38 U.S.C. § 7731 — Establishment

submitted 27 years ago by Pub. L. 106-117 to r/title-38-VETERANS-BENEFITS · 499 words · no verdicts yet

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The VA must run a quality-assurance program checking its Veterans Benefits Administration's work, either through one central unit or separate units per service. It must be independent and well-controlled. For three years after this law passed, an outside contractor had to assess how accurate and consistent disability-claim decisions are, and the VA had to start tracking detailed data on every disability claim.

(a) The Secretary must run a quality assurance program in the Veterans Benefits Administration, either through one central quality assurance division or through separate quality units for each of the Administration's main organizational parts, called "services." (b) The Secretary must make sure any such quality assurance unit is set up and run to meet the government's usual standards for independence and internal controls when reviewing government performance and results. (c) (1) The Secretary had to contract with an independent outside organization to assess the quality assurance program, over a three-year period starting when the Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 2008 became law. (2) That assessment had to evaluate (A) the quality and accuracy of employees' work, using a statistically valid sample of employees and their work; (B) how each VBA regional office performs; (C) the accuracy of disability ratings under the rating schedule in section 1155; (D) how consistent disability ratings are across regional offices, based on a sample of specific disabilities; and (E) how employees and managers perform. (3) The Secretary had to build a system to automatically gather and produce data to monitor and assess trends in those areas. (4) (A) Starting six months after that 2008 Act became law, the Secretary had to, for every disability compensation claim filed on or after that date, (i) retain, monitor, and store the data in (B) in an accessible format, and (ii) build a demographic baseline from that data. (B) That data includes: (i) for each claim, the state where the claimant lived when filing, the Secretary's decision on the claim and each issue in it, and the regional office and employee who rated it; (ii) the state where the claimant currently lives; and (iii) any other data the Secretary thinks is useful for monitoring accuracy and consistency. (5) None of this requires the Secretary to replace the quality assurance program that already existed the day before this subsection became law.

the actual law source: uscode.house.gov ↗public domain

(a)

The Secretary shall carry out a quality assurance program in the Veterans Benefits Administration. The program may be carried out through a single quality assurance division in the Administration or through separate quality assurance entities for each of the principal organizational elements (known as “services”) of the Administration.

(b)

The Secretary shall ensure that any quality assurance entity established and operated under subsection (a) is established and operated so as to meet generally applicable governmental standards for independence and internal controls for the performance of quality reviews of Government performance and results.

(c)

(1)

The Secretary shall enter into a contract with an independent third-party entity to conduct, during the three-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of the Veterans’ Benefits Improvement Act of 2008, an assessment of the quality assurance program carried out under subsection (a).

(2)

The assessment conducted under paragraph (1) shall evaluate the following:

(A)

The quality and accuracy of the work of employees of the Veterans Benefits Administration, using a statistically valid sample of such employees and a statistically valid sample of such work.

(B)

The performance of each regional office of the Veterans Benefits Administration.

(C)

The accuracy of the disability ratings assigned under the schedule for rating disabilities under section 1155 of this title.

(D)

The consistency of disability ratings among regional offices of the Veterans Benefits Administration, based on a sample of specific disabilities.

(E)

The performance of employees and managers of the Veterans Benefits Administration.

(3)

The Secretary shall develop a mechanism for the automated gathering and producing of data that can be used to monitor and assess trends relating to the items described in paragraph (2).

(4)

(A)

Beginning on the date that is six months after the date of the enactment of the Veterans’ Benefits Improvement Act of 2008, the Secretary shall—

(i)

for each claim for disability compensation under laws administered by the Secretary submitted to the Secretary on or after such date, retain, monitor, and store in an accessible format the data described in subparagraph (B); and

(ii)

develop a demographic baseline for the data retained, monitored, and stored under subparagraph (A).

(B)

The data described in this subparagraph includes the following:

(i)

For each claim for disability compensation under laws administered by the Secretary submitted by a claimant—

(I)

the State in which the claimant resided when the claim was submitted;

(II)

the decision of the Secretary with respect to the claim and each issue claimed; and

(III)

the regional office and individual employee of the Department responsible for rating the claim.

(ii)

The State in which the claimant currently resides.

(iii)

Such other data as the Secretary determines is appropriate for monitoring the accuracy and consistency of decisions with respect to such claims.

(5)

Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to require the Secretary to replace the quality assurance program under subsection (a) that was in effect on the day before the date of the enactment of this subsection.

Source credit: (Added Pub. L. 106–117, § 801(a)(1), Nov. 30, 1999, 113 Stat. 1585; amended Pub. L. 110–389, title II, § 224(a), Oct. 10, 2008, 122 Stat. 4157.)

history & why it existsrecord from the source credit

1999Enacted · Pub. L. 106-117 · 113 Stat. 1585
2008Amended · Pub. L. 110-389 · 122 Stat. 4157

A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 106-117 on 1999-11-30.

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