VA pauses pension debt collections after discovery of system error
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Nearly 40,000 low-income veterans and their survivors receiving federal pensions may owe money because of accounting errors made over the last 12 years, but Veterans Affairs officials said they don't plan on collecting that debt for now.
The episode is the latest computer systems headache for the department, which has seen a series of benefits mistakes due to glitches in recent months.
Department officials on Friday said they recently discovered that tens of thousands of pension recipients "may have debts that have not yet been established" because of overpayments due to past mistakes in their self-reported income levels. The pension payment issue dates back to 2011.
VA officials said "due to discrepancies in data matching," department staffers were for years unable to verify the actual income of pension recipients. When new tools were made available in July 2022, they found that 9,900 beneficiaries were being overpaid, some for more than a decade.
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"As legally required, VA established debts for these veterans and survivors, meaning that VA determined that the amount of the overpayments was due back to VA," the department said in a statement outlining the problems.
But that work also uncovered about 30,000 additional beneficiaries who may have pension debts as well. VA officials are still sorting through their records to see how many individuals were overpaid.
"Many of these veterans and survivors are elderly, and all are low-income, so these debts represent a significant hardship," the department's statement said. "Recognizing the hardship and distress that these pension debts may cause, VA has paused the collection of all established pension debts and the establishment of new pension debts while we determine the path forward."
Monthly pensions for the low-income individuals can range from a few hundred dollars to more than $5,000, depending on beneficiaries' income and other support services.
Officials plan on contacting the veterans and survivors in coming weeks to explain the situation and "provide as much pension debt relief as possible." Leaders also promised "a review to understand why the data discrepancies occurred and why it took so long to address."
The situation echoes problems uncovered by VA staffers in August and September. About 90,000 veterans who filed disability claims through the department's online portals, attempted to use the online systems to add dependents to their existing claims, or filed appeals applications had their cases lost in VA's computer systems.
Some of those problems also dated back to 2011. In the wake of those discoveries, VA leadership appeared before congressional committees and promised system-wide improvements to ensure that veterans' cases will not be lost or ignored in the future.
Veterans with questions about financial aid or debt management issues can visit the department's website or call 800-827-0648.
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Over a decade of overpayment and they are only figuring this out now? We've had networked computers for longer than a decade and 2 government offices were relying on 'self reporting'...
not surprising. I hated dealing with the VA for my dad. what a fubar situation.
FUBAR
Big time!
At least they halted collections. Some vets owe over $100K with no way to pay it back.
How sad and they wonder why the military can’t fill their recruiting requirements. Add this to the list.
what sane american kid would join now with the election possibility of a wannabe dictator that has continued to show his contempt for anyone that didn't vote for him or exhibit unquestioning loyalty and fealty in the past.
better over there than here.
locate the executives in charge of VA accounting back then and start deducting from their retirements...