VA Improved Pension Program: Some Persons Get More Than They Should and Others Less
HRD-80-61
Published: Aug 06, 1980. Publicly Released: Sep 08, 1980.
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Highlights
Congress hoped that the law improving pensions for needy veterans, which went into effect January 1, 1979, would enable veterans and their survivors to receive benefits above the poverty level and help them avoid turning to welfare, such as the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Health and Human Services | The Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) should direct the Commissioner of Social Security to immediately notify SSI-VA recipients residing in those states and the District of Columbia, where Medicaid eligibility is not directly related to SSI eligibility, that they must file for VA improved pension benefits and elect such benefits if they are higher than the VA benefits presently being received. |
Closed – Implemented
HHS issued instructions for notifying certain SSA-VA recipients to file for improved pension benefits.
|
| Veterans Administration | The Administrator of Veterans Affairs should stop providing records during the annual data exchange on veterans deceased more than 1 year. |
Closed – Not Implemented
VA did not concur with this recommendation. It stated that it provides data to SSA on deceased veterans' accounts, when survivors are receiving VA pension benefits, in order to verify the veterans' social security number and not for verification of payment data. The disclosures help identify the correct amount of VA benefits to be paid to surviving spouses.
|
| Veterans Administration | The Administrator of Veterans Affairs should use the SSA annual data exchange information to identify and adjust payments for those pensioners who did not report their social security benefits and have not yet been detected. |
Closed – Implemented
VA used SSA annual data exchange information to identify and adjust payments for pensioners who did not report their SSA benefits.
|
| Veterans Administration | The Administrator of Veterans Affairs should establish a data exchange to verify federal black lung benefits and review other federal benefit programs to determine the need for, and feasibility of, obtaining benefit information from other agencies. |
Closed – Implemented
In October 1985, VA conducted a match of its pension rolls with the records of persons receiving black lung benefits as of March 1985.
|
| Department of Health and Human Services | The Secretary, HHS, should revise the regulations for the SSI program so that the VA pension benefits being received by a veteran, not eligible for SSI, will be counted as income to the veteran's spouse who is eligible and be allocated and treated in the same manner as other federal benefits not based on need. |
Closed – Not Implemented
HHS disagreed with revising its regulations because it feels that it would result in undercutting other needs based programs.
|
| Veterans Administration | The Administrator of Veterans Affairs should stop providing records during the quarterly exchange for those pensioners who are not SSI recipients. |
Closed – Implemented
A memorandum of understanding was executed between VA and SSA. A detailed agreement on the method of implementation was never reached, and no efforts are underway to do so.
|
| Department of Health and Human Services | The Administrator of Veterans Affairs and the Commissioner of Social Security should take the necessary action to resolve identification problems, which prevent benefit data on a large number of SSA-VA recipients from being provided to VA for use in verifying the accuracy of information being provided to pensioners, in the annual data exchange. |
Closed – Implemented
VA issued new regulations and revised its operations manual to require verification of a claimant's identification number prior to award of VA income based benefits.
|
| Veterans Administration | The Administrator of Veterans Affairs and the Commissioner of Social Security should take the necessary action to resolve identification problems, which prevent benefit data on a large number of SSA-VA recipients from being provided to VA for use in verifying the accuracy of information being provided to pensioners, in the annual data exchange. |
Closed – Implemented
VA issued new regulations and revised its operations manual to require verification of a claimant's identification number prior to award of VA income based benefits.
|
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Topics
Black lung diseaseEligibility criteriaIncome maintenance programsMedicaidProgram evaluationSocial security benefitsVeterans disability compensationVeterans pensionsSupplemental security incomeVeterans benefits