Update COLA across 9 rates pages

strelichl commented 10 months ago

Issue Description

New COLA rate changes go into effect on December 1. This is a batch of 9 pages, some with multiple rates tables, so we'll need to plan capacity for this in advance.

Pages to pub on November 20

[x] DIC rates for spouses and dependents (Lily) past + current
[x] DIC rates for parents (Lily) past + current
[x] Veterans Pension rates (Derek) past + current
[x] Survivor Pension rates (Derek) past + current
[x] Protected disability and pension rates (Derek) past + current

Rates check and pre-pub checklist for November 20

[x] Veterans Pension rates (Chelsea reviewing) past + [current]
[x] Survivor Pension rates (Chelsea reviewing) past + current
[x] Protected disability and pension rates (Chelsea reviewing) past + current
[x] DIC rates for spouses and dependents (Laura reviewing) past + current
[x] DIC rates for parents (Laura reviewing) past + current

Pages to pub on November 30

[x] Disability compensation rates (Lily) - current + future
[x] Special monthly compensation rates (Derek) current + future
[x] Special benefit allowances rates (Lily) current + future
[x] Birth defect compensation rates (Lily) current + future

Rates check and pre-pub checklist for November 30

[x] Disability compensation rates (Chelsea)
[x] Special monthly compensation rates (Chelsea)
[x] Special benefit allowances rates (Chelsea)
[x] Birth defect compensation rates (Chelsea)

Instructions How to update rates

Rates to input

Pension rates for Veterans, Survivors, and Protected 12-1-2023 Pension Rate Tables Final.docx
Spouse and child DIC rates 12-1-2023 DIC Rate Tables Final.docx
Parent DIC rates 12-1-2023 Parents DIC Rate Tables Final.docx
Disability comp rates 02. Spina Bifida and birth defects.docx 03. Website update.docx 04. Benefit Allowances Rate.docx

Context from Emily Theis in VA slack:

There is an upcoming VBA database Cost of Living Adjustment that affects affects basically all the underlying VBA tech systems for 2 days. Benefits portfolio is likely to trigger manual maintenance windows for affected applications. We are planning in this thread and this mural what to do per application/endpoint, but sharing in case other teams anticipate being affected. Details: The processing of the 2024 cost-of-living (COLA) adjustment for Veterans’ benefits will occur the weekend of Saturday, November 18-Sunday, November 19, 2023

All applications that access the VBA Corporate database (includes BGS)

All applications that access the Benefits Delivery Network (BDN)

All Veterans Benefits Management System (VBMS) applications

All applications that use Common Security System (CSS) for login validation, such as Education

All access to the VBA Corporate database through Benefits Enterprise Portal (BEP) via web or Thick-Client application via Tuxedo Locking down the system is required to ensure successful COLA processing.

Tasks

[x] Convert to epic and open individual tickets as needed (Lily)
[x] Clone pages
[x] Make changes to page content and rates in tables
[x] Copyedit and double check rates
[x] Open IA tickets for best bets
[x] Publish

Acceptance Criteria

[ ] Updated rates are live

### Tasks
- [ ] https://github.com/department-of-veterans-affairs/va.gov-team/issues/70516
- [ ] https://github.com/department-of-veterans-affairs/va.gov-team/issues/70516

strelichl commented 9 months ago

Got 75% of disability compensation rates updated but the doc is labeled/formatted differently from the page in a few sections?

laurwill commented 9 months ago

Update here: We should focus on the pension and DIC pages for now, we realized that disability rates are a different SME and need to confirm the pub date with them separately.

@d-beyer , could you get started on the Veterans and Survivors pension rates? Let me or @RLHecht know if you run into any questions or need a refresher on the process!

laurwill commented 9 months ago

Hey @chelsealevinson , could you check rates and do the pre-pub checklist on the 3 pension pages Derek is coding? Survivor and Protected pages are ready for review now, and Veterans should be ready later this morning. Here's some context for how to read the rates document:

AA = Aid and Attendance
HB = Housebound
C = child
S = spouse
When you get to the Veterans pension page, those rates are the first page in the doc labeled Non-Service-Connected Disability Pension, and "Veteran PT" in the first column are the rates for a Veteran with no Housebound or Aid and Attendance benefits

The doc can be a little confusing, so happy to hop on a zoom if you run into questions!

And just noting the things we should both make sure to check on all pages:

On Past rates page, check H1, URL (manually set in right rail), link to current rates in page intro, past rates list removed at bottom
On Current rates, check all rates against documents from stakeholders, all examples with rates, all math in examples for accuracy, all dates in page for 2024 date, past rates list at bottom for new past rates page

chelsealevinson commented 9 months ago

Confirming I reviewed and copy edited the following pages:

-Veterans pension benefits -Survivor pension benefits -Protected disability and pension rates

These 3 pages are ready for publishing on Monday — thanks everyone!

laurwill commented 9 months ago

Thanks so much to this team for your quick and careful work! I published the 10 pages slated for 11/20 and notified the stakeholder. @strelichl if you prefer, we can move the 11/30 pages into a separate ticket and close this one out. Up to you!

jennymayoco commented 9 months ago

Hey @laurwill I created a best bet ticket for this work to document any best bet recs. Let me know if I missed anything in the ticket or any other questions.

strelichl commented 9 months ago

@chelsealevinson I'm waiting for info for one of the pages in the 2nd batch but if you want to get a head start on the the other 3 please do!

strelichl commented 9 months ago

Additional monthly disability compensation rates from stakeholder:

strelichl commented 9 months ago

Ok, updated the rest of disability compensation rates page using the spreadsheet (can't link it here!)

chelsealevinson commented 9 months ago

Is there a way for me to see the relevant data so I can check it against what's on the page?

chelsealevinson commented 9 months ago

Confirming that I copy edited and published the last four pages:

Disability compensation rates
Special monthly compensation rates
Special benefit allowances rates
Birth defect compensation rates

Thanks everyone!

strelichl commented 9 months ago

The updates are live and I've notified the stakeholder, thank you all so much!

department-of-veterans-affairs / va.gov-team