[Request for Payment for Services Provided to VA]

Six contractors and the Veterans Administration Medical Center, Albany, New York, requested payment for readjustment counseling services provided to certain veterans under the Vietnam Era Veterans Contract Readjustment Counseling Program. The issue in question concerned the procedure by which the contracted mental health providers were to furnish their counseling services. Although all the contracts contained a provision to the effect that service initiation would be through referral only, the claimants asserted that they were orally directed by the Center's team leader to actively seek out and provide counseling services to Vietnam veterans. GAO ruled that the claims were not for its consideration, but rather a matter to be resolved under the Contract Disputes Act of 1978.