“Veterans rely on VA to make timely, accurate, and consistent decisions on disability compensation claims to ensure they receive the benefits to which they are entitled. The Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) has a Compensation Service that provides oversight of the delivery of disability compensation benefits to veterans. The Systematic Technical Accuracy Review (STAR) program is one part of the Compensation Service’s multifaceted quality assurance program to ensure disability compensation benefits are provided in a timely and accurate manner. The STAR program is intended to provide quality review and analyses of all elements of processing a specific claim. STAR quality reviews are performed on individual, randomly selected claims from across the country…”
What the Review Found
“VBA did not take sufficient actions to make certain the STAR program fully achieved its stated mission of identifying deficiencies in the claims process and providing meaningful feedback to regional office employees. Consequently, VBA did not have the quality data needed to drive operational decisions and improve decisions provided to veterans and their beneficiaries. The OIG team examined a statistical sample of 100 claims from which it estimated that about 55 percent of claims had deficiencies, including:
- Benefit-entitlement errors that could affect veterans’ disability compensation payments, and
- Procedural deficiencies such as having to report for an unnecessary examination…”
What the OIG Recommended
“The OIG recommended that the under secretary for benefits implement a plan to ensure STAR analysts focus on and assess all procedural deficiency elements included on the quality review checklist. The OIG recommended a formal second-review process when STAR analysts do not identify claims-processing deficiencies. In addition, the OIG recommended improving the current second-review process when STAR analysts identify claims-processing deficiencies and consider requiring senior reviewer s to conduct a comprehensive examination of all issues assessed by the analyst. The OIG also recommended that the under secretary assess the current training requirements for STAR staff to increase the accuracy of reviews, and establish adequate policies, procedures, and monitoring to ensure corrections are completed timely and accurately. The OIG further recommended the under secretary develop a plan to provide quality review data and meaningful feedback to assist regional offices in improving the quality of decision-making…”
Access the full 44-page report here.
Source: The Systematic Technical Accuracy Review Program Has Not Adequately Identified and Corrected Claims-Processing Deficiencies – July 22, 2020. VA OIG.
