Posted on Sep 5, 2015
Are you ready for some positive news about the VA and their commitment to fixing the Enrollment Issue?
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RP Community we have been posting a lot of bad news about the VA on RallyPoint for as long as I've been a member. I just received some positive news and letter anonymously that I wanted to share with the RP Community.
I get it! They have a long ways to go!
We have a lot of VA Employees on RallyPoint that do truly care about our veterans and it’s tough for them to see negative information everyday posted here on RP. This is a positive letter to the VA Employees of the Health Eligibility Center in Atlanta, GA on what they are doing to clean up the enrollment process.
For all those RP Members that are employees of the VA that are working hard to fix the problems in your own specific areas I salute you for your individual efforts.
Here is the letter:
USH All Employee Message
Health Eligibility Center OIG Report
September 4, 2015
Last month, I visited our Health Eligibility Center (HEC) in Atlanta to learn more about the process for enrolling Veterans in VA health care. While there, I had the opportunity to meet employees, answer their questions, and discuss their concerns at an employee roundtable. I know they share my commitment to providing timely access to the health care and benefits our Veterans have earned and deserve. This is our top priority in VA, and meeting it is a responsibility I do not take lightly.
Yesterday, after a lengthy review of the HEC, the VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued its report, Review of Alleged Mismanagement at the Health Eligibility Center. We appreciate the work of the OIG and we are taking immediate actions to address the issues raised in the report.
The report highlights several issues concerning the management of our enrollment system, data integrity and quality that we have previously acknowledged are in need of significant improvement. We know the issues that have been raised about the enrollment process are confusing to Veterans and our stakeholders.
We will continue the efforts outlined in previous blog posts and public responses to contact Veterans with a record in pending status to determine if they would like to apply for enrollment. We have been informing Veterans of the additional information needed to complete their application.
As of July 31, 2015, we have contacted 310,818 Veterans asking them to submit the required documents. We have received 36,749 responses to our requests for more information. Based on those responses, we have been able to successfully enroll 25,784 Veterans and have notified a total of 34,517 Veterans of our decision on their eligibility to enroll. As we continue our efforts to contact Veterans, our focus remains on improving the enrollment system to better serve Veterans.
If we determine that any of the issues raised in the report require additional review and accountability actions, we will act swiftly, while affording affected employees the appropriate due process.
Caring for our nation’s Veterans is the highest honor and privilege for all of us who serve them at VA.
David J. Shulkin, M.D.
Under Secretary for Health
I get it! They have a long ways to go!
We have a lot of VA Employees on RallyPoint that do truly care about our veterans and it’s tough for them to see negative information everyday posted here on RP. This is a positive letter to the VA Employees of the Health Eligibility Center in Atlanta, GA on what they are doing to clean up the enrollment process.
For all those RP Members that are employees of the VA that are working hard to fix the problems in your own specific areas I salute you for your individual efforts.
Here is the letter:
USH All Employee Message
Health Eligibility Center OIG Report
September 4, 2015
Last month, I visited our Health Eligibility Center (HEC) in Atlanta to learn more about the process for enrolling Veterans in VA health care. While there, I had the opportunity to meet employees, answer their questions, and discuss their concerns at an employee roundtable. I know they share my commitment to providing timely access to the health care and benefits our Veterans have earned and deserve. This is our top priority in VA, and meeting it is a responsibility I do not take lightly.
Yesterday, after a lengthy review of the HEC, the VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued its report, Review of Alleged Mismanagement at the Health Eligibility Center. We appreciate the work of the OIG and we are taking immediate actions to address the issues raised in the report.
The report highlights several issues concerning the management of our enrollment system, data integrity and quality that we have previously acknowledged are in need of significant improvement. We know the issues that have been raised about the enrollment process are confusing to Veterans and our stakeholders.
We will continue the efforts outlined in previous blog posts and public responses to contact Veterans with a record in pending status to determine if they would like to apply for enrollment. We have been informing Veterans of the additional information needed to complete their application.
As of July 31, 2015, we have contacted 310,818 Veterans asking them to submit the required documents. We have received 36,749 responses to our requests for more information. Based on those responses, we have been able to successfully enroll 25,784 Veterans and have notified a total of 34,517 Veterans of our decision on their eligibility to enroll. As we continue our efforts to contact Veterans, our focus remains on improving the enrollment system to better serve Veterans.
If we determine that any of the issues raised in the report require additional review and accountability actions, we will act swiftly, while affording affected employees the appropriate due process.
Caring for our nation’s Veterans is the highest honor and privilege for all of us who serve them at VA.
David J. Shulkin, M.D.
Under Secretary for Health
Posted in these groups: 
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
Virginia Department of Veterans Services
Health
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Virginia Department of Veterans Services Health
Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 15
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COL Mikel J. Burroughs
I'm glad that the VA is starting to improve (or at least they appear to be). I'm just sad that it has taken what it has to make these improvements.
I'm glad that the VA is starting to improve (or at least they appear to be). I'm just sad that it has taken what it has to make these improvements.
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For me the fussing is not necessarily about the employee who tries to do their job correctly, it's more about the mismanagement and lack of well informed and competent leadership. For example as I have indicated in the past here on RP, VA has hired many newly discharged veterans and when we go to obtain services we are angry to get the runaround from these new employees. I place blame on the system and leadership. Much of the training has been by watching videos or completing an online test. If someone is really lucky, they may spend a small amount of time with a supervisor but most likely a peer. In some cases the peer's competence hasn't been adequately assessed so who is teaching the new employee? No one really. Maybe it's us the veteran teaching the staff.
Don't get me wrong, there are many existing employees, some civilian and some vets who are skating through by the skin of their teeth. The fault while theirs, it is also the fault of the supervisor or manager who fails to take appropriate action. Then the fault lies with HR who fails to handle the matter either timely or competently. Once again a leadership issue.
Don't get me wrong, there are many existing employees, some civilian and some vets who are skating through by the skin of their teeth. The fault while theirs, it is also the fault of the supervisor or manager who fails to take appropriate action. Then the fault lies with HR who fails to handle the matter either timely or competently. Once again a leadership issue.
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When you are approached by an NCO or Officer, regardless of how they start the conversation (true professionals do not yell or scream) let them know that you have a shaving profile and ask if they need to see it. A bit of advice to any new member of the military is that you will always have a few NCOs or Officers that feel like they have to flex their rank from time to time. Don't let a few goofballs ruin your perception of a true leader. There are many great NCOs and Officers our there! Hooah!
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PO1 John Miller - Sorry, wrong thread. I'm using a mobile app and it doesn't always work correctly.
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