The primary function of this position is to provide support in the management of the Health Administration Service, which consists of staff for Enrollment and Eligibility. The position will also assist with other health benefits such as beneficiary travel and non-VA care. The position will be responsible for assuring the team makes the appropriate eligibility determinations for VA healthcare. May be asked to perform duties in other areas of the Business Office and provide back up as needed.

Duties

Lead Duties: Ensures team follows same guidelines and assure that the team assist with patient vesting and will assure appropriate monitoring and reporting is accomplished within established time frames. Assist the supervisor with informing the employees about the policies, procedures and practices of management as they relate to the work areas. Coordinate with the supervisor for organizing and scheduling all mandatory training and education of all staff to include the CBOC and Outpatient Clinic administrative personnel. Serves as a Team Advocate when current policies impair efficient and effective patient care. Enrollment and Eligibility Duties: Assure that all new Veterans to the system are registered within seven days of receipt of their application. Travel Duties: Process Beneficiary Travel claim requests and explain benefits to Veterans. Determines eligibility for the program and processes requests. Determines which of several fund control points to utilize, obligating funds, maintaining manual and electronic accounting records, performing regular reconciliations and adjusting account balances. Works with point of contact/approving official to authorize obligations and requests for additions, deductions, and/or movement of funds. Assist with arrangement of all modes of transportation via air ambulance, commercial air, taxi, ambulance, bus and/or independent transports. Communication: Investigates patient complaints on eligibility issues and prepares written response. Prepares letters, memorandums and other written communication. Prepares draft correspondence in response to inquiries from Veterans, Congressmen, Senators, Veteran Services Representatives, and other individuals. Benefits Liaison Duties: Assists in orienting and advising physicians, residents and interns in VA regulations, policies and procedures on patient care medical administration matters. Keep the Healthcare Groups and Services informed and up to date concerning appropriate administrative regulations. Monitors patients' enrollment information to the outpatient clinics ensuring accurate eligibility is reflected and enrollments are active. Performs other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00am- 4:30pm Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Lead Health Benefits Assistant/PD06745A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 12/27/2024. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-06. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade.Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.You may qualify based on your experience as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-06 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: ability to coordinate staff training and education; familiarity with federal regulations such as HIPPA; ability to analyze veterans' benefits data and trends to recommend improvements; ability to analyze, interpret, strong written and verbal communication skills to effectively convey benefits information to veterans and VA stakeholders; familiarity with Veteran Enrollment System, VISTA, & CPRS; experience managing multiple projects; experience in one of the five programs (Travel, Decedent's Affairs, Admitting, Compensation and Pension, Enrollment and Eligibility). Preferred Experience: Leadership responsibility; applicant should have knowledge in a specialized area with ability to perform health care administrative duties (answers/screens telephone inquiries, scheduling appointments, directs visitors, filing in patient records, typing memos); independently resolve conflicts and completes work in accordance with policies, guidelines and regulations which may first require interpretation. Selective Placement Factor: Experience in health benefits such as enrollment and veteran eligibility, and compliance regulations. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Plan and organize workTeamworkTechnical Competence Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Physical Requirements: This is primarily a sedentary position, but the work requires some walking, bending, stooping and carrying of light objects such as manuals, documents, etc. Concentration and sustained performance under prolonged stress is required because of the time factors involved in completion of work assignments within deadlines. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Contacts

• Address Samuel S Stratton VA Medical Center - Albany 113 Holland Ave Albany, NY 12208 US
• Name: Crystal Collier
• Email: [email protected]