VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION: Clarity of Letters to Claimants Needs to Be Improved

Abstract

In fiscal year 2001, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) provided more than $23 billion in monthly cash benefits to approximately 3.2 million disabled veterans and their families through its compensation and pension program. In the same year, VBA mailed approximately 1.2 million notification letters to veterans and their families, informing them of VBAs decisions regarding claims that they had filed to receive compensation or pension benefits. VBA also sent about 1.2 million development letters in fiscal year 2001 requesting information that the agency needed to reach a decision on claims.1 Because these letters serve as VBAs official means of communicating its decisions to claimants and requesting information to support claims, it is important that the letters be clearly written and easy to understand.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 2002
Accession Number
ADA400989

Entities

Organizations

  • United States Government Accountability Office

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accuracy
  • Application Software
  • Computers
  • Congress
  • Department Of Veterans Affairs
  • Diseases And Disorders
  • Employment
  • Governments
  • Health Services
  • Job Training
  • Joint Diseases
  • Law
  • Lower Extremity
  • Medical Personnel
  • Pain
  • Rehabilitation
  • Task Forces

Readers

  • Public Financial Management and Budgeting
  • Rehabilitation and Prosthetic Care for Military Service Members and Veterans with Limb Loss or Disability.