Veteran Oversight Now

This is Veteran Oversight Now, the Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General official podcast. I’m your host, Louis Calderon.
I’ll start with updates from the Office of Investigations. A veteran pleaded guilty to fabricating military service to receive VA compensation benefits. From January 2010 to March 2023, the veteran received VA compensation benefits that were awarded based on false accounts of his military service, specifically pertaining to injuries sustained from a roadside bomb in Iraq. The defendant also applied for a Purple Heart award, falsely claiming to have been injured by a roadside explosion. The loss to VA is approximately $344,000. The veteran pleaded guilty in the District of Massachusetts to false statements.
Another investigation revealed a firefighter at the Lyons VA Medical Center in New Jersey received workers’ compensation benefits for injuries incurred while on duty at the facility that purportedly did not allow him to return to work in any capacity. While receiving these benefits and completing annual certifications confirming that he was unable to return to work, the defendant performed firefighting duties for a local municipality and was employed as a long-haul truck driver. The loss to VA is approximately $479,000. The defendant pleaded guilty in the District of New Jersey to workers’ compensation fraud.
Meanwhile, a VA OIG proactive investigation revealed that a Cleveland VA Medical Center employee obtained two fraudulent Small Business Administration-backed Paycheck Protection Program loans totaling over $40,000 by falsely claiming to own a business that was never in operation. The defendant pleaded guilty in the Northern District of Ohio to theft of government funds.
The OIG published 17 reports in March. Two of the reports focused on VA supplemental funding requests.
The first report highlights the causes and conditions that led to a $12 billion supplemental funding request. In July 2024, VHA informed Congress it might need an additional $12 billion in medical care funding for the rest of fiscal year 2024 and all of FY 2025. In August, the OIG began reviewing VHA’s subsequent supplemental funding request, and Congress passed legislation in September requiring the OIG to review the circumstances leading to the announced shortfall. Among the OIG’s findings was that the FY 2025 advance appropriations relied on outdated data and assumptions, including lower-than-actual costs for new medications and both direct and community care. By November, VHA revised this request to $6.6 billion for the remainder of FY 2025—with $6 billion funded in a mid-March 2025 continuing resolution. VHA concurred with the OIG’s recommendations to improve budget assumptions and projection processes.
The second report is a review of VA’s $2.9 billion supplemental funds request for FY 2024 to support veterans’ benefits payments. In July 2024, VA announced to Congress that VBA needed about $2.9 billion to avoid delayed payments for disability compensation, pension, and readjustment benefits to more than seven million veterans through September 2024. On September 20, a supplemental appropriations law provided the funding and required the OIG to review the circumstances surrounding the request. On October 28, VA officials reported to Congress that supplemental funds were not needed. The OIG found that, had VBA included realized prior-year recoveries in status of funds calculations throughout the year, monthly congressional reports would have shown a reduced risk of a shortfall. VBA officials were concerned about insufficient carryover funding for use at the end of FY 2024 and an expected surge in year-end claims processing that did not materialize. The OIG made four recommendations to improve financial oversight and communications.
Two other reports published in March concerned mental health services.
The OIG evaluated the governance structure and responsibilities related to the chief mental health officer role in the Veterans Integrated Service Network, also known as VISN. VHA communicated inconsistent VISN staffing requirements. VISN leaders did not consistently utilize the standardized organizational chart and used a variety of titles to represent the chief mental health officer role. The OIG also identified inaccuracies within VISN-provided organizational charts. Chief mental health officers reported lack of authority as a major barrier to effective mental health program oversight and action-planning. Office of Mental Health and Office of Suicide Prevention leaders suggested that position description standardization would help increase the effectiveness of chief mental health officers. The OIG made five recommendations to the under secretary for health.
A report by the OIG’s Mental Health Inspection Program (MHIP) focused on inpatient mental health care delivered at the Edward P. Boland VA Medical Center, part of the VA Central Western Massachusetts Healthcare System in Leeds. The OIG identified concerns with oversight and monitoring, such as the absence of a mental health executive council and interdisciplinary safety inspection committee during the review period. Other findings included facility leaders lacking formal processes to monitor and track compliance with involuntary commitment state laws as well as staff not complying with required documentation for timely suicide risk screening and evaluation. The OIG issued 16 recommendations on topics such as leadership, clinical care coordination, and suicide prevention.
Other the OIG reports published in March include four healthcare facility inspections reports on facilities in Massachusetts; Georgia; Washington, DC; and Virginia.
Read more about the VA OIG’s oversight work in March 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.