Veteran Oversight Now

June Monthly Highlights podcast script
Louis Calderon:
This is Veteran Oversight Now, the Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General official podcast. I’m your host, Louis Calderon.
Jennifer McDonald, director of the community care division for the Office of Audits and Evaluations, testified on June 11 before the House Veterans’ Affairs’ Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. Her testimony focused on how VHA’s pause of its Program Integrity Tool affected community care revenue collections and oversight operations. Dr. McDonald discussed how data integrity and accuracy issues limited VA’s ability to use the tool to identify fraud and waste and could potentially lead to veterans receiving bills for copayments more than a year after treatment. In response to questions, she highlighted the OIG’s work related to VA’s Electronic Health Record Modernization and Supply Chain improvement initiatives as examples where poor planning and cost estimates have affected the effectiveness of newly deployed systems.
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Audio Clip (Time is from the video posted on VA OIG YouTube page.)
Jennifer McDonald:
IT modernization has consistently been a major management challenge for VA. Our work has identified extensive breakdowns with upgrading and replacing key systems, as well as significant cost overruns. The OIG remains vigilant in overseeing all significant IT initiatives to identify all risks to veterans, their families, and survivors.
To do this, IG staff monitor programs and operations for breakdowns and processes, for noncompliance with mandates, for failures to provide timely and quality healthcare, and for deficiencies in the delivery of benefits and services to veterans. We will continue to advance accountability by conducting effective oversight into how VA plans, implements, and remediates identified weaknesses in its system modernization efforts.
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Meanwhile, 10 OIG investigations had updates in June. This includes a multiagency investigation resulting in charges alleging that the founder of a purported charitable organization and four of the charity’s employees defrauded both VA and veterans in connection with a pension benefits fraud scheme. The defendants allegedly misled veterans by advising them that they were eligible for pension benefits to which they were not actually entitled. On the veterans’ behalf, the charity submitted falsified supporting documentation to VA in support of their pension applications. Once the applications were approved, the defendants either demanded direct payment or a large percentage of the resulting benefits before releasing the remainder to the veteran. VA allegedly paid over $20 million as a result of this scheme. The charity, the founder of the charity, and the four charity employees were indicted in the Cuyahoga County (Ohio) Court of Common Pleas on various criminal charges related to this scheme.
Another VA OIG investigation resolved allegations that a nationwide medical device company fraudulently overcharged VA and other federal agencies for medical device hardware and software products. The company held a federal contract to sell and lease products to VA and other federal agencies at a set price or a negotiated discounted price. The company allegedly sometimes sold and leased products to the agencies at a price higher than the applicable contract price. While the company at times issued credits or corrected prices charged to VA and the other federal agencies for specific orders, they did not correct the known issues in their sales and pricing system in a systemic way. The company also allegedly did not work to determine whether the federal agencies were previously overcharged and should have received refunds. The company entered a civil settlement in the Eastern District of Washington under which it agreed to pay over $4.3 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act. VA will receive over $2.1 million of this amount.
The OIG published nine reports in June.
An OIG evaluation of VA’s governance of recruitment, relocation, and retention incentives for VHA positions found that the incentives were used mostly to address staffing shortages. However VA did not effectively ensure VHA officials consistently captured mandatory information to support incentive awards. An estimated 30 percent of incentives paid during FYs 2020 through 2023 were missing forms, lacked sufficient justification, or were missing signatures. This resulted in more than $340 million in incentives that were not adequately supported. The OIG team also estimated VHA did not include sufficient workforce and succession plan narratives for 20 percent of retention incentives, note employee performance ratings for 7 percent of relocation incentives, or obtain self-certifications for about 71 percent of employees who relocated. The team identified 28 employees who received about $4.6 million in retention incentives after the award period had expired. The OIG made eight recommendations to improve oversight of these incentives.
Other OIG reports published in June included five healthcare facility inspection reports. The OIG’s Healthcare Facility Inspection Program reviews VHA medical facilities approximately every three years to measure and assess the quality of care provided in five areas: culture, environment of care, patient safety, primary care, and veteran-centered safety net for vulnerable populations such as those served by homeless programs. June’s healthcare facility inspection reports examined facilities in Georgia, Missouri, Oregon, West Virginia, and Washington. The OIG issued 15 recommendations across all five reports.
We also published mental health inspection reports on the VA Salem Healthcare System in Virginia and the VA Philadelphia Healthcare System in Pennsylvania. The OIG’s Mental Health Inspection Program evaluates VA’s continuum of mental healthcare services. For these two reports, the OIG evaluated acute inpatient mental health care across six areas, including leadership and organizational culture, suicide prevention, and safety. The OIG assessed processes in each of the areas and identified successes and challenges that affected the quality of care on the inpatient mental health units. The OIG issued 20 recommendations for Philadelphia and 15 recommendations for Salem.
Read more about the VA OIG’s oversight work in June 2025 on our website at vaoig.gov. Want to stay up to date? Sign up to receive email messaging from the VA OIG. Thanks for listening.