Sanders, Braun, Murray, Welch, King, and Hassan Send Bipartisan Letter to Yellen and McDonough on VA Travel Reimbursements for Medical Care

Letter

Dear Secretaries Yellen and McDonough,

Thank you for your hard work and dedication to our nation and its veterans. We applaud the VA's ongoing commitment to increasing the quality and accessibility of patient care. However, we have recently been made aware of an issue that is causing constituents in our home states difficulties in managing their VA Beneficiary Travel Pay reimbursements.

Currently, veterans who receive travel pay reimbursements via direct deposit are unable to reconcile travel claim payments with their bank statements. Many of our nation's veterans have complex health conditions and require numerous medical appointments each month. When veterans receive multiple reimbursements on varying timelines, it is difficult for them to determine the status of each individual claim. One veteran in Vermont has as much as $800 in unpaid claims at any one time. Without a claim number to track payment, it is not possible to accurately account for which claims have been paid and which have not. According to the Veterans Health Administration, those who file a claim online should see payment in three to five business days, and those who file other ways should see a payment in 45 days. However, in Washington state, which is home to over 112,000 rural veterans, many are waiting over four months to receive their travel reimbursement. Our veterans deserve much better, especially when they are simply trying to receive the benefits they have earned.

Though the Beneficiary Travel Self Service System (BTSSS) offers veterans a modern digital tool to make travel payment claims, it does not assign a unique identifier for claims that follow payments to veterans' bank accounts. Current payments are identified on bank statements as "ACH DEPOSIT, 36 TREAS 310 MISC PAY" followed by an 11-digit number that does not correspond to any claim confirmation received by our constituents.

Veterans who rely on this and other VA programs should have an easy way to ensure that they are receiving the benefits they are owed. The Bureau of Fiscal Services Green Book indicates that ACH payments are initiated by the authorizing federal agencies. Additionally, Chapter Two section D states that "payment entries may be accompanied by a PPD addenda record (PPD+) which further identifies the reason for the payment."

In order to ensure an improved user experience and process, we ask that you answer the
following questions by January 15, 2024.

1. How can veterans currently track individual beneficiary travel reimbursements after they
have filed the initial claim?
2. Which agency bears responsibility for determining what information is included in the
Prearranged Payment and Deposit (PPD) or PPD+?
3. Are VA and Treasury considering implementing a numerical identification system that
veterans can use to track their individual claims and associated payments?

We also respectfully request a briefing for our staff within two weeks of receipt of this letter.

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