RUBEN GALLEGO Se Congress of the United States “aaa ie Bouse of Representatives — es Washington, BE 20515-0307 neat ey vet Veet September 20, 2019 ‘The Honorable Paul R. Lawrence, Ph.D. Under Secretary for Benefits Veterans Benefits Administration 810 Vermont Avenue NW Washington, D.C., 20420 Dear Dr. Lawrence: 1am concemed about delayed reimbursement from the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) to vendors that perform VA-authorized sales, installations, repairs, and maintenance of automobiles and automobile adaptive equipment (AE) for disabled veterans. These automobiles and equipment are integral to the health and well-being of veterans, and the VA has an obligation to ensure that the third-party vendors that provide these products and services are promptly paid. As you know, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and the VBA are responsible for administering the program and benefits that enable disabled veterans to safely operate or be transported in an automobile modified with medically-prescribed AAE. The Automobile Allowance provides a one-time payment of not more than $21,058.69 to assist disabled veterans with the purchase of an automobile (typically one that is wheelchair accessible). The AE Program provides compensation and benefits to assist disabled veterans with entering, exiting, and/or operating an automobile through the use of wheelchair/personal mobility device lifts and securement systems, steering and braking controls (manual and electronic), and specialized seating.' Veterans apply for the Automobile Allowance (VA Form 21-4502) through a VBA Regional Office and for AAE (VA Form 10-1394) through the VA’s Rehabilitation and Prosthetics Services. The VBA and the VHA respectively determine if the Automobile Allowance and/or AAE is authorized. Once authorized, the automobile and/or AE are typically provided to the veteran by specialty mobility equipment dealers. Once the automobile is purchased and/or the AAE is installed, dealers then submit pre-authorized and complete invoices seeking reimbursement from VBA for the automobile and/or the AAE and installations. + See 38 USC § 3902.Unfortunately, while dealers provide these products and services and submit pre- authorized and complete invoices, VBA does not have a history of reimbursing dealers in a timely manner, if at all. On June 3, 2015, the U.S. House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs’ Subcommittee on Health held a hearing to assess the VA’s ability to promptly pay non-VA. providers.’ Mr. Cook, then-President of the National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association (NMEDA), a non-profit trade association representing the automotive mobility industry, testified that between 2010 and 2015, NMEDA dealers alerted the VA of nearly 4,000 past-due invoices, totaling over $34 million. It is my understanding that these invoices averaged 271 days past-due, with 16 percent of invoices over one year past-due and 63 percent of invoices over 180 days past-due. Itseems that little has changed, and dealers across the country are still waiting on payment of additional invoices documenting millions of dollars that are months or years past due, This issue has hit Phoenix small businesses particularly hard, and I have included in this letter a list of past due invoices from two Phoenix-area dealers, totaling almost $300,000 dollars and averaging over 240 days overdue. That is completely unacceptable, This is causing serious operational and payroll issues at businesses that cannot afford to bbe unpaid for almost a year and also meet their other obligations. Iam extremely concerned that the VA’s failure to efficiently administer these programs is impacting the ability of dealers to continue providing life-changing products and services to disabled veterans. Further, the law is clear: the Prompt Payment Act requires federal agencies to pay a vendor’s valid and proper invoice on time and typically within 30 days, otherwise the payment is late. Please answer the following questions: * What is the current backlog of dealer invoices related to both the Automobile Allowance and the AAE Program? Please include the number of outstanding invoices, the dollar amount of each invoice, and how long each invoice has been pending, What issues are contributing to the backlog? * What is VBA doing to reduce the backlog and come into compliance with the Prompt Payment Act? Disabled veterans depend on automobile adaptive equipment in every aspect of daily living and to remain as independent as possible. The VA’s treatment of the companies that provide these products and services needs to match their essential role in the lives of our nation’s * See Assessing VA's Ability to Promptly Pay Non-VA Providers Before the H. Comm on Veterans’ Affairs, Health Sub. Comm, 114th Cong. (2015) (http://www govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG- 14hhrg98641 /odi/CHRG- ‘idhhrg98641,pdveterans. 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