA in Minneapolis was “Flagged” back in 2013. These things are only supposed to go for as long as six years. I got a notice last year that they had finally seen that I had such good behavior that I was now no longer flagged, and congratulated me on being cooperative with their standards.
This was after I had already supposedly been removed three years prior [after 8 years]. I have a feeling they rubber stamp more than disability claims.
Median wage at the Vah is $93,000 a year.
Now you may rage, my pretties.
Aw, f*ck!
