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Get SME input on back pay article for disability comp and pension benefits (IRIS rewrite) #34385

Open RLHecht opened 2 years ago

RLHecht commented 2 years ago

Issue Description

Stakeholders provided feedback on our back pay article and are sending us new information to add. Once they do, we need to rewrite in plain language and send back the final article to them for approval.

Preview link here: http://preview-prod.vfs.va.gov/preview?nodeId=36481

We also want to look at whether we should change the H1.

Tasks

Acceptance Criteria

bethpottsVADEPO commented 2 years ago

Here's feedback from pension SMEs on back pay for that business line. We'll need to look at reworking the structure of this article and also making this content plain language:

Can my Pension benefits be paid retroactively?

In general, the effective date of a Veterans Pension award is the date the Department of Veterans Affairs received the claim.

Veterans Pension may be awarded retroactive for up to one year prior to the date of receipt of claim if the Veteran met any of the following criteria continuously from September 17, 2001 until the date of claim;

To qualify for a retroactive pension award under 38 CFR 3.400(b)(1)(ii)(B), the claimed disability must be so incapacitating that it reasonably could have prevented the Veteran from filing an application for pension. A disability will generally meet this requirement when it

~is so severe as to normally require hospitalization and intensive treatment;~

lunascoop commented 2 years ago

Hi @psanders86 I've reworked the SME feedback from Beth's comment above into the existing back pay article. The problem is that the existing back pay article uses a Single Q&A template, with an 1000 character count limit. The current verbiage is over by 146 characters with the info the SME provided.

Since I can't save my changes to the article, I'll post my rewrite below. I've also created a new version of the article using the resources and support detail page template, which isn't limited by character count.

Here's my rewrite

H1: Can I get VA back pay for a disability or pension claim?

Yes. You may be able to get back pay, or retroactive benefits, for your claim in a single, lump-sum payment.

For disability compensation, we calculate the amount of back pay you'll receive based on your start date for benefits (also called “effective date”) and your disability rating.

Learn about how we determine your effective date

Learn about how we determine your disability rating

For pension, you may receive up to 1 year of back pay from the date we received your claim (also called “effective date”) for one of these reasons:

Or

[Find out what evidence you need to file a pension claim](link to evidence needed article in the works)

At first, I had wrote for the first bullet: You were eligible for pension benefits since September 17, 2001, or This was based on SME's feedback that the Veteran had to be age 65, found disabled by SSA, or a patient in a nursing home for long term care because of disability. But that's technically not correct since it leaves out the bullet (You have a permanent and total disability, or) on the eligibility for pension page. Plus that bullet point is covered in the other reason a Veteran can receive back payments.

Let me know if you want to sync on this.

Sources: https://www.va.gov/pension/eligibility/ https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/38/3.400#b_1_ii_B https://www.va.gov/disability/how-to-file-claim/evidence-needed/

psanders86 commented 2 years ago

Thanks! I'll review this today.

lunascoop commented 2 years ago

@psanders86 I made additional edits to remove the sub-bullets. It's ready for your review.

VA back pay: http://preview-prod.vfs.va.gov/preview?nodeId=42979

lunascoop commented 2 years ago

@psanders86 I posted the article with the changes to the pension content. Basically, I separated how the back pay is determined for permanent and total disability (38 CFR 3.400(b)(1)(ii)(B)) based on this source: https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/38/3.400#b_1_ii_B

H1: VA back pay

Page intro: Back pay, or retroactive benefits, is compensation we owe you for a disability or pension claim. We'll pay you the amount you're due in in a single, lump-sum payment. Find out if you can get back pay for your disability.

CTA 1: Learn about disability effective dates CTA 2: Apply for Veterans Pension benefits

H2: How we determine your back pay

H3: For disability compensation

We calculate the amount of back pay you'll receive based on your start date for benefits (also called “effective date”) and your disability rating.

