NCJ Number
72878
Date Published
1979
Length
23 pages
Annotation
Areas where Veterans Administration (VA) mismanagement permitted fraud, waste, and abuse are detailed in this statement by the Comptroller General of the United States before the House Committee on Veterans Affairs.
Abstract
Areas of abuse included program abuses of VA benefits in the Philippines, overpayments in the predischarge education program, and VA program abuses in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. GAO recommended that VA act to make sure payments were being made only to eligible recipients, recover most of its surplus funds, and monitor more closely the fee-basis and contract hospital program. Other recommendations include VA action to reduce education loan overpayments, reduction of supplemental security income payment errors, transfer of VA's records center to the General Services Administration (GSA), and improvement of disability retirement processing. GAO's ongoing work encompassed a study of VA procurement practices and a followup review of educational overpayments. A special task force for fraud prevention and a tollfree hotline for citizen fraud or abuse reporting were established. VA initiatives have included establishing an Office of Inspector General, bringing audits and investigations together and setting up a hotline for employee complaints of fraud, waste, and mismanagement. Legislative action and oversight by Congress concerning individual VA programs and administrative functions are also recommended. In addition, funding level changes should be determined at the individual program level. Footnotes are provided.