01.05.18

Hoeven Welcomes VA Action to Ensure Prompt Payments to Community Providers

WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven, a member of the Senate Military Construction and Veteran Affairs (VA) Appropriations Committee, today issued the following statement after the VA announced it is taking steps to improve the timeliness of payments to community providers. The VA will immediately:

  • Identify providers with a high dollar value of unpaid claims.
  • Create a rapid response team to reach a financial settlement with these provider within 90 days.
  • Increase the number of claims processed by vendors, with a goal of 90 percent clean claims processed in less than 30 days.
  • Establish multiple options for providers to check the status of a claim, including a dedicated customer service team and the VA’s Vendor Inquiry System.

The VA is also taking a variety of long-term actions to ensure prompt payments to community providers. This includes improving its IT systems, establishing the new Community Care Network, providing transparency by publishing monthly reports on claims processing and working with Congress on the next phase of its community care programs and the Veterans Choice program.

“In order for veterans to be able to access quality and convenient care, community providers need certainty that they will receive timely reimbursement,” said Hoeven. “We continue to work hard to alleviate the issues with third party contractors and ensure local providers receive the payments they are owed under the VA’s community care programs. We appreciate these steps by the VA, which build on the progress we’ve made at the Fargo VA through our Veterans Care Coordination initiative.”

Today’s actions align with Hoeven’s work to strengthen the Veterans Choice Program through the Veterans Care Coordination initiative at the Fargo VA Medical Center. The initiative allows veterans in North Dakota and western Minnesota to coordinate all of their health care services directly with the Fargo VA. This effort has helped to significantly reduce wait times and has been expanded to a VA facility in Helena, Mont. In addition, the initiative included a component allowing providers to work with the Fargo VA to improve provider reimbursements and reduce denials of veterans’ claims from third party contractors.

-###-