[Learn about how we determine your effective date] [Learn about how we determine your disability rating]

H3: For pension

You may receive up to 1 year of back pay from the date we received your claim (also called “effective date”) if since September 17, 2001 one of these is true for you:

Or You may receive back pay due to a permanent and total disability (38 CFR 3.400(b)(1)(ii)(B)). The amount of back pay you'llreceive is based on your effective date or the date you became permanently and totally disabled, whichever date is earlier. To be eligible, both of these must be true for you:

Note: You have 1 year from the date you became permanently and totally disabled to file a claim.

[Find out what evidence you need to file a pension claim]

RLHecht commented 2 years ago

@bethpottsVADEPO This is now ready for you.

RLHecht commented 2 years ago

Update: This is staying in backlog until Beth has time to review. Then we'll need to send to stakeholders for approval before publishing.

RLHecht commented 2 years ago

Note to Laura: Look at page views from the Iris spreadsheet. Also review if this pertains to other benefits too.

laurwill commented 2 years ago

Documenting here that there were 974 page views for an IRIS FAQ with this question: Can I get back compensation payments?

laurwill commented 2 years ago

Hi @katherine-fung ! Thanks for jumping in to help with research here. We currently have a draft page about back pay for pension and disability benefits — now we need to confirm whether a concept of "back pay" exists for other types of benefits as well. Could you:

katherine-fung commented 2 years ago

Hi @laurwill,

I found a few other mentions of back pay/retroactive pay/retroactive benefits for the following programs:

Life insurance:

Source: https://www.va.gov/life-insurance/options-eligibility/tsgli/

Next step: Email Steve to ask if other types of life insurance have back pay

Housing:

Source: https://www.va.gov/housing-assistance/home-loans/funding-fee-and-closing-costs/

Next step: Don't include, refund distinct from back pay

Source: https://www.military.com/benefits/veteran-benefits/disability/2021/10/07/expanded-housing-grants-disabled-veterans-now-available.html

Next step: Email Raleigh to confirm whether this would be considered back pay, get more details on how it works.

Education:

Next step: Add DEA section to R&S based on info from Tammy, and email Tammy to confirm if other education benefits have back pay

Veteran Rapid Retraining Assistance Program (VRRAP):

"Will VRRAP backdate the payment of T&F (tuition and fees) and MHA until the enactment date of March 11, 2021? Yes. Benefits may be paid retroactively for pursuit beginning on/after date of enactment by an eligible individual in a covered program of education."

Source: https://benefits.va.gov/gibill/docs/VRRAP_FAQs.pdf

Next step: VRRAP is ending in December, so I don't think we should include

I'm unsure if these next ones count under what we're looking for but including them here:

But if you already used other VA education benefits and we determine that you’re eligible for VR&E, we may retroactively approve your previous months of entitlement and return them to the other VA education program. This is called 'retroactive induction.' Ask your VRC if you meet the eligibility criteria for a retroactive induction."

Source: https://www.va.gov/careers-employment/vocational-rehabilitation/eligibility/ (also in lay terms: https://www.militarytimes.com/education-transition/2021/04/12/change-allows-extra-gi-bill-benefits-for-some-disabled-vets/)

Next step: Don't include, not about back pay

https://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=5151

https://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=5154

Next step: Confirm if this is still relevant

bethpottsVADEPO commented 2 years ago

@RLHecht @laurwill I wanted to note here that if this R&S article expands to include other benefits than just disability comp and pension, we'll want to add the information from this education Q&A (that's blocked/was in draft but is now removed from the DEA node until SMEs respond to questions. And then if we add it to the broader R&S article, we'll also want to add it to the list of future COPE content that we're tracking for when expanded functionality for COPE arrives.

Here's the ticket for future COPE content: https://app.zenhub.com/workspaces/vft-59c95ae5fda7577a9b3184f8/issues/department-of-veterans-affairs/va.gov-team/49711