Program Plan
Department of Veterans Affairs - Veterans Benefits Administration Hiring Temporary Claims Processors Recovery Plan
Updated 05/15/2009
Objectives
Program Purpose
To hire and train temporary surge claims processors through 2010. New staff will consist of approximately 500 permanent employees (who will be retained beyond 2010 to replace losses that VBA experiences as a result of normal attrition) and approximately 1,000 temporary employees hired under term appointments. The temporary employees will assist in expediting claims development and perform other administrative activities to free decision-makers to complete more complex tasks.
Public Benefits
The expected public benefit is the provision of more timely and accurate decisions on disability compensation claims, which will improve the economic status and quality of life of service-disabled Veterans and their families. Further, increasing VBA staff will result in the creation of jobs.
Measures
The measures have been revised to enrich the performance metrics for Recovery targets. In some instances, targets will not be available until additional baseline data has been collected.
| Measure | Target/Actual |
|---|
| 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
|---|
[-]
Rating-related Actions - Average Days Pending
| 0/0 | 0/0 | - | - |
Measure Information
| Frequency : Monthly | | Direction : Decreasing | | Type : Output | Explanation : The measure will determine the speed by which VA is able to process claims after hiring 1,500 additional claims adjustors as a result of ARRA-funding.
The measure is calculated by counting the number of days for all pending compensation claims that require a rating decision from the date each claim is received through the current reporting date. The total number of days is divided by the total number of pending claims. | | Unit : # |
|
[-]
Compensation and Pension Rating-related Actions - Average Days to Complete. | 0/0 | 4/0 | - | - |
Measure Information
| Frequency : Monthly | | Direction : Decreasing | | Type : Output | Explanation : This measure determines the speed by which VA is able to complete processing of a claim.
The measure is calculated by the average elapsed time (in days) it takes to complete compensation and pension claims that require a rating decision is measured from the date the claim is received by VA to the date the decision is completed. | | Unit : # |
|
[-]
The number of ARRA-funded claims processors hired. | 0/0 | - | - | - |
Measure Information
| Frequency : Monthly | | Direction : Increasing | | Type : Output | Explanation : This measure will show the progress made towards hiring the additional 1,500 claims processors that will be possible through ARRA funding.
VA will complete this hiring by 30 Sep 09. Positive performance impacts will be felt in FY 2010. | | Unit : # |
|
Schedule and Milestones
Hiring of temporary surge claims processors began in April 2009. Terms for the temporary employees will expire in September 2010.
Milestones
No Data Available
Projects and Activities
The Recovery Act provides $150M for the hiring and training of temporary surge claims processors through 2010. New staff will consist of approximately 500 permanent and 1,000 temporary employees hired under term appointments. The temporary employees will assist in expediting claims development and perform other administrative activities to free decision-makers to complete more complex tasks.
Claims processing employees hired on a temporary basis will be trained at their duty stations to assist in claims processing functions, ultimately allowing fully-trained employees to focus on the core elements of claims processing. Permanent employees will receive VBA’s existing new employee training curriculum and will be retained as other permanent employees attrite. Supervisory training will also be given to approximately 150 existing employees.
Review Process
Staffing increases will be tracked via bi-weekly pay period reports. VBA operations monthly reports will provide data on the average days to complete claims and production volume for work performed by the temporary surge claims processors.
Cost and Performance Plan
There will be updates relating to temporary claims processors on VA's Recovery Web site at www.va.gov/recovery.
Energy Efficiency Spending Plans
Program Plan Award Types
No Data Available