Department of Veterans Affairs
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President Obama has signed a big Veterans Affairs Department reform bill into law. No group will be watching what happens next more than the nation's military veterans. Dan Dellinger is national commander of the American Legion. He joined Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to discuss what they're looking for when it comes to the new law.
August 08, 2014 -
Linda Rix, co-CEO of FastYeti Incorporated, will discuss proposals to reform the Department of Veterans Affairs, and how her website -- vetsHQ.com -- is helping veterans get the benefits they need. August 1, 2014
August 01, 2014 -
Congress is a step closer to transforming the Veterans Affairs Department. House and Senate negotiators have agreed to a $17 billion deal. Among many things, the bill will provide funding for veterans to seek care at non VA facilities. Martin Matishak, staff writer for the Hill Newspaper, joined Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to break down the numbers.
July 28, 2014 -
Rob Burton, partner at Venable law firm, and Anil Karmel, founder and CEO of C2 labs, counted down the top federal stories of the week with Francis Rose.
July 25, 2014 -
Ahead of results of the annual Federal Employee Viewpoint survey, a National Council on Federal Labor Management Relations working group proposed its initial ways to improve employee engagement through the use of different types of metrics. The Office of Personnel Management is expected to release the annual EVS results in August.
July 24, 2014 -
The goal to get a spending bill done for your agency looks less and less likely by the time the fiscal year ends September 30th. And the other work Congress thought it could get done -- reform at the Department of Veterans Affairs -- seems to be hitting a wall too. David Hawkings is Senior Editor at Roll Call, and he shared the progress for both of these major pieces of work on In Depth with Francis Rose.
July 21, 2014 -
The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee will consider the nomination of Robert McDonald as the next VA Secretary tomorrow. If the Senate confirms him, he'll inherit a Veterans Health Administration that hasn't had a major review of its healthcare system since the mid-1980s, according to the Military Officers Association of America. Vice Admiral Norb Ryan is president of MOAA. On In Depth with Francis Rose, he said Congress and the White House should build a commission focused on reforming the VHA.
July 21, 2014 -
There are a lot of reasons the Department of Veterans Affairs has a huge backlog of disability claims. One is the vast number of new claims VA receives: about a million per year. A second is the sheer complexity of the process and the statutes and case law behind it. VA seems to be acknowledging the complexity of the system in a new partnership it's just formed with the American Bar Association. The new Veterans Claims Assistance Network will offer pro-bono legal services to veterans so that they can put together fully-developed claims. Jim Silkenat is the national president of the American Bar Association. He explained how the program will work on In Depth with guest host Jared Serbu.
July 16, 2014 -
In examining the viability of the Senior Executive Service, House members called out the Veterans Affairs' compensation program, with a pledge to introduce another piece of legislation to take back bonuses. The Senior Executives Association relayed concerns that talent is fleeing senior executive positions.
July 11, 2014 -
The Department of Veterans Affairs is building a "special ops" team of acquisition experts. Ford Heard, the associate deputy assistant secretary for procurement policy, systems and oversight at the VA, joined Federal News Radio's Executive Editor Jason Miller and Francis Rose on In Depth. They discussed the latest results of Federal News Radio's Chief Acquisition Officer Survey.
June 30, 2014 -
Ford Heard, the Veterans Affairs Department's associate deputy assistant secretary for Procurement Policy, Systems and Oversight, joins Federal News Radio for an online chat on June 30.
June 30, 2014 -
A series of management blunders and agency misbehavior in recent years ranging from the General Services Administration to the Veterans Affairs Department, haven't only put agency leaders in the hot seat — and sometimes out of work. They've also highlighted the importance of better risk-management planning by agencies, current and former federal officials told Federal News Radio as part of a special discussion on risk management.
June 26, 2014 -
After a failed attempt to build a shared system with VA, the Defense Department is in a hurry to replace its aging health IT system. DoD says the final product will be an off-the-shelf commercial solution with as few changes as possible.
June 26, 2014 -
Some changes are coming at the top of the Department of Veterans Affairs, with new leader coming in for the Veterans Health Administration next Wednesday. VA's General Counsel Will Gunn plans to resign early next month. The changes appear to be the result of a trust issue at the agency. Bob Tobias is director of Key Executive Leadership Programs at American University. He said on In Depth with Francis Rose that performance issues are in the public spotlight because of the problems at Department of Veterans Affairs, but the problem actually goes way beyond the VA.
June 25, 2014 -
Acting VA Secretary Sloan Gibson announced Friday the nomination of Carolyn Clancy as interim undersecretary for health in the Department of Veterans Affairs.
June 25, 2014